Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

This project has been several years in the making, but finally coming to fruition. With profound thanks to Joe Gilligan of Akadema (who owns the rights to Ken-Wel) and William Peebles of Huntington Base Ball Co. (who is a wizard with graphic design and a true artist), I'm proud to present an extremely limited number of Ken-Wel caps. They're fitted Franchise Caps manufactured by '47 Brand, the same company who makes them for MLB, the NHL, NCAA and, beginning this year, the NFL.

The pictures say it all, but as for a brief description, the caps are khaki with royal and white raised embroidery of Ken-Wel's older, Gloversville logo on the front and flat embroidery of their iconic script logo on the back. They are very well made and quite spectacular!

There will be only ONE production run of these caps which is limited to 100 pieces. Once they're gone, that's it, they're gone for good. We do not have permission to make any more beyond that and, frankly, the process was too laborious to do it again.

They will be available just in time for the National in Baltimore beginning on August 1st. Because there are so few, they will be offered for sale on a first come/first served basis at Brett and William's booth. Sizes include S, M, L, XL and XXL. If there are any remaining after the National, they will be made available for sale here, via the forum.

Fantastic concept and brilliantly executed...yet another great reason to get down to Baltimore and the National this August. Well done, Jerry...can't wait to pick up a hat!

Cool

I'm really hoping that you have one left in my size after the National!
They look great. Nice job all around!
Ken

why don't you sell them to the membership here beforehand? Are you telling us you would rather sell them to strangers than your dear friends here? Are we second class?

I was waiting for you to ask that, Jim. Honestly, despite being terribly proud of the final product, I’ve wasted too much time on these damn things over the past few years and don’t want to commit any more to them. Just thinking about individually boxing, labeling and shipping all of them gives me nightmares. William and Brett were gracious enough to not only agree to sell them at the National, but then parse the remainder out through the mail afterwards. The miniscule profit margin makes it more time/cost effective to sell them on site than run back and forth to the post office. Perhaps not what you want to hear, but that’s why I’m doing it this way.

Because of the quantity limitations, I’m sure some will be shut out of their size. I really wish I could take care of everybody, but I can’t and I am truly sorry about that. If there is significant demand for these beyond this production run, perhaps Joe at Akadema could be convinced to pick up where I left off, produce more and add them to their product line and website.

leaving us with the reproductions

Perhaps some enterprising fellow who’ll be in attendance in Baltimore, because it’s relatively close to his home outside of Philadelphia, could make a bulk purchase of the caps at the show and fulfill the demand of those who can’t be there. The secondary market for something of such limited supply could prove quite lucrative.

I am a for profit company

Love the cap. Great job! Guess I'll be headed to Baltimore to pick one up. You didn't mention the price.

Scott

I just got back from Akadema, dropped off a sample to Joe. He was blown away! We discussed the concerns of those who may not get a chance to buy one (I've gotten many emails already) and will leave the door open to future production. There's no guarantee more will be made, but he's open to it. I'm open to the risk of a further cash outlay to get them made, but not to the distribution. So, if the current batch sells out, demand remains, and someone is willing to take on the task of billing and shipping, we'll revisit the POSSIBILITY of producing more at a future date. Just when I thought I was out, they keep pulling me back in ! ! !

Also, wanted to give another plug to Akadema. Joe has been great, the people in the factory are super friendly and their gloves are awesome! Tried on a few today. Loved the design of their basemitt and it felt great on my hand. They have Bryce Harper as an endorser, so the sky's the limit for them if the kid's career continues on the course it's on. Here's their website; http://www.akademapro.com/

They are sure to sell out quickly as we will be constructing a catwalk for William and my brother Travis to model them doing their best Right Said Fred impressions.

I'm too sexy for that hat...

Great Looking Cap. Jerry. I want an XXL badly. Hope it becomes possible to acquire one. Nice job !

Jerry, you can retire now. I purchased a cap