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

[deadlyhandsome]

I like it. I really like the look of it. How bad is the damage? Limited to the underside of the brim?

There’s some damage on the top of the brim too, but the crown looks fine. I won’t really know until I receive it. No through-holes, but some work picking out the divots, sanding to get some filler felt, gluing, and a final pounce and brush. I doubt that it will look new, but it should be a lot less noticeable.

 

[Rumad]

There’s some damage on the top of the brim too, but the crown looks fine. I won’t really know until I receive it. No through-holes, but some work picking out the divots, sanding to get some filler felt, gluing, and a final pounce and brush. I doubt that it will look new, but it should be a lot less noticeable.

Cool, looking forward to seeing what you do with it Brent.

 

[Rmccamey]

Never hurts to ask! Looks good, hope it is better than expected when you get it.

This has some moth damage that will need to be addressed:

View attachment 262692 View attachment 262693 View attachment 262694

The seller accepted my offer of less than half his opening bid price. You never know....

 

[drmaxtejeda]

20X beaver Greely Hat Works.
I have been wanting a similar hat for a while, but all the old BOP Stetsons I've seen for sale are badly stained, moth-ridden, and with dry-rotted sweatbands. I wouldn't put them on my head, and I am not a historian. I want to be able to wear them.
This one seems nice, clean, and at a fraction of the cost.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

20X beaver Greely Hat Works.
I have been wanting a similar hat for a while, but all the old BOP Stetsons I've seen for sale are badly stained, moth-ridden, and with dry-rotted sweatbands. I wouldn't put them on my head, and I am not a historian. I want to be able to wear them.
This one seems nice, clean, and at a fraction of the cost. View attachment 262728 View attachment 262729 View attachment 262730 View attachment 262731 View attachment 262732 View attachment 262732 View attachment 262734 View attachment 262735 View attachment 262736

I too was watching that hat. 7 3/4...Ignacio has his work cut out!

 

[steur]

This has some moth damage that will need to be addressed:

View attachment 262692 View attachment 262693 View attachment 262694

The seller accepted my offer of less than half his opening bid price. You never know....

Cool find. If the moth damage is only on the underside it wouldn't bother me much.

 

[hatsRme]

I too was watching that hat. 7 3/4...Ignacio has his work cut out!

Even though this is a “current” production lid, downsizing it to 7-3/8 is still a selfish, piggy thing to do to a hat that large, in my opinion. There are plenty of 7-3/8 hats available without destroying the rare big hats.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Even though this is a “current” production lid, downsizing it to 7-3/8 is still a selfish, piggy thing to do to a hat that large, in my opinion. There are plenty of 7-3/8 hats available without destroying the rare big hats.

I see where you are coming from, Charlie, but I don’t see it that way. It was on ebay for a couple of weeks and anyone interested had their chance. I made an offer that was refused and I only followed it to see what it would sell for. As you said, it’s a current production hat and anyone can buy one in any size they want. I respect you feeling the way that you do, but on this hat I personally don’t see the harm. We all see things a bit differently I suppose.

 

[hatsRme]

I see where you are coming from, Charlie, but I don’t see it that way. It was on ebay for a couple of weeks and anyone interested had their chance. I made an offer that was refused and I only followed it to see what it would sell for. As you said, it’s a current production hat and anyone can buy one in any size they want. I respect you feeling the way that you do, but on this hat I personally don’t see the harm. We all see things a bit differently I suppose.

As the bumper sticker I saw last summer said, “if you allow it, you teach it.” It’s simply a selfish thing to do in my judgement. It would seem to me that Max probably has a reasonable collection without desecrating more hats to add to it at this point.

 

[drmaxtejeda]

It is a modern hat, Charlie! You can have one made, the company is still active, and will be for a long time. This is the site, look:https://greeleyhatworks.com/
The 20Xs cost 600 dollars. You can have diferent shapes, colors, liners, hatbands in leather, colors of sweatband, etc.
You, and anyone, can have it done to your taste and size, in the felt quality you choose.

Besides, Charlie, all the BOP I have seen come in small sizes. The largest was a 7 1/8, and I wasn't going to buy one and alter a 100 year-old hat.

 

[drmaxtejeda]

I too was watching that hat. 7 3/4...Ignacio has his work cut out!

He says it's easier to make a hat smaller than to make it larger. How much did you offer? He accepted $215 from me. Maybe after having the hat on Ebay for two or three weeks he realized he was asking a bit too much. The new ones cost 600 dollars.

 

[drmaxtejeda]

I see where you are coming from, Charlie, but I don’t see it that way. It was on ebay for a couple of weeks and anyone interested had their chance. I made an offer that was refused and I only followed it to see what it would sell for. As you said, it’s a current production hat and anyone can buy one in any size they want. I respect you feeling the way that you do, but on this hat I personally don’t see the harm. We all see things a bit differently I suppose.

Besides, after bringing it down in size, the brim width will be wider. Every size down makes it 3 mm wider. I might end up with a sombrero!

 

[Yamahana]

Even though this is a “current” production lid, downsizing it to 7-3/8 is still a selfish, piggy thing to do to a hat that large, in my opinion. There are plenty of 7-3/8 hats available without destroying the rare big hats.

I found the Lounge years ago while researching vintage fedoras. I have a love and affection for most all vintage not just hats. Cars, motorcycles, coats, suits, ties...I only joined awhile back when Buler was having a hat sale but alas arrived too late. I’m petty much a silent observer very infrequent poster but I’ve watched over the years members come and go. Most of the ones who made it such a classy site are gone. The lounge has changed..it ain’t what it used to be.
Vintage connects me to the good ole days, simpler times but yet with more style, class, dignity, attention to detail. Good ole God fearing, hard working, family centered USA and world for the most part.
I was fortunate enough to be raised by parents who experienced both the Great Depression and WW ll. I learned that there is a value, time and place for all things. I didn’t realize it at the time but our family wasn’t that well off financially. While I’m fortunate enough to be better off than my parents were and can afford things they couldn’t, I still believe that there is only a certain monetary value to”things”. For example no vintage fedora should be worth $1000 just because you want it at any cost.
I am unfortunate to be the same size as the hundred and hundreds of hats that have gone to the sanctuary in Mexico.(and evidently size doesn’t matter) It is disheartening to see so many great classic vintage examples go off into storage when there are others like myself who’d be wearing and admiring them on a regular basis. And yes I have the same opportunity to bid and buy, but like I said it is still just a “thing” and can only be worth just so much no matter how much money I have in my pockets or bank. I saw a post recently that 400-500 hats or more have gone to storage in this sanctuary.
I’m with Charlie, when is it ever going to be enough.

 

[Just Daniel]

I think you have to add a whole lot of us into this category. How many of us own more hats than we can regularly use? More still from the “good old days” of the Lounge. A lot of those guys who made the Lounge so classy have huge collections.

I just looked and I have four Stetson navy blue homburgs from the 30s/40s. Four. I will probably use each one once a year, one or two times more if I stretch my fashion limits. I did not even look over at my black hats or my 7Xs and 100s. Fair is fair, definitely include me on the list of bad actors.

I found the Lounge years ago while researching vintage fedoras. I have a love and affection for most all vintage not just hats. Cars, motorcycles, coats, suits, ties...I only joined awhile back when Buler was having a hat sale but alas arrived too late. I’m petty much a silent observer very infrequent poster but I’ve watched over the years members come and go. Most of the ones who made it such a classy site are gone. The lounge has changed..it ain’t what it used to be.
Vintage connects me to the good ole days, simpler times but yet with more style, class, dignity, attention to detail. Good ole God fearing, hard working, family centered USA and world for the most part.
I was fortunate enough to be raised by parents who experienced both the Great Depression and WW ll. I learned that there is a value, time and place for all things. I didn’t realize it at the time but our family wasn’t that well off financially. While I’m fortunate enough to be better off than my parents were and can afford things they couldn’t, I still believe that there is only a certain monetary value to”things”. For example no vintage fedora should be worth $1000 just because you want it at any cost.
I am unfortunate to be the same size as the hundred and hundreds of hats that have gone to the sanctuary in Mexico.(and evidently size doesn’t matter) It is disheartening to see so many great classic vintage examples go off into storage when there are others like myself who’d be wearing and admiring them on a regular basis. And yes I have the same opportunity to bid and buy, but like I said it is still just a “thing” and can only be worth just so much no matter how much money I have in my pockets or bank. I saw a post recently that 400-500 hats or more have gone to storage in this sanctuary.
I’m with Charlie, when is it ever going to be enough.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

...I’ve watched over the years members come and go. Most of the ones who made it such a classy site are gone. The lounge has changed..it ain’t what it used to be.
Vintage connects me to the good ole days, simpler times but yet with more style, class, dignity, attention to detail.

Amen & very well said. Vintage things have earned a life of their own & are entitled to live out that natural life unmolested. They are not just objects in our possession. And if modern &/or custom hats are readily available than buy the size & style you need.

I have no problem with the size of someone's collection & would never tell someone what they should pay. But the FL has been changed, probably forever by the diminishing expertise present here, the mundane, the 24/7 OCD, & the new take-no-prisoners attitude.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I found the Lounge years ago while researching vintage fedoras. I have a love and affection for most all vintage not just hats. Cars, motorcycles, coats, suits, ties...I only joined awhile back when Buler was having a hat sale but alas arrived too late. I’m petty much a silent observer very infrequent poster but I’ve watched over the years members come and go. Most of the ones who made it such a classy site are gone. The lounge has changed..it ain’t what it used to be.
Vintage connects me to the good ole days, simpler times but yet with more style, class, dignity, attention to detail. Good ole God fearing, hard working, family centered USA and world for the most part.
I was fortunate enough to be raised by parents who experienced both the Great Depression and WW ll. I learned that there is a value, time and place for all things. I didn’t realize it at the time but our family wasn’t that well off financially. While I’m fortunate enough to be better off than my parents were and can afford things they couldn’t, I still believe that there is only a certain monetary value to”things”. For example no vintage fedora should be worth $1000 just because you want it at any cost.
I am unfortunate to be the same size as the hundred and hundreds of hats that have gone to the sanctuary in Mexico.(and evidently size doesn’t matter) It is disheartening to see so many great classic vintage examples go off into storage when there are others like myself who’d be wearing and admiring them on a regular basis. And yes I have the same opportunity to bid and buy, but like I said it is still just a “thing” and can only be worth just so much no matter how much money I have in my pockets or bank. I saw a post recently that 400-500 hats or more have gone to storage in this sanctuary.
I’m with Charlie, when is it ever going to be enough.

Well, that’s one slippery slope to start down. Is 10 hats too many? It’s a lot more than most gentlemen owned back in the golden era of hat wearing. Is your/my collection of 10 hats driving the price up? Is a collection of 10 depriving someone else the ability to own one? Sure, it’s just a matter of degrees. How can we say what’s enough, or what’s too much. Is it fair that the wealthy have all the great oil paintings that are in private ownership? What if I would like an original Rembrandt for my front hallway. Is it fair that a wealthy collector has 20 and I don’t have any? The same thing is played out with coins, watches, stamps, and most anything people collect.

I don’t want others to tell me what I can have or what is too much. Do I have to justify why I own what I do? Compared to some I have a lot, compared to others I have little. And some of those revered early members of The Lounge had/have absolutely HUGE collections that no doubt caused prices to inflate and availability to decline. I guess I’m just an unrepentant free-market capitalist. If I want to have what the wealthy have I need to work for it and become wealthy myself rather than vilify the success of others.

There is a strong and compelling argument to make against modifying vintage and/or rare items. Just because you own that Rembrandt should you be free to cut it in half to fit the space you want to hang it? It’s tricky: I think it’s wrong to modify it, but what right do I have to tell someone what they should do with their own private property? We are just temporary caretakers, but all of these mere “things” are transitory and not really of great importance in the big scheme; although, some more materialistic people certainly feel differently. Back to modifying a current production and easily replaced hat...that doesn’t cause me any disquiet.

I’ll also add that those hats in those too-big-for-your-liking collections are being well cared for and will someday re-enter the market.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

He says it's easier to make a hat smaller than to make it larger. How much did you offer? He accepted $215 from me. Maybe after having the hat on Ebay for two or three weeks he realized he was asking a bit too much. The new ones cost 600 dollars.

I offered him $150. I didn’t really want it that bad as my other Greeley Hat Works didn’t blow me away.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

As the bumper sticker I saw last summer said, “if you allow it, you teach it.” It’s simply a selfish thing to do in my judgement. It would seem to me that Max probably has a reasonable collection without desecrating more hats to add to it at this point.

It’s not for me to “allow” or disallow. I respect you and I can see your side more with modifying vintage hats, but even as a fellow larger head hat collector I personally don’t mind that Max is going to modify this kind of hat. If he bought a current production Stratoliner and sized it down I also wouldn’t care. Change that to a 1940s Stratoliner and then I get squeamish.

 

[drmaxtejeda]

I found the Lounge years ago while researching vintage fedoras. I have a love and affection for most all vintage not just hats. Cars, motorcycles, coats, suits, ties...I only joined awhile back when Buler was having a hat sale but alas arrived too late. I’m petty much a silent observer very infrequent poster but I’ve watched over the years members come and go. Most of the ones who made it such a classy site are gone. The lounge has changed..it ain’t what it used to be.
Vintage connects me to the good ole days, simpler times but yet with more style, class, dignity, attention to detail. Good ole God fearing, hard working, family centered USA and world for the most part.
I was fortunate enough to be raised by parents who experienced both the Great Depression and WW ll. I learned that there is a value, time and place for all things. I didn’t realize it at the time but our family wasn’t that well off financially. While I’m fortunate enough to be better off than my parents were and can afford things they couldn’t, I still believe that there is only a certain monetary value to”things”. For example no vintage fedora should be worth $1000 just because you want it at any cost.
I am unfortunate to be the same size as the hundred and hundreds of hats that have gone to the sanctuary in Mexico.(and evidently size doesn’t matter) It is disheartening to see so many great classic vintage examples go off into storage when there are others like myself who’d be wearing and admiring them on a regular basis. And yes I have the same opportunity to bid and buy, but like I said it is still just a “thing” and can only be worth just so much no matter how much money I have in my pockets or bank. I saw a post recently that 400-500 hats or more have gone to storage in this sanctuary.
I’m with Charlie, when is it ever going to be enough.

Hey, you can have the hat, if you want to buy it from me. I spend many hours per week looking for hats that I like on Ebay and Etsy.
I spend time negotiating with the sellers, too.
I buy them all with my own money, which I earn honestly, as I think my patients would agree.
Many of us on this forum like to collect hats, and many have way more of them than they will ever need.
You can see all of my collection on Instagram, and if you like any of them you can buy them from me, at no charge fror the ammount of time I spent searching for them.
You can even come to Mexico City, stay in my extra bedroom, and choose which to take with you. I would sell them to you for what they cost me, plus the cost of cleaning and/or refurbishing them, and the cost of bringing them to Mexico City.
I wish the owners of collections I admire and covet made me the same offer! I would be at their homes by tomorrow morning.

Come on over!

While I wait for you to come, I will continue in my hobby of collecting hats, just because I enjoy them, and have a right to spend the fruit of my labors as I see fit.

 

[drmaxtejeda]

I offered him $150. I didn’t really want it that bad as my other Greeley Hat Works didn’t blow me away.

Yeah, I don't expect too much from it either, but I really wanted a hat with that shape.