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Is this a real B-15

havocpaul

Active Member
looks genuine, as you say, replacement knits. Guess some labels were just removed post-war to avoid the 'property of U.S. Army Air Forces'
 

Peter Graham

Well-Known Member
It's a copy. I made the mistake of buying one just like it in my early days of collecting. Terrible fit and quality. Check the green fur lining. They did put AAF decals on them too. If it's got no label walk away.
 

a2jacketpatches

Active Member
The lining is what looked a little funky to me, and of course the missing label. I never really knew the details of these but since buying that cherry last week, it sparked an interest in all models for me. Busted out some books with the nylon versions, and looking at as many as I can find on the net. A few weeks ago there was one at the Huntington Beach Flea Market with a quilted lining, no label, everything else looked right as rain and it had a tank destroyer patch on it. Can't be a real variation, right? Anyway, I left it there because the guy wanted 125- for it, pretty rough shape and a tiny size. Within 1 minute flat, another guy snapped it up. I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure, I did say "the TD patch is worth 35- and if it was the 6 wheel version a couple hundred". So now I'm guessing the missing label is a dead givaway on any rare bird, like I said earlier, all the real stuff I've found common or rare, in the worst condition possible, has always had a label.
 

unclegrumpy

Well-Known Member
Peter Graham said:
It's a copy. I made the mistake of buying one just like it in my early days of collecting. Terrible fit and quality. Check the green fur lining. They did put AAF decals on them too. If it's got no label walk away.

Good eyes mate!

I don't follow B-15 prices anymore, but even if this one were real and just had bad cuffs and waistband, it still would only be a $100 to $150 jacket....not $450....right?
 

unclegrumpy

Well-Known Member
a2jacketpatches said:
Mine is the super duper rare tag variant, so i otta get about 10K for it, ya think?

I kind of thought you were fishing for an appraisal.

All I have to say is if you get anywhere close to $10k, you should be able to buy something in the desert rather than rent......AND still have a few bucks left over to run the air conditioning on those 114 degree days. :D

Good luck!
 

a2jacketpatches

Active Member
unclegrumpy said:
a2jacketpatches said:
Mine is the super duper rare tag variant, so i otta get about 10K for it, ya think?

I kind of thought you were fishing for an appraisal.

All I have to say is if you get anywhere close to $10k, you should be able to buy something in the desert rather than rent......AND still have a few bucks left over to run the air conditioning on those 114 degree days. :D

Good luck!

I've got a pretty good ( and realistic ) idea just by looking around on my own. But I find it amazing how so many tags are missing from questionable jackets, guess I never realized until now. Also, since actually finding one, the details of the first B-15's have been sketchy to me. I've seen several of the quilted inside linings that look the part on the exterior but haven't purchased due to a missing label. With all this stuff going on, I'll pursue as much detailed knowledge as I can on all cloth and nylon, CA is loaded with them compared to back home in MA. Any time you find a jacket suitable for winter, it was pretty used and beat up to the point you didn't want it.

The high average in Yucca Valley is 98.4 for june, absolute 113, but most of the year seems pretty normal. It sure looks like the desert but more so nestled in a mountain valley. The hottest days in CA are nothing compared to home. Back east it's so humid that an 80 degree day is absolutely miserable outside of an AC room. You could fill a couple of gallon jugs in a day with water the ac pulls from the air.
 

a2jacketpatches

Active Member
Monsoon said:
Peter Graham said:
If it's got no label walk away.

Well, questionable jackets can have an authentic label, and real jackets can have a label missing.

Only sense that would make to me is if someone took the label out of a real jacket to give a questionable jacket realism, HUH?????????????

Bottom line is that a missing label is trying to pass off a questionable jacket. I bought an M422 one that had a missing label and was cut from the bottom of the back up to the shoulders and then stitched up again. I was told that the Navy did this because the garment was not suitable for re-issue and sold them in bulk to the civilian market, maybe this is why some original A-2's are missing a label, to be demiliarized by the Air Corps or the GI himself. In my opinion that's the only legit reason because they don't just fall out.
 

Monsoon

Well-Known Member
a2jacketpatches said:
[
Only sense that would make to me is if someone took the label out of a real jacket to give a questionable jacket realism, HUH?????????????

Yep. Dude has a POS real jacket, pulls the label out and sews it into a fake jacket to sell.

I've read about people collecting German WW2 uniforms. Simply because a jacket had size and manufacture stamps didn't make it authentic. As someone said, (At The Front?), stamps are easy to make and ink is cheap to buy.
 

Peter Graham

Well-Known Member
Monsoon said:
Peter Graham said:
If it's got no label walk away.

Well, questionable jackets can have an authentic label, and real jackets can have a label missing.
If it's got no label it's probably a copy, and a copy with an authentic label sewn in is easy to spot from other details. As far as I'm concerned an authentic jacket with the label missing is not worth bothering with but that's just me.
 

Monsoon

Well-Known Member
Peter Graham said:
If it's got no label it's probably a copy, and a copy with an authentic label sewn in is easy to spot from other details. As far as I'm concerned an authentic jacket with the label missing is not worth bothering with but that's just me.

Exactly. It's the other details you need to check. When you find a jacket with a missing label, alarm bells should start to ring and the other details should be checked, but I wouldn't discount it off the bat.
 

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