WPG A2?

[pdweiser]

Has anyone seen the A2 What Price Glory is now offering on their website? It is made out of a goatskin, he describes it as a more fitted jacket. He doesnt have much picture wise, it looks okay, the price is definitely doable, and I am thinking of ordering one just to see how it is. What are your all thoughts before I pull the trigger?

https://onlinemilitaria.net/shopexd.asp?id=5467

 

[Jason]

With some of WPG's other jackets, namely their reproduction Irvin & B3, they fill a niche market - providing convincing looking repros at a budget price. However the budget end of the market for A2-esque jackets has no shortage of players in the field that WPG will have to compete with here. They'll need to have something that will differentiate themselves from the rest of the market at this tier - and unfortunately, I'm not seeing it there. To be fair, it is hard to tell from just one photo. At this price, you're hardly going to get 'authenticity' so perhaps look at other A2 options in this price bracket and see what you like the best.

 

[Andrew]

PD I believe Jason's too kind,

that jacket just looks scary to me and i'd advise to stay well clear and put that $150 towards a good second hand name brand where there's more chance of decent everything, materials, cut etc. You will most likely wind up unhappy the moment you open the box and slip it on, and it's a slippery slope from that point and then you'll have find a way to sell it.... Not fun. Just my thoughts.

 

[MikeyB-17]

It might be a decent, we'll-made jacket, but it looks modern to me-that shade of brown is not one I associate with Wartime jackets, and although it's maybe a bit harsh to judge from that one pic (you'd think they'd give you a bit more to go on), it looks to be pretty much devoid of character too. Whether that would improve with age who knows? The cuff knits are too long and don't look double weave either. I also reckon you could do better for the money.

 

[Tim P]

Point being that a cotton lined wool knit brass zip A2 jacket can be sold at a profit for $150.

A2 jackets were mass produced and sold for $8 in the day. Whatever that now equates to.
So I am sure that I can be forgiven for wondering if the high end bespoke tailoring market aren't missing a trick here.
I don't doubt that a lot of time and effort goes into reverse engineering a facsimile of a ww2 jacket, or that matching material costs are higher. But I recall the Times of OVER engineered repros that were never going to develop character. Now, you pay extra for the simple expedient of using panels that incorporate armpit and A hole leather like back in the day.
All these features are of course infinitely desirable and irrelevant when, the finished item is more expensive than what you would spring for some creation by Luigi vertorollorellici of Milan.
The likes of me are unable, and frankly unwilling, to throw bad money after good.

So whatever the problems of the WPG jacket, I bet a $275 one could rectify enough of them.

 

[Silver Surfer]

looks like a cheap copy of an avirex, which is not a good place to start. whats more, it looks to have orang arms, that are perhaps 3-5" too long.. imho.

 

[Tim P]

Well I guess the only option is to continue to be taken roughly from the rear by jackets that cost eight times the price.
I accept that you get what you pay for. That quality comes at a price and that WPG does not fill a niche for anyone here. But that tails off at a point....I suppose I believe that $1,000 and up up up a throw is purely there to indulge snobbery, be it monetary or authenticity. The cost over value differential is blown out of the water in my opinion. Proven by this offering by WPG. There has to be some middle ground.

 

[Roughwear]

If a guy is after a cheap A2 he would do better buying a used Cooper or a Willis and Geiger A2 for less money and get a better looking jacket IMO. However it would not take much imagination on the part of WPG to produce a somewhat more accurate repro for just a little more money.

 

[dmar836]

Mentioned before but why don't we see low-labor(i.e. Chinese-made) jackets with better cut, leather, and/or parts?

 

[bseal]

I ain't gonna pay $8 for no A-2, that's simply outrageous!

BTW, does "A hole leather" have an aniline or semi-aniline finish?

 

[6148th T.C.Squadron]

looks like a cheap copy of an avirex, which is not a good place to start. whats more, it looks to have orang arms, that are perhaps 3-5" too long.. imho.

Cheap shot, my knuckles drag on the floor :lol:

 

[pdweiser]

I hope you guys dont think this is my first venture into an A2, my first A2 I ever bought was a Goodwear '39 Werber. I was just curious what your thoughts were on this coat, merely as discussion, and was curious to maybe drop the buck fifty and get one to see just how it looked and compared, worse comes to worse I can have it as a beater jacket, or sell it to a reenactor.

But I agree with what most of you are saying, it looks very cheap in the photo, but in all fairness the photo doesnt really give a real good picture of it detail wise.



Actually correction, the first A2 I ever bought was a cooper A2 at goodwill when I was 10 and turned a profit on it almost over night. LoL

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Give it a whirl for a buck and a half, what the hell, can't be that bad. I'm right behind ya. They might make a good blank canvas for jacket art, I pay a hundred bucks for a good canvas on a stretcher frame.

 

[6148th T.C.Squadron]

Very good point Jacketpatches, good to practice on if you do jacket art. Someone will buy it and do a review, maybe worth the 150 for those who collect nylon but want a leather to toss around.

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Actually correction, the first A2 I ever bought was a cooper A2 at goodwill when I was 10 and turned a profit on it almost over night. LoL

Back about ten years when I was considering jacket art as a regular offering, the Coopers were 148- and I bought a few of them. Certainly not up to par for most guys here on the forum, but the general public was pretty impressed with these jackets and I always got a compliment on them. VLJ approved flight jackets are just the tip of the iceberg, a very small percentage of the flight jacket market. A guy like my Dad would be ecstatic getting a WPG from me all decked out unless it fell apart in a few weeks. So I guess that's the only real question, is it junk? It's safe to assume that the tiny details would fail any inspection here but that doesn't mean it's not a decent jacket.

WPG's are even cheaper than those 90's Coopers considering how much time has passed, AND the fact that Neil Cooper gave me the wholesale price. So I'm guessing it's not as good quality goatskin and may be thinner. The stuff is pretty cheap and easy to find in various qualities.

 

[chancerider]

Huh. Based on one pic..it 'looks' like a screaming deal for the non-fanatic who like the general style of an A-2.

 

[herk115]

Huh. Based on one pic..it 'looks' like a screaming deal for the non-fanatic who like the general style of an A-2.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: there was so much variation in the manufacture of the wartime jackets that if you peruse enough wartime photos, you'll find a jacket that looks exactly like this WPG. Or a Cooper. Or a USA. So go ahead and toss the buck fifty at one and see if you like it. And post some pics for the rest of us.

I used to be the harshest critic of U.S. Authentic on this forum, but now I own three of them. Why? They are very affordable and their historical deficiencies are noticeable only to the most fanatical of collectors. Everyone else, which is most people who recognize an A-2 when they're looking at one, simply tell me, "Cool jacket, man!"

 

[dmar836]

I don't get that no matter what I wear!

 

[devilish]

Arguing against the existence of high cost, high authenticity reproduction flight jackets on a forum dedicated to them seems just a tad pointless and a little 'trollish' to me. Do you really think we are all going to throw up our hands and surrender to your opinion. Having said that I'm pretty sure we all know the prices are steep and few of us can afford to buy them over and over. It is however, our choice what we spend our hard earned money on and I for one have chosen to buy the best I can afford.

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Arguing against the existence of high cost, high authenticity reproduction flight jackets on a forum dedicated to them seems just a tad pointless and a little 'trollish' to me. Do you really think we are all going to throw up our hands and surrender to your opinion. Having said that I'm pretty sure we all know the prices are steep and few of us can afford to buy them over and over. It is however, our choice what we spend our hard earned money on and I for one have chosen to buy the best I can afford.

That about says it all
"buy the best I can afford"