How did you find your first Indy Jacket?

Indyzane · Post by **Indyzane** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:33 am

So I was thinking what was it that triggered the fever to want a Indy jacket? I'll share my story. It was five years ago I went on the Indiana Jones Temple Of The Forbidden Eye. I exited the ride and walked down the long hall way soon to arrive at the foot steps of the Indiana Jones Outpost. Walking through the store I noticed the Indy jacket, quickly I thought wow they sell these? Unfortunately the size I needed was not there and I asked the clerk if they had a XL in back but no! So I thought to my self I must have one of those jackets! So we left Disneyland and I still was thinking about the disappointment of not getting what I wanted.

Well the search began on the Internet, much to my surprise I found a company! Wested leather was my golden ticket to get my first Indy jacket. Thanks Wested for helping my craving for the Indiana Jones Jacket! So that's my story. What triggered your craving for the jacket?

Post by **Mike** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 11:27 am

I blame Keppler.

I ordered the Fan Club jacket, then found Lee's ad in the LFL Fan Club magazine.

It was all down hill from there.

Forrest For the Trees · Tue Apr 06, 2010 12:02 pm

It was about 4 years ago and I really wanted to buy a leather jacket. I shopped around and found that most everything I was seeing was junk, even the designer labels. So, I sat down at the computer and started searching. Still nothing satisfied. Then I thought to myself, what is my ideal leather jacket? Well, it's brown, not black, that's for sure. You know, it is more less the kind of jacket Indiana Jones would wear. So, on a lark, I typed in "Indiana Jones leather jacket" on Google, and well, I've been doomed since.

I found the main Indygear website and Wested right away. I had no idea what this forum was, and never visited until well after I owned my first jacket. There was a photo on the old Indygear website of a Wested jacket, viewed from the side, on a body form or something. It looked amazing, and that is what sold me the jacket more than any other factor. What happened to that photo? Whose was it? Anyway, not knowing anything really, I bought a dark brown lambskin Temple of Doom model (because I didn't want the jacket to be too short). Even now, that's my favorite jacket.

Cheers,
Forrest

knibs7 · Post by **knibs7** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 12:29 pm

Are we talking our first SA Indy jacket or just any Indy looking jacket? Because I got my first Indy looking jacket when I was about 4 years old- it was just an A2 Bomber. At that time, I was only 4 years old and obviously didn't see a difference.

I got my first SA Indy jacket about 4 years ago.

Kyle

Indyzane · Post by **Indyzane** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 1:03 pm

knibs7 wrote:Are we talking our first SA Indy jacket or just any Indy looking jacket? Because I got my first Indy looking jacket when I was about 4 years old- it was just an A2 Bomber. At that time, I was only 4 years old and obviously didn't see a difference.

I got my first SA Indy jacket about 4 years ago.

Kyle

Any jacket you consider a Indy Jack.

Mitch LaRue · Post by **Mitch LaRue** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 1:15 pm

I got my Dad to order from a SEARS Catalog what I thought was a pretty great looking "Indy" jacket.

It was clearly being offered from Sears due to the success and popularity of Raiders - 'cuz the guy modelling it was even wearing (what I now know to be) a cheap fedora...

Of course, mine also turned out to be an A2 Bomber Jacket, but like knibs I didn't really notice the difference in the details until later...
All I DID know was that I thought I was the best dressed kid in 8th Grade.

ProfessorHenryWJonesJr · Tue Apr 06, 2010 1:18 pm

Bought my first "Indiana Jones" jacket back in the summer of 1989, when "The Last Crusade" was released, in a now defunct store in California called "Emporium Capwell". The store was similar to Macy's. It was THE official "Indiana Jones" jacket with the Indiana Jones name on a tag inside the jacket along with a "hang tag" stating "The man with the jacket is back". Similar to what Disney was offering at their amusement parks. I just remember the leather being so soft compared to the Disney store jacket.

Though the jacket now belongs to my sister since I outgrew the jacket...

I still have the original tags and receipt. Don't have the receipt in hand right now but, if I remember correctly I paid over $380.00 for the jacket.

Indiana Jake · Post by **Indiana Jake** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 2:19 pm

I found a close-enough "Indy" Jacket at Banana Republic many, many years ago. It had snaps on the cuffs and a seam right down the center of the back. It was not an A-2 though! I was mostly content, but it had these large diamond shaped elbow patches. I'm sure someone here knows what type of jacket this is. I even distressed it with sandpaper to get the look down.

I found a Disney/Cooper jacket that I wore for many years that I found at the Disneyland Resort Hotel store, across the street from the park. I found my size, and was very pleased for some time!

It is only in the last few years that I purchased a couple of Westeds. The Disney cooper jacket is just about worn out.

Indiana Jake

Rudolf · Post by **Rudolf** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 2:33 pm

I made my first one 1983

se this http://indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=40292

Hollowpond · Post by **Hollowpond** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 3:50 pm

LL Bean A-2 given to me as a Christmas gift in the late 80's. Getting ready to paint a blood chit on the back (or just use a patch...can't decide)as my new Jake Cutter jacket!

Travis

Cassidy · Post by **Cassidy** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:05 pm

How did you find your first Indy Jacket?

I turned left at Greenland.

Similar story to the others. Went on a family vacation to Florida roundabout 1990 and saw the Epic Stunt Spectacular at MGM Studios. I saw (I think, it could have been one of the 'bad' Indy jackets) the leather jacket, or so I thought at the time, but couldn't afford it.

I thought about it every day, salivating and saving, for a whole year and when we went back I bought one in 1991. It's long since gone and I regret selling it every day.

Guess why? To finance a Wested in 1990-something, can't remember when, but it was in the early days of Indyfan and Indy's Diggs.

Like most, I was never happy with what I got, I mean I had the Wested Certificate of Authenticity and spoke with Peter several times on the phone, but whenever I watched Raiders I knew my jacket was...off. I ordered two more (that's 3 authentic copies made from the original patterns *cough*) and I have never been really happy with any of them - but I accepted it because I thought that since they were made by the original jacket maker then the problem must be with me, not them.

With the deluge of recent information I've been seeing everyone's TN jackets and, really, I'll be honest - I'm envious and jealous. They are the jackets I always wanted in my mind's eye since I was a kid, but now with a mortgage, family and bills I know I'll never be able to afford one so I'm stuck with my Wested which I don't even wear anymore because I'm so turned off by it.

The US Wings jacket reminds me of my old Disney one, for obvious reasons...God, I'd love to have that jacket I salivated over back...

Long John Tinfoil · Post by **Long John Tinfoil** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:25 pm

Had an LL Bean A-2 for years and stumbled into COW while looking to replace an old haversack from my Dad's WWII service in the RCAF. Got a Mark VII, and a couple of fedoras, and a pair of Rockports, and a pair of Aldens, and Wested pants, and a WG replica, and somehow a Todd's Standard and an Expedition. Then I found a replacement for my Dad's bag at a gun show.

Maybe if I'd started there we could eat meat at least once a month...

LJ

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:28 pm

I got a jacket shortly after I got a hat. It was a Wested, and I heard of them through here. This was in 2005, and I've owned three Westeds total. The last one I bought was in 2006, and I still have it.

Band Director Jones · Post by **Band Director Jones** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:43 pm

I had a really bad A-2 style jacket from Dillard's. It was probably the worst A-2 style jacket you can imagine.

When it comes to my first "real" Indy jacket, I emailed the Indy Gear webmaster back in October 2002. I wanted to know what was the best jacket to get for the money. Michaelson emailed me back a lengthy description of the jackets available at the time, Wested and Flightsuits (now Gibson and Barnes). He also invited me to join COW (which I finally did in January 2003). While I wasn't interested in anything but a good jacket, I ended up with much more.

Anyway, that's my story.

Michigan Smith · Post by **Michigan Smith** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:44 pm

I was in Junior High. It was in the early 80's. I saved and saved $$$ and went to a Wilsons Leather in the mall and bought a sorta basterdized A2 jacket. It had knit cuffs, knit waist, padded shoulders, epaulets with snaps and some sort of hold down strap (ala' the Members Only jackets of the time), some sort of non functional pleat right down the center of the back. It was a super dark brown almost black leather, probably a low grade lambskin. It had a cheap nylon liner. I used to have pictures of a similar one I saw on eBay a few years back but I can't find them now. It was outgrown and I moved on to several LL Bean Flying Tigers A2's and a Schott 184SM. Then I found the internet. Then I found this website. Here endth the story.

This is the same one. This one would even fit. Should I buy it.....naw.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vtg-60s-REED-A-2-Bo ... 20adaa70c4

Kt Templar · Post by **Kt Templar** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:50 pm

2005 and I'd just finished working on some of the merchandise for EpIII. At the 'friends and family' screening in London I met up with our sculptors who were both dressed up in Indy gear, and got to talking about the jacket.

That saturday I buzzed over to Wested, found a jacket that fitted. Asked for a couple of mods (sleeve taper and smaller collar) and came back next week to pick it up.

Wore it today, 61°F, perfect weather for it!

Texan Scott · Post by **Texan Scott** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 7:16 pm

Mitch LaRue wrote:I got my Dad to order from a SEARS Catalog what I thought was a pretty great looking "Indy" jacket.

It was clearly being offered from Sears due to the success and popularity of Raiders - 'cuz the guy modelling it was even wearing (what I now know to be) a cheap fedora...

Of course, mine also turned out to be an A2 Bomber Jacket, but like knibs I didn't really notice the difference in the details until later...
All I DID know was that I thought I was the best dressed kid in 8th Grade.

Mine also came from Sears, about 1982-3. It featured open cuffs and an open torso. I thought I was in "high cotton" back then.

crismans · Post by **crismans** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:29 pm

I always was in love with the jacket, even when I first saw Raiders. I wore an old nylon jacket when I was little and playing "Indy".

A few years ago, I needed something else to blow my money on

and started searching for an Indy jacket. I came across Wested's website, US Wings' website, and this place. Downhill ever since.

RaiderZee · Post by **RaiderZee** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 12:52 am

1984 - Told my mom I wanted an Indy jacket for Christmas. I got a BLACK A-2-ish knock-off. On the first school day after Christmas break, I made the mistake of wearing it with a white polo shirt. I got called "Fonzie" and laughed at by some preppy kids. I didn't wear the jacket again until I went to college.

1987 - Senior H.S. trip to Gatlinburg, TN, I picked up an Indy-ish BROWN leather jacket at a leatherwear store. It may have been the only garment in the store that didn't have studs/biker stuff/Confederate flags on it. Ahh, Gatlinburg . . .

1999 - Got a Roundtree & Yorke jacket that was a decent close-enough, except for the slit pockets. It's a nice jacket; I still have it, and it's held up well.

It's only been in the past few years that, since I got into the hobby, that I found "real" Indy jackets. Currently have a Wested custom LC in cowhide and a G&B in goat. Now saving for a Nowak Raiders and a Magnoli LC.

RZ

St. Dumas · Post by **St. Dumas** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 1:21 am

This thread needs photos.

(Extra points for mullets.)

jnicktem · Post by **jnicktem** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 1:25 am

I got my first Indy jacket WAY back in 2008 when I ordered a Wested Raiders Washed Goatskin jacket. But when the jacket came to me it was 2 sizes too big and was made from lambskin. So I sent it back and a month later got the jacket I originally ordered. I still have that jacket and it is still my favourite!

Since then I have had 3 other Westeds, and a US Wings. I have sold all but my Wested Washed Goatskin. Now I have my eyes on a Nowak....

Post by **Indiana Jeff** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 3:35 am

As a total surprise and non-gift-giving-occasion purchase (a rare occurrence in my family) my parents took me to Sears to pick out a brown leather jacket in maybe 86-87. It was the end of the winter season and I think the jackets were marked 50% off. I was an Indy fan and loved the overall look. The main features were a lack of knit cuffs at the wrists and hem. My dad tried to talk me into getting one with the knitting, but even then I knew Indy's jacket didn't have them. It was lightly quilted so worked great as an all seasons coat except for the coldest Cleveland winter days. I hung onto that jacket and used it as part of a wall display with my other IJ stuff (no, I don't have pictures) until February 2008 when I was moving and decided it was time to part company.

In the spring of 2000 I came across IndyGear and the references to Wested. My bride bought me a Wested for our anniversary (3rd year is leather). I still have that jacket and love it though since joining COW I've come to see its shortcomings in terms of SA-ness.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Zoltar · Post by **Zoltar** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 4:34 am

Thats an easy one for me it.
I found Wested's website on the 26th Feb this year! I ordered an OTR Raiders on the spot just becauce I was looking for a new street jacket. I've always been a big big Indy fan, combine that with a few years making and collecting replica props and as soon as it arrived I fell in love with it and just had to get the full gear.
I new about this place through the Replica Prop Forum so I signed up and just over a month later I've nearly got the full outfit, I just need decide on which hat and whip to go for.

I'm already into the process of specing up a Custom ROLA with with a few extra SA details, so jacket No.2 is already in the works!

ZOLTAR

ron521 · Post by **ron521** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 12:12 pm

I wore leather jackets for years before "Raiders" hit the theatres, mostly motorcycle jackets and G1 jackets. In 1983, I found a nice brown "flight jacket" at Berman's, bought it and still have it. My first "real" Indy jacket was purchased in Dec 2009, after much research and many questions asked on this forum.
It's a US Wings "VIP" Indy-style Adventurer jacket, having more features I like than any other Indy jacket made.

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:17 pm

Same here, ron, but mine was an A-2 Averex military surplus jacket I got from a surplus store several years before Raiders.

I didn't get my first actual 'Indy' jacket until I ordered my first Wested lambskin in 1996.

Regards! Michaelson

Indydawg · Post by **Indydawg** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:27 pm

Had always worn a leather A-2 style jacket that I got when I was 16...looked a lot like the one that Mallory's boyfriend from Famiy Ties used to wear (with the sleeves all pushed up to his elbows)....that jacket eventually ended up in Michaelson's hands...

And I got my first Wested FROM Michaelson....a LC....gorgeous dark reddish brown distressed cowhide....which I (like a gigantic idiot) took to a local leather shop to have the collar "shortened" a bit, as it seemed a little too long on me (my wife told me it looked like a "pimp" collar)....

He turned it into something more like a cafe racer collar!

I sent it to Peter to have the collar replaced....never saw it again.

Spent the next 5 years trying to replicate it....got close a few times...but, never quite got it right again...

Then got an Expedition...then another....then a lot of back and forth Expeditions...

Much insanity....but, I have Michaelson to thank for starting it all!

Later!
Indydawg

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:29 pm

Indydawg wrote:Much insanity....but, I have Michaelson to thank for starting it all!

Later!
Indydawg

Indawg? Never heard of the guy....

Indydawg · Post by **Indydawg** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:34 pm

No...you just WISH you never heard of me

Oh....and let's not mention the NUMEROUS Wings jackets that passed back and forth and through both our hands!

Right?!

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:37 pm

Actually, I think that one Expedition we passed back and forth got worn out by all the shipping rather than from actual wear!

Regards! Michaelson

Indydawg · Post by **Indydawg** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 2:03 pm

Did you ever file for a patent for our unusual distressing methods?

Might be time to capitolize on that...

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 2:10 pm

Nope! I was hoping YOU did!

Regards! Michaelson

Indydawg · Post by **Indydawg** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 2:22 pm

Nope....well, I guess it's never too late, right?

We could use the discretionary income....

Bruce Wayne · Post by **Bruce Wayne** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 7:39 pm

I found my first Indy jacket via an article in an issue or playboy I was reading while at work on the midnight shift.

Weston · Post by **Weston** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 8:17 pm

Bruce Wayne wrote:I found my first Indy jacket via an article in an issue or playboy I was reading while at work on the midnight shift.

If you only read it for the articles, it's O.K. for work.

I started off with a black leather jacket from Montgomery Wards (of course you all know that store!) with action back, without knit cuffs or hem sometime in the early 90's. My next one was a brown bomber style jacket from Wilsons, which I thought was a step up since it was a better color and had cargo pockets. I wore that one for awhile until I stumbled across "X marks the spot" online, and through it found Wested leather. I ordered a Raider's jacket from them in dark brown lamb, which they recently refurbished for me, and gave the Wilson to my girlfriends brother. I have of course had similar issues with details of my Wested, but got over them, and though it is far from accurate, I love it and it has taken on a great well worn look. I bought it in 1997.

I have since bought fantastic jackets from Todd's and Wings. They are all amazing jackets!

Weston

CM · Post by CM » Mon Apr 12, 2010 8:26 pm

Bruce Wayne wrote:I found my first Indy jacket via an article in an issue or playboy I was reading while at work on the midnight shift.

You only get them for the articles. I only get them for the pictures...

I've had too many jackets to remember trying to fake an Indy style. Finally in 2003 I got a Wested LC based on the idea that they made the film ones. I was considering the Expedition but didn't go there at the time. I was very unhappy that the Wested's pockets were so different to what was on screen. The funny thing is, I wouldn't have been too upset if I hadn't been given a bogus certificate. I could have handled, "all our jackets are hand made and therefore slightly different." Still it was nice goat which remains my favourite leather.

Got a goat Expo 3 years ago, which I should have got in the first place. It's as good a jacket as I need.

My goal was always to have a jacket like Indy's, only new and better made than a film costume job.

sithspawn · Post by **sithspawn** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:01 am

Mike wrote:I blame Keppler.

I ordered the Fan Club jacket, then found Lee's ad in the LFL Fan Club magazine.

It was all down hill from there.

Same with me. Before I had made do with A2's and close enoughs. There was nothing on the market that I knew of. Then I found the fan club jacket and Lee and it started the ball rolling.

Dr. Evil · Post by **Dr. Evil** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 1:58 pm

Around the time Last Crusade came out, there was a promotion at JC Penney. They had fedoras with the Indy logo inside and I can't remember if they had an indy jacket, but they sure had brown leather jackets sitting next to the fedoras. They were A2 knock-offs and, as others have stated, I was in a state of grace when I put that thing on for the first time. Interestingly enough, a friend later told me that my jacket, an Apparatus brand jacket, was actually the one worn by MacGuyver. Anyway, that jacket saw a lot of use in the backyard as I played Indy. It disappeared one day. I really don't know waht happened to it. I could always recall its smell and on the day I travelled to Wested for the first time, that smell came back to haunt me as I sniffed my first Wested, a ROLA Washed Goat.

Texan Scott · Post by **Texan Scott** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:19 pm

...I didn't find it. i had to buy it...then, buy it....sold it...then, buy it....

Photoss · Post by **Photoss** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:19 pm

I saw the jackets at Disneyland back when I was like 12 years old and thought "I want one of those some day..."
5 years later, I picked up a US Wings import jacket on sale, and it's served me well ever since, traveling from Hawaii to DC and everywhere in between.

pwam · Post by **pwam** » Thu May 06, 2010 9:54 pm

when i was 14, I visited my uncle, and when I was about to leave he asked me if i had a leather jacket. I told him i was not so fortunate, and he came out of the house with a light brown a-2 bomber jacket that looked to be about 30 years old. I've worn it practically non stop ever since. The night I first kissed a girl, I was wearing it. The night my girlfriend and I stayed in the national zoo 3 hours past closing hiding from the guards, I was wearing that jacket. I remember walking her to her car in the zoo parking lot and subsequently realizing that I would have to scale the rather large front gate because my car was parked outside on the street. I got over the gate but on the way down. something caught on the spikes at the top and held me there. I had to push myself up and free myself from the spike. When I got down, I took off my jacket and sighed relief. the fleece I was wearing underneath the jacket had gotten stuck but the jacket was fine. I would have been horrified if it had been damaged. That jacket's a part of me.

RCSignals · Post by **RCSignals** » Thu May 06, 2010 11:21 pm

It would be interesting to see a photo of that jacket pwam

Chewbacca Jones · Post by **Chewbacca Jones** » Fri May 07, 2010 12:42 am

Fan Club Jacket... 1990. I saved up my paper route money like crazy for that jacket. And agonized over the black and white pictures, because they had THREE versions, and they all looked the same in B&W! Most painful outgrowing of any jacket, ever.

I was happy, satisfied. Complete. Until it git too small... and the quest began anew!

eazybox · Post by **eazybox** » Fri May 07, 2010 2:02 am

Leather Concessionaires from Lee Keppler, circa 1990, OR Cooper from Lucasfilm Fan Club. Got both around the same time and can't remember which was 1st. Actually I had 2 Coopers because the first was way too big and I had to exchange it.

Jack

Soup · Post by **Soup** » Fri May 07, 2010 9:23 am

I typed in a search for Indy Jacket, it sent me here, I became disoriented, now I have no monies left.

Can't seem to find my way out either.

Regards,

Soup

Flyderf · Post by **Flyderf** » Fri May 07, 2010 10:51 am

I was able to find the treasure trove of information at indygear.com. I later joined this forum. My first jacket was a Wested Raiders. My adoring wife got it for my birthday last year. I won't even discuss how much I've spent since.

Brain Scientist · Post by **Brain Scientist** » Fri May 07, 2010 10:59 am

I was ready for a new winter jacket two years ago, and up until then I was always getting over coats...had an awesome herringbone tweed for years. Walking through Lord and Taylor one day and there it was, an Indiana Jones jacket! I never was one to buy leather jackets, but this was beautiful! On the rack was a biker style brown leather which looked like Wolverine's jacket as well. $500.00 for a jacket! Still way too much. I left the store looking over my shoulders, though I would come back a few times...the price never came down. I had moved on and wouldn't even think of it when I was shopping, but one day my brother came up with a coupon and while looking at suits...there it was! It had finally come down to $250, and with the coupon: $200!

I've tried finding it online but can't, it's an Andrew Marc and the only apparent difference are the pockets.

Awesome jacket!

Picked up some similar looking Carharts for work jackets, but I'm on the lookout for a summer weight jacket and may go screen accurate with that one.

RCSignals · Post by **RCSignals** » Fri May 07, 2010 4:47 pm

do you have a photo of the Andrew Marc?

pwam · Post by **pwam** » Fri May 07, 2010 7:32 pm

RCSignals wrote:It would be interesting to see a photo of that jacket pwam

The minute i get home I'll take a picture of it. I know I have some of me in the jacket but i'll try to take some close ups of just the jacket.

faststreetsofhongkong · Sat May 08, 2010 5:40 pm

Leather Concessionaires from a guy in England, I traded to get it for some autographed Star Trek TNG items ... those people used to bother me constantly. But, in the end, dealing with those pushy people was worth it, I got my first Indy jacket!!!

Me wearing my first jacket with someone taller, more handsome, and for sure much richer than I will ever be:

Brain Scientist · Post by **Brain Scientist** » Sun May 09, 2010 12:13 am

RCSignals wrote:do you have a photo of the Andrew Marc?

I don't but I'll take one and post it...