Club Obi Wan

This little card was tucked into the sweatband of my new Federations. I placed it on the DVD case to show the yellow to orange theme. Does Akubra know something we don't? ........

Nice piece of associative advertising. I wouldn't read too much into it. The one in their pic has a teardrop crown tho!

I'd read a lot into it, because it's very possible the Raiders hat was an Akubra- the "Australian Model" Nadoolman described. My new Fed is in the middle of a 72 hour pork pie session, because it's obvious to me the Raiders hat was once a pork pie. ..."the Authentic Hat is quite a claim. Borsalinos Optimos and AB's aren't authentic hats? "THE" "HAT"? That implies one single particular hat, according to my English language training. -... Unless Akubra is claiming they made the first hat in human history, or make the only authentic hat.

I think you are reading to much into it. I think the word authentic in there add is to keep from getting sued at the same time getting people to buy their hats( thinking it is the one from the films).

3Thou I know, but they have no idea really either if their hats were used by Swales or HJ or whatever, at least no definitive proof.

The headline could just as well be interpreted as "The Authentic (Australian) Hat". Meaning that all their hats are authentic Australian, as they no doubt are.

The word "Authentic" in advertising has just as much legal weight as "Fresh or Low Fat," ie: not a lot at all.

If they're saying 'authentic' and implying this is the AUTHENTIC Raiders hat,then that would mean that they know something that WE don't,and are keeping something VERY important from us!! ,which wouldn't make a lot of sense because they are,first and foremost, a business and surely they would increase their business considerably if it was proved that they made THE authentic Raiders hat,so they wouldn't want to keep it a secret..sorry I'm rambling,just came in from the pub!

I too, would find it VERY odd if that was what Akubra was trying to say here. They (Akubra) were the ones who insisted that the Federation was called, well, the 'Federation'...in honor of the Centennial of the British Federation, and they did NOT want it associated or confused in any way with the Indiana Jones franchise.

Now, if there was ANY good market strategy and marketing involved, THAT'S when they should have been making this hinted association, as we were hot on the trail of this hat back THEN, and they KNEW it....but had NO interest what so ever in that connection being made between their hat and the movie hat. They DID want to enter the market, and knew we were experimenting with their hats to create an Indy hat. In concert with our efforts, advice, and help, the Federation was born, and then the Fed Deluxe. They had absolutely nothing on the shelf to match it.

So, why do it now? Personally, I think they're trying to make the connection between the 'adventure' aspect of the hat and the movies, as the Akubra HAS been 'out there' for generations, and proving itself in real world application. Where Indiana Jones is the 'definition' of the adventure in fictional depiction, Akubra IS the adventure hat in real life, and can prove it.

Regards! Michaelson

It's obvious, but no one has said it yet - the guys hands are on his hips like Indy's and the text is laid out similar to what's on screen. The rest of his clothing could pass for Indy's. ........ How would Akubra know the Raiders hat was one of theirs in 1981? Looking at it, it wouldn't look like any stock Akubra, because of the turn. ..... ....... I think maybe they heard some rumors, developed a strong suspicion, and just had a feeling about it all along. And maybe they finally turned one experimentally after a visit to Indygear. But maybe they still aren't 100% certain. They have deep pockets and wouldn't make any Indiana Jones claims unless they were. ............ On the other hand, why was HJ so halting and hesitant to fully exploit such a goldmine? a degree of guilt? ..... yesterday Fedora ruminated:

I have asked Ron at hatsdirect to check with Akubra to see if they were selling Akubras to HJ during the late 1970's and early 80's. It would be a gas if we discovered that the Austalian model mentioned by Deborah was actually an Akubra, and not an HJ. Since I know for certain that HJ sold Stetsons once upon a time, it is not a leap to think they also sold Akubras along with their own brands. I can imagine the scenerio now. The first film hit it big, and Swales was aware of it. The next film starts up and Swales makes a business decision to make sure the HJ brand is in this film and he gives the costumer the Poet, thinking no one would ever know the difference!!! Of course, we all could tell the Raiders hat was different from the other two film hats, but ordinary folks would not notice. That would explain why the Raiders fedora was different.

Hmm, and what if...

...if it is a teaser from a probable future hat supplier for, ehm, Indy 4? I mean, I know that for the 3 movies it was a HJ domain but, you know, time is changing and within the fan community the Federation/Deluxe is considered one of the best on the market (I mean the shape accuracy etc.).
Or, maybe, HJ is currently considered too expensive? Maybe there will be need of huge amount of hats?

Just an idea...

More likely, Michaelson is true. He is older and more experienced...

I doubt that Lucasfilm would buy open crown hats for the film, and assume that Hats Direct doesn't have a proper 'Indy' hat block to bash these themselves in order to satisfy any IJIV needs.

I think Akubra is positioning itself for Indy 4. IMHO. Millions of hat will be sold after the film hits the market, more so than the last time, when Stetson could not make enough hats to meet the demand. They even subbed out hat production overseas as Michaelson mentioned once upon a time. The millions that will be buying Indy fedoras will by and large NOT know the difference between a c-dent hat and the Indy crease. Dorfman still has no clue as to what the original hat looked like, going by what they offer as their Official Indy fedora. Fedora

Dorfman still has no clue as to what the original hat looked like, going by what they offer as their Official Indy fedora

Since they sell the hat as the 'official' hat then I'm sure they won't have a problem using it as the 'official' hero hat for Indy 4.

I wish we lived in a world where large corporations would live by their own false advertising.

"Official" is rarely "accurate"

1) Both the licensor and the producer are in it to make as much money for as little outlay as possible.

2) The retailers wants as low price point as possible, more units sold at a low price = more profit than less units at a high price. (At least that's the way they see it).

3) Often the product is catered for the lowest common denominator see point 2.

4) The executive in charge of overseeing the project often is not a fan (some stuck up MBA) and has little attention to detail.

5) The highest quality/cost ratio is Master Replicas, now MR stuff is OK but nowhere as good as it could be, manufacturing costs and price point is still a big factor here.

If Akubra ended up making the "Official" Indy 4 hat, they would have to pay Lucasfilm a large royalty for the privilage to call it official, so either the price goes up or the product is down specced (nice way to say corners cut). I don't even know if they have the capacity to make as many hats as would be needed. They might be the default "Master Replicas" level of hat. Although if MR were to make a hat I doubt very much if they would go to Akubra to make it.

It may well be that the Dorfman being made of wool and heat stamped into the teardrop crown is the only way to mass produce at a low enough price to be cost effective, all things considered, for the casual fan.

I went home this weekend and took a look at my old DP that I got in 1991ish...it did not have a tear drop crown, it actually had the front to back center dent. However, the DP that I got in 1998ish has the tear drop. Not sure why they changed it, but their original hat had the "better" bash.

Indiana Kev wrote:I went home this weekend and took a look at my old DP that I got in 1991ish...it did not have a tear drop crown, it actually had the front to back center dent. However, the DP that I got in 1998ish has the tear drop. Not sure why they changed it, but their original hat had the "better" bash.

Really? I never knew Dorfman actually did the center dent on their hats. Was this the wool DP or the Fur? I had a wool from the same era (very early 90's) and it had the teardrop crown. I managed to correct it with a little cold water and a re-bash by hand, but I never knew they used to come that way. That makes me even more mad that Dorfman had the look (sorta) right at one point and actually for whatever reason, made it WORSE when the switched to the teardrop.

-GCR

GCR wrote: Really? I never knew Dorfman actually did the center dent on their hats. Was this the wool DP or the Fur? I had a wool from the same era (very early 90's) and it had the teardrop crown. I managed to correct it with a little cold water and a re-bash by hand, but I never knew they used to come that way. That makes me even more mad that Dorfman had the look (sorta) right at one point and actually for whatever reason, made it WORSE when the switched to the teardrop.

-GCR

My early 90s DP was wool with the center dent. I wanted to take some pics of it and post them, but I left the digital camera at my apartment. When I go home for thanksgiving I'll snap a pic of my old dp and post it.

It also makes me made that DP was "sorta" on the right track, only to stray far away.

Perhaps the Akubra is like the "One Ring"

"One hat to wear them all, one hat to block them,
One hat to be bought all, and Harrison Ford to wear them"

Oh, but I better mention that I am a firm AB fan.... Akubras are fine, but my fancy are my two AB's one sweet brown and one sweet gray.

"The authentic hat"?? That's a pretty pointless statement. Are hats that aren't Akubras not authentic hats? Even the cheap wool felt hat I bought when I was 14 was an authentic hat. What else could it have been?