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Horsehide A-2 prices ?

Ole

Banned
A relevant thread inspired me to do a small price research for current Horsehide A-2 prices.
Thought maybe other members may benefit for it.

prices.jpg


The prices shown refer to the cheapest horsehide A-2 model the vendor offers, i.e. the house A-2, not contract, as it is understood that WWII contract repro price is more expensive as is the case for Eastman, Bill Kelso, Aero and maybe the Japanese makers.

I checked also US Authentic, Alpha Industries, Schott NYC and SM Wholesale but it seems they don't offer horsehide option any more.

I hope you will find this useful.

Sorry if I forgot any makers.
 
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Persimmon

Well-Known Member
An interesting comparison - I think the ranking has not really changed at all over the last 10 years or so.
Prices have though for sure.
 

dmar836

Well-Known Member
Yeah looks about right.
One exception is that the variations from the makers is too great IMO to compare fairly. Some makers have nothing but generic house-type models made "overseas" with poor patterns and parts. When's the last time you saw a "house" Goodwear or an imported one? That makes such a comparison difficult as a basic contract from Kelso puts them about at the price of an Aero. Contract only makers would be a more fair list.
A new member might start with price in mind(assuming the little details aren't noticeable) and compromise the rest of the way to eventual unhappiness. Things that have come up - who recently said they received a G-1 or something with a plastic zipper?! And which brand was it that was discovered to have had the delaminating plastic coated hide? These lower end jackets are what they are and their relatively low price should not drag the curve down. So some of the cheap offerings really shouldn't make the list IMO.
JMO,
Dave
 

Tommy

Active Member
It's interesting to see how close to having a GW and the cheapest Japanesse made is. BR are almost certainly having there's more mass produced as I suspect the RM ones are.

Unless I see something that truley changes my mind, I would want to go an Aero, Dimond Dave, Eastman or Goodwear. I only quite a bit of gear from Buzz, but there Leather Jackets are not the same quality in my opinion as the above. I've had the chance to compare Buzz and Eastman side by side so that's not just a snap judgement either.
 

blackrat2

Well-Known Member
A good post Ole
For sure prices have gone up over the years
I too have to say for me it’s Aero,GW and Eastman
I think with these three your getting a good product with research behind it
The top end on the scale I for one don’t get what your paying for other than the brand name
 

ButteMT61

Well-Known Member
Oh don't tell this to the stalker over on TFL. There's a guy who has it out for me, DD, and GW. He's a BR fanboy who keeps trying to get me into a battle. Not playing. I think his deck is less than full to be honest.
 

Tenfifteen

Member
...Things that have come up - who recently said they received a G-1 or something with a plastic zipper?!.... These lower end jackets are what they are and their relatively low price should not drag the curve down.
Dave... The G1 you're talking about is mine, I remember your post on my thread, and there too you didn't realize it was NOT a repro/copy jacket bought new ! It's a real old 1955 Foster that was once restaured with whatever the guy (who owned it) found. It has nothing to do with the repro market or new jacket sold.. (repro jacket doesn't interest me, I only buy real cheap oldies with some interesting/challenging work to do !) I don't know anything about the repro market but I guess that even the crapy chinese eBay copies sold 100/150$ new have a metal zipper ^^
 

dmar836

Well-Known Member
Oh, my apologies for assuming that. In my defense, my dad had a mall "bomber" jacket with a plastic zipper. That's hard to get out of my head!
Thanks for the correction,
Dave
 
US Authentic still offers (several) horsehide versions. You have to choose "Custom" to see the choices, and pay two additional charges.

I tried to look at Schott's site, but it's not responding. They're probably overwhelmed with traffic: there was a feature about Schott on CBS Saturday Morning today that probably got lots of folks interested in their moto jackets.
 

interbak

Member
Just got an email from US Authentic this morning, Horsehide A2, 10% off, price on the website $429.00 USD. I'm not buying one, or advertising for them, just saying...
 

dmar836

Well-Known Member
I admit there aren't many publicly owned on this site but their ads used to be more impressive than the few I have seen. Still trying to remember if it was them or another lower end A-2 that had the plastic coating that pealed off.
Dave
 

Miles

Active Member
as of the mid-later 1950s, several zipper makers coated [still do] the bottom of the tape [starter area] with plastic.

How can I fix this when it wears down? Is there a special plastic iron on tape I can use or something?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Silver Surfer

Well-Known Member
for all intents and purposes, the zipper should be fine even with the plastic coating worn down. it was applied as an extra, inexpensive measure to foil separation at the bottom zipper tape. said best, in the great yogi's words, "if it aint broke, dont fix it".
 

Ole

Banned
Here is the version with contract repro prices. The dollar price looks better today for the Japanese jackets.

contract_prices.jpg


Do you think that price is correlated with quality? Would like to hear comments on that as the Japanese repros do not seem to be exact copies of originals.
 

johnwayne

Well-Known Member
Interesting to say the least! Goodwear is 30% more than a Diamond too, hmm!! One things for sure, iI doubt many of us here will be heading to the land of the rising sun for a new repro or for that matter anywhere except maybe good old Aero, the old kid on the block!! I think this proves what's been said by many of late, prices are over the top and I for one won't go the new repro route if I wanted another A2 but, will it drive up prices on the used market too?
 
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