Club Obi Wan

I thought it was about time I posted some pics of my new jacket, a Temple of Doom from Tony, made from his awesome 'Happy Cow' hide.
The jacket is about two weeks old now, and I've worn it quite a bit in that time, though it's been quite warm here in my part of Australia.
The Happy Cow is like no leather I've ever seen. It felt almost rubbery initially, and slightly fuzzy like Tony's CS cowhide. After a bit of wear and a light rain shower,
it's taken on a far more leathery feel. It has a very fine grain, and looks smooth from a distance.
It's about as heavy as the CS hide too I think, and drapes about the same. These photos are taken in very bright sunshine; the jacket is actually quite dark, with beautiful
light brown undertones.
Spec wise, I just asked Tony to make me a TOD jacket like RC's and Orbs, so this was a very easy jacket to order! Fits perfectly of course,
and like my other two jackets from Tony, it just keeps getting better with time and use. It certainly won't be my last jacket from him; I've got my eye on
a 'Surrogates' jacket next.
Anyway, enjoy some pictures..

Awesome jacket! Another winner from Tony!

Question1: Are the pockets big enough to put your hands into? (My Wested ToD's pockets are way too small)

Question2: Anyone know what the difference is between Tony's "Happy Cow" and the "747 Cow?"

I can answer question 1 at least! I can get my hands in the pockets with a bit of effort, but I wouldn't bother. I don't have my TOD from Wested anymore,
by from memory the pockets are pretty much the same for me on both jackets.

Beautiful jacket, Kevin! And you've just made my life a little harder. I'm thinking about a Nowak ToD next and have been waffling between the happy cow and the goat. Tony says the Happy Cow gives the best Temple look but I was thinking of going with the Nowak goat just for variety (my other Nowaks are cow).

And PSB, going from my swatch of Happy Cow (obviously not the same as having a jacket made from a leather) and my Raiders 747, the 747 is softer and has more grain than the Happy Cow. I've always thought of the 747 as a "lambish" cowhide in terms of feel and drape.

awesome!

does it have the correct pleat/vent construction?

Crismans,
How many jackets total do you have?

agent5 wrote:Crismans,
How many jackets total do you have?

In Nowaks, I have a 747 Raiders, a CS, and a LC in dark CS leather. It's a sickness, believe me.

I think Kevin and I are in some kind of race.

No, I don't just mean Nowak jackets...how many total indy jackets do you have by any and all vendors?

AWESOME jacket!!! Now you just need to order a Tod deluxe satchel strap from Wade Egan, and one of his new authentic ToD Webley holsters, and you're all set!

agent5 wrote:No, I don't just mean Nowak jackets...how many total indy jackets do you have by any and all vendors?

Got you. I'm actually at my lowest point in a while as I've got 4 Indy jackets total right now.

I've had four Nowaks all total. I own a Wested Raiders in HH and have had 6 (I think?) other Westeds in various configurations and hides. I've owned 3 Todd's customs (two bought second-hand, one made for me) and have a Todd's standard on the way. I've not had a Magnoli Indy yet but have another of his jackets that I like quite a bit.

Not as many as some but plenty for my bank account, I can tell you.

Why do you ask?

Kevin,

Hey nice jacket! You know I went and met Tony in February and ordered a couple of jackets. While there I tried on many jackets. Well long story short I tried on your jacket! I must say that it’s a mighty fine jacket!

Also I did try on someone’s Surrogates jacket and I loved it! I might have to get one as well.

So here is a picture of my wife in one of Tony Surrogates jackets. ( my wife noticed me doing this and didn't want her picture on the web so sorry about the face)

as well as the awsome look of that leather ,what also struck me was how well the stitching on those seams had been done -they look really tight and close together .

Tony's stitching is always very neat and accurate in my experience.
The pictures perhaps don't do the leather justice; it's Tony's personal choice for an accurate representation of the TOD jacket, and it just looks spot on
in my opinion. It's cowhide, so obviously it won't drape quite the same as the thinner lamb, but the Happy Cow just captures the dryish, dusty
look of the TOD perfectly, whilst at the same time being a very sturdy and substantial leather.
And Holt, yes, the vents/pleats are accurate! It was the first thing I checked when I tore open the Fedex box! They look great and just like the screen jacket.

wow! then it really is perfect.

color me jealous

I just had to ask... In those pictures, have you already distressed the jacket? Or is that pretty much all Tony's work?

...and what *is* that mysterious envelop in the Surrogate jacket?

It's all Tony's work Castor, though the leather itself picks up marks pretty easily, like the Crystal Skull cowhide.

That's really looking great. The leather will keep getting better and better.

Someone asked about the hand warmer pockets. I can get my hands in mine, just, and I have large hands. I never use the hand warmer pockets though on any Indy jacket.

The ToD (this version especially) is a very cool jacket and was at the top of my list for a while... I actually do use the Handwarmers frequently on the ROLA and LC/CS styles I've had, so when I got an actual correct ToD style I was miffed once I tried to put my hands in them and couldn't easily. The ROLA quickly went back to the top of the order for me.

Dan, I can't put my hands in the Wested ToD hand warmers. The opening is smaller

Castor Dioscuri wrote:
...and what *is* that mysterious envelop in the Surrogate jacket?

Lol. The mysterious envelope is the spec sheet (customers measurements and requests) used to make that particular jacket. Most of Tony's custom jackets have these envelopes in or around them.

Great TOD jacket Kevin! I want one

Hey Kevin, question, When did you order your Nowak jacket?

IndyFalco wrote:Hey Kevin, question, When did you order your Nowak jacket?

Ordered it in early January, arrived mid-February.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing... why have the handwarmers at all? I guess you could put gloves in them....
I really like this jacket in this hide and tony really know how to distress a jacket to make it look "worn". Tony, you are the man!!! I just wish I could afford your work!

_ wrote:Hmmm... I'd just have the handwarmers eliminated on that one. Nice looking jacket - I'm more tempted by it than the Raiders...

I wanna see it on

Indyzane wrote:

Castor Dioscuri wrote:
...and what *is* that mysterious envelop in the Surrogate jacket?

Lol. The mysterious envelope is the spec sheet (customers measurements and requests) used to make that particular jacket. Most of Tony's custom jackets have these envelopes in or around them.

Huh, you mean he actually pays attention to what the customers want ??

That's a great looking jacket! I never much cared for the TOD look until seeing this. The distressing is very natural and socially acceptable looking, and the details spot on, of course. On a side note, I'm curious as to how hands-on Tony is with the construction and distressing of his jackets. I thought I read somewhere that he has a few people working for him. So, is there some unsung hero/expert distressor working for TN who consistently does all this great work without acknowledgment from us, or is the praise rightly directed at the top man himself?

Terrific jacket. Those wrinkles in the upper part of the sleeves remind me so much of the jacket HF is wearing in the final scene. Best looking ToD I have ever seen. I really, really like that happy cow.

Regards,
Rask

Terrific jacket. Those wrinkles in the upper part of the sleeves remind me so much of the jacket HF is wearing in the final scene.

I had the exact thought. Just a well done jacket.

Bit of an update already on this jacket. Against some good advice, and my own better judgement, I've have applied a coat of Pecard leather dressing to the jacket.
Firstly, can I say what a fantastic product Pecards is? It wasn't easy to get hold of here in Australia, but I'm glad I managed to source some. Just a 16oz tub, but a fairly heavy
coat used only a fraction; I could probably coat the whole thing 20 more times. Previously, I've only ever used a product available locally here in Oz called 'Dubbin'.
I tried a small amount of the Dubbin on a hidden section of the coat, and it doesn't absorb half as nicely as the Pecard did.

Results? Frightening at first. The Happy Cow soaks up the dressing like a sponge, and turned nearly black! 12 hours later, hanging in my shower, it was well on the way to 'drying', feeling far less tacky, but still looked very dark. Then it spent a few hours out in the sun, and like magic, lightened considerably, and regained most of it's original lovely browness.
It still has a bit of drying to do, but I'm delighted thus far with the results. I love the original colour of the Happy Cow, but after being caught in the rain, it developed a bit of stiffness
which I wasn't fond of. The yoke in particular was quite 'crunchy'. After a treatment, everything is just so soft. The collar and pocket flaps are positively floppy.
Fortunately, the jacket still seems to have the TOD matte look, with just the barest hint of a shine now. Obviously an un-Pecarded Happy Cow will still look more accurate though.
I won't Pecard my other jackets from Tony; they're perfect just the way the are. I love the Crystal Skull cowhide in light and dark forms.
I'll post some pictures when I can.

Hey Kevin, where did you get your Percards from - here in Australia? (I'm in Brissy)

Does Dubbin still smell like bacon fat?

Hehe, nah, or at least, not the stuff I was using. I'll never use it again, now that I've found Pecards!

I've had good results with Dubbin on whips....it's supposed to have Crocodile oil or some such in it....what the Australian Stock Saddle whip guy recommended for kangaroo whips....

Yojimbo Jones wrote:Hey Kevin, where did you get your Percards from - here in Australia? (I'm in Brissy)

I got mine online sent to Melbourne. Sixty bucks. But it's good gear and I got a tub so large, I'll never need to buy it again.

Harely Davidson dressing is the same stuff. You can get that in Oz too.

Ok, cool. I've got a Harley dealership just down the street. DO you mean it seems to be identical stuff or very similar?

I know has said before that there are lots of identical products under different labels. I, too, would like to know if it is identical.

Travis

Yojimbo Jones wrote:Ok, cool. I've got a Harley dealership just down the street. DO you mean it seems to be identical stuff or very similar?

It's the same stuff - made by Pecards for Harely

Does Tony actually have the jackets to view on the site? And how much $$$ are they? I'm really interested in the ToD in the Happy Cow.

singsingjohnny wrote:Does Tony actually have the jackets to view on the site? And how much $$$ are they? I'm really interested in the ToD in the Happy Cow.

Does Tony actually have the jackets to view on the site?:
No You need to search for pictures here:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=29960&hilit=Tony+nowak+owners

And how much $$$ are they?: $750-$975.00 depends on the leather.

I'm really interested in the ToD in the Happy Cow.
Get a Nowak!

Forgive me if this has been beaten to death- I don't spend much time here and DID run a search. All the threads discussing Nowak leathers and prices (that I found) are very spread out and some of that information is outdated.

Does anyone know which are the $750ish leathers and the $975ish leathers?

I'm going to miss a bunch (and I'm sure I'm not even up on the current ones) but here's a quick rundown:

$750ish: 747 cowhide, CS cowhides (light and dark), Nowak goat, Happy Cow

$975ish: shrunken lamb (all variations), Vintage goat (shiny and non-shiny), and the Holy Goat that Rask got (I'm not 100% sure that it's still an option).

Thanks Crismans! That was exactly what I was looking for! I'm trying reeeeaaaaalllllyyyy hard to get a Nowak sometime in the near future.

jnicktem wrote:Forgive me if this has been beaten to death- I don't spend much time here and DID run a search. All the threads discussing Nowak leathers and prices (that I found) are very spread out and some of that information is outdated.

Does anyone know which are the $750ish leathers and the $975ish leathers?

Try This: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=40377&hilit=Tony+nowak+prices

crismans wrote:I'm going to miss a bunch (and I'm sure I'm not even up on the current ones) but here's a quick rundown:

$750ish: 747 cowhide, CS cowhides (light and dark), Nowak goat, Happy Cow

$975ish: shrunken lamb (all variations), Vintage goat (shiny and non-shiny), and the Holy Goat that Rask got (I'm not 100% sure that it's still an option).

jnicktem wrote:Thanks Crismans! That was exactly what I was looking for! I'm trying reeeeaaaaalllllyyyy hard to get a Nowak sometime in the near future.

You'll be very happy with it once you do.

And if you have any extra once you've bought it, send it my way. I'm after one of these fine ToDs next.

singsingjohnny wrote:Does Tony actually have the jackets to view on the site? And how much $$$ are they? I'm really interested in the ToD in the Happy Cow.

Tony Nowak's web site isn't the greatest for that. All it really provides you with is a chart to use for jotting down measurements, and contact information.

You will find photos of jackets here, but for specific questions it is best to call the man.
If you don't get him, make sure to leave your phone number, and keep trying.
He can be a very busy guy, but will take care of you.

I'm sure this is a trick question, but which leather is typically associated with the ToD coat in the movie? I'm thinking lambskin or goat...and I'm I crazy or was the ToD coat a bit longer than say the RotLA coat?

BTW, way up top, your coat is beautiful, is making me think of ways to raise that kind of dough for a Nowak!

The jacket in the movie was reportedly lamb. The front length of all the jackets for all the movies is about the same. The back length varies, Raiders being shortest. The ToD jacket back length in the movie is about 26"