Capt. America said:
Quick update. Just ran over to campus to see if the hats or jerseys were coming in anytime soon. The two folks I was chatting with at the 12th Man shop didn't even realize the season was starting Friday. Additionally, they said they weren't sure if they were getting in the hats or jerseys at all, but if they were, it would be in mid to late March. It almost seems like every outlet is nervous about attempting to collect the hats. Truly amazing that They seem so hesitant to sell them when we know that they are going to be a hot item.
In fairness to the retail outlets, it depends on who you ask. Managers should know more. They have meetings as to upcoming products, etc. But the regular student workers probably won't know. Mainly depends on the company policy of letting workers know. AO used to give us heads up on Premium board as to new drops of product but that has tapered off a bit. Not sure if Dallas is still doing that of if AO and Texags have changed policies about this either.
If I get a chance I'll call AO customer service and see where that takes me. Also, I can start a thread on Premium regarding it or maybe just PM the AO account to see what they know regard the throwback hats.
I could see March or April drop. The '41 merchandise dropped the week of the Spring Game last year, coinciding with the drop of the first of the '16 Fall Sidelines apparel. I also remember AO and others having issues fulfilling pre-orders of '41 gear. A few folks had their orders cancelled and it turns out adi didn't ship what they said to certain retailers. For instance, the MSC (12th Man Shop online) were able to fulfill all their orders, but AO couldn't. Not sure about Maroon U. Ironically AO got more in stock in the Summer with the rest of the stores of the RWB '41 hats, but by then the interest had obviously wained. But that could be why many are resistant to give a definite answer. And why we haven't seen a pre-order this year.