S & M Wholesale Goatskin A2 “Hollywood Model”

[B-Man2]

Hi

So there’s been a great deal of conversation about the prices of high end A2 jackets going through the roof and the quest to find a reasonably priced A2 jacket that won’t break our bank accounts. In that regard I posted a quick opinion thread, ( not a review) of my thoughts on an AVI Russet Goatskin A2 I purchased when they first came out. Well I happened to have a little extra “disposable income” ( who the hell came up with that term) this month, so I decided to invest $399.00 US and purchase the “Hollywood Model” of S&Ms Carmel goatskin A2 jacket.
Well it came today and here are some opinions. The jacket overall is ok . It’s not the detailed A2 that many of us have come to expect, but then again it’s not $1,200 either.
The goatskin is advertised as 2 oz gostskin and feels and drapes more like cape skin. I like AVI goat better. I also have a US Authentic A2 Goatskin that I like better than both the AVI or S&M for about the same price. Just my opinion folks , I’m not getting any free stuff or promoting any maker. As I mention in the AVI thread, I have jackets from all different makers to include the big 3. So I’ll wear this for a while and down the road sell it along with the AVI, because like many of us I too am a “Jacket Snob”. Sorry.... I can’t hide it
I’m as OCD about my A2 jackets as most of us here. BUT..... if you guys have done some rehab work and are on the 12 step program to detox from high end $1200 repro jackets this one might just be your ”back to basics” A2.
Cheers
B-Man2

 

[CBI]

here is mine - aniline dyed goat. The russet is sprayed... Mine after some water and drying...........

 

[Falcon_52]

Not bad, gents. These jackets look good for the money. Thanks for posting.

Noel

 

[B-Man2]

John
After seeing yours I like the dark Seal color better. After a while as that top coat begins to fade it’s going to look outstanding.
Good choice!

 

[CBI]

My daughter took those quick pics and its hard to see the grain/fading. I included the third pic as there is already loads of grain and mismatched panel action after some water/dry. In terms of collar opening and drape, its one of the nicer repros I have owned. The wear pics are me just throwing it on w/o fixing the waist or collar area. Some nice patches of top coat fading already. This jacket was worn by Steve for a while before it became the photo sample on his site. I had not intended to do any water/dry but chose to do it on a lark as I had not done so with any jackets for quite a long time. I would not hesitate to try a seal brown cow version but I am pretty jacket'ed out again. I had not planned on buying any more A-2's but when the exact photo sample that I liked was for sale, I jumped on it. I think 5 A-2's are enough............

 

[B-Man2]

Trying to down size a little myself but these new A2’s keep popping up with some pretty nice looking features at some reasonable prices. Some time in the sun will fade some of the areas of your jacket. Remember the guy on the forum that had a GW Aero and would crumple it up and throw it on his dash board of his car? Two years later you couldn’t tell it from an original. I think the pictures are still up on JCs site.

 

[Persimmon]

That was the jacket that belonged to
Robin Bailer as I recall

 

[ties70]

View attachment 5653 View attachment 5652 View attachment 5651 View attachment 5650 Hi View attachment 5648 View attachment 5646 View attachment 5644 View attachment 5643 So there’s been a great deal of conversation about the prices of high end A2 jackets going through the roof and the quest to find a reasonably priced A2 jacket that won’t break our bank accounts. In that regard I posted a quick opinion thread, ( not a review) of my thoughts on an AVI Russet Goatskin A2 I purchased when they first came out. Well I happened to have a little extra “disposable income” ( who the hell came up with that term) this month, so I decided to invest $399.00 US and purchase the “Hollywood Model” of S&Ms Carmel goatskin A2 jacket.
Well it came today and here are some opinions. The jacket overall is ok . It’s not the detailed A2 that many of us have come to expect, but then again it’s not $1,200 either.
The goatskin is advertised as 2 oz gostskin and feels and drapes more like cape skin. I like AVI goat better. I also have a US Authentic A2 Goatskin that I like better than both the AVI or S&M for about the same price. Just my opinion folks , I’m not getting any free stuff or promoting any maker. As I mention in the AVI thread, I have jackets from all different makers to include the big 3. So I’ll wear this for a while and down the road sell it along with the AVI, because like many of us I too am a “Jacket Snob”. Sorry.... I can’t hide it
I’m as OCD about my A2 jackets as most of us here. BUT..... if you guys have done some rehab work and are on the 12 step program to detox from high end $1200 repro jackets this one might just be your ”back to basics” A2.
Cheers
B-Man2

Burt,

really great choice when it comes to budget A-2s.
Especially the combination with the caramel knits looks good.

BUT: I will never understand why makers do not walk the extra mile (well, more like 5 foot) and use one-piece sleeve cuffs...this would be like $5 extra, and I would be very happy to pay them. If they have no 100% authentic zipper, who cares for that price...if the tag features a fantasy contract #, nobody will see it when the jacket is worn....but knits? These are easy points for them to score IMO.

Best regards,

Ties

 

[B-Man2]

Burt,

really great choice when it comes to budget A-2s.
Especially the combination with the caramel knits looks good.

BUT: I will never understand why makers do not walk the extra mile (well, more like 5 foot) and use one-piece sleeve cuffs...this would be like $5 extra, and I would be very happy to pay them. If they have no 100% authentic zipper, who cares for that price...if the tag features a fantasy contract #, nobody will see it when the jacket is worn....but knits? These are easy points for them to score IMO.

Best regards,

Ties

Ties
I’m in total agreement. A small thing like a one piece cuff is so easy to add to the mix that it’s ridiculous not to put them on. I’m guessing that one of the reasons that these were reduced in price is S&M is looking to fix a lot of details in the next generation model and wanted to off load these . Still at 399.00 or close to that price if you catch one on sale a US Authentic jacket is the better quality jacket of the two in my opinion.

Cheers
Burt

 

[CBI]

I didn't notice yours was not one piece knits, mine are correct one piece

 

[B-Man2]

I didn't notice yours was not one piece knits, mine are correct one piece

That was one of the things that I noticed as soon as I got the jacket.
Such an easy fix, but I assume that's why they are giving a deal on these, so they can update the new models.

 

[CBI]

any decent repro should have one piece knits. SMW Tankers do - oh well. Surprised, Steve is equally quite on top of things

 

[B-Man2]

any decent repro should have one piece knits. SMW Tankers do - oh well. Surprised, Steve is equally quite on top of things

Was your jacket also priced at $399.00? I’m just trying to figure out why I was that “lucky guy” that won the seamed cuffs. Maybe the jackets priced at $499.0o got the upgraded ones.
Gotta admit that it does piss me off a little. Hell even the AVI jackets come with unseamed cuffs.
If your on the net S&M how about telling us why this simple fix fell through the cracks.

 

[CBI]

Mine was the photo sample for the dark seal goat. No idea as to the why on anything else.

 

[CBI]

yes, mine was more expensive due to the hide

 

[ties70]

Was your jacket also priced at $399.00? I’m just trying to figure out why I was that “lucky guy” that won the seamed cuffs. Maybe the jackets priced at $499.0o got the upgraded ones.
Gotta admit that it does piss me off a little. Hell even the AVI jackets come with unseamed cuffs.
If your on the net S&M how about telling us why this simple fix fell through the cracks.

Burt,

I didn't mean to poke into the wasp's nest.
It is not only a SMW thing... my Bronson 37J1 has seamed knits, too.
So does every jacket I have seen from PIKE Bros.

As I said, I absolutely can't understand this. The second most annoying thing is when cuffs develop wool pilling...? Whenever I buy jackets with seamed cuffs, I get replacements from MASH or the like.

Never had a seam / pilling problem with AERO, GW, ELC...

 

[B-Man2]

Well I contacted Steve at S&M Wholesale and I was really impressed with his immediate response and honest reply. The knits were an oversight and he told me to send the jacket back and he would replace the jacket with a new one with the correct seamless knits.
Hey you can’t do better than that!!
I’m now a committed S&M buyer and a Steve fan!

 

[B-Man2]

Ties
Not to worry
It’s all good!
Cheers
Burt

 

[daw]

That's a great response from SMW; very gratifying to have them address your concern so readily.

 

[B-Man2]

That's a great response from SMW; very gratifying to have them address your concern so readily.

It certainly impressed the hell out of me, particularly when I emailed S&M explaining the problem at 11:30pm last night, and Steve responded!!