Club Obi Wan

Indy Mag and I finally got that new felt in from HJ yesterday. This new felt will solve the quality issues I have had with their other felt. The new felt appears to be the same thickness as the Raiders felt, and is a much more stable felt. I am impressed with it. It doesn't shrink like crazy when you hit it with heat or steam, and has more meat than what HJ has been putting out in the last few years. I absolutely love it. It is more expensive for him to buy, but worth every cent. Heads above their regular offering. I can finally feel really good about these HJs I do for Indy. It's the best rabbit felt I have seen since I sold my last vintage HJ. His customers will be very surprised, and very happy. Fedora

Awesome, Steve! I'm glad to hear that. I can't wait to see what the hat this felt will make. If this is even closer to the Raiders felt than any other, this will be great!

Dave

Good news my friend.
Glad to hear that. HJ is a "possible hat" for me.

Regards,
-Alfonso

Wow!,I'm waiting on a Mag HJ,I hope my hat has this new felt!

Wow, I´m looking forward to see these these new HJs. I wonder if Christy´s will also change to the thicker felt?

I ordered a black Mg Hj . Will it be made with this felt ?

That's good to hear. Look forward to seeing the photos posted!

I think the black HJs that came in were the regular felt. I will check again to see. Pretty sure though.

All outstanding orders from Indy will get this heavier felt. I think you will be impressed, if you have owned HJs in the past.

I doubt Christy will be using this felt, but who knows? Indy had to order it special, that is, have it specially made for him. Fedora

Will the black fedoras eventualy be made out of these better felts ?

Caber

A very interesting and unexpected development!

Well, that tears it...I need a new hat!

As I announced in the vendor section, I am about to get out of the doing the hats for Indy Mag. I am gearing up for Indy 5 in case that comes to pass. So, I think he has a few of these bodies left, not sold yet. If you want one, now is the time to pounce. (a great play on words) Thanks. Fedora

yes nice play on words Steve - it was certainly FELT by all!

After working up 10 of these new thicker felt HJs, my opinon of this felt has only gotten better, if that is possible. I am really impressed.

First, this felt for some reason is not the same unstable felt I have pulled my hair out, for the last year or so. Is it because it is thicker? I really don't know. All that I do know is it is hard to shrink down, whereas, the old thinner felt shrinks with just a shot of steam. I have to really work to get this felt to shrink up, and this amazes me, because that is not my typical experience with ANY rabbit felt, except vintage rabbit.

Since I am getting these in with the sweatband not removed, I can knock one of these hats out in just an hour!!! Took me about 3 hours on the others. I will post a pic later on today or tomorrow of one of them so you can see what they look like.

This is indeed one of the best rabbit adventure fedoras I have ever seen come from my shop. I am so impressed, and feel this is good enough to be an AB hat, that I have offered Indy Mag to keep making them, as long as he prices them so I don't get overwhelmed. I can easily make 7 to 8 on my day off, if need be. And these hats, unlike the old HJs are really a joy to work up. And are excellent enough to bear the AB name, unlike the old HJ felt.

I have submitted to Magnoli, that he offer off the shelf sizing for one price, and if you have to have a custom sized hat, he could offer those at a higher price, since I can't make one in an hour. I will have to use my sweats in the custom sized ones, instead of just leaving in the HJ sweat. The custom sized ones basically take almost as long as my own line, as I have to size the sweats, my sweats, and replace all of the ribbon.

On the off the shelf sizes, I just keep the stock HJ ribbon, but DO REPLACE the bow with an Raiders accurate bow. For the custom sized ones(in between off the shelf sizing) I have to totally replace all of the ribbon, plus the bows. Just the ribbon for this hat costs me 10 bucks! That ribbon sure ain't cheap, in fact, they charge expoentially too much for it. But if you want to use the right ribbon, you have to pay the piper.

Regardless of which new HJ you are talking about, all HJs get the Raiders block, a reblock that is. It completely changes the way this hat looks, and turns it from a TOD or LC hat into a proper Raiders fedora. And I don't think anyone will be plagued with that fast shrinkage that is commonly associated with HJs. Plus, I saturate these hats with my new water repellant treatment, which will also help out.

I had given up on the HJs, but now I got to have me one, as soon as I get Indy's orders made. 99 per cent of his outstanding orders will be shipped out by the end of this week. 10 are being shipped out today along with 5 of my own. So, if you ordered one, and have been waiting on it, the time is finally here.

So, if you order an off the shelf sized HJ, you will get a hat that has been reblocked, pounced, brim cut, with new more accurate bow. And sewed in liner.

The custom sized ones will get reblocked, pounced, AB sweat, brim cut and completely new ribbon and sewn in liner.

Still waiting on hearing back from Indy on what he wants to do, so this is not set in stone yet, that is, the future availability of the HJ from me. But, I am so impressed with this new felt, that even if he does not offer them, I will offer them myself in the future. I finally found a rabbit felt that I think is worthy of the AB name. So, this hat will be available, either from him, or me in the future. It will be my own rabbit line, one way or the other. Fedora

Its great to hear that this new felt is more than living up to your expectations, Steve. I cannot wait to see what it yields, coming off the block. I also think that the two different offerings, stock and custom, is a great idea. Very good thinking on that one. However, I think that you might want to consider offering the off the shelf hats through Magnoli and the custom hats yourself. Just an idea, but from a business standpoint, I think you have more to benefit from that. They will have your sweats and your name, unlike the stock ones. This one, in my humble opinion, should be offered by you and only you. Just a suggestion.

Dave

However, I think that you might want to consider offering the off the shelf hats through Magnoli and the custom hats yourself.

The stock HJ will not make a Raiders fedora. It has to be reblocked. Not many would want a stock HJ, no matter how good the felt is. Like the older HJs, they don't have the right block, and they don't set it in with heat and steam. It's a dry blocked hat, in other words. It needs the extra treatment. Plus, the stock HJ is too tall. Gotta get it down to a max of 5 1/2 inches open crown. My fuller blocks does that by taking up that extra 1/4 inch, in the process of getting out the stock taper. Fedora

Sorry, I didn't mean stock.

I meant off the rack/shelf. I know you have to reblock these.

Dave

Sorry, I didn't mean stock.

Oh, now I understand!!! I am a bit dense sometimes, when I am in a hurry. (which I am when I make all of my posts here)

I could of course only offer the custom from my shop, as I can buy these Hjs as well as Magnoli can. I had that almost set up once, a few years ago. But, Magnoli and I have a relationship, and once I start these, I am intent on maintaining these relationships.(if at all possible) Plus, it helps him out with his own business, and I have always been a fan of Magnoli's because he was one of the early guys to offer us stuff. I feel the same way about Lee Keppler. I gave his factory my blocks to use for his own line of hats. Now, none of this from a certain point of view could be seen as good capitalism. But, I am more than that. It's all about being friends with these guys. Because one day, I won't be doing the new hat deal, but these guys will still be around and so will I. They are more important to me, than the hats I make. Or that Marc makes.

I could buy these HJs and just offer them myself, and make a whole lot more money. But, believe it or don't, this never has been about the money, to me. But, it is about friendship, and money can't buy that! I am a people person, and people, will always come first. So, I try to spread this hat business deal around as much as I can.

If I were a pure capitalist, and greedy, I would have made all of the film hats myself, and took all of that glory(that term cracks me up) but that is not who I am. I will always pull others along for the ride. It's alot more fun when you got folks you like, involved in this sort of stuff. Like Marc and I bringing in John Penman if this new film gets off the ground. Marc and I have never been ruled by the bottom line of a profit statement. We may appear to be, but trust me, if we could sell our hats for 200 bucks, and not have folks wait over a year, we would do that, and be happy about it. The only time real business plays a role with us, is when we use the demand versus supply principle. It is impossible for us to sell at what we would like, and then be able to actually make the orders in a timely manner. Because, no matter if you made the Indy 4 hats, people still get upset with the wait times. So, we are forced into it, and not something we planned out. A bit off topic, but I tend to ramble.

So yes, it would be more profitable for me just to offer all of the HJs, now that I have finally seen a felt worthy of the AB name. And I could make alot more money by doing so. But then, I could not be involved with Indy Mag. Sometimes you do stuff, just because you like someone. That's the case here, and the same with Lee Keppler. Even Ken at Camptown and I were kicking around a hat idea a couple years ago. It would be much simpler for me to just be involved with my own hats. But why not spread it around? So much more fun and fulfilling for me to do it the way I do it.

But Dave, your point is well taken, and appreciated, and don't take this post as anything other than an explanation to the method of my madness. I try to make this hatmaking deal fun. And the more folks involved, the more I enjoy it.

Magnoli has a penchant for HJs. He has owned a few. The stock offereing was just too bad in blockshape for him to sell. He has worked his tale off in getting some good felt from HJ, so we both could be proud of this brand. He spent alot of time in doing so. And man, he sure hit a home run here. After working up 10 of these hats, I was so impressed, and I knew from past experience, I could not find a better rabbit felt, and a more perfect color for the Raiders fedora, I just had to be involved in some way. I planned on offering a rabbit Raiders fedora, but had not found a felt that was tough enough until he got HJ to make him some. So, my rabbit line will be an HJ, (poetic justice) but with my blocks and my bows. I am doing what I think Mr. Swales did. I think he took a factory HJ, and then used it to bespoke the Raiders fedora. I feel I am doing the same thing with Mag's Hjs. And, I must confess, it makes me feel like I am doing just what Swales did. And, I love that! Fedora

I completely understand you, Steve. That is part of why you are one of my favorite hatters. I cannot do business with a person I don't think highly of. That is why I simply won't order a hat from certain hatters. There are some guys that make nice hats but I just cannot bring myself to order one. You have given so much to this community, and hatting in general. It is rare to find someone who is so loyal to their customers, friends, suppliers, and partners. By the way, I'm placing my order for that CS grey hat at the end of the week.

Dave