Club Obi Wan

Here is my long overdue review of the AB Aldens.

In a nutshell, they are incredibly AWESOME!!!

When they showed up on my door we had just gotten a new digital SLR camera about a week or so before. I ended up taking over 200 pictures of them, and had a bit of fun taking some artsy pictures. Here they are right out of the box:











The green Alden box and custom boot cloth bags that come with the boots are an excellent added touch!

When I first put them on, they had a similar feel to my regular 405's, but the AB's felt much sturdier and slightly more solid, and it wasn't until I compared them more closely that I realized that the leather itself is thicker than on the regular 405 model (which Marc kindly confirmed). And after having put about 30+ miles of walking on them, just the entire boot overall seems like it could last forever!

The leather lining on the inside of the tongue is a huge benefit as well. Not only is it comfortable and it looks good, but it also completely fixes the problem of the tongue shifting (which I, like many others, have had a lot of problems with on the standard 405's). With the AB boots, I have not once had to move the tongue back into place - it completely stays put!!!

Add to all this the fact that they are made EXACTLY as they were made almost 30 years ago, even down to the old-school Alden logo design stamped on the inside heel pad!!!

While I was taking pictures, I also decided to take the opportunity to compare the colors of the AB's with my over a year old standard 405's as I was conditioning both pairs with Pecards:

Here is a shot of both Pairs ungreased:



Here is a shot of the AB's ungreased and the standard 405's greased:



Side View Comparison

And here is a shot of both pairs greased:



As I said at the beginning, the AB boots are INCREDIBLE, and well worth every penny!!! Great work Marc, and I can't wait for my next pair to come in!!!!!!!

Regards,

Paul Nolan
www.MidWestWhips.com

Good looking shoe... So what was the cost?

Mike

Niiiiiice..... You know, though I have not been to active on COW since I joined this year, I HAVE been doing my share of homework and have read many of the posts. I have to say, I am THOROUGHLY impressed!!! Just one thing I wish to say: ###### BE HAVING TO BE UNEMPLOYED!!! Ugh..... Well.. I guess the best things in life come to those who are patient...IN any event, beautiful boots man! Many high congratulations!

David

They DO look GREAT! Any details of suppliers in the UK / Europe?

They are available from the European branch of the ADVENTUREBILT HAT CO. Marc just took an order for a 3rd run recently. Use the search and you can read all about it.

These boots are only available from Marc, the third run is complete. For the price I got on the second run was great as the Euro was at a decent level. As any AB product these boots are built to last, they are much more durable than the current Aldens and feel a little bit heavier.

Hey Paul thanks for the review, your boots look great as well. Looks like they have seen a lot of wear already. Keep it going, I wore mine quite often while I was on vacation. I wore them to my cousins wedding. Anyway these are just awesome boots and I can't believe your getting another pair. I guess once you see them you do get that feeling of just man I want another pair just like these. I probably should wear these more often than I do, but I wear my other pair of Aldens as well. Plus I really like the look these have.

IndianaChris

Good looking shoe... So what was the cost?

Mike

Hi Mike,

The price is 450 Euro's. At the time I sent the paypal for this pair the dollar exchange was pretty good, and I think it was somewhere around $575 USD. At the moment the exchange works out to about $625 USD. It's expensive, and while I was a bit hesitant before ordering the first pair, once I got them in I didn't think twice about ordering the second pair. There really is a noticeable difference between the standard pair of 405's and the AB's, not to mention that it is EXACTLY like the originals from 81' down the the logo style printed on the heel pad.

Niiiiiice..... You know, though I have not been to active on COW since I joined this year, I HAVE been doing my share of homework and have read many of the posts. I have to say, I am THOROUGHLY impressed!!! Just one thing I wish to say: ###### BE HAVING TO BE UNEMPLOYED!!! Ugh..... Well.. I guess the best things in life come to those who are patient...IN any event, beautiful boots man! Many high congratulations!

David

Hi David,

Thanks!!! I know what you mean about having to be patient, I had originally wanted to get a pair from the first run, but had to save up before I could get in on the second run. The 6 month wait after ordering them wasn't too bad because I had put it out of my mind, but a few weeks before I received them from Marc I was going CRAZY, I was so excited to get them. It figures that the day they came in we had some car trouble, and I was still sitting at the repair shop for hours after Lauren called me to let me know they came in, lol. But boy was it great to rip open that package and see the green Alden box, and to open it for the first time.

They DO look GREAT! Any details of suppliers in the UK / Europe?

Hi Raider,

These specific Alden boots are EXCLUSIVELY available from Marc (Adventurebuilt) in Germany. Here's the link, and scroll to the bottom of the page:

http://www.adventurebiltdeluxe.com/accessoires.php

IndianaChris711 wrote:These boots are only available from Marc, the third run is complete. For the price I got on the second run was great as the Euro was at a decent level. As any AB product these boots are built to last, they are much more durable than the current Aldens and feel a little bit heavier.

Hey Paul thanks for the review, your boots look great as well. Looks like they have seen a lot of wear already. Keep it going, I wore mine quite often while I was on vacation. I wore them to my cousins wedding. Anyway these are just awesome boots and I can't believe your getting another pair. I guess once you see them you do get that feeling of just man I want another pair just like these. I probably should wear these more often than I do, but I wear my other pair of Aldens as well. Plus I really like the look these have.

IndianaChris

Hi IndianaChris,

They really are incredible boots aren't they!!! I've already put them to quite a bit of use, I wore them at my sisters wedding, and they've walked the Vegas strip a few times already when the family came in to visit, and they are solid as a rock! Yeah, I'm kind of surprised that I'm getting another pair too, lol. I figured I would get another pair of the regular 405's next, but after getting the AB's I just felt I had to have a second pair of them. Plus knowing that I have a new pair coming at the end of the year makes me not be so worrisome of putting this pair to work, lol. I REALLY noticed how different the AB's are compared to the standard 405's when I switched back and fourth between the two for a day!

Regards,

Paul Nolan
http://www.MidWestWhips.com

Very nice my friend...These boots really do get better with age and wear...To be honest with you they are the only boots I ever wear.

So the only place to get them is Germany? Also, is the sizing the same as a regular Alden?

Mike

Yes, Imahomer, you would order the same size and you wear in the regular Alden 405. The boots are made in the USA, shipped to Germany, and the reshipped to anywhere in the world you happen to be.

I'm the proud owner of two pair of the Adventurebilt Alden boots. I'm glad that I got them last year, before I lost my job. Yes, being unemployed is NOT a good thing. I am so thankful to Alden for being able to make shoes and the Indy boot in my extremely hard to find size. Many thanks to Marc for all of his research and hard work securing the ability to make these boots.

Awesome boots! Where do I have to go to get those in a 14 extra wide?

First you need to know your width, not just 'extra wide'. If you don't know whether you are an E, EE, EEE or wider, you need to be measured at a reputable shoe store with a shoe measuring device called a Brannoch device. My spelling might be off for it, but they can get a very good measurement starting point with the length and width measurements from that device. I happen to be at the opposite end of the spectrum, with an extra narrow AA width and an AAAA heal. Thank you Alden for being accommodating to me.

By the way, try to get checked out at more than one store. The Alden rep store in my city had me measured at a C width, and since all my other dress shoes were either A or AA, I knew he didn't know how to read the device properly. I left that store and got remeasured at an Allen Edmonds store. Every last (the mold used to make the shoe or boot) varies from maker to maker, and from line to line. You might have to try on shoes of several different sizes to get the fit right for your foot. Wear the same socks when you get measured as you plan to wear with the boots. Good luck!

Check out this FAQ from Alden shoes: http://www.aldenshoe.com/questions.htm

Does the tongue slide to one side like the regular 405's

Indiana Jake