Ebay Hats: Victories, Defeats, Gripes & Items of Interest

[Lefty]

Thanks! I swallowed hard when I saw the jump to $500, however, I was also glad my 'highest bid amount' was enough to win the auction. I will be reselling the hat though as i'm a 59 cm, 7 3/8 in. Open to trading for the right size if there's someone that's a 7 and has a 7 3/8. Otherwise I'm looking at getting it resized... any suggestions? I fired an email off to Optimo and called Northwest.

You paid top-dollar (at least for that moment, as established by your win) in a well-listed auction for a hat you're going to sell? Good luck.

Moving up 3 sizes will also cost you the sweat, a lot of brim and, if it still concerns you, most of the resale value of the hat - along with the expense of the rebuild.

This hat is a bit more expensive that I had thought.

 

[alanfgag]

Sounds like a university hat. I went to school on some early purchases that I could never resell for what I paid.

I would agree that resizing is not a good option. Enjoy handling it... should be about the best the industry had to offer in its day. You should be able to get back 80-90% of the purchase price when you are done.

 

[fedoracentric]

There are plenty of examples here of the 1951-53 OPS tag with the orange and red tag inventory/re-order tags. There are also plenty of examples of the red and orange tags after that. I never said that the white paper tag was not used earlier. What I said was they used the red and orange tag for much longer into the 50s than 1951!

 

[carouselvic]

examples please

 

[CRH]

You paid top-dollar (at least for that moment, as established by your win) in a well-listed auction for a hat you're going to sell? Good luck.

Moving up 3 sizes will also cost you the sweat, a lot of brim and, if it still concerns you, most of the resale value of the hat - along with the expense of the rebuild.

This hat is a bit more expensive that I had thought.

Yup. Ouch!

All I can say is if I ever score a 100 for whatever price, I'd do my best to wear the dang thing out!

 

[Michaelshane]

You paid top-dollar (at least for that moment, as established by your win) in a well-listed auction for a hat you're going to sell? Good luck.

Moving up 3 sizes will also cost you the sweat, a lot of brim and, if it still concerns you, most of the resale value of the hat - along with the expense of the rebuild.

This hat is a bit more expensive that I had thought.

This is what Optimo can do.This was a Stetson 100 I bought for $60.00 size 6 7/8. New sweat,liner re-block to 7 1/4.$100.00.

It's not worth doing unless you just want a good hat to wear,because it's not a Stetson 100 anymore.

 

[fedoracentric]

It's not worth doing unless you just want a good hat to wear,because it's not a Stetson 100 anymore.

That is exactly the problem, of course. Once you rip out the sweatband and throw it away and change the liner... it is just a hat. Certainly it is yours to do what you want with it. But when you take it all apart and reconfigure it, the hat is no longer an example of a Stetson 100 (or what ever hat you've totally redone). It becomes just a hat, so you'll have to just appreciate it for what you want, but it isn't a "collector's piece" any more.

 

[CRH]

That is exactly the problem, of course. Once you rip out the sweatband and throw it away and change the liner... it is just a hat. Certainly it is yours to do what you want with it. But when you take it all apart and reconfigure it, the hat is no longer an example of a Stetson 100 (or what ever hat you've totally redone). It becomes just a hat, so you'll have to just appreciate it for what you want, but it isn't a "collector's piece" any more.

Thanks for the idea for my new signature.

 

[fedoracentric]

Lol.

 

[gtdean48]

Lol.

:arated:

 

[Joao Encarnado]

All I can say is if I ever score a 100 for whatever price, I'd do my best to wear the dang thing out!

I thought the same when I got my 20x Black Gold. I did wear it for a month or more but ended returning to the older. It was a too much nice hat to "destroy" in everyday wear.

That is exactly the problem, of course. Once you rip out the sweatband and throw it away and change the liner... it is just a hat. Certainly it is yours to do what you want with it. But when you take it all apart and reconfigure it, the hat is no longer an example of a Stetson 100 (or what ever hat you've totally redone). It becomes just a hat, so you'll have to just appreciate it for what you want, but it isn't a "collector's piece" any more.

I think the same when I see westerns converted to fedoras.

Well I got this -> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stetson-30X...MtNNf9KEKJPK0o5Uqk1Ng%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
I always wanted a 30x Resistol or Stetson and a Stetson liner like that. Hope to be able to remove the glue and restitch the sweat band.

 

[Turk394]

I thought the same when I got my 20x Black Gold. I did wear it for a month or more but ended returning to the older. It was a too much nice hat to "destroy" in everyday wear.


I think the same when I see westerns converted to fedoras.

Well I got this -> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stetson-30X...MtNNf9KEKJPK0o5Uqk1Ng%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
I always wanted a 30x Resistol or Stetson and a Stetson liner like that. Hope to be able to remove the glue and restitch the sweat band.

All, Good input. I will decide what to do once I lay my hand upon it. I lean towards trading for another 100 in my size, however will list again sans case as it was the case that I wanted most. From what I've gathered in a short amount of time is that the premium cases are rarer than hats. I'll do the unthinkable and store my most precious hats in the best cases I can get.

 

[alanfgag]

Stetson 100s and their cases are not particularly rare. They show up with regularity on eBay and in our classifieds - sometimes together, sometimes separately. They are representative of the best Stetson had to offer during the final years of its Philadelphia story.

 

[gtdean48]

All, Good input. I will decide what to do once I lay my hand upon it. I lean towards trading for another 100 in my size, however will list again sans case as it was the case that I wanted most. From what I've gathered in a short amount of time is that the premium cases are rarer than hats. I'll do the unthinkable and store my most precious hats in the best cases I can get.

Cases aren't that rare. Original plastic inserts ARE rare. I've got 2 cases, just sold 1 with a 100, gave my brother a 100 with a case & a "cousin" a 100 with a case...all of these in different sizes & 3 of the cases without inserts. Got a set of repro-inserts from Buler's first batch...I figure there are lots more out there & will pop up as the boomers move into retirement, cleaning out garages & attics of their parents' stuff....

 

[CRH]

Cases aren't that rare. Original plastic inserts ARE rare. I've got 2 cases, just sold 1 with a 100, gave my brother a 100 with a case & a "cousin" a 100 with a case...all of these in different sizes & 3 of the cases without inserts. Got a set of repro-inserts from Buler's first batch...I figure there are lots more out there & will pop up as the boomers move into retirement, cleaning out garages & attics of their parents' stuff....

I tremble with excitement every time I climb into someone's attic.

 

[fedoracentric]

If your goal is to have a Stetson 100 set (Hat, case, keys, inserts) I'd keep the case and inserts you have, sell the hat, and then wait for a 100 in your size. Stetson 100s are not that rare, especially the later ones. A new one comes up every other month or so on ebay. I am one of those who shudder when someone rips apart a perfectly good hat just to make it a bigger (or smaller) size. It just seems like a raping of history.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

If your goal is to have a Stetson 100 set (Hat, case, keys, inserts) I'd keep the case and inserts you have, sell the hat, and then wait for a 100 in your size. Stetson 100s are not that rare, especially the later ones. A new one comes up every other month or so on ebay. I am one of those who shudder when someone rips apart a perfectly good hat just to make it a bigger (or smaller) size. It just seems like a raping of history.

Sadly none of them is a western version...

 

[Michaelshane]

If your goal is to have a Stetson 100 set (Hat, case, keys, inserts) I'd keep the case and inserts you have, sell the hat, and then wait for a 100 in your size. Stetson 100s are not that rare, especially the later ones. A new one comes up every other month or so on ebay. I am one of those who shudder when someone rips apart a perfectly good hat just to make it a bigger (or smaller) size. It just seems like a raping of history.

It's just a hat,and like you said...
"Not that rare"

 

[fedoracentric]

Au contraire. I have seen several western versions of the 100 over the years. I even had one once. And the western versions sell for less than the Open Road-style 100s, oddly enough.

 

[ManofKent]

Richard great finds I hope they are all true to size, absolute snip of a price as well! French ebayers seem to very pleasant to deal with i've jsut ordered a load from France and they gave very reasonable p&p for 9 hats, less then I got charged on German ebay for one.

They arrived today. 50/50 keepers. The velour Flechet and the COL just need a brush and steam, the other two have mothing - the brown one very heavy and deep the other maybe pounceable if I trimmed off the welt but probably not worth the hassle. Still I'm happy enough for the price. Good price on that block (it was on my watch list but I missed the end...).