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A-2, United Sheeplined sz48 on E-Bay

ButteMT61

ButteMT61

Well-Known Member
Rough times for the hobby. With this and Aero USA, you have to be very aware of what's going on... :oops:
 
Andreart

Andreart

Member
looks like a GW to me, its also way too big on the guy wearing it. We knew this would happen eventually.
 
C

crazyace

New Member
I wondered about this also as welll as the others he has posted. 48 seems like it would have been an odd size for then ? Something just doesn`t seem right.The lining and the label look to be in too good of shape for that old and doesn`t seem to match with the wear on the outside of the jacket.The AAF stamp doesn`t look all that faded.
 
bseal

bseal

Well-Known Member
ButteMT61 said:
Rough times for the hobby. With this and Aero USA, you have to be very aware of what's going on... :oops:
Click to expand...

Wait, what happened to Aero USA? I just paid in advance for a Grizzly.
 
TankBuster

TankBuster

Active Member
This jacket was owned by a friend of mine a few years back. I have seen it in the flesh and even helped my buddy work up the write up for eBay. The shell is original but the lining, label, and knits were replaced by a repro maker. This guy bought it 3 years ago via eBay from my friend who disclosed all of the repair work done. It sold to aviation ect for a honest $850. Obviously looking to scam some newbie and make a nice profit! What a joker!!!

ps: the leather is not nearly as flawless as the photos make it appear.
 
R

Roughwear

Well-Known Member
GW repro label springs to mind and very few United A2s actually have the USAAF stamp on the lining. I wonder who did the reline?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
TankBuster said:
This jacket was owned by a friend of mine a few years back. I have seen it in the flesh and even helped my buddy work up the write up for eBay. The shell is original but the lining, label, and knits were replaced by a repro maker. This guy bought it 3 years ago via eBay from my friend who disclosed all of the repair work done. It sold to aviation ect for a honest $850. Obviously looking to scam some newbie and make a nice profit! What a joker!!!

ps: the leather is not nearly as flawless as the photos make it appear.
Click to expand...
Is the patch original to the jacket?
 
ausreenactor

ausreenactor

Well-Known Member
Roughwear said:
GW repro label springs to mind and very few United A2s actually have the USAAF stamp on the lining. I wonder who did the reline?
Click to expand...


It is certainly to the point where we are bordering on forgery/fraud in the plots of some great Hollywood scripts. We need to start scrounging around the underground parts/repair providers in order to track down the history of the jacket. Something straight out of Cars 2 with Tomber in the black market! :D

Like you said, bound to happen sooner or later. Give it 20 years and a well worn GW will be fetching as much as a good original. Perhaps JC should be stamping them REPRO or GW under the pocket flap? There will be more and it is getting harder to disprove the provenance. At least with a repro, you know exactly what you are getting. If not for the zippers, a Kelso A-2 with a GW surplus label could be taken for a GW, especially with that new hide. It is all about the labels now! The label maker is the master of the original maker contract reproduction A-2.

Couchy
 
B

buzzthetower

Administrator
This one is pretty simple. Pedro, who used to be a part of this forum, owned a very large United Sheeplined A-2. He wanted to be able to wear it, and knew that I had been starting to copy that contract (this was around 2007). He asked me if I would replace the knits and lining, and use one of my labels for the jacket, as the original had no label.

I consented, and did the work. This was before I decided not to repair originals, and for me, it was a great lesson on the interior of A-2 jackets, as it was the very first A-2 I had seen the inside of. The GW United labels, at that time, were quite poorly designed, and that is one obvious detail.

Other makers do this same type of work. I've seen many jackets, personally, that were rebuilt by Eastman, including a Rough Wear, Perry (with some replaced leather panels), Werber, and Aeros. To those who make A-2s, rebuilding originals is a market service that is requested and can be done.

The trouble is when someone sells a jacket and states that no repair work was done on it, or that the label is original, or that a jacket is an original, when instead it's a reproduction. And they know quite well that it's not. Then, we have trouble. Unfortunately, the nature of some people is to do this, and not even care if a small populace knows otherwise. It's sad to see this happen, and yet over and over again it has been happening.

If we call out a fraud in our small group, then we're the wiser, and those not in our group are on their own. But don't think that it can be stopped, or will stop. If you make a system fraud-proof, they'll make a better fraudster.

Those who are educated will catch them. That's a good point about this forum.

John
 
B

buzzthetower

Administrator
Also, just to add, Pedro was 100% honest about the condition of the jacket when he sold it on eBay. The current description leaves out all mention of the work Pedro had done, which is obvious to us. Please know that Pedro has no fault in this situation.

John
 
TankBuster

TankBuster

Active Member
buzzthetower said:
This one is pretty simple. Pedro, who used to be a part of this forum, owned a very large United Sheeplined A-2. He wanted to be able to wear it, and knew that I had been starting to copy that contract (this was around 2007). He asked me if I would replace the knits and lining, and use one of my labels for the jacket, as the original had no label.

I consented, and did the work. This was before I decided not to repair originals, and for me, it was a great lesson on the interior of A-2 jackets, as it was the very first A-2 I had seen the inside of. The GW United labels, at that time, were quite poorly designed, and that is one obvious detail.

Other makers do this same type of work. I've seen many jackets, personally, that were rebuilt by Eastman, including a Rough Wear, Perry (with some replaced leather panels), Werber, and Aeros. To those who make A-2s, rebuilding originals is a market service that is requested and can be done.

The trouble is when someone sells a jacket and states that no repair work was done on it, or that the label is original, or that a jacket is an original, when instead it's a reproduction. And they know quite well that it's not. Then, we have trouble. Unfortunately, the nature of some people is to do this, and not even care if a small populace knows otherwise. It's sad to see this happen, and yet over and over again it has been happening.

If we call out a fraud in our small group, then we're the wiser, and those not in our group are on their own. But don't think that it can be stopped, or will stop. If you make a system fraud-proof, they'll make a better fraudster.

Those who are educated will catch them. That's a good point about this forum.

John
Click to expand...

Well said John! As long as originals fetch the money they do, there will always be frauds. My advice to any new collectors, or guys/gals that are unsure is to ask here before buying.
 
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