What’s your budget to investnin your jackets

[Pilot]

had a little argument with my little holly sweety.
Just asking the community, seeing, reading all the very great posts here,whats about budget a month, or a year for jackets and or memorabilia or hobbies ?...%%% to income is super ok..
Sorry but right now my Sue is giving me the Sh..t
Seeing all investment discussions, just wondering.
Thx for your feedback and sorry if already posted

 

[CBI]

Its a fun hobby, no "logic" to it - not much to really "invest" in

 

[Skip]

Yep, funs the word. And of corse how long is the damn piece of string. Prices keep going up and out of my budget range

It depends on many things and is very personal

 

[Juanito]

Like anything (jackets, motorcycles, vehicles, houses), it depends on how good of a deal it is; it isn't a fixed dollar amount, nor is it a per month budget item, since these things (jackets and AAF memorabilia) are not exactly a commodity and you never know when something will pop up.

For example, I wouldn't pay any more than $750 for any Good Wear, but I would pay $5,000 for an NOS/unissued size 44 or 46 Dubow A-2. I heard there was one out there, still with the box, sold at the Great Western show in So. Cal about 1990 but I have never been able to locate it.

I learned something more than 35 years ago when I first got into jackets and bought a number of jackets in one day; it is mostly the chase not the acquisition and ownership that is the rush or motivation. If you can afford something, it doesn't mean you have to buy it. Simply finding something and knowing you have the capability to own it, I find is virtually the same thing unless you have some other connection to it. After a while, any motorcycle is just a conglomeration of steel and aluminum, any jacket is just some leather and cloth, and any house is just a piece of land with some wood and bricks on it.

 

[dujardin]

that's a question ..... very hard to answer

depend of lot's of things

those time - impossible for me to buy a jacket
if i win a Lotto - no more problem - so any price is good

but my reason tell me to stay in the right price
i don't consider collection as an investment but i wish to find my money back in case of need

some times ago i spend money buying jackets because i was able to do it (approx 500 till 1000 $ by 3 months)
now with my daughter at high school, i have no little $$$$ to spend

and also, i'm now on another project - so if i may get some $$$ to spend - it will not be into jackets

in fact - impossible to answer your question

 

[unclegrumpy]

had a little argument with my little holly sweety. Sorry but right now my Sue is giving me the Sh..t

Hmmm....not sure what you are thinking buddy...discussing this type of critical..often top secret...information with your better half. Does she discuss with you what she should spend on her hair or her clothes or who knows what? I bet not. The best advice here is to fly low and beat the radar...otherwise the flak will surely get you.

 

[johnwayne]

Ultimately surely it's what you can afford after shelling out on the necessities of life ie spare cash! Even now I can afford to occasionally splash out if I wanted I refuse to pay the sky high prices that certainly new jackets are going for. We've had the discussion here before but I just do not see how a repro can cost £1k or more, yes an original but I guess to each his own!!

 

[Smithy]

It's a good question Pilot and as JW just said, we've touched upon this before slightly. Personally I wouldn't buy a high end repro new anymore, and not because I can't afford to but because the prices for them are just stupid now, f-ing ludicrous in fact, and especially for A-2s.

It's all about perception really when it comes to hobbies. With my last classic car in Oz, I wouldn't bat an eyelid dropping a grand or two on doing something to it but I'll be buggered if I'm going to splash out more than 5 or 6 hundred bucks for an A-2 jacket. Perceived value versus actual cost, and for me with new jackets over the last few years, this has gotten seriously out of whack.

I still like jackets but I'm squarely in the secondhand market now when it comes to this hobby.

 

[tjoenn]

Twice I've taken my wife to the Eastman factory. She was very impressed with everything, including service and hospitality, and gained an appreciation for this hobby of mine. Of course we made a weekend out of it and the visit to Eastman was just a few hours, but it was worth it, her favorite Christmas gifts for me now are items from Eastman!! (not jacket, but gloves, sweathers, hats, etc.)
I've bought 5 new jackets from Eastman, sold one, bought another original, but think it will be a long time until I buy a new repro again. But if an original A-2 in wearable condition came my way....

 

[johnwayne]

Further to my earlier comment I think I'm actually guilty of trying to justify previously how a repro could cost what it does!
That said, the makers will charge what the buyers want and clearly in the case of say JC/GW with I gather a 2 year waiting list who can blame him, he is after all an artist and as the saying goes, art like beauty is in the eye of the beholder! Personally I'd rather frame a nice painted A2 than a Banksy!!

 

[unclegrumpy]

Pilot, one word in your original post is an important one...."investment".

That implies you occasionally sell something, and actually make a profit. Being at the end of the food chain...being the total end consumer...can sometimes be an investment, but far more times than not, the item deprecates. Nothing wrong with that if you get the use out of it, you can afford it, and it makes you happy. The problem becomes if what you are doing becomes (or is) an obsession or an addiction...sometimes not that different than alcohol or drugs.

I actually think the better why to look at this, especially if you are attempting to rationalize what you do with your wife, is to have some balance. The easiest way to achieve that is to take some of the economic sting out, and from time to time sell a few things. Now if your affliction is brand new Goodwears and Eastmans, you are going to need to think of something else to sell. One example I can think of is one friend who sells used music CDs on eBay that he buys at yard sales. He gets those for $1 or less, and typically sells them for $10 or more...and never misses a one of them. He buys lots of expensive things with that money, but it is not the family's bread money or vacation fund, it is all from the gains from his music CD investments.

Another aspect, is while I was making a wise crack in my earlier post...(though there is a lot of truth to it)...you have to have a good relationship that is based on honesty and trust. I guarantee all of the women in our lives are pretty sure we are all nuts, but you don't need to go out of your way to continue to prove it.

Tjoenn just had a great example of the trust you can build, but I doubt he did that by feeding his wife a bunch of bull. Dave has posted a number of really cool things over the years that he and his wife have done together...he is a very lucky man, but he also clearly works at it and makes compromises to please her too. CBI is a great example of someone with a serious habit that he keeps going by letting go with maybe as much as he buys. I suspect his wife and family roll their eyes a lot...probably at epic levels that are the "go to" topics of conversation at family get togethers. Though I bet all in fun, because he has both a someone who understands him, and he has a achieved some balance in what he does.

The concluding point here is you are attempting to justify your likely horrific outflows as an "investment", but what you should be doing instead is make what you do be as close to revenue neutral as possible....if you can do that, she will not care what you do, and what you will be left with will be an investment, because it was largely paid for a long the way.

 

[Tommy]

I've gradually been building my collection up, but also largely funding it via eBay sales and maybe occasionally overtime. But to be honest I simply can't afford to buy much of what I'd love to own right now.

I'm actually trying to save and budget. Make plans. Get what I really want.

There are certainly some pieces I intend to keep forever- The N2a and probably the G1 55J14. Others- my slightly beat up G8 and sooner than later the Pike Brothers B15A will go. The G8 to be replaced by a better original, the B15a a better repro.

My main priorities this year are an A2 then a B15/D or early Ma1 repro. I'm seriously thinking about an An 6651 and a 60s g1 or a Repro M422a. But I need to get some savings down this year for other things in life. I've also run low on things to sell- I used to trade mostly Americana- 50s/ early 60s stuff and Repro's of that. I need to limit myself to 2-3 choices and put the rest of the money aside for the more important things in life.

Unfortunately I'm at that position in life whereby, although I've a decent income, I need to be making investments into things like a property of our own. I think at mid 30s, I'm a little younger than most of the members on here. I had to pull out of buying a jacket of another member before Xmas, because the money I kept putting aside for it kept going on bills and unexpected expenses. Plus the economy is screwed in most of the world right now- I've been trying to get the funds for a house deposit together for years and that just seems to get further and further away.

I generally don't discuss my clothing purchases with the missus and I do try to make sure I've saved for it and ousted other stuff first before I pick something up. Then if she moans I can justify it.

 

[Thomas Koehle]

well as for my 2cents:

i`m in the mid-fifties now keeping a Eastman leaflet with material-samples in my closet since about 30 years
last year in December I was able to get a new ELC B3 which is as a new jacket within the 1.000 Euro range
within this 30 years from getting samples and finally buying a ELC I invested in my home - education of my daughter - getting life on a decent level

besides that fact "jackets" per say ain`t my only hobby - i`m collecting WW2 mil-stuff, owning some vintage vehicles and other stuff

bottom line to your question: amount I spent in hobbies always depends on current expenses I need to cover for a living and what`s left at the end of the day - actually no fixed amount