Out of all these, the most expensive part out there would be the Why Hat. You know, that red and yellow splotchy hat with the W on it? If you wear one and walk into a room, everybody whispers to you what they'll pay for it, and usually no one will take less than 10,000 clams! Nobody ever advertises a sale for long; most Whyvillians are very quick to jump on any opportunity to get this in-demand hat.

But perhaps no longer -- the Why Hat will soon be given out free again; the Why Hat is going to be restocked!

This is Britrules, reporting on what could be the most anticipated restock in Whyville history.

Why is it so amazing, you ask? No, it's not amazing that I'm reporting it! Why is the hat so amazingly popular? Most likely, it's because wearing a Why Hat is a believable label that screams "OLDBIE" to everyone around. Only true veterans of Whyville seem to have Why Hats.

Why only oldbies? Back around when I joined, about two years ago, the Why Hat was free to anyone who wanted it. Today, if you go into the Club Y main room, there's a picture of the Why Hat hanging up on the wall. At that time, the picture was actually a link to get it. Before you could receive it, you had to agree that you'd stay with Whyville, and not quit at the drop of a hat. Once you did that, what would some day become Whyville's most popular face part would be yours, free.

Back then, the Hat was treated like any other Akbar-designed part. People who wore it were usually considered newbies, and they were good targets for name-calling. I got a Why Hat, wore it for a while, and then took it off because I thought it looked so dumb. It was not worth a single clam, and that was an accepted fact through all Whyville.

One day, the hats went out of stock. No more Why Hats would be given out ever again. Still, people considered it ugly, and hardly anyone wore them. Most of the way through 2003 and 2004, Whyvillians forgot it even existed. You could have gone up to someone who joined our town in that time, asked if they had a Why Hat, and they might have responded with, "What's that?"

I traded my Why Hat in for 3 clams at the Great Akbar Trade-In, and considered it a sweet deal.

Obviously, I regret it to this day, but that's a given.

After time passed, some smart oldbie figured out that the people who had first gotten the Why Hat for free were now oldbies. And everyone who was around back then would recognize it, right? So it was a perfect way to identify your fellow oldbies.

Soon, everyone wanted one. The people who never dumped their Why Hats now never took them off. It even got onto the list of "unsellies" at the Trading Post.

(Unsellies, or unsellables, are face parts that are extremely popular due to their rarity. The designers put "unsellable" into their name, buy up all the parts every time they restock, and very carefully restrict who gets them and who doesn't. It's an effective way to make sure only your friends get to wear the same stuff, or to drive up the price of your part, as long as it looks good.)

And that's why the Why Hat is so popular. The W on it means much more than the first initial of our town. It either says, "I was around before dinosaurs and expiring parts ;)" or"I'm rich enough to pay 10 to 20,000 for one unsellie part." Either way, you're pretty much considered an oldbie if the Why Hat is on your face.

That's how it has been, anyway. Urged by the citizens, City Hall has asked Akbar to restock the Why Hat! As before, it's only for Club Y members, but otherwise it will be free.

The Why Hat is in high demand now, but if they start giving it out for free to people in Club Y, it'll probably lose its popularity... fast. Soon, if you want one, you just have to pay 1,000 clams to join Club Y.

Sure, most people like the idea now, but when it's restocked, it'll be completely different. It's not like the Hat is extraordinarily beautiful, and it won't mean the same things to us if they give it out free. People sell Why Hats and get thousands of clams. If they only cost a Club Y membership, traders will have to resort to selling things like girly arms and latias, and they aren't worth nearly as much.

Who wants the monotony of 'only' 4,000 clam parts? Not me!!!

This article explains why I'm against restocking the Why Hat. It's a Whyville legend; will it just become some ugly thing that midbies wear?

To those of you who own a Why Hat now, enjoy all this Why Hat-related attention while you can. In the meantime, City Workers, please reconsider. We don't want a repeat. :)

Your very opinionated former Why Hat owner,
Britrules