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Evolution of the 5950


rmackman

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The other day I was rifling through my authentic hat collection and put a few on in the mirror just for the heck of it. I guess it never occured to me but my 1993 Brewers, 1993 teal Marlins, and 1993 pinstriped Reds caps appear to have a higher crown than 2004 Expos cap I just bought not too long ago. In fact, ever 5950 I have prior to, I think, 1995 appears to have a higher crown. I don't remember them changing the general design of the 5950, but I guess they did. I think I like these lower crown ones better, but the older ones are more nostalgic. Anyways, just my observations. Feel free to comment.

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running." - Unknown | 🌐 Check out my articles on jerseys at Bacon Sports 🔗
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For awhile I know when ordering team hats from a company (and I think it was New Era, but it might not have been the 5950s) you could choose low, mid, or high profile for the caps.

Isn't the 5950 more about the materials used instead of the fit? I mean, they have a fit, but I could see the patterns changing over the span of 10-20 years as the style of hats changes.

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Yeah I think New Era did do that, although the on-field hats were probably always the high profile until now. I just wonder when New Era switched full time to the lower profile versions. Lids seems only to carry those, so I'm assuming that's all there is now.

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running." - Unknown | 🌐 Check out my articles on jerseys at Bacon Sports 🔗
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For awhile I know when ordering team hats from a company (and I think it was New Era, but it might not have been the 5950s) you could choose low, mid, or high profile for the caps.

That's good to know. I didn't know that the option was available. I stopped buying "authentic" major league hats years ago and resorted to the "franchise" fit. My hat size is probably about a 7-7 1/4 and the "authentic" caps looked ridiculous on my small head because the crown was so high. My friends and I would refer to them as "pope" hats because of the shape of the crown when placed on my small head.

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Doesn't hurt that the quality control on the Franchise caps is about 1000x better than New Era's.

I won't buy a New Era cap online because the quality varies so widely. I've seen them with brims sewn on crooked, with logos offcentered and with the six panels not coming together cleanly. Simply awful.

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For my money, Zephyr makes the best hat out there, with Reebok (believe it or not) at a close second. Granted, I buy all my Reebok hats through the Broncos (who I can only assume get a little more quality assurance than a little sporting goods store), but they're all constructed nicely and fit really well. I'm lovin' my 05 Draft cap right now, and my Stampede unifrom hat (plain orange with an embroidered logo and a velcro adjustment) has always been comfortable. I've got several others, including some visors, and they're all great.

My biggest beefs with the 5950s is the flimsy bill and the rediculously high profile. I might have a shallow skull, but those suckers give a good 1" on the front of the crown. I'm hoping to find a low profile 5950 Red Sox fitted so I don't look like a shlub everytime I want to root for the Sox.

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I'm hoping to find a low profile 5950 Red Sox fitted so I don't look like a shlub everytime I want to root for the Sox.

You'll look like a shlub in the very act of rooting for the Red Sox. :P

Sorry man, couldn't help myself. You hung that curve, how could I not hit it?

DN_sox_03.jpg

This is all the justification I need after a lifetime of watching them not quite get'er done.

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Interesting.  I've got a bunch of 5950's ranging from 1987 to 1993 and their profiles all seem a bit lower than my brand new Nats 5950.

Has anyone else noticed that they changed the tags on the inside of all the 2005 issue 5950s? I noticed this when i got my new Nats cap, but I bought an A's hat at the same time and it still has the same tags, so i guess that the A's hat and most hats for teams that havent changed at all are going to heve old tags for awhile, but eventually they will alll switch to the new tags.

Heres what im talking about if the above makes no sense. The bottom one is the new Nats hat, the top is my new Cardinals hat

Hatrings2.jpg

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On 11/19/2012 at 7:23 PM, oldschoolvikings said:
She’s still half convinced “Chris Creamer” is a porn site.)
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What bothers me is the extra .4 centimetres they've added to the 7 1/2 cap. :blink:

i like it. usually 7 1/2 is just barely a little tight, but my Nats cap fits perfectly.

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On 11/19/2012 at 7:23 PM, oldschoolvikings said:
She’s still half convinced “Chris Creamer” is a porn site.)
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I have a 1996 home Cubs, a 2001 home Cubs and now a 2005 home Cubs and all three have different labeling inside. I'm still shocked that the 1996 is 7 3/8 and still fits so comfortably (my newer ones are 7 1/2), but it just got too dirty.

The 1996 has a Diamond Collection tag, a New Era tag with the old cap logo (NEW is the crown, ERA is the bill), the size tag and no markings on the black stitching. The 2005 is almost identical to the 2001, except there is more writing on the black stitching and the New Era tag no longer says MADE IN USA (what gives?). Both look similar to example A above.

And I have to agree that I have to buy my 5950s in person, cause there are some shoddy caps out there.

EDIT: Oh, and the crowns are all the same, FWIW. I saw the "low profiles" on sale almost exclusively for the first time in 2000 in Dodger Stadium. Not a fan, but I understand that some people like that look better.

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I remember the New Era rep told me back in '99 that they were going to make 5950's in low and high profile versions, and the players would choose which they wore. They were in stores in low profile versions for a really short time, and now most of them seem to be mid to high profile.

"Hats for bats. Keep bats warm. Gracias"

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Sports Specialties used to make authentic hats up until 1994. My dad used to own a Sports Specialties store so I would get all the baseball hats for cheap. They were way better than the New Eras. New Era became the official hat for Major League Baseball in 1994. Nike ended up acquiring Sports Specialties.

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Sports Specialties made authentics? Really? Are you sure? I remember in '94 my mom bought me this Marlins fitted Sports Specialties cap that was on sale and she was like "Here I thought you could wear this for the game when you go" and I was all like wow mom this is a really good replica! She was so proud of herself. However, according to what you say, she accidentally got me an authentic cap?

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running." - Unknown | 🌐 Check out my articles on jerseys at Bacon Sports 🔗
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For my money, Zephyr makes the best hat out there, with Reebok (believe it or not) at a close second. Granted, I buy all my Reebok hats through the Broncos (who I can only assume get a little more quality assurance than a little sporting goods store), but they're all constructed nicely and fit really well.

amen on that...I got a couple Reebok hats and some New Eras. I almost never wear the NEs, it's always the Reeboks (Bears orange/blue, Packers green/white w/Heisman Packer, Bucks silver/green). basically, the Reeboks are just better IMO...as I've said in similar posts in the past, I got a Nets hat that's listed as an 8 but feels smaller. the NEs seem inconsistent to me.

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A strong mind gets high off success, a weak mind gets high off bull🤬

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For my money, Zephyr makes the best hat out there, with Reebok (believe it or not) at a close second. Granted, I buy all my Reebok hats through the Broncos (who I can only assume get a little more quality assurance than a little sporting goods store), but they're all constructed nicely and fit really well.

amen on that...I got a couple Reebok hats and some New Eras. I almost never wear the NEs, it's always the Reeboks (Bears orange/blue, Packers green/white w/Heisman Packer, Bucks silver/green). basically, the Reeboks are just better IMO...as I've said in similar posts in the past, I got a Nets hat that's listed as an 8 but feels smaller. the NEs seem inconsistent to me.

I also agree Zephyr is high quality!!!

Some of Colosseum's were also great!!!

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