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Akubra Value is Soaring Right Now

Viper Man

Banned
Messages
860
Location
Stone City, IL
Thanks, kaosharper1. The Maltese Falcon bash is pretty sweet.

kaosharper1 said:
...I've often thought we should start a thread of non-Indy Federations.

Well, what are you waiting for? If you start it, I promise to post in it when mine arrives!
 

JohnnyB53

One of the Regulars
Messages
289
Location
Seattle, WA
Daoud said:
It's certainly not time to start singin' the weeps, my friend! I bought my Fed IV on 25 October for USD $75.95, and the hat is selling at this moment for USD 75.40 at http://www.hatsdirect.com/cgi-bin/products.cgi?group=Federation. So much for the Great Oz Dollar Uptick. But I'm gonna order another Fed very soon, just in case.........
That's right. I ordered a tawny fawn Fed IV and a cruiser grey CEO on Oct. 31 and have been tracking the exchange rate ever since. When the Fed IV Deluxe dropped below $110 it definitely caught my attention. But even so, the exchange fluctuations so far in the last couple months have varied from 64% to 71% today. It's still a killer deal to be able to get a Stylemaster, Campdraft, CEO, Bogart, etc. for around $100 shipped. What are you going to get statside that is as durable and holds its shape when exposed repeatedly to the elements? A Dorfman Pacific Indiana Jones? Gimme a break.

Has it occurred to anyone just what a special opportunity the Fed IV Deluxe is, especially at these exchange rates? It's the only open crown heritage grade hat Akubra makes. You can get one delivered for about $140, the price of an entry level hat domestically, yet its felt is meant to compete functionally with high beaver content felt.

I ordered myself one in moonstone for Christmas.
 

JohnnyB53

One of the Regulars
Messages
289
Location
Seattle, WA
MrBern said:
With the Fed at $72 & the campdraft or stylemaster hovering near $68, this is getting to be torture. Especially since combining postage would work out even better.

Im about to crack, boys!
Although HatsDirect's prices aren't the cheapest, nor its shipping rate, I found that when I bought a Fed IV and a CEO together, it was cheaper to buy them both from HatsDirect and have them shipped in one box than to buy the Fed IV from HatsDirect and go elsewhere for the cheapest price on the CEO. Adding the CEO to the HatsDirect order only increased the shipping cost by a very few dollars, so the total was cheaper that way.

Plus I got the whole order in 7 working days.
 

Swagman

New in Town
Messages
39
Location
Silicon Valley
.66 to the USD

The exchange rates have been dipping back in the USD favor lately and it could get even better. Next month the Aus Fed Reserve meets and most believe they will drop the interest rates again and this will likely cause another drop in the AUD. Who knows, it may eventually sink back to where it was in the late 90's when the AUD was at about .50 to 1USD
 

portolan

A-List Customer
Messages
401
Location
South Florida and Chihuahua
Well, I just ordered two Akubras from Hatsdirect...

A Campdraft - taupe fawn and a Fed IV Deluxe - moonstone. Hopefully they have them in my size in stock. I paid for the EMS shipping. Hopefully they will get home in time to bring to the Mid-South Gathering. The exchange rate really makes this a good deal - here's hoping they confirm that all is well. Can't wait!
 

citRon

A-List Customer
Messages
424
Location
Louisville Ky
great choices! The Moonstone Fed is my next purchase for sure. It's a beautiful color! ...I wonder what it would look like with a dark brown ribbon instead of black? [huh]
 

Ordinary Guy

One Too Many
Messages
1,292
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
I ordered my Bogart last night and got my email this morning saying it had shipped.
op1tfm.gif
 

panama jack

One of the Regulars
Messages
139
Location
North East
Doctor Strange said:
Yeah, I finally broke down and ordered a mid-grey Stylemaster from Everything Australian this morning - only $71 including the shipping!


I just received my medium grey Stylemaster last week after a three month wait.

pj
 

portolan

A-List Customer
Messages
401
Location
South Florida and Chihuahua
Well, they didn't have either hat!!! This is the story of my

young hat buying life. I went back to Village Hats today -- nothing in 7 1/2, virtually nothing in the whole store of any quality in that size. He said the season is nearing a end so they are either out of stock or have transferred all the hats out, whatever that means.

Anyway, Hatsdirect has been terrific. They were very prompt in thier emails. I ended up buying a FED IV Moonstone in regular felt and a FED III in Tawny. I locked in the price on a campdraft via backorder.

So, I have three hats coming, two next week and one whenever....I am psyched.....cause I am going to meet the guys in TN and will pick up two custom Buckaroos!!! One for me, one for my wife.....Is this fun, or what?
 

skyvue

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,221
Location
New York City
Tomorrow marks three months for me on a pair of Stylemasters, but I've received no email from EA, so I'm not getting my hopes up yet.

Am I the only one thrown by the fact that the Fed's brim is wider in front and back than on the sides? I've never seen one in person.
 

JohnnyB53

One of the Regulars
Messages
289
Location
Seattle, WA
skyvue said:
Tomorrow marks three months for me on a pair of Stylemasters, but I've received no email from EA, so I'm not getting my hopes up yet.

Am I the only one thrown by the fact that the Fed's brim is wider in front and back than on the sides? I've never seen one in person.
Safari style hats often have dimensional brims as well.

I have three Akubras with dimensional brims, and I really like them. The bigger dimension is the brim width at the front and rear. This gives the hat a more imposing profile, while the slightly narrower brim at the sides keeps the hat from swallowing the wearer's face when viewed straight on. There is typically only about 1/4" difference between the side width and front/back width, so it functions more like an optical illusion than a noticeable feature.

Like a safari hat, the dimensional brim Indy type hats shade your eyes better and keep rainwater from going down your collar, while maintaining slightly better peripheral visibility to the sides.
 

Hoss & da Posse

One of the Regulars
Messages
212
Location
Shiloh Acres Farm, Ball Ground, GA
skyvue said:
Tomorrow marks three months for me on a pair of Stylemasters, but I've received no email from EA, so I'm not getting my hopes up yet.

I, too, am nearing the 3 month mark on a black Stylemaster...Sam emailed me today and let me know that he expected to receive the order in early Feb but that they had been running late. I'm fine with it; he's responded to every email inquiry I've made over the past 3 months, added a brown olive Tablelands to the order and was willing to add a Casual (and if I didn't mind waiting until April, he'd hold the order and ship it together to save costs...I minded) when I asked him in late December. I opted to purchase from EA because I have more time than money and wanted to put the difference saved into a 2nd lid as I expand my hat wardrobe. There'll still be a couple months of Georgia winter/early spring that a nice felt will ward off the cold...
 

dschonn

Familiar Face
Messages
76
Location
Nashville
skyvue said:
Am I the only one thrown by the fact that the Fed's brim is wider in front and back than on the sides? I've never seen one in person.


I have a crushable brown felt hat (I presume it's wool) that is in my opinion clearly trying at least a little to look like an Indiana Jones hat, though the crown is quite different and there isn't any ribbon, just a band that looks to be made of feathers and fake leather, and the brim has a welted edge. I'd had it for quite a while before I realized that it has a dimensional brim. So it's not going to jump out at you.

Also, I ordered a Federation IV in carbon grey, but got an email today saying they didn't have any in stock and would I like to put it on back order. Ah, well. I can be patient if I need to be.
 

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