American Needle MLB Hats

[shaydre1019]

Coincidence b/c I was going to post a similar thread today.

I went and got a Braves Friday cap today, New Era 5950, and it looks ridiculous if I wear it forward. Curving the bill (which I prefer) helps the appearance a bit, but overall that front panel just does not gel on my crown.

Still love the authenticity, but I had not really thought about alternate brands. I mean, I own a regular home cap that's Nike brand and cost me $12...and honestly it looks better than both of my authentic caps. I have a 47 Brand 1974 cap that's probably my favorite fit.

Do you get the little triangles near your temples because your head isn't wide enough?

That happens to me but I still rock my stros cap

Wish my head was wider though, and bigger, assuming this is your problem too.

And I'm sure the 47s fit great but I don't like that washed out 40 year old father of

3 look. Not yet at least.

[Quillz]

The new Franchise collection doesn't seem to have the worn-out look, but the regular '47 caps do.

[Quillz]

Went ahead and bought a Pirates pillbox cap from American Needle. It looked a lot nicer than the one that New Era was selling (through an eBay seller), and also much less cluttered, no batterman logo on the back, etc. I don't know if I'll actually wear it or not, it's really just for my collection, but at least I'll get a feel of American Needle's quality, which I've heard mixed things about.

[SCL]

The new Franchise collection doesn't seem to have the worn-out look, but the regular '47 caps do.

Really bad bills though.

[Bouj]

New Era Low Crown 5950's. It's the only way to go if you want the 5950's but you don't have a ginormous forehead.

[Ark]

For people who can't stand the 5950 crown, try watching this YT vid. It seems to help instantly (although apparantly you have to do it 2-3 more times).

[jakespeed]

Sorry to bump this so many months later, but I just got an American Needle Cooperstown hat in the mail from the MLB Shop. This is my first AN cap.

I usually wear a 7 1/2 in New Era, and over time, they shrink and get a little tight. So, for this AN cap, I ordered a 7 1/2 from the MLB shop online, and, lo and behold, it's too big. It's not 'falling off my head' big, but it sticks out a little on the creases by my ears.

I'm trying to decide whether I should return it and get a smaller size, or keep it and try to shrink it a little. I was hoping to keep this hat relatively nice, so sweating all through it to shrink it is not really something I want to do. At the same time, I don't want to spend a ton of money in shipping charges (and time) sending this hat back, getting a smaller size, and then if that doesn't fit, sending it back again.

Anyone have any experience/advice in dealing with the MLB Shop or with shrinking AN caps? Thanks in advance.

I joined the site today just to reply to your post because I had the same issue with AN caps. I have three, all sized 7 1/4, and one of them fit perfectly out of the box while two others had to be shrunk.

I used the microwave trick just this morning -- put a little hot water around the back four panels (not anywhere near the logo on the front or the brim) and microwaved it for 30 seconds at a time. I did it twice, let it cool for a moment and put it on my head -- and it shrank to a perfect size.

I also noticed some of the irregularities in design (my 1997 Pirates alt cap had a yellow button instead of red, and my current model Pirates cap also had a yellow button instead of black) but I used red and black Sharpies to make them the appropriate color. Sounds weird but it worked pretty well.

[PhantomDreamer]

New Era Low Crown 5950's. It's the only way to go if you want the 5950's but you don't have a ginormous forehead.

American Needle caps fit better than New Era low crown 59Fifty caps. Plus, New Era needs to make more low crown caps available anyway.

[TheOldRoman]

New Era Low Crown 5950's. It's the only way to go if you want the 5950's but you don't have a ginormous forehead.

American Needle caps fit better than New Era low crown 59Fifty caps. Plus, New Era needs to make more low crown caps available anyway.

It depends on your head size and shape. I personally love American Needle caps, or at least how they fit a few years ago (I haven't bought a new one in about four years). I have two low crown 5950s, and I don't like the fit. Also, the quality control on them is even worse than NE's normal shoddiness. However, I also hate the fit of the '47 brand caps, and everybody seems to love those.

I would never again buy a NE cap online because I often have to look through a dozen at the store to make sure the logo stitching isn't messed up, the logo isn't crooked, the crown isn't sewn in on an angle, and the brim isn't crooked. That aside, I think everybody should try caps on before buying them. Each maker has its own fit.

[Quillz]

So I posted a while back about me ordering an American Needle cap. I did, and I must say I was quite impressed by them. The quality was very good, at least compared to New Era. The logos had a good amount of stitching, there weren't threads hanging out, the brim wasn't on crooked, etc. I bought two pillbox caps, though, so naturally the fit is going to be quite different from the typical 5950.

I would buy from them again, although their biggest limitation seems to be that they just don't offer as much as some of the other cap vendors.

[PhantomDreamer]

With New Era's contract with MLB set to expire after the season, I wonder what the chances are are for American Needle or any other company to become the new on-field cap supplier for MLB.

[Quillz]

With New Era's contract with MLB set to expire after the season, I wonder what the chances are are for American Needle or any other company to become the new on-field cap supplier for MLB.

I'd say very slim. Seems likely the contract will just be renewed.

[PhantomDreamer]

I read that MLB was disappointed that New Era got involved with the NFL and that Nike was looking to get involved in the MLB cap business.

[Quillz]

I read that MLB was disappointed that New Era got involved with the NFL and that Nike was looking to get involved in the MLB cap business.

I hope not. Never really liked the look and fit of Nike caps.

[Galwegian]

This reminded me... see above - I ended up returning my hat for a smaller size. I'm glad I did. The new one fits great, and I really like the shape and the texture. Very high quality (and no logo creep). I would recommend them.

[wonderbread]

I read that MLB was disappointed that New Era got involved with the NFL and that Nike was looking to get involved in the MLB cap business.

New era will throw more money at the mlb for hat licensing than Nike, and that is all that matters

[Old School Fool]

I got the 1982 White Sox hat in a snapback form over the past summer, it's got a very old school feel to it as opposed to New Era. It's mostly accurate except the little pin on the top should be red and not navy.

The best quality hat I've ever had was an ECW Wrestling hat that was made by '47 Brand. It's their Franchise cap. I wore it on a hot summer day to Six Flags and on a 112 degree 4th of July and it was glorious. It works well.

[Burkell007]

Best hat brand is zeyphyr. The quality and fit is amazing. I have 3 that's like 15 years old and they hold up damn well. They even make awesome NHL throwbacks, ill half to post my pics of them in the hat collection thread tomorrow.

[PhantomDreamer]

I hope not. Never really liked the look and fit of Nike caps.

I've never worn a Nike cap. I've seen Nike caps for sale and I saw a Nike Mariners cap, blue with the gold 'S' but I don't even remember if it was fitted or adjustable.

[FiddySicks]

With New Era's contract with MLB set to expire after the season, I wonder what the chances are are for American Needle or any other company to become the new on-field cap supplier for MLB.

That'll never happen. New Era has been a supplier of on field authentics for MLB for about a century now, and has basically been "the" cap for MLB teams since the 1950s (I know other companies were supplying teams until about the turn of the century, but not in the same quantites that New Era was). The MLB license is also New Era's biggest contract they have in terms of products produced, and to lose that (even with the acquisition of the NFL license) would be devastating for New Era. It's staggering how much product New Era produces for MLB, and they'll throw everything but the kitchen sink to keep that contract just for their own survival.

And there's absolutely no way a company the size of American Needle could even handle the production necessary to have an exclusive contract of that magnitude.