'76 Imperial Leather & Sportswear vs 89' Cooper Sportswear G-1 leather jacket

[Oscar71]

Hi there mates! It's my first post here and this one is to request your help on a very important decision. As the post title indicates, I've been offered to get one of this vintage G-1 leather jackets, both in great general condition (US$180 each one).
Is there any advantage of one over the other? I noticed that the IL&S leather is very stiff and "noisy" when I wear the jacket. I haven't had the chance to try the Cooper yet, but the pictures shows a very similar appearance for the leather colour and also the collar material. Is it softer perhaps?
One thing that caught my eye was that the punched letters on the inside flap are not the usual USN, but USNA 80??
Thanks in advance to anyone that can enlighten me to make the proper choice.

 

[B-Man2]

United States Naval Academy Class 1980
USNA 80

 

[Pilot]

If you are still open to all suggestions, go for a black label, real mouton collar G-1.
They are surely more comfy to wear ( compared to the plastic collar G-1 ) and more valuable.
The net is full of them in sizes 40”/42”/44”.
Just my 0,1ct experience.

 

[Thomas Koehle]

There is a certain period when IMPERIAL produced their jackets in cowhide but not in goat - that's the reason why the IMP feels kind of "boxy" or "stiff" ...

How about the zipper of the IMPERIAL? On my 2 IMPERIAL they are rather difficult to handle since the material (cowhide) is thicker than the standard goat.

Since the perforation with the "USNA 80" is more rare than the standard i'd choose for the IMP.

In general - like @Pilot pointed out - i'd try to find a G1 with a black label. The color of the label indicates the age of the jacket before the 1970ies and should be easy to get hand on in your size. Earlier variants usually have a "real" mouton collar opposite to the newer version with an artificial collar.

Cheers
Thomas

 

[Oscar71]

Thanks for your kind replies @B-Man2 , @Alford Jennifer , @Pilot and @Thomas Koehle ! Very useful info and much appreciated experiences.
Both jackets were issued to Chilean naval aviators during the 70s and 80s as part of their regular military uniforms, and AFAIK they wore another kind of jackets during the 60s, so it's rather hard to find black label (D series and previous) G-1s in the local market.
I will have the chance to inspect them both tomorrow, so I'd probably choose the best preserved one, having in mind the relevant comfort aspect of each type of leather, but I'll keep searching on EvilBay and other sites to get one of those real mouton collar G-1s.
Cheers!