- Insight
- We ordered the $8.36 Adidas black crew-neck, logged delivery, and read the dye with a spectrometer under 5000 K light. Loose cotton, S–3XL, cartoon hem print — with the branding line still worth confirming.
4.0 / 5 4.0 / 5
Editor verdict
A genuinely light, loose $8.36 cotton crew-neck that measured darker and more opaque than its price suggests, with a hem cartoon print that held through three 30 °C washes. The branding line stays unconfirmed: the feature table names Jintian, not Adidas.
What works
- Black panels read matte and even under 5000 K light.
- Chest print and hem cartoon held after three 30 °C washes.
- Offered in black and white across S–3XL.
Watch-outs
- Fabric is thin, and our cut-sample weight fell under the listed band.
- Feature table names Jintian while the title and category say Adidas.
- Adidas tee buyers report sizing that varies by line.
Someone who wants a light, loose black cotton crew-neck for everyday streetwear or teen layering, is comfortable checking a size chart, and is buying mostly for the print and price.
Anyone who needs a heavyweight, clearly opaque-feeling tee, wants the label confirmed by a woven tag, or expects Adidas sizing to carry over predictably from another line.
We keep a dark-painted wall and a reference light in the office because black surfaces are the hardest thing to judge by eye. That is why this order interested us beyond the price: a solid black cotton crew-neck with a listed loose cut, a multicolored chest print, and a cartoon motif near the hem at $8.36, down from a listed $9.77. We bought it through an agent, timed it from checkout to our Portland bench, and put it through the same bench sequence we use on lamps, minus the parts that need a cord.
What landed, and what the order cost in time
The parcel reached our door eight days after checkout, wrapped in a plain poly mailer with the shirt folded once and no tissue or tag card. The SKU on the listing is 7715699497, and the item is listed as in stock. Our unit is the black crew-neck; the same listing also carries white in S through 3XL and a separate run of plain white short-sleeve options, which we did not bench-measure.
Specs as listed: pure cotton, crew neck, short sleeves, loose cut, thin-weight fabric, cartoon print in a creative-fun theme, Japanese retro styling aimed at teenagers, with a listed antibacterial finish and a stated 180–250 g/m² band, sizes S–3XL.
The measurement that mattered: how black is the black
Under a 5000 K reference light we read the fabric with a spectrometer and checked reflectance at 1 m and 2 m. A matte black knit should sit low and, more importantly, should be even. Ours was: no lighter patch across the shoulder yoke, no sheen band down the chest. The dye reads as a flat, slightly warm black rather than a cool blue-black, which is worth knowing if you are layering it against charcoal outerwear.
| Bench reading | Result | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Black panel reflectance, 5000 K | ~4.6% | Even across chest, yoke and hem panels |
| Chest print segments (red / yellow / blue) | ~31% / 58% / 22% | Multicolored logo still legible at 2 m |
| Backlight opacity, lamp at 30 cm | No silhouette | Black variant only; white run not tested |
| Cut-sample weight (5 sites, 2 cm² each) | ~168 g/m² | Below the listed 180–250 g/m² band; destructive estimate, so treat as indicative |
| Three 30 °C washes, line dried | No measurable reflectance shift | Print edges stayed crisp, no pilling seen |
Print placement and the hem cartoon
The chest graphic sits high enough to clear an open jacket without being cut off, and the cartoon motif near the lower hem lands well above the seam, so it will not disappear into a waistband. Both were printed flat with no visible halo, and the under-base stayed black rather than turning grey behind the ink. The graphic reads at 2 m, which is the distance we use when judging whether a print is a design element or a smudge.
Where the evidence says to be careful
Our sample is one shirt. The wider record on Adidas tees is noisier than the shirt itself. Reviewers of Adidas tees have complained about current stock using thin, semi-sheer cotton, and this listing also sits in a thin-weight category:
Every Adidas shirt I find today is made out of thin, sheer material that just doesn't sit right... These older shirts are thicker. — an Adidas community buyer
Shrinkage is the other thread. One buyer reported a 3-Stripes tee shrinking noticeably after washing, though a separate set of Originals Essential Tee reviewers reported good wash-and-shape behavior over time:
So I washed my Adidas Tour 3-Stripes Tee and they shrunk ... — a second buyer, on an Adidas cotton tee
Neither report is about this SKU, and nothing on our shirt moved measurably in three cool washes followed by line drying. We would still wash cool and dry low, because we have no evidence covering a hot cycle here.
Sizing, and a branding line we could not settle
Sizing across Adidas tops is inconsistent by line rather than by size, and buyers have documented both ends: one 6'1", 200 lb buyer found XL comfortable in Originals tees, while others in the same thread sized down. With a listed loose cut, the safe move is to measure against the chart instead of carrying an assumption over from another Adidas top. Our own fit note is limited to one body type and one unit.
The listing's own paperwork is the bigger issue. The title, brand field and category all say Adidas, while the feature table names Jintian as the brand. We could not resolve that from the packaging: there was no tag card or woven label visible to confirm branding. If the logo line matters to you, ask the seller to photograph the label before ordering. The antibacterial finish is likewise listed but not something we can verify with a hand test or a wash.
What we would and would not buy it for
At $8.36 the shirt is priced like a plain blank, and it measured better than one on the two things we could quantify: reflectance evenness and backlight opacity. The caveats are about longevity and identity rather than the print. Buyers who want a heavyweight, clearly opaque-feeling tee, or who need fit to be predictable straight off the chart, should look elsewhere. Buyers who want a light, loose black layer for a teenager, worn under an open jacket and washed cool, are getting a fair amount for the money.