Club Obi Wan

Here's something I thought I'd throw out to you guys to mull over, see what ya think, give some feedback, that sort of thing.

Ron, I hope it isn't forward of me to discuss this, just an idea I had.

Some people here and and over at the Fedora Lounge are making comments that they wished that Ron would continue to offer a 6 inch open crown, even higher for some folks who love vintage.

Other folks are enthused at the idea of newer Federations with other colors and good, straight-sided crowns that are not too tall for their tastes.

My question is, if Hatsdirect wants to expand their fedora line, why not offer an Original Federation (i.e., keep the original block line with the 6 inch open crown) and offer a newer line with this new block and new colors, called the Refederation or something, I don't know.

Point being, keep both lines going instead of killing off a line that a lot of people like.
Any chance of that?
What do you guys think?

Whyyyyyyyy, thank you, citRon.

good idea.

I think a lot of us feel this way. The current Federation doesn't have to be an Indy hat. It has the proportions for making a very good vintage replica. It can take a C Crown bash, a center dent, diamond teardrop, or any number of other shapes.
If the new one is only meant to be an Indy clone, it may not work for other purposes.

yeah thats why i think they should replace the deluxe instead. the standard is good for people wanting a good work hat for everyday use that is goon for anyones budget. what there making is a cheep deluxe that is practicaly the same and no body will buy the federation deluxe when there is one better for less than the price.

From what I've read in posts on other threads is that the Federation Deluxe will also be updated in the future with the new block-shape, etc. Please, someone correct me if I've misread. In any case, that would mean that the Fed Dlx will still be worth the extra money, because it will be made of finer material, and will have the same shape as the Reg Federation offering. Hatsdirect is simply STARTING their modifications with the Regular Fed, and will move it on to the Deluxe. I think you can read this in one of the posts in the thread titled, "Ron's New Federation IV" (or something similar).

I DO like that idea, the keeping of the original Fed block and general shape, whilst introducing a newer (but not necessarily improved) version. I'm sure the new block will be great, but Spatterdash has a point that so many people are great fans of the ORIGINAL Fed design.
The question for Ron would be, from a business standpoint, is it going to be economical to have two lines of more-or-less the same hat going simultaneously? Can HatsDirect handle that kind of ordering load from Akubra? This model is made exclusively for Ron's company, thus it's kind of a special order item.

All speculation, of course...

Airforceindy,

My point exactly. Let's see some new stuff, some more quality stuff from Ron, but let's keep the classic Federation block as well.
Just my vote.

I would love to see Hatsdirect doing that sort of business, where maintaining two quality lines is profitable for them.

At 6'4" and 235 pounds, I am a big fan of the 6" crown and the 70x73 mm brim. As a matter of fact, I just ordered another Fed Deluxe in the old style before they go, too. I own two regular Feds (I'm selling the Tawny Fawn because it doesn't suit my coloring).

As a point of interest, the Fed Deluxe I ordered last year turned out to be a fluke of sorts. It has 5 1/2 inch crown and the brim is less than the 70x73. Jenny offered to exchange it, but I chose to keep it to avoid the hassle of excess shipping fees. I think the full size Fed looks much better on me. I had Jenny double check this last order before shipping.

Add me to those voting to keep a Fed in 6" crown and 70 x 73.

Picker

One more vote the 6 inch crown.

I agree. I'll be buying my federation deluxe soon anyway though so, eh.

If they would also offer a range starting from 5.25 would be even better.
Btw Ron confirmed me that the hat is not 6" but 5 3/4". It used to be 6" but they changed that.

Picker wrote:
As a point of interest, the Fed Deluxe I ordered last year turned out to be a fluke of sorts...and the brim is less than the 70x73. Jenny offered to exchange it, but I chose to keep it to avoid the hassle of excess shipping fees.

Picker

-Not that big of a fluke, mine didn't have a 70x73 brim either. Mine measures an even 2 5/8 all the way around.