Is this a good price for a Resistol on the Bay?

[davers]

Hey Gang! I'm still new, still learning, and trying to absorb all the knowledge I can! Is this a good price for a Resistol I found on the Bay? Resistol. Any input is greatly greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Dave

 

[newturnofphrase]

I'm not hugely experienced, but I'd say between 60 and 120 would be quite reasonable, as that's what it would cost to get a similar style by a modern manufacturer. It's got a make-offer option, he's likely willing to negotiate and is simply hoping to get a little more $$ out of the hat. I'm certainly not the seller and if you'd like to negotiate you certainly can't reach me via PM

 

[TomS]

You'll hear from folks a lot more experienced than I, but it looks a little steep. Just my .02
Best,
Tom

 

[davers]

If I were ever able to figure out who this was, I'd let them know that I certainly want this hat but will have to wait a few weeks as my Stetson Firenze drained my hat account!

Thanks for the reply!

Dave

 

[jlee562]

It's a nice lid, 60's or so. I have a very similar Resistol that I got for around $20...although hats in my size (7) go cheaper than some larger sizes. $150 isn't a bad price considering that its probably a nicer lid than a modern production hat, and has the Cav edge, which you won't find anymore, but it's definitely not a bargain or anything at that price. If you really like it, go for it. But I would suggest that it's possible to find a better deal if you hold out. Making an offer can't hurt either.

 

[newturnofphrase]

Making an offer can't hurt either.

It certainly cannot. Assuming the seller is on the lounge, he'd probably give a better bargain to a lounger if one was forthcoming.

 

[fedorafiend]

Hey Gang! I'm still new, still learning, and trying to absorb all the knowledge I can! Is this a good price for a Resistol I found on the Bay? Resistol. Any input is greatly greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Dave

Dave, you can do a lot better than $150.00, although if you really like the style it would be very difficult to find another like it.

I wouldn't offer more than $50 and that's because of the size, otherwise a good quality '60s stingy brim is worth about $35-40.00. If you were a size 7- 7 1/8 I would gladly sell you a whole bunch of '60s stingy brims, Dobbs and Resistols for the price.

 

[davers]

Bummer! My noodle is 7 1/2.. or maybe 7 3/8. I see a ton of hats for sale in 7, 7 1/8, but very few in my 7.5 size. Stupid cro magnon skull!

Thanks again!

Dave

 

[tonyb]

If you really want a hat in that particular style ("Mad Men" has fueled considerable interest in styles of that era, a phenomenon that isn't wasted on the seller, seeing how a picture of the Don Draper character in a similarly styled lid is included in the listing), you could do much, much worse than dropping 150 bucks on that hat, especially considering its size, and yours.

It's a genuine '60s vintage Resistol in apparently very good shape, and it has that "kitten" finish, which is quite nice and kinda hard to find these days. (Although I seriously doubt the felt is 100 percent beaver fur, as the seller claims, presumably out of ignorance [to give him or her the benefit of the doubt]; just because it says XXX beaver doesn't mean it's all-beaver, or even that it contains any significant amount of beaver fur.)

Obviously it's a better buy at 50 bucks than 150, but I defy a person to find an equal value in a new hat. So from that perspective, I'd say sure, it's worth it.

I dig the two-tone bow on it. That's sufficiently unusual to have me wondering if it is original to the hat. Ain't sayin' that it ain't, only that I've never before seen such a thing on a Resistol of that vintage.

 

[tonyb]

And, as jlee562 already noted ...

It appears to have a Cavanagh edge (or Mode edge or Custom edge or whatever Resistol called its version of it), and that just plain isn't done these day, so that makes it all the more special, at least from the reasonably well-versed hat aficionado's point of view.

 

[davers]

Thanks TonyB! I'm liking that hat...even though it has only a 2" brim. The only thing I have to compare it to is my Stetson Firenze..and that has a 2 3/8 brim.. I just hope it doesn't go away in the next week or so...I need to build up my funds a bit and then I'll make an offer...

Thanks again everyone!

Dave

 

[tonyb]

Thanks TonyB! I'm liking that hat...even though it has only a 2" brim. The only thing I have to compare it to is my Stetson Firenze..and that has a 2 3/8 brim.. I just hope it doesn't go away in the next week or so...I need to build up my funds a bit and then I'll make an offer...

Thanks again everyone!

Dave

Well, they're like buses and girlfriends that way. You kinda hate to miss your chance at one, but another will be along soon enough.

 

[newturnofphrase]

Although I seriously doubt the felt is 100 percent beaver fur, as the seller claims, presumably out of ignorance [to give him or her the benefit of the doubt]; just because it says XXX beaver doesn't mean it's all-beaver, or even that it contains any significant amount of beaver fur.

If I were the seller I'm sure I would say that I am indeed ignorant of the proportion of actual beaver in the hat, and was simply going by what it said on the sweatband as well as the soft, light, thin felt it's made of. I compared it to that of new hats in a high-end local hat shop, and the new ones were markedly inferior in both felt-quality and overall craftsmanship.

I dig the two-tone bow on it. That's sufficiently unusual to have me wondering if it is original to the hat. Ain't sayin' that it ain't, only that I've never before seen such a thing on a Resistol of that vintage.

Again I'm sure the seller would say that the ribbon appears to be original, or else so well replaced that no trace of an original, different band can be found. The feather is a nice touch as well.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

+1 for Tonyb's observations. That's a nice Resistol. At $150 it is not a bargain, but it is a fair price for the quality. IMHO!

 

[tonyb]

If I were the seller I'm sure I would say that I am indeed ignorant of the proportion of actual beaver in the hat, and was simply going by what it said on the sweatband as well as the soft, light, thin felt it's made of. I compared it to that of new hats in a high-end local hat shop, and the new ones were markedly inferior in both felt-quality and overall craftsmanship. ...

Does the sweatband embossing say its 100 percent beaver fur? It appears to read BEAVER XXX.

Again, I'm not suggesting that the seller is deliberately misrepresenting the merchandise, but only that he is making the quite common (but nonetheless inaccurate) assumption that the inclusion of the word "beaver" on a hat's sweatband means it contains a significant percentage of beaver fur.

Hope you and the eventual buyer both come away from the transaction satisfied. As I said already, even at the somewhat inflated-seeming asking price, a person couldn't get nearly so much hat for that kind of money down at the hat store. It's a very nice hat, by the looks of it, and a good value for the person looking for that style of lid, in that size.

 

[Jedwbpm]

Resistol Kitten Finnish 7 5/8 Cav edge. $18.50 on ebay November of 2010

Jeff

 

[newturnofphrase]

I'm surprised this thread is getting so much play. I thank you, Tonyb, for the information on the beaver content, but to be clear for others who may be confused or haven't read the sale, I did not misstate anything, and if it's unclear it's simply because I am ignorant of the precise definition of Beaver XXX wrt the actual beaver content of the hat. I said "the hat is made of 100% XXX beaver fur felt" based on the sweatband, which statement is accurate at least in reference to the sweatband. Whatever proportion of the felt is actually beaver I leave up to Resistol. Quibble with the marketing strategy of Resistol hats if you want, I'm just repeating what it says. I also included a photo of the sweat for customers to inspect for themselves.

Jeff, one common complaint on this site is that prices of fedoras have kept going up over the past few years. This is likely a combination of renewed stylishness of vintage fedoras along with the inferior products that are generally available in hat stores. Demand goes up, supply stays the same. Prices go up. I got this last year in an auction for way more than you paid for that one 2 years ago. What I paid was typical in my view, and plus shipping for both hat and vintage box the break-even is a reasonable negotiation down from my buy-it-now. The buy-it-now isn't a bargain, but the price is fair in my view because bargain-negotiation is what 'make an offer' is for.

 

[newturnofphrase]

+1 for Tonyb's observations. That's a nice Resistol. At $150 it is not a bargain, but it is a fair price for the quality. IMHO!

Thanks Grizzly

 

[tonyb]

I'm surprised this thread is getting so much play. I thank you, Tonyb, for the information on the beaver content, but to be clear for others who may be confused or haven't read the sale, I did not misstate anything, and if it's unclear it's simply because I am ignorant of the precise definition of Beaver XXX wrt the actual beaver content of the hat. I said "the hat is made of 100% XXX beaver fur felt" based on the sweatband, which statement is accurate at least in reference to the sweatband. Whatever proportion of the felt is actually beaver I leave up to Resistol. Quibble with the marketing strategy of Resistol hats if you want, I'm just repeating what it says. I also included a photo of the sweat for customers to inspect for themselves. ...

Huh, I must be in need of new spectacles. For the life of me, I can't see anything on that sweatband that says it's "100 percent" anything. If I'm wrong about that, I'll be the first to acknowledge it. But again, I don't see it.

I can see how that kitten finish might lead a person to think the fur content is indeed something special, because, well, it has a very nice "hand," if it's at all like the other kitten finish Reistol's I've handled.

 

[newturnofphrase]

Huh, I must be in need of new spectacles. For the life of me, I can't see anything on that sweatband that says it's "100 percent" anything. If I'm wrong about that, I'll be the first to acknowledge it. But again, I don't see it.

Good point. It also doesn't say it's made of felt. I shouldn't assume these things.