Club Obi Wan

So I have seen several Mark VII 1942 bags that have a design on the buttons. Looks like a crest. I have also seen some without the crest. Which buttons are SA to the Raiders bag?

Brad

Nobody knows???

swindiana knows.....maybe he's napping. fire him off a PM.

There were no crests on the snaps, as far as I've ever known, but there are at least three variants of snaps found on the MkVII's. One is a basic smooth snap with no design or lip to the edges, and the others have a "lip" or "ring" around the edges with a textured pattern inside. Swindiana is the bag expert around here, so hopefully he'll be able to chime in with pics in time. As to which is most Raiders, SA, I'm sure they used multiple bags, so there may have been variants in makers and snaps. It has been stated that one of the movie bags was a W&G, 1932 Ltd.

That'd be 1942, bink. MKVII's did not go into production until 1941.

From the IndyGear bag page:

Interestingly enough, this bag actually did not exist at the time the first three Indiana Jones movies were supposed to take place, given that manufacturing of the MkVII did not start until 1941. However, the bag did exist by 1957, the setting of the fourth movie.

What did exist during the first three movies was the MkIV in 1935 and the MkV by 1936, which are very similar. The bag in the first movie may have probably been picked up at a surplus store in London. As to which version of the MkVII was used, Noel Howard from Berman and Nathans stated “I have no specifics on the bag and strap, we probably found a bag in our stock at Bermans and Nathans and adjusted it at the fitting.”

The snaps with the "wavy" pattern are marked Newey or NS. Most of the 1941 bags have them, and then the 1942 bags start to have flat ones. (Though the config seem to overlap, even within the same maker).

Personally, I'm not sure what was used in Raiders. My guess is there was likely more than one bag used throughout the film. Thus making it look like they are flat in some shots and Newey snaps in some.

If we find out what year the auction W&G one was made we could guess how likely it is they are flat or Newey ones.

I still think we have to remember other makers probably was used in Raiders aswell, and at least one was a W&G bag.

I hope this helps a bit.

Indiana;
The 1932 is correct for W&G, most likely when the company was founded, though you're right about the years they were made.

Regards,
Swindiana

Thanks Swindy!!

No problem.

You are now on bag detail knowledge level. I like it.
(We are not all that many).

Mk VII bag collector wise I like the Newey snaps since they have such an original design. The flat ones are pretty easy to find "replicas" for in any hardware store. (Not only the cover, look at how the are designed mechanically aswell). The Newey snaps (NS on the Mk VI) and the gridded or circular vents seems to be the hardest hardware to copy perfectly, though it's getting better and better recently...

Regards,
Swindiana

thanks Lars...I didnt know that...

I have the bag with the pattern snaps and I hated them...cause I thought maby Todd replicated this bag and didnt know what kinda snaps there was on the original so he just used some ''closse enoughs''.......know I know better..

thanks dude

bests
Eric

Sure thing, Eric.

Regards,
Swindiana