Joshbru3
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 4,409
- Location
- Chicago, IL
Well... it IS why they call it a craze, after all. There isn't usually too much logic in a craze. Remember when everyone had to have a Cabbage Patch Kid doll and were paying three times what they retailed for to get one? Yet all they had to do is wait a month or two and they'd get it at retail all day long.
Still, I do understand the Whippet craze to a degree. Sure it was the low end hat of the day but it seems to embody the perfect ideal of what a fedora "is." It has the perfect style and look and was one of Stetson's most popular models. It seems to be the quintessential fedora. I think collectors are responding to that essence.
Plus it is a named model. You'll notice that all Stetson's named model hats seem to get premium prices. As a collector of all sorts of things in years past I can say that things that can be put in nice categories lend themselves to collectors far more easily than generic things. So a high quality Stetson De Luxe or Imperial may be to us the better quality hat, but more collectors will get excited by a "Stratoliner," or a "Bantam," or a "Playboy," or a "Whippet" because those have cool names.
I have 7 Whippets, myself. But the most I've paid for one is $140 (but most under $100) and that is no worse than buying a new fur felt fedora and since the vintage Whippets are loads better than the modern hats, I don't feel I did badly. Then again, I am a tiny size 7, so I don't have to contend with those $250 and more prices.
Very well Stated, HE. I do agree completely that Stetson models with "Names" do bring a premium. When I think about, I would rather pay $150-$200 for a vintage quality hat than a new felt hat from Stetson. I guess my opinion is kind of skewed because of my likes & preferences. When I see 1920's & 1930's hats selling for 1/3 or 1/4 the price of some of these Strats or Whippets I just have to shake my head because I know that those 20's/30's hats have workmanship and quality that even 40's/50's hats usually can't even compare too. I do forget sometimes that the majority of members on the lounge like the 40's/50's style wide brims and the Whippet does epitomize that "look." But as far as the vintage hat market goes, I still say that Whippets are bringing too much money for what they are. (For the larger sizes at least) I will say that since these prices for Strats, Playboys, and Whippets have been going up, somehow there are more of them on ebay than ever. I thought more supply is suppose to decrease demand. Or maybe in the case of Whippets, its a linear relationship.