AVI LTHR G-1 - sizes 40/42

[Persimmon]

Follow up on the Five Star A-1

When it arrived the shipping address was in Pakistan, a manufacturer of Leather Jackets. It turns out Five Star is the factory’s retail wing selling direct to the public on Amazon and Ebay.

Independently to the A-1 purchase we sent the factory a picture of a G1 and asked if they made anything like that. We chose a pic of an Avirex so as not to set the bar too high.

They replied by saying they did make a similar jacket and offered to send a free sample. Amongst the list of companies they claim to make for was AVI.

The jacket arrived this week, size is marked “L”, fit pics are on one of our machinists who wears a 42”


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Impartial review……………….

It’s a well made jacket, cut is OK, it’s the cheapest type of Goatskin but no worse that many recent issue G-1s, real fur collar. Period correct Talon zipper . USN decal behind the collar, decent knits.

What is totally astonishing are the prices, these are quite a bit cheaper that the A-2s we had made in India in 1999, the one’s we sold at £200

The trade price is $65, Retail $130 bought direct from Five Star compared with $400 via Denmark from AVI

We’ve decided against stocking these as we’d need to price them around $200/$225 so we’d be undercut by the factory shop's $130 price and, more importantly, if the likes of Aero, ELC, Lewis and many, many, others with a similar choice to make don’t support UK manufacturing, it’ll disappear forever.

Moral of the story : If the end user has to buy a made in Pakistan jacket, buy it direct from the factory at retail price, that way a bit more of the money spent might trickle down the ranks to improve staff wages

Can I ask why you would have to sell it at $200-225.
If the trade price is $65 and I assume trade means retailers/ manufacturers such as yourself why can’t Aero in this case sell them for the $130-150 mark.
Or is that down to taxes etc

If their is no manufacture element for Aero it’s a quick turnaround back outto the customer. Ship in ship out.
Given that most customers purchasing jackets from more premium retailers expect a degree of waiting time to receive their new jacket you could not even hold any stock and just take the orders and have them “make to order”

Still profitable though. Or would that not work for the business model as it may call into question the differences in price point of the standard UK made jackets.

It certainly does call in to question buying from AVI as mentioned if it is the same sort jacket at a much higher customer cost price. Mind you that argument could keep going ... buying jackets from other retailer manufacturers.

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

.
What did you pay on imports and taxes Ken?

£11 shipping on the A-1, no charges at all on the G-1

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Can I ask why you would have to sell it at $200-225.
If the trade price is $65 and I assume trade means retailers/ manufacturers such as yourself why can’t Aero in this case sell them for the $130-150 mark.
Or is that down to taxes etc
.

Yes, shipping, duties taxes, pensions, SNP taxes etc
Standard Trade mark up is X 2.5, $65 + duties (maybe $90 tops) x 2.5 $225
Aero try where possible to stick to x 2 (100%) , our retailers don't even manage that
DKYN work on X 15
Cabourn works on X 6
AVI apparently work on X 5

 

[Brettafett]

Well, its good to see your approval of the jacket, seems AVI did a good job after all (if that is their jacket).

I looked on Five Stars Ebay site and a G-1, A-1 and a couple of A-2s are there yes, but don't look to be up to the standard of AVI's actual jackets... The G-1 on the FSL website looks nothing like the jacket above. Almost like the FSL one has been 'upgraded'....??!
Also, the 'Bronco' clearly is not to the std of AVI's, the labels, studs and snaps are all wrong.
I wonder how much extra it would cost to develop and add a relatively 'authentic' label, repro M-39 Talon zipper and CARR studs etc ...

They even have a weird looking M422a in there Watch, if AVI decides to make an M422a, suddenly there will be an 'upgraded' M422a there
I wonder when a Perry A-2 will suddenly appear on Five Star's website...

Still, interesting stuff...

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Agreed their website pictures are sh*t and even if they have learnt a thing or two from the AVI "Danish Design" it's obvious to me who is gaining the most financially from the project!

 

[Brettafett]

Not me

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Not me

I was referring to AVI.................but did I accidentaly hit a nerve?

 

[Smithy]

I just picked up my AVI LTHR Bronco A-2 from the post office this afternoon and I'm happier than a dog with two dongers with it I'll post a thread when I take some decent pics, although it may have to wait until after the weekend as I'm going fishing.

 

[B-Man2]

Tim
Did you get the Seal or the Russett?

 

[Smithy]

Tim
Did you get the Seal or the Russett?

I got the seal Burt and it's stunning. It's a lovely chocolate brown, about a shade lighter than the seal goat of my MASH A-10 gloves. I was after a nice mid brown and this fits the bill perfectly. The sizing is absolutely spot on (I obviously would have been a 44'' back in 1942!) .

I'm just absolutely thrilled with it, I've had a smile like a Cheshire cat ever since I got it this afternoon and I couldn't be happier

 

[Greg Gale]

Oh, stop teasing us, let's see that beauty!

 

[Smithy]

It'll have to be a shitty mobile phone pic from the depths of the man cave for now. Let me get a beer first and I'll see what I can rustle up...

 

[Smithy]

As I said rubbish mobile phone camera pic in the darkened depths of Chez Moi. The colour is entirely off (in natural light it's a chocolate brown) but this is it. As I said I'll make a thread for it here in the Repros section and put some nice pics in natural light. As I said I only got it this arvo but I'm simply thrilled with it.

PS - Sorry for hijacking your thread Greg

 

[Teddy]

@Ken at Aero Leather Thanks a lot for sharing the G1 you got.

Fur collar and knits are different from my AVI G1 (definitely better-looking). But the color of the leather and the overall impression of the cut seems to me to be the same. Honestly, I'm not too happy. I already had to sew on the pocket buttons myself as they went loose, and one of my pocket flaps is peeling where the two pieces are glued together.

 

[Teddy]

Actually, since it's so popular I'll post mine for sale here. Anyone interested in taking over mine? €170 + shipping it's yours.
Below a picture of its current state:

 

[Greg Gale]

I just received the replacement knits from Larry, they are amazing! I still have to wait for the nametag and the patches though, which still haven't arrived after 2 weeks. I'm starting to worry. Robin Hood's gang was a more honest and reliable lot than the Hungarian postal "service" :/

 

[Thomas Koehle]

got "my" AVI G1 last week - shipping within Europe was 2 days

I ordered a 44 and a 46 coz I was not sure about the sizing and keep the 46

the smaller jacket was sent back to Denmark and refund was on my PP account within less than 10 days

as for me the jacket is really nice - leather is thick with a nice graining - the mouton collar looks way better than the one on the "5 Star" pics

knits are of different weave than I saw on originals and on the ELC versions but I like the AVI-knits more than the original versions coz they seem more durable over time to me - OK maybe not 100% period correct but even better when riding a bike or using here

overall compared to the high end (and high price) makers around I think the jacket is worth the money I spent and I'm really pleased with it

Sorry - no pics in upright / standing position available coz jacket is in Germany and I'm back to work in Mexico

btw: just checkd the AVI hp and found they have the A1 and their A2`s also available in 48 - maybe they also plan for a 48 version of the G1????

Saludos

Thomas

 

[Smithy]

Looks awesome Thomas and the fit looks perfect. Not their G-1 but I love my AVI Bronco, it's become one of my favourite jackets.

And those gloves of yours are classic

 

[Dubpynchon]

I'm a sucker for a G-1 and that one looks as good as my Eastman. Well done.

 

[Thomas Koehle]

I'm a sucker for a G-1 and that one looks as good as my Eastman. Well done.

second that - I had a M422 from ELC for comparison (yep not a G1 but similar somehow) and found they ain`t that far from each other