Lids Hat Drop and the Saturated Market for Fitted Caps

[@skittelzmusic]

Great Video 💯% agree that I've rediscovered Authentic Collection Grey Undervisor OG Fitteds rather than attempting to keep up with the thousands of monthly custom releases. However; I do love the creativity & artistic concepts of some of the new iterations.

[@justint.9060]

I agree the market is over saturated. I like my color ways to make sense rather than some gimmick marketing ploy.

[@jalenbraithwaite5655]

Yep I totally agree. I’ll say that I’ve fallen victim to the price shift but my cap purchasing has slowed down a lot.

[@lamambas9390]

here in Southern California, the hat boom has drove people insane. Places like Pro Image sports & CapCity’s retail locations will have 3 hour lines to pick up a fitted. Worst part about it is they all recycle the same 5 designs of baby blue or brown color ways. HatClub did an in person event on Saturday for a collection and the streets were flooded with people

[@alecrambles3259]

Thank you I just started collecting last year and capcity is insane I ordered 1 hat from them and it was 76 in totally plus every time I try to see where my package is the website goes blank.

[@joeg4707]

That Burger Collection is garbage.

[@lamambas9390]

@@joeg4707 50% of the stuff they release is, but the kids don’t care anymore. They just need it for their collection

[@tofu5138]

Been hoping you were gonna upload again, Dre!

[@dreinthe616]

Yeah, took me a bit longer to get to this one, thanks!

[@scottdassler3964]

As a lids employee I can attest to this

[@DanzTubification]

We’ll done. Great analysis of what is happening in the market.

[@bigbrooklyn6]

Great Video! Very Informative! I've been collecting hats for years but it has really been saturated over the past 2 years. Too many out there.

[@dreinthe616]

Thanks Chris, appreciate it!

[@chadkbrignall22]

I just spent $80 for black and mint 1945 Detroit Tigers impossible to find my size and hence found it in ebay and paid fortune for it. There is a market here in Canada since our selection is grossly poor

[@elgmac73]

Thank goodness all this new colorway frenzy hats are made overseas.

[@themlbkid619]

I've always been and Authentic On fields hat collector mostly MiLB and some particular scarce vintage hats as well thankfully not being affected by this continued trend of having to compete for the latest so called drops and now packs collections having collectors of these particular hats in a fomo frenzy

[@delirium3648]

I agree that within the next year we should see the peak of this insanity with ridiculous color patch brim combos. I just hope they mix in some cool retro on field collections along with these. Some places do well with restocking retro on fields but others are just pedal to the metal with these drops.

[@UnsanctionedTV_]

Hat heaven is doing exactly this, and on a higher level w the old logo w different old colorway remixes rn. It’s out there but gotta go support yourself. Might get the 94 tigers two tone Monday

[@tofu5138]

The colorways for these exclusive hat drops are also very luminous and people walk around looking like a highlighter cap… not to mention the double XL side patches they’re rocking as well, they look like headphones 🎧

[@Ty_Lew]

I really want them to succeed but the after the casino pack, all the colorways have just been overkill

[@bishopjudas427]

Access Pass discount is automatic at LIDSHD for members.

[@dreinthe616]

Correct, if you use your Access Pass email it is automatically applied to the cart - that is one of the main benefits of Lids HD - since Fanatics is not running the site, Lids is perfectly fine granting the 20% discount to subscribers. I did notice the Access Pass annual fee went up to $10, but still a great deal if you buy lots of caps from them.

[@troybrown5663]

Great information man! Im an old head with fitteds. The one that likes only the plain on field caps. LOL! But i actually got some with the patches and suede on the underbrim. I remember when we only wore our fan teams. But now we can wear any team and not be looked at as a fan of that team. LOL! Great Video!

[@Gump-tion]

Man, who you telling?! I wear Yankees on Friday then Red Socks on Saturday. Sacrilege!

[@dreinthe616]

Thanks man, really appreciate the praise! I have a mix too, but mostly going back to the classics now.

[@10.11.9]

@@dreinthe616 Leather sweatbands? :)

[@ckrissckross7361]

Hello lids so u will be selling these fitted hats in all stores in the u.s?? If so that would be awesome and if there will be more??

[@punisher8632]

Interesting video 👍

[@bensantellano]

Thanks for the awesome video!! I really learned a lot. I think you are able to see the market through perfect vision. I agree with you because of what hat history suggests, as you said. This is the next thing, but it's old already. Everyone is gonna have patches and pins and pink highlights on, just saying.

[@dreinthe616]

Thanks for the comments!

[@10.11.9]

I haven't walked into a Lids since the late nineties. The saturated market for fitted caps reminds me of baseball card collecting in the 1980s. New Era has been on a downward spiral since they went polyester in 2007. In terms of quality, that is; I'm sure their profit margins are at all-time highs.

[@dreinthe616]

That's a pretty good analogy, I remember when everyone went bananas for glossy and overproduced baseball cards (Upper Deck et al.) and it ended up crashing the entire market for a while. Thanks for the comments.

[@joeg4707]

All good points. The big question is when will demand slow or when will the "fad" taper? By mid-2021--as difficult as custom 59FIFTYs were to get--I had accumulated enough crazy colorways and various themes of MLB teams that I stopped collecting. You guessed/estimated things could slow down in 12 months; and they might. If it demand sustains beyond that, the market has to be expanding--bringing in new buyers.

[@dreinthe616]

Agree - I'm at the point where I've got just about every colorway that I've really wanted, even some from the early days of this dominant trend - so I'm not terribly interested in each new release. But you could be correct - for every person that hits that point, maybe a new buyer will test the waters... thanks.

[@jamie.777]

I 👍 agree. I have so many 59Fifty color combo's and my favorite teams. I am taking a break for a year

[@ethane-dawgwenger4207]

Hey Doug, I need to ask. I don't remember if you talked about this in a video or not, but where did you buy the hat jack? I have a 39THIRTY that I need to stretch out because it's tight. Also, what did the hat jack cost?

[@dreinthe616]

Simple Google search should reveal multiple sources, in round numbers I think the basic hat jack is still around $20 US, plus or minus, thanks.

[@ethane-dawgwenger4207]

@@dreinthe616 good to know! Thank you!

[@ethane-dawgwenger4207]

Also, what size of the hat jack do you recommend for a medium-large 39THIRTY, Doug?

[@denis_channel_]

please tell me on the Cooperstown collection models, most often a white ribbon from sweat inside, but sometimes black, does it depend on something?

[@dreinthe616]

Good question, but I have not been able to figure out the logic of exactly when white is used versus black. I usually try to look at the details on the web page before ordering to see which I'm going to get.

[@ogkush1828]

Yo where can I buy that cubs hat behind you? Like the blue and red and the cub white makes it pop out more…

[@dreinthe616]

That was a Hat Club custom from 2019 I believe… both times they released it, it sold out pretty quickly. I’ve not seen a reissue on that combination since then.

[@hornetobewild]

I'm with you. Been turned off of collecting for a while now. At least outside of the yearly MLB official caps like BP or Clubhouse. And I only get those if I really like the design. There are a few specific caps that I want, and if I get them, I would consider my collection complete. Everything else would be gravy. The problem is that most of the ones I'm missing are defunct minor league on-fields. Who does those anymore besides Topperz? And even they've started to dip into custom specs for MiLB caps every so often. Mickey's Place is has become paradise.

[@dreinthe616]

Those are indeed tough to find... I had taken to using the actual MiLB team stores, since I figure the revenue from my purchases is best if it goes direct to the team shop at their stadium, rather than a middleman like Lids. But of course that only works for the teams that are still operational! Sure thing, Mickey's Place is a great source for originals... thanks for the comments!

[@hornetobewild]

@@dreinthe616 to your point about minor league teams, sometimes teams will sell caps of teams that used to play in their city, so that's a good way to get throwbacks.

[@juana7885]

great great great video! 👊👍💯

[@dreinthe616]

Great x 3 - thanks man!

[@cazz8017]

How can I get a hold of you Doug? I have questions!

[@dreinthe616]

Same handle on Instagram, you can DM me there if you like, thanks.

[@Gump-tion]

Great Video! I think you're spot on in your assessment of the industry. I started collecting hats last summer. I was buying almost anything and everything with a colored uv. But after a while, I noticed I wasn't wearing like 90% of them, so I started giving them away. Then I started buying Hatclub hats and noticed the quality of their hats are superior to a lot of other places. As of today, for the most part, I only buy Hat Club hats with gray uv's.

[@dreinthe616]

Yep, very similar arc for me, and thanks!

[@bigwardounce3614]

I honestly love the custom colors, I think it cool to be able to rep your team in a way that matches your style. However, I’m tired of these giant patches plastered on the sides of every new drop.

[@madmofo4037]

I actually like the oversaturation part, it kills the resellers when we have a lot of choices that will come out weekly.

[@mainwon]

totally agree

[@HARLEMHEFNER]

It's variety everybody doesn't want traditional fitted hats. A person such as myself who has a wide selection of fitted hats from Baseball,Basketball,Football and pop culture all my hats are about matching my wardrobe. The sports guys love the OG hats that's good for them, but for people like me that ain't for us

[@Majojobigo]

Theres a lot more than just the 30 mlb teams! NCAA, milb, etc

[@toneriggz]

I like the patches but it's starting to feel like the sneaker game with this obsession of collecting patches. Some of these collectors act like regular caps are beneath them.

[@scottcraigen630]

Yeah I’ll pass on this trend. I’ll stick to the classic on field hats, especially with the outrageous prices for these hats not to mention ordering online worried I’m gonna get one shaped for Frankensteins head

[@10.11.9]

The last four 7 3/8 fitted 5950s I've purchase off eBay were, in point of fact, four different sizes. All polyester and made in New York.

[@Manfor18x]

with the saturation with the 5950, Im starting to do other fitteds like ebbets or even other caps and hats (in the japanese americana)

[@dreinthe616]

Right on... seems like Ebbets and other alternative choices for caps are likely to pick up more orders or new customers at this point.

[@Manfor18x]

@@dreinthe616 Im even looking into 5950 but retro crown. However I grabbed a second hand Ebbets strapback for like USD20 and now Im more towards Ebbets when it comes to retro crown look. The quality, feel and construction is another level like wide binding tapes etc. The only pros NE has on that is they have the MLB team license for fitteds.

[@Manfor18x]

However, Im seeing that Japanese are digging ebbets more which I do not think the most of fitted community do.

[@jamie.777]

I think every possible color design and side patch variety has been tried 🤔

[@dreinthe616]

Totally agree that we're probably getting close to that... and it's why I think Fitted caps will have a much more limited run than the wide variation possible in sneakers.

[@jamie.777]

@@dreinthe616 what's funny, my favorite logos always sell out first. 1. The mo Vaughn Angels logo. 2. Expos, 3. 💎 backs alternative with snake eating baseball ⚾️ 4. The A astros logo. The oldest one. Lol.. these always sell out instantly, I gave up. Lol

[@dreinthe616]

@@jamie.777 I hear you, putting that Astros logo on any cap seems to be like printing money the past 12 months... can't blame you for giving up!

[@fatgeechie3804]

I buy them all from retro to New styles. All you grown crying about hat colors 😂. The side patches are great

[@dreinthe616]

Not really crying, man… just not into Toy Story caps. It’s all subjective and a matter of taste… I’ve got plenty of side patches and colored UVs, but just got sick of the repetition and the basic cash grab going on right now.

[@SnakePitallaroundME]

A lot of these releases are trash, some are alright, Same hats Same patch just in different colors,been getting fitted for a while now the hat quality has gone down

[@ogkush1828]

Wtf is wrong with different colors. That’s what makes the hat dope I’m almost in my 40s and I luv the different colors. As long as my cubs logo is on the hat I can appreciate the different colors.

[@SnakePitallaroundME]

All of sudden people wearing the fitted I remember every body was wearing the dad hats quality has gone down 👎 I have some fitted hats that where mad in the US the quality difference is night and day

[@guerratiburon]

Girly colors they drop now 🤦‍♂️

[@SnakePitallaroundME]

👍🏼🤣

[@fatgeechie3804]

😂 sneakers and fitteds have always been a must. I think your kinda salty because you’re not hitting and the apps

[@dreinthe616]

Style is always subjective and personal, so whatever you choose must work for you. I was trying to point out what I think is a saturated market, one that could burn itself out soon based on everyone and their brother releasing caps in 2022.

[@PeacefulPariah]

I'm exclusively buying all of my hats from Hat Heaven. They drop hats every couple of weeks - sometimes repeats, sometimes they're brand new. You can usually get one that you want as long as you're on it that day. They also keep an inventory, so I'm able to grab two or three weeks after the drop. But the primary reason that I shop with them is because they specialize in Wool caps. I don't wear polyester caps. I think that's bullshit, I think it looks gross it doesn't behave and flex and function like a real wool baseball cap. So that's kind of the path that I'm on. I have several polyester hats, don't get me wrong. But from now on it's monotone wool green under visor boom. For that reason, I shy away from Lids and the new era store in general because they only carry polyester.

[@dreinthe616]

I agree that Hat Heaven is excellent, probably the best and most consistent vendor of the 59Fifty for people that really care about the hats they choose and wear. As far as Lids and New Era shops, the material is dependent on the particular collection - I've picked up plenty of Wool caps and Wool/Acrylic blends in various MLB and NBA collections from those two vendors over the years. Thank you for the comments.