SugarCane 1990's M-Series Archive

[Maynard Friedman]

1998-2003: The Lost Years

[Double 0 Soul]

You've got that right.. the denim was still nice tho.

If the 98 venture was an overwhelming success, they might not have returned to repro in 03

The denim landscape could have been oh so different.

[yung_flynn]

This M11026 is a little on the smaller side (51 cm pit-to-pit), but it seems like it's in great shape for not a bad price

【濃紺】 SUGAR CANE　【 S506 1st デニムジャケット M11026Q】 シュガーケーン ファースト 大戦 Gジャン 25050583 item details | JDirectItems Auction | One Map by FROM JAPAN

A little more worn jacket (no code in the listing) in a similar size for an even lower price.

SUGAR CANE◆Gジャン/-/デニム/IDG/1st TYPE item details | JDirectItems Auction | One Map by FROM JAPAN

Sadly, both are probably a tad too snug for me in the chest and short in the sleeves

 

[reubensangwich]

M41057

Picked these up on a bit of a whim, I’ve been interested in the vaunted M series for a few months, browsing Mercari and yahoo sporadically at work. I saw these the other week, still nice and dark, listed much cheaper than comparable pairs, so I pulled the trigger. 
 

I’ve put just one wear into them, but I think I’m understanding the hype.

[yung_flynn]

Price is not good on this pair, but they're a good size and in very good condition. There are not many examples of M41059 here (1947 11MW repro).

即決[W33]濃紺 SUGAR CANE M品番 初期 Wrangler 1ST TYPE 11MW カモメステッチ シュガーケーン デニム M41059A パンツ■2240 item details | JDirectItems Auction | One Map by FROM JAPAN

These seem to run a little small and probably would fit me, but the price is too hard to palate

Edited June 2, 2025 by yung_flynn

[julian-wolf]

^ “not good” is an understatement; I just picked up a backup pair of those a couple weeks ago (funny timing) in similar condition for ¥22.5k, and I felt like I was overpaying…

For what it’s worth, they run small relative to the M41058, but in the scheme of things they’re pretty true to size

Edited June 2, 2025 by julian-wolf

[Double 0 Soul]

In a way, I'm happy to see the price of these M-Series finally creeping up now they're considered vintage in their own right

It's about time they had their moment in the sun

To put it into perspective.. when i first started looking at these things around 2012 a very respectable 40s era Levi  506xx in a good size was selling for between £600 and £1000 on Yahoo (i remember because i nearly bought one) .. the equivalent would now cost you between £8,000 and £10,000 

[yung_flynn]

53 minutes ago, julian-wolf said:

^ “not good” is an understatement; I just picked up a backup pair of those a couple weeks ago (funny timing) in similar condition for ¥22.5k, and I felt like I was overpaying…

For what it’s worth, they run small relative to the M41058, but in the scheme of things they’re pretty true to size

I've run across that reseller before (and even bought a pair of Denime Kyotos off them) and they have a lot of good stuff. However, I can never understand their pricing logic. They have a lot of multiples in comparable sizes and conditions with inexplicable (to me at least) price deltas (e.g., a w32 M41027 for $220 vs. a nearly identical condition w33 M41027 for around $400). It was essentially the same thing for the Denime pair that I bought, which was 1/3 the price of a nearly identical model from the same seller.

Their Evisu listings, especially from the water buffalo patch era, are some the most egregious offenders

[redragon]

A friend recently got this with code M40313, apparently it's produced for 50th anniversary of Hinoya (~25 years ago)

There is no digital footprint on this pair, do you know anything about it? @Double 0 Soul

[Double 0 Soul]

The way search engines are performing.. the only things which have a digital footprint are 'for sale' 

I've never seen them before @redragon ..  

Can we see some more photos.. buttons, rivets, inner nylon labels, selvedge edge.. ect?

If they came out in the year 2000, that's halfway through the 'anti-replica' period but the denim doesn't look like the 98 greenline ?

From what i can glean from that one photo.. the stitch colour looks closer to the soon to come SC41947 but the extended pocket stitch was a feature of the M41001.. which you don't see on the 47s..

 

[redragon]

This is the other photo for now, "H & SC" on the back of the tab.

Will keep you posted on the details soon @Double 0 Soul

[Double 0 Soul]

Careful with the bonsai sheers! ..could be the missing link 

[redragon]

@Double 0 Soul

Details:

[Double 0 Soul]

Ah.. ok 🤔.. so pinkline in the year 2000 and V stitch to the top of the waistband, that's unusual..

Peekaboo ID a'la SC-47s but the back pocket stitch resembles the M41001..

On 6/4/2025 at 4:19 AM, redragon said:

 

Can you see this^ protruding pocket stitch @Dr_Heech ? .. it's used for the Sugarcane M41001 late 40s / early 50s repros .. you don't see it on SC-47s but you do see it on FW-47s albeit protruding less.. off the top of my head, i don't recall seeing it on late 40s - early 50s Levi's but you would know better then i?

@redragon does the waistband stitch continue over the fly at 90° like this ?

..or does it stop at the waistband ?

Edited June 9, 2025 by Double 0 Soul

[Maynard Friedman]

Is there a number on the back of the top button, just to confirm the production year?

[Dr_Heech]

@Double 0 Soul Funny you should mention that particular feature as l've always noticed that FW (and some other more vintage repro brands) put that detail on the back pocket but only on one side, for obvious reasons, but it always irked me as l have truly never seen that detail on vintage levis. Maybe he odd pair but l don't remember it at all so never really sat well with me.

I always remove that bit of stitching from my repros and will do so again with my FW'42s before wearing them.

[Double 0 Soul]

How very odd.. i wonder how it entered the denim-psyche if not via a repro detail?

Looking back to Pg1 of this thread.. that stitch detail was apparent on the (1980s) MP-597s which i'm calling a 50s repro but it's not apparent on the (1980s) MP-603 which are a late 40s repro.. It's apparent on the (1991) M41001 but not apparent on the (2003-present) SC-47s so that all tracks as a stitch detail from a pair of 50's Levis .. but then not really..?

It's also apparent on the (1991) M41030 / 37 repro??

If it's been a vintage repro detail since the 1980s .. one would have thought, if it was a mistake, it would have been noticed and dropped before now.. Freewheelers, Silverstone, CSF.. who're all using vintage Levi's as benchmark are reproducing that stitch.. albeit, CSF is a loop as opposed to stitch-through ..

Unless it's the 'Richard Gere & the gerbil' type detail.. so ingrained in our consciousness that we all just believe it's a thing without any evidence ..

 

Edited June 9, 2025 by Double 0 Soul

[Maynard Friedman]

That back pocket stitch detail could be based upon this pair, dating from 1942-46 (#19, p94 in The 501XX book).

[Double 0 Soul]

Well done Martin! 

Is that^ stitch a loop a’la CSF or stitched through?

I don’t have that book, I had Flash’s copy for a while and stored it to memory.. the same memory which forgot all about the Gardeners conversation 

Edited June 10, 2025 by Double 0 Soul

[Maynard Friedman]

Looks more like a loop (a la CSF) than a row of stitching but is probably enough of a basis for the repros to copy/exaggerate/make a feature of, etc

[Double 0 Soul]

That CSF loop was copied from a pair in the Miura collection so it exists in at least two places.. unless that pair in the 501 book are the Miura 46s?

[redragon]

@Double 0 Soul continue over the fly

 

On 6/9/2025 at 4:25 PM, Maynard Friedman said:

Is there a number on the back of the top button, just to confirm the production year?

Nope.

[Maynard Friedman]

22 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

That CSF loop was copied from a pair in the Miura collection so it exists in at least two places.. unless that pair in the 501 book are the Miura 46s?

I’ve no idea so here are the other photos of that pair if it helps.

[Double 0 Soul]

Thanks Martin, they're a different pair to the Miura 46s / leaning more towards a war model.

 

@redragon they're basically a pair of SC41947 with an M-Series product code.. protruding back pocket stitch seems to be the only real difference.. 

Timeline / 25yrs old does track.. the SC47s were released in 2003 so would have been in production in 2001 + 2002 .. possibly conceived in 2000, they could be sample pairs rebranded for Hinoya Anniversary.. my only cause for question would be the lack of arcs which were used liberally on most early 2000 SC repros.. but it doesn't cause me to doubt that they are what your friend thinks they are.. bearing in mind, the previous generation or SC jeans didn't have arcs either.

It's a really nice find!

Edited June 10, 2025 by Double 0 Soul

[Double 0 Soul]

Another pair for sale here @redragon  so probably not all that rare.

https://zenmarket.jp/mercariproduct.aspx?itemCode=ewjEkW4R2oxriNhq8tKgJU

It's just a case that nobody has noticed the M40313 product code and by doing so has put them into the "1991-2003" catagory of SC production.

Edited June 10, 2025 by Double 0 Soul

[redragon]

14 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Thanks Martin, they're a different pair to the Miura 46s / leaning more towards a war model.

 

@redragon they're basically a pair of SC41947 with an M-Series product code.. protruding back pocket stitch seems to be the only real difference.. 

Timeline / 25yrs old does track.. the SC47s were released in 2003 so would have been in production in 2001 + 2002 .. possibly conceived in 2000, they could be sample pairs rebranded for Hinoya Anniversary.. my only cause for question would be the lack of arcs which were used liberally on most early 2000 SC repros.. but it doesn't cause me to doubt that they are what your friend thinks they are.. bearing in mind, the previous generation or SC jeans didn't have arcs either.

It's a really nice find!

Dang... Really appreciate the depth of your knowledge, truly SC historian.

It's one of those pair that slips through the crack of time (& internet/media) I guess, who knows there might be more undocumented pairs out there in the world...just waiting to be discovered.

[Double 0 Soul]

No bother, i'm happy to help.

The M40313s just add to this great resource so kudos to your friend for finding them and noticing that they are a little special.

Since the death of GeoCities JP .. (which was never great) this is the only Sugarcane M-Series resource on the webz.. so for years now, you notice the info from here copy/pasted into Yahoo / Mercari / Carousell sales posts, where thrifters have found an old pair of jeans, searched the product code which sends them here.. their WTF! moment when they find a 500 post thread regarding the 30yr old jeans they've just found always makes me smile..

Now, if i can just figure out a way of monetising it.. i'll be rich!.. rich, i tell's ya!

[julian-wolf]

[Double 0 Soul]

Nice!

Looks like it's never been worn.. it'll last you a lifetime 

Do you think the rayon tab used to be red and the oils from the leather have sent it brown or do you think it was always that colour.

[julian-wolf]

Yep, all signs point towards it having just sat in storage for 30 years, but the leather’s still in great shape as far as I can tell—plenty soft & supple 

Tab looks brown through and through, and the lettering’s still pretty white, so I’m guessing it was this color from the start

Love the United Carr hardware