Some of the following time-lines may be slightly inaccurate due to years of alcohol consumption. I first joined this site back in about 98' and when I did the HJ, and the PB were the kings of the Indy hat world. Before then we had the Miller and a couple of others, some of which my board predecessors would recall much better than myself.
Upon first getting into thoughts of buying the gear I began looking for the perfect Indy hat and it seemed at the time the HJ was being pushed aside for the newer Peter's Bros. hats which Joe Jr. was churning out at a fast pace and took the gear world by storm. Evenryone who was new to the board could not help but notice the vast amounts of gearheads buying them and the reveiws were pouring in by the 10's and 20's. Every time a new soul reported for gear duty, they were directed to the new PB's. It seemed to be the perfect Indy fedora. Bulletproof, they called it, even though it clearly was not. It was simply an annoying a punn which stuck. Never mind the bad reviews, not that there could be many becuase many were stuck on the bandwagon. Even if there was a negative thing to say, some were simply afraid to say it. At least, that was my thought on it.
Soon after, or perhaps even in the midst of the PB craze comes the Keppler. Again, news of the Keppler spead like wildfire and all the newbies were pointed out to it. Soon the reviews came in and it seemed a new dog was on the Indy horizon. It didn't take long for the Keppler to gain in popularity and for sales to flourish. No word on how long it'd take you to get it, but when you did, all said they were more than thrilled with it. Soon talk of the PB dropped considerably and the Keppler took it's place of the 'hat of the day' here on COW.
Then came to onslaught of the Akruba's. Standard, Federation, Deluxe, etc. People were still wearing their PB's and Kepplers along with a few die hards who still stuck to their guns and their HJ's. However, it wasn't long before everyone and their mother was telling every other gearhead to get a Fed. Fed this and fed that. Soon people began to buy into the fed craze and were laying down their other felts for the newly, highly regarded Fed. It seemed to be the new buzz. Whether you were an expert on the subject or just a newbie, you could count on someone to tell you it's the best hat for the money and you should get one. Never mind the other hats or hat makers, the Fed was it! Or, at least, that's what the majority was telling us.
The Fed's had a long run but soon after came the discovery of the thinner felts and Optimo. Soon it started all over again. Word of the new, lightweight felt seeped into the veins of COW and soon a new craze was born. It seemed it was the felt we'd been waiting for and a new fedora craze was on. People were laying down the PB's and Fed's the HJ was now off the radar screen. The buzz had begun again and the Optimo was the new word of the Indy fedora world. If you were just joining us at that time, you were directed to Optimo if you wanted a serious Indy hat and had a larger pocketbook. Kids were pinching pennies and some adults were too. Either way, you were told that Optimo was the bee's knees and that if you had the dough, you were in the know. Otherwise, it was back to an Akruba for you.
During the tail end and slightly after the Optimo craze came other offers from smaller vendors trying to rescue the now debunked HJ and they had a few takers who wanted to go back to the early days of Indygear youth. It was a slightly stagnant time of the Indygear fedora. Reviews were slower and the vendor scene came to a sort of standstill.
Winding down to the present, we have a new top dog in town. The Adventurebilt fedora. It didn't take long for the AB to get to where it is today, at the top of the fedora food chain. The reviews came swiftly and the results were all good. It seemed Indygear finally had an in-house hatter who cares. The quality is as good of any of the previous offerings and it seems people here just cannot get enough of this hat. The AB is the new 'flavor of the month', or year as it usually goes here.
Looking back on all of this I find a pattern that emerges and it's not just there, but other boards as well. When something get's popular to a certain group, the group as a whole overhadows the rest. We hardly hear talk of the Fed, Optimo or HJ and almost never hear of the PB's anymore. All talk has focused on the new. As it has been for some time now, whenever someone posts asking about the older offerings, their told to save money and look into the AB. Because the majority are now getting into ordering these, the fever is now in full swing and iI've found it almost seems trivial to the group as a whole even consider another hat. When newbies now come in the door, you can bet your bottom dollar that the one hat they will be told to buy is the AB, by the majority of members. When some ask what the cheapest Indy fedora is to get, some are simply told to get an AB. Not even a correct answer to the question, but that's the type of pattern that emerges here and abroad.
I was thinking about this pattern we see here and I'm wondering if those posting these sorts of things are honest in their opinions or if they are falling prey to the mojority opinion. I wonder how many of those posting about the AB have EVER seen or handled any of the many other offerings we have here? We do still have them, don't we? Over the years I've seen people say things like "PB is the best", or "You have to get a Fed, it's the best Indy hat", but had they ever owned another fedora or even had the chance to compare their new favorite hat with ANY of the other offerings of the time?
I just was thinking about all of this and about how I have seen these patterns emerge over the years. I wonder just how much experience those who are constantly posting about certain products have with other products in the COW lineup? Not just fedoras, but with any of the gear. We see people saying, 'Why get that when you can have the best fedora/jacket/pants/etc. out there?" , but do they REALLY know the product before they speak up? Maybe so.
I do know that many, many, many people have been swayed and sent down the wrong path by reviews that have been less than truthful or knowlegeable, especially early on in this hobby. In the end, it's all up to whatever is your personal taste to decide what gear is best for you and how you want to use it. I just hope that we don't see too many more people 'jumping on the bandwagon' and that we get a look at the BIG picture and not forget we have quite a few vendors out there who don't get the recognition they should or as much as they should around here. anymore I can see looking back that it's easy to get trapped into so many positive reviews but we can't forget that there is a flipside to everything and that some of these products have good AND possibly some bad, as past ventures have shown. Heck, it used to be "You have to get a PB, they're tough as nails!", now instead of PB, it's AB. It's funny when you've been here a while and you can look back and see these sorts of things taking place. The bandwagon. It makes me wonder who the flavor or the month will be next year or the year after that? Where will gear be in 2 years? Where can we go?
I was involved in the history mentioned. I bought 3 Optimos. 1200 bucks. I liked the block shape of the Optimo, the most accurate until I started. What I did not like was the felt vs. the price. But, the price of a hat, somtimes is one of the selling points. If it costs more, it has to be better. 
