A Study of the Baltimore Orioles Cartoon Bird Cap Logos

[Cartoon Brid]

Thanks Dave, I feel the same way about throwbacks.

Like I said before, I don't expect stitch by stitch, matching material replicas, but I would kill to have New Era 59FIFTY caps with these logos on them! Instead, they put out the replicas only with that one bird!

I bought myself the recent Turn Back The Clock hat, but only because it's an actual on-field, pro model. Call me a nitpicker, but I'm just not interested in the Cooperstown Collection replicas if they don't at least get the logo right.

Currently, these are the best we have for throwback caps:

Again, I bought this one, but only because it's an on-field model.
I'd much rather see this cap with this logo:

(please excuse the crappy photoshop)


I'd buy this cap in a heartbeat if it had this logo:


And finally this cap:

This one they pretty much got right, although, maybe the logo could use just a little tweaking. Here's an actual game worn cap for comparison:


I'd be more than happy with those 3 caps representing the cartoon bird logo hats in the New Era/Cooperstown Collection line. You've got one black crowned cap, one orange paneled cap, and one white paneled cap, with 3 different logo variations.

I'd also like to see this one remade into a 59FIFTY:

I know it might be pushing it to have another white panel cartoon bird cap, but I just love this logo, I think it's my favorite one now. Plus, this cap is slightly different in that it has black stitching around the white panels.

Not sure what to with these guys:

They are pretty much the same, besides one having an orange cap button, the other one black.

The one with the black button was used on both Mitchell & Ness and Roman Pro replicas, on the black crowned cap, back when they had rights to the Cooperstown Collection.

So yeah, until New Era gets it right, (I won't hold my breath) I won't be buying any of their Cooperstown caps, except maybe the white panel one. I wonder if there is some way to contact them and get them hip about the different variations?

In the meantime, I guess I'll be searching for the actual game-used caps. The problem with that is, I like to wear them, so I would only buy caps in my size. I don't really care too much about who wore it, as long as it's game-issued. Any tips on where to look for them, besides eBay?

Dave, what vintage O's caps do you have? You should post pics of them here, I'd love to see them.

Trev

[frikativ54]

Why are you Cartoon_Brid and not Cartoon_Bird?

[Cartoon Brid]

Ha ha! Didn't notice that! Just a bad typo when I registered, I guess. I was wondering why I had so much trouble logging in as Cartoon Bird. Oh well... Wonder if there's a way to change it?

[ksfarmboy]

Here's one circa 1979 that you don't have . I'll try to post some of my Orioles hats later and see if you can guess the dates. I'm pretty confident on when they were made so it will be interesting to see if your dates match up with mine. The helmets would be a good study too. I've also done some research on the adidas the Orioles wore that I will try to share. Great info and thanks for sharing.

[ksfarmboy]

Cartoon bird lets play a game for fun. Here is my hat collection. 5 are game used and 5 are not. Can you name the approximate year, manufacturer and whether they were game used? Some are easier than others.

[Cartoon Brid]

Wow, thanks, ksfarmboy! This is exactly why I started this thread. Awesome collection! Here are my guesses for the caps, top to bottom, L-R:
1. 1968, Wilson, game-used
2. 1976, AJD, game-used
3. 1989, Mitchell & Ness, replica
4. 1991, Roman of Brockton, replica
5. 1977, Roman Pro, game-used
6. 1978, Roman Pro, game-used
7. 1988, Sports Specialties
8. 1987, ??
9. 1979, New Era, game-used
10. 1999, ??

[ksfarmboy]

Wow, thanks, ksfarmboy! This is exactly why I started this thread. Awesome collection! Here are my guesses for the caps, top to bottom, L-R:
1. 1968, Wilson, game-used
2. 1976, AJD, game-used
3. 1989, Mitchell & Ness, replica
4. 1991, Roman of Brockton, replica
5. 1977, Roman Pro, game-used
6. 1978, Roman Pro, game-used
7. 1988, Sports Specialties
8. 1987, ??
9. 1979, New Era, game-used
10. 1999, ??

You did pretty darn good there. You got 4/5 of the game used. There are so many replica hats that it's almost impossible to tell on those. Again, great research and thanks for sharing.

1) 1968 Wilson Brooks Robinson worn in 1969
2) Mid 70's KM Pro Replica?
3) Roman Pro Replica
4) Roman Pro Replica
5) 1979? Roman Pro. Was used by Jim Frey. Came w/ complete 1979 jersey. May have been a hold over from earlier years.
6) Late 70's Roman Pro used by Bob Boyd during old timers game at KC
7) 1982 or earlier New Era game used, player unknown
8) Roman Pro very cheap replica
9) 1985-86 New Era Game used Storm Davis.
10) New Era Replica I bought a few years back.

[Cartoon Brid]

Very interesting. I'm curious about that KM Pro. You're not sure if it's a replica or not? Do you have anymore O's hats in your collection?

[ksfarmboy]

Very interesting. I'm curious about that KM Pro. You're not sure if it's a replica or not? Do you have anymore O's hats in your collection?

I don't think that brand was ever used by the Orioles. That's the extent of my Orioles hats. Here's a couple of my helmets though.

[cjw]

Love the O's cartoon bird logo! The work you have done ("brid" or "bird"!) is amazing. Really enjoyed learning more about this classic logo's history.

Can I ask if you or other O's collectors recognize the rememnats of this simple orange, block "B"'logo on the pictured fiberglass helmet, as being a vintage Orioles logo? I am trying to identify the team and am having no luck. Their was a modern logo sticker affixed On top of the older painted "B", but just the backing remained.

Thanks!