Club Obi Wan

Hey everyone! New to COW, but not new to Indy costume collecting. I actually started back in 1991 (well, I really started when I was 7 and walked out of the theater after seeing Raiders the first time), but 1991 was when I first saw Lee Keppler's ad in the back of Lucasfilm magazine (pre-internet), sent away for his list of items and this jacket was one of the first things I bought. It was made by Peter B. but before he changed the name of his business from Leather Concessionnaires to Wested Leather. According to Lee, he knows only one other person who still owns on of these. It represents all natural wear and tear.







As you can see from the photos above (I hope they worked!), the collar is pretty well beat up at this point. The seam on the right sleeve is coming apart and the pockets are both missing some stitching. I think with KOTCS coming out it might be time to hang this one up and order a Novapelle Crystal Skull jacket. Recommendations? Thanks and I hope you all enjoy the pics.[/img]

Beautiful jacket and definitely a "treasure".

It sure looks like it's well deserving of it's retirement.

Tron

Thanks, yeah it probably "belongs in a museum" at this point...

come on, are you sure you haven't found someone with a truck and been dragged behind it
Thats awesome, thanks for sharing. its good reference for distressing also...

That's definitely the most awesome looking jacket I've seen outside of the movies themselves.

Is it lambskin?

You'd think so, starks_6! But no, it's genuine wear and tear...I just haven't been careful with it...

DoubleOhSeven, yes, it's lambskin and it's quite thin in some spots at this point!

Nice jacket. Maybe the FIRST ever fan-owned Wested! Interesting that it lacks a collar stand. Definitely a treasure.

I wonder if Peter was using vegetable-tanned leather back then? The surface seems to have worn a lot more than a chrome-tanned hide would.

Now that´s history
Great jacket Mister :!:

Great Jacket!

Now there goes all of those "lamb isn't durable" arguments right out of the window!

You beat me to it gmarthe. WebleyMKV, That is a great, GREAT jacket! I keep saying these lambskin jacket will last. I hope Lee sees this thread. I'm sure he would be proud!

Weston

amazingly cool.
That jacket is as OLD AS ME!!

That is one sweet looking - very cool - thanks for the pics!

If nothing else, this is going to make me pecard the collar of my Wested more often! It seems to be prone to wearing out first.

Amazing.

Thanks for sharing!

WebleyMKV, you don't happen to live near Toronto, do you?

About 15 years ago I saw someone wearing an Indy jacket that looked a lot like yours in the World's Biggest Book Store.

That thing looks awesome - I'd hydrate it a bit and still wear it.

If that jacket could talk... Just a great jacket.

WebleyMKV wrote:Thanks, yeah it probably "belongs in a museum" at this point...

"So do you!"

Great jacket, it's amazing how many years of punishment those things will withstand. :junior: -M

The jacket looks great. Its almost identical to my old '91 Leather Concessionaires jacket. I stopped wearing it because the collar looks like it might have worn through. Which I now see it probably would have!
It's the one I use only for display on my life size Indy now.
Great to see another!

gmarthe wrote:Great Jacket!

Now there goes all of those "lamb isn't durable" arguments right out of the window!

Huh? It proves the opposite if you ask me. A good leather jacket should last for 50 years (or more). This is not a knock on Wested, just lambskin. Lambskin is OK for what it is. But a good "adventurer's" jacket it does not make. Cheers

Big on lambskin durability.

Rundquist wrote:

gmarthe wrote:Great Jacket!

Now there goes all of those "lamb isn't durable" arguments right out of the window! :wink:

Huh? It proves the opposite if you ask me. A good leather jacket should last for 50 years (or more). This is not a knock on Wested, just lambskin. Lambskin is OK for what it is. But a good "adventurer's" jacket it does not make. Cheers

Big :tdown: on lambskin durability.

Yep. I'd ask for my money back. Just joking. But Rundquist has a good point. My 20 year old kangaroo jacket that I have worn all the time and has been to #### and back almost looks new. Lamb doesn't wear all that well it seems to me.

Thanks everyone...I feel like it's served me well...I'm not sure where I come down on the durability argument...on the one hand, as pointed out, a lot of leather jackets I've seen stand up more than 20 years (hence, some of the 70's caramel-colored, wide-collared numbers you see at the Salvation Army stores), but then, those kind of jackets were never worn hard and abused...that style of jacket was kept in good condition and babied. When I think about the abuse I've put this jacket through, it doesn't surprise me that it is falling apart now and I can't complain. Remember also that when Raiders came out, they wanted a jacket that would respond a certain way on film and keep in mind that (while I don't know this for sure, it might have had some consideration), when they were figuring out costume details, a thicker leather jacket in the hot climates on location would have been completely unbearable instead of just slightly intolerable as the lamb probably was. So they needed a lighter weight jacket that would still stand up to abuse (for the duration of a movie)...these things were (as Peter once told me when I told him about the jacket) never intended to last this long. And so there it is...

But yes, I'd recommend pecards (I've done it periodically, which is why I think it is still together at all), and yes, if I could go back, I'd pay more attention to the collar. Oh well...

Cassidy, no, I don't live near Toronto. I'm in southern Maine. Wouldn't have been me.

Thanks for all the kind words. Happy to answer anything else about it!

Great jacket! Any chance of saving it with a bit of sewing here and there? It is in amazingly good shape! THAT was advertised in the Star Wars Fan Club Newsletter "Bantha Tracks", if correct? D@##! I think I remember that! If only I had known? That is where I got my original, theater "Raiders" one-sheet, rolled, when the film was released.

(But still no one here seemed to believe that I had a rolled "Raiders" poster! But that is for another thread...)

Anyway, very nice!

MB

P.S: Do you remember what it cost from them, way back when?

Hey michaelb...I seem to remember paying Lee $249 or something like that for the jacket (which I thought was good deal)...the size wasn't perfect for me at the time being a 44 but Lee had it in hand already and rather than wait for a smaller size I had him send that one. It fit me for years as a layer over a sweater in cooler weather, but it fits better now (I've filled out with age...come to think about it, it's the only good thing about getting thicker in the middle is my Raiders jacket fitting better!)...

No, I've never tried stitching it...that would work on the sleeve seam and the pocket seams but the collar is a lost cause at this point.

BTW, I have a Raiders one-sheet that is rolled too...dates from the same time period...that was how they mailed them.

some of the 70's caramel-colored, wide-collared numbers

Hey, we used to think those were pretty cool! But actually, I think the reason thau have survived so well is that people were embarrassed to be seen in them after only a few years had passed/

Chevalier Krak wrote:

some of the 70's caramel-colored, wide-collared numbers

Hey, we used to think those were pretty cool! But actually, I think the reason thau have survived so well is that people were embarrassed to be seen in them after only a few years had passed/

Actually those jackets are pretty big over here as part of the retro scene. Yuk!

Sorry for adding to my own post...got a request for pics of the back and side straps...




Hope that helps!

Thanks for the additional pics! I can see the underarm gusset alot better in these pics. I wonder when that ceased to be a standard option and had to be ordered custom.

Weston

Interesting.

The arm seams are below the yoke seam, but they differ.