Modern issue A-2: the new collector item?

[ZuZu]

What they do get right- and this is true for most commercial jacket makers and NOT for most repro makers is the collar sit:

 

[ZuZu]

Oh I'm not doubting you. The laugh-react on your previous post was because of how bluntly you stated it, not because I disagree.

I know- I meant that as a general "you"! Blunt? Hahaha

 

[B-Man2]

I respect everyone’s opinion on this subject but let me offer a differing one . I ‘ll cut right to the point .
I think that in time these jackets will be collectible . Here’s why ..
Originals will continue to disappear. Why ? Because they will be bought up by collectors younger than yourselves and either be worn until they disintegrate and are lost forever Or
they will go into collections and remain there for the next 20 years … much like those originals in collections today, and those that might be offered for sale, will be cost prohibitive except for those financially able to pay the asking price. OR they will remain in collections until after some of us are gone.
So repros will dominate this hobby ….. much as they do today.
Now as for the “new A2’s”
These are available now at ridiculously low prices …. If any of you are old enough to remember in the 1957 - 1960s original A2s were being sold for $15.00 -$20.00 each .
Any guy that bought a carload of them made money on them, has a great collection of museum quality jackets and probably still have them in their collection today if they’re still alive.
Next … in spite of whether you’re pro or con on these jackets, they are USAF issued military flight jackets and that one fact in of itself .. makes them attractive to military and flight jacket collectors. They were worn by pilots who went to war in them , flew F-16s and F-15s in places like Bosnia and Iraq , again that’s another reason they will be collectibles.
Lastly .. there are those who just don’t like the jacket because they don’t conform or duplicate the look of the original A2 contacts of WWII. They don’t like the cut of the jacket the pocket flaps, the epaulettes… etc
Those are all valid and fare opinions.
Not criticizing them , but those opinions are solely based on the esthetics of the jacket and don’t take into account the historical significance of the jacket.
In my opinion I think that these jackets aren’t being given the credit they deserve .
I think that much of the dislike for them revolves around the guy who was involved in producing them . Personally depending on the manufacturer, I find these jackets to have some very nice and supple goatskin.
Lastly at the prices these jackets are currently selling , I would rather own and wear an original USAF jacket previously owned by a guy who had been there and used the jacket, than a 2nd tier repro jacket .
Yes .. Good Wears still rule the repro market but if we’re talking about a collectable original jacket .. now’s the time to buy a couple of these for less than the price of a cheap repro. Just my opinion. Take a close look at this goatskin .

 

[ZuZu]

I respect everyone’s opinion on this subject but let me offer a differing one . I ‘ll cut right to the point .
I think that in time these jackets will be collectible . Here’s why ..
Originals will continue to disappear. Why ? Because they will be bought up by collectors younger than yourselves and either be worn until they disintegrate and are lost forever Or
they will go into collections and remain there for the next 20 years … much like those originals in collections today, and those that might be offered for sale, will be cost prohibitive except for those financially able to pay the asking price. OR they will remain in collections until after some of us are gone.
So repros will dominate this hobby ….. much as they do today.
Now as for the “new A2’s”
These are available now at ridiculously low prices …. If any of you are old enough to remember in the 1957 - 1960s original A2s were being sold for $15.00 -$20.00 each .
Any guy that bought a carload of them made money on them, has a great collection of museum quality jackets and probably still have them in their collection today if they’re still alive.
Next … in spite of whether you’re pro or con on these jackets, they are USAF issued military flight jackets and that one fact in of itself .. makes them attractive to military and flight jacket collectors. They were worn by pilots who went to war in them , flew F-16s and F-15s in places like Bosnia and Iraq , again that’s another reason they will be collectibles.
Lastly .. there are those who just don’t like the jacket because they don’t conform or duplicate the look of the original A2 contacts of WWII. They don’t like the cut of the jacket the pocket flaps, the epaulettes… etc
Those are all valid and fare opinions.
Not criticizing them , but those opinions are solely based on the esthetics of the jacket and don’t take into account the historical significance of the jacket.
In my opinion I think that these jackets aren’t being given the credit they deserve .
I think that much of the dislike for them revolves around the guy who was involved in producing them . Personally depending on the manufacturer, I find these jackets to have some very nice and supple goatskin.
Lastly at the prices these jackets are currently selling , I would rather own and wear an original USAF jacket previously owned by a guy who had been there and used the jacket, than a 2nd tier repro jacket .
Yes .. Good Wears still rule the repro market but if we’re talking about a collectable original jacket .. now’s the time to buy a couple of these for less than the price of a cheap repro. Just my opinion. Take a close look at this goatskin .View attachment 158949View attachment 158951View attachment 158953View attachment 158955View attachment 158957View attachment 158959

No one's arguing that these jackets won't be collectible on some level- my argument is that these jackets have NOWHERE near the aesthetic or historical value of original WW2 A-2s. They are simply too ugly and are the creation of a boring historical time.

WW2 A-2s are interesting because they are varied in execution and were made with beautiful materials basically unavailable today. The modern government issue A-2 is made of generic and unpleasing to the eye crap. The patterns of each of many WW2 contractors differed widely and became an aesthetic "thing" of their own. The pattern of the modern A-2 is basically the same between all contractors (ditto the G-1) and is an UGLY pattern- blousy, wide-shouldered, with those hideous pocket flaps.

WW2 A-2s are interesting because of the amazing history of the men who flew in WW2. Adventure and horror. If you wore one of these jackets you had a good chance of getting killed or injured- even more than a grunt. There is an individuality- a soul- to these jackets which amazes us. The modern A-2 is an ornamental object meant to serve a propaganda purpose. Not to be worn in flight. If you wore (or wear) one of these jackets there is almost zero chance anything bad will happen to you except an accident- even in a war the training and technological advantage give you a low chance of being killed or injured.

WW2 A-2s are interesting because they are the product of a nation in the full flower of its industrial and historical primacy. Everything we made back then was great (except tanks) and we stood as a moral and democratic beacon to much of the world. The modern A-2 is the product of an world dominating empire which was losing (and now has lost completely) its way. It is a propaganda tool harking back to former glory.

So yes- these modern A-2s will be collected- but not revered or thought odf as amazing. IMO

 

[B-Man2]

The topic of the thread is

“Modern issue A-2: the new collector item?”​

My response was geared to the collectability of the jacket not its aesthetic appearance or its ability to duplicate or compete aesthetically with a WWII A2 jacket. And while I respect your opinion regarding your dislike of the jacket .. I completely disagree with your statements regarding this being a propaganda piece . I can’t even comprehend to how this jacket can be made into a “propaganda tool “ and political symbol of a “World dominating empire” that has lost its way …. That is just an exceptional fabrication of the intent and purpose of these jackets IMHO.

 

[ZuZu]

The topic of the thread is

“Modern issue A-2: the new collector item?”​

My response was geared to the collectability of the jacket not its aesthetic appearance or its ability to duplicate or compete aesthetically with a WWII A2 jacket. And while I respect your opinion regarding your dislike of the jacket .. I completely disagree with your statements regarding this being a propaganda piece . I can’t even comprehend to how this jacket can be made into a “propaganda tool “ and political symbol of a “World dominating empire” that has lost its way …. That is just an exceptional fabrication of the intent and purpose of these jackets IMHO.

I think my last post veered close to the "no politics" line and I apologize. That being said- the modern A-2 was definitely designed and marketed as harkening back to the glory days of WW2 albeit more as a cool thing to have. If you look at the weird weird weird new US Army uniform (and attendant A-2) there is an unabashed reference to the glory days of yore- propaganda to a ridiculous extent.

From the official USAF story:
Flyers liked them, and many kept them after the war, never dreaming that two later generations would prize them and that a number of companies would sell copies at prices many times their original cost to the government. The A-2 jacket was reborn in 1987 for a new generation of pilots and flight crew members to commemorate the Air Force’s fortieth anniversary and to rekindle esprit de corps.


Your rekindling espirit de corps- my propaganda.