Post Your New Eras*59-Fiftys*etc... VOL. INFINITY NOW W/ Henz0/Thunderchunk/Icy's FAQ ON PG.1

[wallyhopp]

eBay find. $16 shipped

Sort of a out of focus two photo description. Sort of knew what I was getting.

Crown is in perfect stiff straight form condition. Bill is also in a nice stiff condition. Was sold to me as brand new without tags.

Now to dating this cap. Tags seem to indicate a 1988 era Ne tag. But this cap features a glued on batterman , which they did starting in 1992

My guess is they took old stock and added the batterman during the early parts of 1992.

I have another 1992 era glued on batterman and even the wahoo stitching is different. So they may have altered things quite a bit, Getting stuff back up to the new 1992 batterman code.

Reminds me of NE now adding flags to cool base era caps and everything in between.

 

[1c3m4m]

Anyone can help a brotha get a mets rocnation fitted 7 1/2

 

[wallyhopp]

The grey under wool quest continues.


Sort of only wanted the White Sox , dodgers, and Yankees. But price was solid enough to push for all these guys

Had my eyes on a dodgers wool (price was current retail). So this made it a total bargain.

Sweatbands a bit dirty but what matters most. The crown and bills looked to be nearly unworn. After some wet wash cloth cleansing, these guys are back in business.

People are way too submissive about their used products. I'm counting a 2003-2005 era Rockies purple and then 5 2006 era white/blue NE tagged 100% wool grey under USA made goodness

 

[lil black jean jacket]

Has anyone had experience gluing a patch to a hat?
I have this 05 WS patch that I bought randomly a few years back, been meaning to use it

 

[Bert.]

Has anyone had experience gluing a patch to a hat?
I have this 05 WS patch that I bought randomly a few years back, been meaning to use it

Can be easily done. Just need to get the adhesive for behind the patch then apply to the hat with an iron

 

[el bro]

Can be easily done. Just need to get the adhesive for behind the patch then apply to the hat with an iron

Id like to know how to obtain the world series patches that New Era uses so I can glue them to the left side of the hat where they belong. Zyzz, you would probably know where I can get my hands on those.

 

[wallyhopp]

Just spotted these that just came out. The ulimate patches keep getting worse and worse.
https://www.lids.com/new-era/style_mlb-ultimate-patch-collection-world-series-20-59fifty-cap
Click if you want some laughs.

They went with the cheap border only stitching, have the patch on the wrong side, a ne flag on the left, and the batterman is raised with an odd border on most of them.

It's funny. We think some of these made in china retros from over the years are bad, like this one

And it somehow turns into this in 2017

The M on the past few of these has been oversized, too raised of a stitching element, and the white outline looks out of place.

They did a marlins '97 WS patch in all teal (which never existed).

Here's a made in china '01 dbacks vs. ultimate patch

All this sort of makes the retro classic line NOT so bad lol

 

[green rhino123]

Two ads from back before New Era ran the show...


KM Pro - 1976

Roman Pro - 1981

 

[green rhino123]

Excerpt From Article, Detroit Free Press 05/09/82

New Era closing in. Red Sox still using Devon, Phillies still using Wilson & the Brewers still using Roman Pro.
Sports Specialties about to enter into the last battle.


wallyhopp

 

[mkc1983]

Just bought this. Gonna use it for display only.

 

[wallyhopp]

green rhino123 never owned anyThing other than new era as far as vintage mlb caps go. How would you say they compare? Stitch, brim quality , etc. What made some teams use one brand over another? When NE became the official supplier, was it because of superior quality ?


Anyone see the new BP mlb caps? They're using a new lighter weight almost windbreaker material. They are replacing the diamond era material. It seems like some teams will be wearing them for real games too.

I own some poly mesh college on fields and they are lighter but also just feel crappier and cheaper. Wool all day everyday for me.

 

[green rhino123]

green rhino123 never owned anyThing other than new era as far as vintage mlb caps go. How would you say they compare? Stitch, brim quality , etc. What made some teams use one brand over another? When NE became the official supplier, was it because of superior quality ?

A complete behind-the-scenes account of how New Era managed to gain a monopoly interests me.

Always wondered if New Era being out of NY, same state as the HOF, same state given credit for the origins of baseball - had something to do with it.

In the top add I posted - KM Pro notes it's 7 stitched brim...New Era used to brag that more stitches meant higher quality (NE has 8 )


As far as Red Sox hats - KM Pro and then Devon/TE made higher quality on-field caps than New Era at the time. Down to the embroidery.
New Era struggled with its embroidery for a while. Check out some of the funky logos on some '70's era NE caps.
Wilson worked with ANNCO I believe & I never liked ANNCO quality but I've never handled an on-field Phillies Wilson cap.

 

[green rhino123]

KM Pro on-field from this era

Devon cap

now check out the B's on the NE caps from this era...they didn't get it right...

Spoiler

....until 1989...

its a little more complicated than that but you get the picture

 

[wallyhopp]

green rhino123 great info as always. Reminds me a bit of the nba jerseys from the late 90s. Puma. Nike. Champion. Starter. Reebok.

It's why I like the college baseball landscape. Most have never heard of 'the game' or proline as cap brands. Lately Nike and under armor has overtaken some stallworth programs and turned them into just another feather in their cap. Nike caps are no better than the game. Same with adidas and pro line. The game and proline are a touch cheaper so there is definitely a perception that drives things for consumers towards Nike and under armor. But you're just paying $3-5 more for the 'name'. It used to be a lot more open as far as various cap brands. The big three have definitely stepped in on the major programs. Sad new reality for most things now.

Maybe that's what happened here. NE had that mass marketing. It is cool to see a km pro ad stating on field status. I just have to think costs may have come into play. Plus by the late 70s, you wanted your product in every major league City. So the smaller company s were great for smaller runs and team usage, it just never made much sense for widespread appeal.

Quoting myself here.. Tons of BF sales happening now

Speaking of legit websites (much like what you see/saw on page 1 (that list is OLD) here), I can provide the following websites of legit hat websites
http://neweracap.com (they used to be under the same inventory as lids. But now they have their own set of items. Worth a look)
http://ecapcity.com/
http://craniumfitteds.com/
http://mickeysplace.com/
http://myfitteds.com/
http://hatclub.com/
https://shopbspk.com/
http://4ucaps.com/

I'm sure there are others. These are the ones I have personally been in contact with.

Quick rundown for BF
lids has 30% off including almost all authentics (must be a mistake). Ebates is at 3% i think
ecapcity has anywhere from 15 to 40% off based on your spending amount
craniumfitteds.com has 45% off if you spend more than $100 and free shipping
Mickeyplace is the only site that doesnt seem to list the coupon code. So Ill put that here HOLIDAY17 for 30% off
myfitteds has 35% off almost everything.
hatclub is 25% off with free shipping BLACKFRIDAY25
shopbspk has 30% off using BLACK30
4ucaps has anywhere from 25 to 50% off. Apply BF17 at the last step before you process your order\

some others
http://47brand.com has 30% off. Dad hat central there. FRIDAY47
http://zhats.com has 30% off CYBER30

Http://final-score.com a subsidiary of Eastbay has 30% off select items. Plus Ebates has 5% off there. Select few mlb on fields available
FLOURISH NT!

 

[ninjahood]

Two ads from back before New Era ran the show...


KM Pro - 1976

Roman Pro - 1981

i remember when it was this hard to cop fitteds

New era took over IMO cuz of logistics, sporting goods stores actually started to carry fitteds, instead of having to do mail order.

even then thou, unless u lived by a sporting goods store, it was rare to see a fitted, hence why snapbacks were much more prevalent.

 

[green rhino123]

ya, late '80's/ealry '90's is when i started seeing on-field fitted & high-quality throwback fitted caps at any old store in the mall

before that it was mostly mail order, buy at the ballpark or select merchants - if you were motivated enough to hunt one down
most just copped cheap hats that were easy to find, mostly snapbacks

 

[green rhino123]

the thing with new era tho - i may have read that they were one of the companies (along with roman pro & devon) that purchased km pro's equipment when they went out of business in 1976

what got new era ahead of the others?
an advantage in mass production got them over but what specifically gave them that advantage?

 

[wallyhopp]

I'll have to dig around the web a bit and see if any blog entries pick up on the real history of the exclusive deal they struck in the 90s. So many other guys were going in strong.

In Cyber Monday news,

Hatclub up to 35% off. Got a twins 87 2017 tbtc M on field and a Indians 97 ws all navy for $42 shipped. Basically buy one get one free.

Lids is up to 35% off. Almost nothing excluded. The new pro light line is. But mlb on fields, MiLB, and NCAA ACS are not. Took a chance on one of the only retro classics they got right, the braves. We'll see how it fits. I just can't seem to find a solid one on eBay for cheap. Went with a 7 3/4 instead of traditional 8 and one other cap. It's super rare to see MiLB and NCAA new eras on sale. Lots of minor league caps I missed out on. Temptation setting in.

Got some mickeysplace stuff coming in by next week. Hope quality is up to snuff. With just one photo, I also hope the descriptions are correct.

Overall, not as good of deals as eBay but I got close to my $20-25/ fitted threshold.

Only paid retail a handful of times for all that I've accumulated over the years

 

[ii flash ii]

Damn all the 49ers 7 1/2 sold out on hat club

 

[wallyhopp]

Slightly off topic to NE, but I listed 47brand.com the other day. They are now having 40% off if you spend $150 or more, including sale items.. And then there is free shipping and no sales tax.. Ultimate sports apparel score of the year right there. All gifts accounted for now.

Was just about to drop $101 from a $144 purchase. I added some gloves, got to $152, and now my subtotal is $91 with free shipping.

In theory, one could get 10 $15 shirts for $90, which had original retail prices of around $30/a piece. $300 vs. $90. Quite the come up if you are technically buying stuff you really need.

 

[green rhino123]

I'll have to dig around the web a bit and see if any blog entries pick up on the real history of the exclusive deal they struck in the 90s. So many other guys were going in strong.

Seems like some of the others were just cashing out.

I've researched the topic some...but what I'm curious about are the people behind the deals. Who knew who, etc. The personal relationships.
That stuff is hard to glean from interviews & the like.

 

[ninjahood]

what got new era ahead of the others?
an advantage in mass production got them over but what specifically gave them that advantage?

perhaps they let were letting product rock on consignment and flooded da market.

 

[wallyhopp]

Seems like some of the others were just cashing out.

I've researched the topic some...but what I'm curious about are the people behind the deals. Who knew who, etc. The personal relationships.
That stuff is hard to gleam from interviews & the like.

A few entries note that Sports Specialties were the last remaining competitor. The sporting good segment NATIONALLY was a huge segment that went unnoticed initially. I remember that it probably took until 1996 for an all MLB on field selection at local sporting goods and NFL specific shops (im in a non specific region so it may be diff.). Lids comes around in the 2000s for a more specific variety. But that was probably their whole design scheme from the get go. Dominate the world.. $12.99 money orders from the 1980s can only get you so far. They saw the demande. MLB saw the demand. The one tier production system makes sense. And up until the poly switch in 2007, It never questioned the quality of the product. They were on top of things

 

[green rhino123]

1989 New Era authentic on-field versus 1989 Sports Specialties authentic on-field...

pretty much the exact same 'b'

if a team used both brands - the equipment manager would have both brands available for the players to choose from

 

[jordanhead718212]

Wow, that quality is crazy.