A lot of people are looking for Starter strapbacks these days. Unfortunately for them though, only a fraction of 90s Starter hats featured the leather strap, as opposed to the plastic snap. So you’ve got to be pretty lucky to get hold of a LA Kings Starter Strapback like this…
The number one source of true vintage snapback hats will always be ebay. The number of different sellers and the competition between traders means that the website will always offer the most diverse stock at the most competitive prices. Unfortunately though eBay also happens to be the number one source of counterfeit merchandise as well.
Ebay has always been full of fake snapback hats, but until recently there has never been fake deadstock hats available. Now its not just sellers in China but all over the US that sell cheap copies of “Sports Specialties” and even “Starter” hats.
The trend began when a flood of Mighty Ducks fake snapbacks hit ebay, fresh from some sketchy Chinese alibaba.com trader. Since Disney still owns the copyright to the Mighty Ducks logo, you can’t even buy Mighty Ducks retro snapbacks, hence why the vintage ones are worth so much. Some Chinese dude obviously saw the price tags on real vintage Ducks hats and started up his own Eastern basement project. Now you can buy fake Sports Specialties hats in just about any team. They’re cheap as hell but they aren’t even worth $5.
The whole concept of selling fake deadstock is pretty dumb. Its the vintage heads who want real Sports Specialties and Starter hats, and they are the dudes that know a thing or two about hats. Anyone with any knowledge of vintage can tell right away these hats are fake.
Here’s a few examples:
The “Sports Specialties” Script
Notice how the label is stitched into the band at the top and bottom. This particular Sports Specialties tag should hang loose at the bottom. There’s also not a single other tag on the hat. Every real sports specialties tag has the pro team logo on the band as well as the hat material and country of manufacture. Also, none of the fake hats ever have a hang tag. The scripture on the front is stretched way too high and the logo on the side is double the size it should be. The crown also slopes at the wrong angle and the sweatband should not be white not black. See this real hat for a comparison:
This hat is too funny. Manufactured by the same rogues, its a rip off of the Logo Athletic Spike hat. But it has the same sports specialties tag inside! Surely no one falls for this?
Things to watch out for to avoid fake Sports Specialties and Starter hats:
1. Has the hat been photographed inside a towel?
2. Is the price much lower than industry standard? There is usually a reason.
3. Is there a hang tag?
4. What else is the seller selling? Do they have a lot of sketchy looking shit?
5. What is their feedback like? Negatives?
6. Does the stitching and quality look good? A 20 year old hat still beats any modern fake on quality.
7. Are there sellers all over ebay with the same hat? There’s a reason why a Script heather Sports Specialties Bulls hat is worth so much – its rare!
Forget about bedroom rude boys on webcams giving themselves biblical names, unpacking a few script hats from a box that a friend of grandpa mailed them. A real score doesn’t come in a USPS box wrapped in tissue paper. You gotta go out there and dig that…
Much more to be revealed soon..
N.W.A. helped popularize the Raiders Starter jacket to the point that people were stealing — and in a few cases, even killing — to get their hands on one. What’s your reaction to the social cost of your success?
America is caught up in materialism. People will fight over anything. When a man comes and robs a man for a bag full of groceries, we don’t say we should ban groceries. People are always going to take things from each other. When something like that happens, I’m not like, “Aw, maybe we need to tone it down, maybe we need to wear purple and gold.” You’ve got to chalk that up to the sick materialism we’re all caught up in.
New Hornets Starter hat in stock and live on auction right now. Can’t imagine many of these were made, it looks crazy! Check out the purple colored fire on the back.
Click the image to bid on the hat.
Classic Starter pieces just in. Original starter logo snapback hats. Clean, black, embroidered cotton twill. Perfect shape, no raised lettering or unnecessary detail.
One of many fine pieces from the Starter catalogue – the Cuban Giants Negro League snapback hat. The Cuban Giants were the first professional black baseball team and became one of the most successful teams in Negro league history. They also spawned some of the coolest merchandise…
While Sports Specialties may have had the license to produce official merchandise for the 1995 NBA Finals, that didn’t stop Starter trumping them with their own Playoff hat. The hat has the Charlotte Hornets logo on the right side and the slogan “Catch the Playoff Bug” on the other. The embroidery on the front is unmissable, covering the entire front of the hat. The contrast of the purple, white and red is inspired. In short, we love this hat. And we have a few of them – but they won’t last long. Click the pictures to be taken to the listing
Line that shit up. LA Raiders vintage snapbacks. Nothing but shields.
