Club Obi Wan

I don't think this has been brought up yet but I've been away for a while. It seems that Todd of Todd'ss Costumes will soon be offering an Indy jacket. Can't tell much from the pic but it could become rather promising

http://www.toddscostumes.com/indy/india ... jacket.htm

Looks nice but this seems to be more an off the rack product. The price is IMO too expensive. I still prefer a wested much more compared to other "wannabe" overpriced indy jackets I don't think new zealand lambskin will do the trick. But maybe interesting for usa or canadian people. No Custom duties on this.

Greets

orb

I agree but it still is another name to add to the list.

Puppetboy wrote:I am convinced that this is the most accurate replica of the "Raiders" jacket available.

LOL. Those pockets are way too big. And the price seems to be a bit high.

The Movie Prop marked has been grown fast over the years. You can find nearly every movie prop on ebay. Freddy Gloves, indy stuff, endless list of stuff... and they all want to make money. So today it's very easy to replicate some prop and sell it as movie like prop. Maybe sometime we will get some 100usd indy jackets from china. Short Round not included . Stay tuned it will happen.

orb wrote:The Movie Prop marked has been grown fast over the years. You can find nearly every movie prop on ebay. Freddy Gloves, indy stuff, endless list of stuff... and they all want to make money. So today it's very easy to replicate some prop and sell it as movie like prop. Maybe sometime we will get some 100usd indy jackets from china. Short Round not included . Stay tuned it will happen.

I'll be guessing that Sam Poon in Singapore (He does some Jedi/BSG etc stuff on ebay he also has a very cheap and not accurate "Indy" bag made out of denim) has looked at the possiblilty of doing this in the past, he'd probably try to make it out of pleather, yuk!

It's quite possible that a "leather' one could be made in China, cheaply out of pig leather for example, I've seen some reasomable looking samples of pig 'nubuck'.

This one looks ok, pockets are a tad big and the body is a touch long. But he needs to move his pricepoint to $250 otherwise what's the point? For this price, in my eyes, this jacket is firmly in the USWings bracket.

http://www.uswings.com/aviatn.asp

Finally somebody got it right, Todd´s jacket is what we see on screen...Honestly, cuys Wested made the original but during the years it´s been through some alterations,as said in various posts in COW.Todd´s jacket would be great equal if someone´s now looking after jacket. Though the price is too high..IMHO Great job, anyways......

No one can make the pocket flaps correct.

Kt Templar wrote:pockets are a tad big

"Excuse me Miss, how much exactly is a tad?"
"Well in laymen's terms, about 2 million miles."

VP wrote:

Kt Templar wrote:pockets are a tad big

"Excuse me Miss, how much exactly is a tad?"
"Well in laymen's terms, about 2 million miles."

Depends if that's metric or imperial; a tad is a smidge larger than a hingme.

The collar looks a lot more screen accurate than the wested...anyone else agree?

At a glance, I like it alot and I don't think the pockets look too big at all. Of course, alot depends on what types of material were used and so forth. I'm not quite sure why there wouldn't be ALOT more pics of it like the back, the hardware, the lining, etc, since they're trying to sell it. Hopefully we'll see more of that in the coming days. I'd also like to see someone wearing it to get a better aspect of the fit.

About the collar, I think this one is small and that the Wested is the correct size.

Can anyone provide a screen cap that proves otherwise?

Here is a picture of Indy's collar in the Raven Bar Scene...


And here are a few of my collar...i dont know it just seems bigger to me than indys collar.



[/img]

The collar looks like they took it from an Expedition (unless they happen to have a screen used Raiders jacket lying around). The jacket looks pretty good and is reasonably priced. Although I know some of you guys like your stuff for free. Why don't you give them a call and see if you can get some free jackets. Or better yet, see if you can get them to pay you for wearing their jacket. Cheers

Rundquist wrote:The collar looks like they took it from an Expedition (unless they happen to have a screen used Raiders jacket lying around). The jacket looks pretty good and is reasonably priced. Although I know some of you guys like your stuff for free. Why don't you give them a call and see if you can get some free jackets. Or better yet, see if you can get them to pay you for wearing their jacket. Cheers

Comparing relative prices, it's actually the recent high pound to dollar that make a Wested about $310 now. 5 months ago it was $22 cheaper. (including postage to the States).

http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/GBP/graph120.html

What's there to say that the pound won't come to be a little less expensive in a few months time?

The jacket should be under $300 from a US retailer after all your cost of living is much lower than us in the UK.

e.g. Todd can sell his belts and holsters at a much lower price than say Lost Ark because his costs are lower, same should go for the jacket. There's no reason why it should cost more.

Kt Templar wrote:

Rundquist wrote:The collar looks like they took it from an Expedition (unless they happen to have a screen used Raiders jacket lying around). The jacket looks pretty good and is reasonably priced. Although I know some of you guys like your stuff for free. Why don't you give them a call and see if you can get some free jackets. Or better yet, see if you can get them to pay you for wearing their jacket. Cheers

Comparing relative prices, it's actually the recent high pound to dollar that make a Wested about $310 now. 5 months ago it was $22 cheaper. (including postage to the States).

http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/GBP/graph120.html

What's there to say that the pound won't come to be a little less expensive in a few months time?

The jacket should be under $300 from a US retailer after all your cost of living is much lower than us in the UK.

e.g. Todd can sell his belts and holsters at a much lower price than say Lost Ark because his costs are lower, same should go for the jacket. There's no reason why it should cost more.

Ohh. Now I get it. Thanks. I'm going to get to work and see if I can get some rebates on all of my stuff that I now think that I've spent too much on. Cheers


PS- How do you know what Todd's costs are? I'll definitely fire off an email though and tell him that we think he should sell his jacket for 50 bucks.

Puppetboy wrote:Todd's Costumes "Indiana Jones" Style Jacket $379 Special Preorder Price $299!

Not 50, but something like 200-250 would be nice.

Rundquist wrote: Ohh. Now I get it. Thanks. I'm going to get to work and see if I can get some rebates on all of my stuff that I now think that I've spent too much on. Cheers


PS- How do you know what Todd's costs are? I'll definitely fire off an email though and tell him that we think he should sell his jacket for 50 bucks.

You, know very well I've said it should be below $300 not $379. If he can sell belts and holsters for the same dollar price as we pay here in pounds from a local vendor then that may be some indication of the relative cost.

i think rundquist is a little bitter lol

I agree with agent-5 on the details, I was hoping to see some more detailed pics of the back, lining, type of hardware ect. They said that they examined a screen used Last Crusade jacket to make their new Raiders jacket...thats interesting. I wonder if Todd will tell us where he sourced that at .

eBay and that famous jacket?

I think that most of you guys have a skewed perspective on what a leather jacket should cost. Wested is the only company that will give you a jacket at that price (to Peter's credit). The only reason that he can do it (I would think), is that he sells so many of them. If you look around, you'll see that no jacket maker will sell you say, a Navy G-1 (about the same level of difficulty to make as an Indy jacket) for instance, for under 300 bucks. And in reality, most of them go for a lot more than that. It's a wonder that anybody tries to make this stuff for you guys.


PS- I don't know “Todd” or what his reputation is around here. My view is strictly based on your reactions. It does seem odd that he would examine a Last Crusade jacket to make a Raiders jacket.

Well, look at it this way:

For Todd's 379$ asking price, I could get a Wested with all the fixings and have money left over. For about 30-50$ dollars more (depending on whether I get the lamb or goat), I could get a G&B Flightsuits jacket. Why would I pay 379$ for a jacket that is as yet experimental when other fine, tried and tested offerings are still on the market? The same goes for the "special" price of 299$; 10 dollars more and I can get a Wested.

It is this same reason that I have told people that they cannot sell an item on eBay for what they paid for it. No one will pay 310$ for a Wested on eBay when that will get them a new one from the source, nor will they pay 280$ for it, when just 25$ more gets them the same.

I have no idea what Todd's expenses are, but if he wants to be David competing with Goliaths like Wested and G&B, he is going to have to offer a more permanent competetive price if he wants these jackets to sell.

That's not me being a penny pincher, that's just the way it is.

Strider wrote:Well, look at it this way:

For Todd's 379$ asking price, I could get a Wested with all the fixings and have money left over. For about 30-50$ dollars more (depending on whether I get the lamb or goat), I could get a G&B Flightsuits jacket. Why would I pay 379$ for a jacket that is as yet experimental when other fine, tried and tested offerings are still on the market? The same goes for the "special" price of 299$; 10 dollars more and I can get a Wested.

It is this same reason that I have told people that they cannot sell an item on eBay for what they paid for it. No one will pay 310$ for a Wested on eBay when that will get them a new one from the source, nor will they pay 280$ for it, when just 25$ more gets them the same.

I have no idea what Todd's expenses are, but if he wants to be David competing with Goliaths like Wested and G&B, he is going to have to offer a more permanent competetive price if he wants these jackets to sell.

That's not me being a penny pincher, that's just the way it is.

I guess it's good then that there are those out there that are willing to be adventurous and try stuff out. At one point there was no Expedition or Wested. It's only because of certain individual efforts that those are available today with a click of the mouse. Cheers

You're right, and kudos to Todd for going that route. However, the G&B Expedition is what it is today because of input from a few gearheads here. If G&B had just made the jacket however they'd pleased, do you think it would be one of the biggies in Indy jackets today? Honestly, I'm sure that Todd has made a fine jacket when it gets right down to it. Again, I don't know his expenses. It's even possible that Todd could only be making a small profit on these jackets, as Fedora does with his Adventurebilts, but that doesn't seem likely, as he is offering it up at 299$ right now, so he'd have to be paying less than that to have them made, unless he is selling them at COST, otherwise he'd potentially stand to lose a lot of money.

So if the jackets are being sold at cost, he is being generous by selling them at that price, and a 379$ price tag wouldn't be so bad in that case. I know that everyone out there working for it has to get theirs. However, If he is still turning a profit at 299$, imagine the profit he is turning at 379$, and that's what I think people are saying is unnecessary. Not saying I agree or disagree, I'm just trying to put a different spin on what I think is going on, is all.

Ultimately, what it's going to take is a brave soul to buy the jacket no matter what the cost, and then come here with a status report. The person to buy it would have to be very knowledgable in the area of jackets and screen accuracy. Some people that come to mind offhand are Agent 5, Michaelson, You, and Abner, among others. People who know a lot about the subject would be able to give a real status report on this jacket, as opposed to someone who didn't know much about the details of Indy jackets (like me) and bought it, only to come back and say: "Gee, it looks fine to me."

US authentic $425
Gibson & Barnes $448
US Wings $295-$339-$544
Wested $275-$303, $37 shipping to US + an undisclosed import tax.


Yes the jacket is untried. It may be junk. It might not be. The price is not out of the ball park is my point. Cheers

From Wested's website:

2. Why is the price so reasonable compared to others?

Because Wested is a manufacturing Film Costumier and you are buying direct from the Factory and not from a retail outlet or store, so you cut out the middle man.

Q1. Are the prices from the US suppliers inclusive of sales tax and shipping?

Q2. If the said US suppliers are manufacturors: are they having their cake and eating it?

Very good points, Rundquist. It does seem to be a fair price, I just would love to see some more pics, to see the jacket all around. I'm also curious about the leather, and what it "feels" like. It looks very thin, from the pics, but that could be a good thing as well.
'Blues

Kt Templar wrote:

From Wested's website:

2. Why is the price so reasonable compared to others?

Because Wested is a manufacturing Film Costumier and you are buying direct from the Factory and not from a retail outlet or store, so you cut out the middle man.

Q1. Are the prices from the US suppliers inclusive of sales tax and shipping?

Q2. If the said US suppliers are manufacturors: are they having their cake and eating it?

The US leather jacket manufactures are actually quite reasonable when you compare them to overseas leather jacket manufactures. Look at Aero Leather and Eastman Leather (both European) jacket prices. Look at Real McCoy Leather (New Zealand). Granted, these companies specialize in jackets made to a finite level of attention to detail. But a Gibson and Barnes Expedition (the highest priced Indiana Jones Jacket) is low cost by comparison. Wested (which is not as comparatively inexpensive as it used to be with the current exchange rate), is the exception, not the rule. Leather jackets aren't cheap, people. Sure you can find one (non Indiana Jones) for $200. But nine times out of ten you can tell (not to mention feel while wearing them) that they aren't good quality. I don't believe that you always get what you pay for. There are bargains out there for sure. But all that within reason.

Hello all and thanks for the nice comments on my new jacket which I am very excited about! I have always tried to put out products that you will like and I invite your input. This project has been in the works for a long time and I am thrilled that it is finally becoming a reality.

As to screen accuracy, I have taken to heart all of the discussions here about measurements, details, etc. Most of them are embodied in my jacket (the pocket size is spot on Agent5's specs). The only place I think Agent5 was a little off is the pocket placement/storm flap measurement. Agent5 guessed them to be the same measurment, and I found screen caps that show them to be different.

As to length, the original hero jacket is hard to peg because Ford's arms are hardly ever at his sides in "Raiders". But I found this scene very revealing as to the body length/sleeve length proportions:




You can click here to see larger versions of these pictures:

http://www.toddscostumes.com/indy/indyjacketlength.htm

As you can see, the body and sleeves are nearly the same length. Also notice how much lower the body is than Ford's pants belt.

My goal with this jacket is a little different than perhaps, those from other vendors. I'm going for 100% screen accuracy, even the "flaws" in design that other vendors have changed in the name of improvement over the years. The only necessary exceptions to this are:
1. Sizing
2. Undistressed
3. Nickle zipper instead of aluminum
4. Interior brand label

To preserve 100% screen accuracy, I won't be offering customizations. Obviously, if the actual hero jacket turns up one day, and there are new details revealed, I'll have to incorporate them...but until then I'm going with what I see on the screen and what I estimate the hero jacket to be like.

These are being produced in cooperation with a clothing manufacturer here in the USA. I did not see the LC jacket, but she did. This company was contacted by Lucasfilm about producing a jacket, and they were lent a screen-used jacket from the archives. Ultimately, the deal did not go through, but we looked at the pattern/reference prototype for clues to the construction of the original jacket. Obviously, there are many differences between the LC jacket and the Raiders jacket, so it was only used for research. Why did we look at a LC jacket instead of a Raiders jacket? Because we didn't HAVE a Raiders jacket.

I will be providing more photos of the second prototype. There were many nit-picky details to change about the jacket in the photo, so it was not useful to illustrate what the final product will be. The second prototype is due any day now.

As to pricing, the regular $379 price is what any other retailer in America or the world would charge. I wish the jacket could be $99 like at Wal-mart, but it can't be in the small numbers in which it will sell. I am offering it at a discount now precisely because it is a leap of faith to purchase one. But every single customer takes a leap of faith when they buy anything custom made from me, so that's normal around here.

And I'm taking a leap of faith to have these made. I'm investing more than $10,000 in this project and I'm trying to make it everything you will want in an Indy jacket. I hope I will not have done all this in vain.

As to the leather - it is GORGEOUS! One of the main gripes I have with many of the current offerings is the leather. It just looks like it came from Macy's and it doesn't look like the leather in the film. And I dislike pre-distressed leather in general. To me, in person, the leather absolutely nails the film look (without the distressing, of course). We searched a long time for just the right drape, weight, and texture, and this one is a home run IMO. It also seems warmer than other lambskin jackets I've seen. Unfortunately, I do my own photography and I lack the ability to really show the great color and broken-in looking texture.

I appreciate all of your comments! I wish I had more time to share info here - research, screencaps and all, but I will try to give you all the info I can.

Puppetboy wrote:
As to length, the original hero jacket is hard to peg because Ford's arms are hardly ever at his sides in "Raiders". But I found this scene very revealing as to the body length/sleeve length proportions:




You can click here to see larger versions of these pictures:

http://www.toddscostumes.com/indy/indyjacketlength.htm

As you can see, the body and sleeves are nearly the same length. Also notice how much lower the body is than Ford's pants belt.

This is probably too little, too late, but Ford has been described as having “monkey arms”, meaning very long arms. That should be kept in mind when looking at where things “line up”.

Since it comes in sizes S,M,L, and XL, can you post some measurments of sleeve length, back length and width, etc, for each size? It would help in guess-timating ones size. Alot of off the rack jackets seem to have really long sleeves. I'm definately curious about this jacket.
'Blues

Puppetboy wrote: As to pricing, the regular $379 price is what any other retailer in America or the world would charge. I wish the jacket could be $99 like at Wal-mart, but it can't be in the small numbers in which it will sell. I am offering it at a discount now precisely because it is a leap of faith to purchase one. But every single customer takes a leap of faith when they buy anything custom made from me, so that's normal around here.

And I'm taking a leap of faith to have these made. I'm investing more than $10,000 in this project and I'm trying to make it everything you will want in an Indy jacket. I hope I will not have done all this in vain.

We live in a coca-colanized society. Wal-mart (and the mentality that goes along with it) has really messed things up. People have joked about having jackets made in China in this thread, but that's where you'd have to have them made to get them at the prices that they want them at. Cheers

Thanks for that info. I hadn't heard that. However, that would make the body even longer to match the sleeves. As long as the relative proportions are right - and it is sized for an average person, that should do the trick, right?

Puppetboy wrote:Thanks for that info. I hadn't heard that. However, that would make the body even longer to match the sleeves. As long as the relative proportions are right - and it is sized for an average person, that should do the trick, right?

I think so.

Yes, I will post measurements for sizing. I am awaiting that information from the manufacturer. I wanted to get it up on the web in the meantime.

I can tell you that our medium size will fit a 40 chest, 34 waist and 34 sleeve. How does that sound?

well i hope the pocket snaps last longer than my whip attachment.

I'm not sure how to take that. Is that an insult?

If you're referring to the snap on the whip holders, we did have some trouble getting them securely fastened through such thick leather since they don't make snap hardware with that kind of reach. I hope we replaced it as soon as you alerted us to the problem?

sorry it wasnt meant to be an insult im on a pda and it takes forever to write stuff so shorter the better. I guess I'm alerting you to an issue which I hope you thoroughly check on your jacket before shipping.

Actually no it's not been replaced...i'm not bothered by it...but thanks...glad to see you're aware...

Puppetboy wrote:Yes, I will post measurements for sizing. I am awaiting that information from the manufacturer. I wanted to get it up on the web in the meantime.

I can tell you that our medium size will fit a 40 chest, 34 waist and 34 sleeve. How does that sound?

Looks a bit like a typo to me Todd, I know I've got short arms but that jacket would fit me.... except the sleeves would be about 10" too long.

Take my comments about pricing with a pinch of salt. As you're the retailer rather than the manufacturer that price seems ok. Like they always say the first one costs a rediculous amount (in your case $10,000) the ones after just the materials and a bit of time.

KT, I think that sleeve measurement is from mid back, across the shoulder, and down the arm.
'Blues

IndyBlues wrote:KT, I think that sleeve measurement is from mid back, across the shoulder, and down the arm.
'Blues

that might work then!

I hope you wave swatches Todd, we're all going to want some.

Harrison,

I'm sorry sir! Why didn't you tell me? I'll send a new one right away. We do (did) test those snaps, but still some worked loose later. We switched to different hardware and haven't had any more problems. We make those here in our shop.

The sleeve size would be shirt size. I know that is my shirt size and it fits me perfectly (our "medium" prototype). I figure that's a good medium because 1. most off the rack "mediums" fit me perfectly, and 2. I understand HF has the same measurements, so the "medium" would be the original size. We'll scale down and up accordingly.

We've all been spoiled by the internet. It has given us access to craftsmen we would normally know nothing about. And it has given craftsmen access to customers he would otherwise never reach. So many vendors here are making whips and hats with little overhead, practically no advertising costs, and no employees, and they do fine work and sell it for (what used to be) wholesale. It never gets marked up above "cost" the way practically everything used to be. Unless a whipmaker could find enough local customers, he couldn't be a whipmaker.

I try to keep prices as low as I can, but over the years I have lost enough money at this to learn how much I have to mark things up to stay open. I put things up for sale for the minimum I have to charge, and if its too much...oh well, I don't sell any. I don't generally invest time and money into a new item unless I think I can do it 1. better 2. cheaper 3. better and cheaper than anyone else.

The jacket - this is the best jacket at the best price I've run across yet. If I find a way to cut cost and keep the quality I will do that so I can lower the price. After all, it's to my advantage to sell things as cheaply as I can so I sell more! Simple as that!

I don't actually support myself with my Indy products (no way!). It's my manufacturing work - Xena chakrams (3 versions) Xena sword, Xena scabbard, Xena dagger, Xena whip, Hercules Gauntlets, Gladiator gauntlets, etc. I manufacture about 13 items in quantity. The indy stuff I do because I like it.

Todd,

That look great. I wish you the best of luck with this new venture. Four questions:

1) Leather texture. The pics look like the leather is wrinkly, is that the texture or is it in fact wrinkled?

2) What is the weight of the leather used?

3) Are you going to provide a guide to sizes? I would assume a 42-44 to be large, 44+ to be XL, etc.

4) What is the interior made of?

I'm sure there will be alot more questions about detail from us members, so maybe you can elaborate on them in here.

Again, nice jacket!

TJ

TJ,

Glad you like it. The leather is about 2oz lambskin and it is a little better weight/stiffness ratio for the IJ look (ie. it crinkles and drapes better) than other lambskins I have seen. Some are sort of thin, yet oddly stiff and fold in sharp creases.

It does have subtle wrinkles, stretch marks, and grainy patches. It has a very low sheen and has a "naked finish" as they call it - not a corrected finish of polyurethane (ie you can see the leather's natural grain and variations of color). That was a very good suggestion to have swatches to send out. I will make sure I get those.

It looks like cowhide that has been well broken in. It's hard to believe that it's lambskin.

Yes, I will provide size measurements as soon as I receive them from the manufacturer.

On another note: I am struggling with what to put on the label! I don't want to put "Todd's Costumes" in it since it will likely be worn as a regular garment. My next idea is to make up a name for a clothing store that might have existed in Indy's fictional world/time period. Where would he have bought his jacket? A department store? A tailor's shop? A menswear store? Are there any local names from his fictional hometown that could be used? Any suggestions?

Oh, and the lining is cotton - an exact match for the LC material except in dark brown (the LC lining was sort of butterscotch color). It's a cotton twill sort of fabric - very durable.

Upon reading Todd's responses, I just want to say that I respect his efforts and him as a person. I give him high marks for having the guts to take on this challenge.

He's obviously taking the importance of screen-accuracy for us detailed-minded jacket collectors, as well as customer service, into consideration. I'm tempted in buying one. I can't wait to see some more pics of it when they become available.

Kindest Regards,
capt. D

ps-Its good to possibly have another screen-accurate Raiders jacket at hand here. Wested seems to make a great LC jacket and G&B makes a great Raiders jacket. I wonder if anyone will tackle the details of of the Temple o' Doom jacket given the differences in style by Yurik's specs...

I've been interested in this jacket since before Todd came along to reply, but after seeing his responses, he has definitely piqued my interest. The only problem I have is that I NEED custom made jackets if they're going to fit. It's one of the reasons I never got a US Wings jacket, and recently, as I have heard they do not offer custom made jackets anymore, G&B. My arms are shorter than they should be for someone my age, and normally, off the rack jackets, suits, dress shirts, etc. don't fit me 9 times out of 10. 42 Regular is too long in the sleeves. 42 Short is too short in the body. No matter which direction I go, I lose something somewhere, so I have always had to have custom measurements on my jackets, which is why I went with Wested.

Todd, I understand and respect your need to preserve screen accuracy, so the "no mods" clause doesn't bother me, but will you be able to get these jackets made to measure, or simply off the rack sizes?