Club Obi Wan

Recently I purchased gloves from Todd's Costumes. I was really excited to finally have some screen accurate gloves. What I received was very disappointing. It turns out, Todd's gloves are too light in color; almost white. Furthermore, they lack the double shirred elastic wrist that the Wells Lamont gloves have. Instead, the elastic is sewn to the leather with a zig zag pattern.

I was very surprised by these inaccuracies because the photo on Todd's website shows a glove that looks exactly like what the screen used gloves supposedly looked like.

To add to my frustration, I wrote about returning the gloves, and the reply I got back said that there will be a $5.00 restocking fee. Before I ordered I searched the site over and never found anything about returns or restocking fees.

I think it's really poor business that Todd's Costumes is misrepresenting their gloves like they are. The picture they show on the website looks just like the ones in the movie but what you receive will not match what you see on screen, whether it be in the movie or on Todd's website.

Todd's on left, Midwest on right for color comparison.

Screen used gloves.

What Todd's Costumes shows you'll get on their website

That is pretty disappointing, I had a similar experience with their Raiders knife. The handle looked much too light and may have been bone rather than the expected horn. Rather than make an issue of it [the postage to return it to the USA wasn't worth it] I just crafted into it to make it more SA.
I have found that unless you want to throw away ridiculous sums of money for hand-finished items, most 'replicas' are close, but not actually dead on accurate.
Luckily this forum has many hints on how to adapt, age, distress or improve the mass produced stuff.
I actually prefer to personalise my stuff in that way but then I'm more hobbyist artesan than collector.
Are you going to return the gloves for a refund or have a go at aging them?

Ive been very happy with my gloves from Todd. I've worn them a few times a week for the last three years when walking the dog and throwing his disgustingly, slimy ball for him! The gloves have held up perfectly and look suitably distressed. They were good value for money I think

djd wrote:They were good value for money I think

Yes, they are inexpensive but Todd's is misrepresenting them. I expected a pair of gloves that looked like the ones shown on the website but that's not what you get. The write up even says that these are "perfect copies." Shame on Todd's Costumes.

The home page says "We don't believe in selling cheap Halloween costumes...high quality products, and superior customer service. We have the best quality costumes on the market." That really makes me mad that a company would misrepresent their products the way the gloves are. If Todd's Costumes knows anything about the types of people collecting Indiana Jones gear, then they would know that a lot of collectors want items that are correct, not kind of close. But it's just wrong to show a pair of gloves that looks correct on the website and then send something else. I imaging they probably used a pair of Wells Lamont instead of taking a picture of the real article because it turns out the pictures of the Wells Lamont they sell are the same as their custom gloves.

deleted

I bought a pair and I think they're fine, they will darken with use and fwiw I think the Wells you can buy now are a lot darker (and yellower) than what is SA, which is why I like the Todds gloves.

I had a faulty glove (hole showed up) and he sent me replacements immediately (without requiring the old gloves back), which I thought was pretty good service for a faulty item. I think if you are returning something because you don't like it he is within his rights to charge a restock fee.

As to how they are represented, it is pretty hard to capture the color of items accurately given all the permutations of lighting conditions etc. Look at how we take pictures of jackets indoors and out for this very reason. I am happy with what I got vs the pictures.

theinterchange wrote:But I do remember reading a post [in the vendor section maybe?] from Todd about charging a restock fee when people were exchanging/returning the shirts like crazy just after he launched them.

This information should be on Todd's website for customers to read.

theinterchange wrote:they will darken with use

I have no intention of wearing the gloves I purchased. They are for a display. White gloves will never turn beige and the zig zag stitch pattern will never turn into the double pattern that it should be.

theinterchange wrote:As to how they are represented, it is pretty hard to capture the color of items accurately given all the permutations of lighting conditions etc. Look at how we take pictures of jackets indoors and out for this very reason. I am happy with what I got vs the pictures.

I don't think it's that difficult. From my picture above you can see the difference between beige and white. You need to have good lighting. Sometimes you need to adjust contrast and brightness either with the camera settings or with a computer program after the picture has been taken. It's clear Todd's Costumes is using a picture of gloves that is not the actual gloves customers will receive. To me, that's dishonest. I expected more from the company.

enigmata_wood wrote:Are you going to return the gloves for a refund or have a go at aging them?

I don't know if I will return them or not. I resent the idea that I have to pay a restocking fee for an item that was grossly misrepresented. Besides, the issue is not simply aging them. The base color of the gloves is wrong and no amount of aging is going to make a uniform change to the base color. For my display I wanted un-aged gloves. I thought about dying them but that is difficult and still doesn't correct the stitch inaccuracy.

From what I know about Todd, he is at the mercy of his manufacturer's. The original gloves I received from Todd many moons ago are those like the pictures, but his products do change slightly with each shipment.

I'm sorry you've had a bad experience with Todd, I've had many great products from him that I still enjoy thoroughly.

Guys,

what do you think about these gloves on what price glory website?
They seem quite raiders to me, maybe not that thick as Todd's and others

http://onlinemilitaria.net/shopexd.asp?id=2194&bc=no

cheers

Part of the fun of this hobby is in taking "ownership" of it, if that makes any sense. That is, if I buy something new, etc., I want it to look lived in, and that involves using and distressing it to the point that it becomes a part of you, a second skin, etc. Though these gloves are not perfectly SA, I might suggest doing a few things to 'make them yours'. You could possibly lightly dye them by dipping them in tea (the outside surface only). Once you use them, get them wet, dirty or oily, the color will begin to change. This would help to take the very light appearance from them. Use them to do yard work and around greasy areas such as mechanical work, etc. Next would be to put them on and live fire your side arm. If that doesn't help, then you could use gun powder applied on certain areas.

I understand from a business point of view the need to have restocking fees. Especially around halloween, because too many people buy stuff for an occasion then return it. This wastes an awful amount of time and money.
However, when I'm going out of my way to get SA and I end up with something I could have potentially found in a local hardware store, then I would not be too happy either.
I think the restocking fees will be waved if you ask in this case because what you wanted was not what you received. Plus as you mentioned you were not aware of any such fees when you purchased.
Send them an e-mail because I'm sure they will take care of you. It's just good business to do so and I think they do good business. Keep us posted.

My Wells Lamonts were about that same color. The original gloves were more of a lighter leather that turned "beige" with dirt and wear. Todd has a distressing tutorial on his site that is fantastic. I did it to my brand new Wells Lamont gloves and they now look EXACTLY like the pic of screen used gloves posted at the top of this post.

These were brand new and the same color as Todd's before I got to them with alcohol, and acrylic paints. They've never even been used!

Have you spoken to Todd's about your issues yet? I can see the biggest issue here being the zig zag stitching apposed to the double shirred elastic wrist...

If you haven't already I would drop them an email and I am sure they will sort you straight out!!

GeordieIndy

enigmata_wood wrote:I had a similar experience with their Raiders knife. The handle looked much too light and may have been bone rather than the expected horn...

The scales on the Todd's knife I received are stag horn.
Knife manufactures routinely shave the "bark" off of the outside to shape them (giving it a bone-like appearance).
It's hard finding a knife with perfect stag scales, even with much more expensive brands (like Hubertus or Linder, one of which I'm sure made the original in the movie).

I consider myself fortunate that my fire department issues work gloves that are very very close the screen used gloves.

Adventure Dog wrote:Guys,

what do you think about these gloves on what price glory website?
They seem quite raiders to me, maybe not that thick as Todd's and others

http://onlinemilitaria.net/shopexd.asp?id=2194&bc=no

cheers

They look like nice gloves and are Indy-like, but the details are very different from the screen used/Wells Lamont gloves.

tekors wrote:Part of the fun of this hobby is in taking "ownership" of it, if that makes any sense. That is, if I buy something new, etc., I want it to look lived in, and that involves using and distressing it to the point that it becomes a part of you, a second skin, etc. Though these gloves are not perfectly SA, I might suggest doing a few things to 'make them yours'.

I know a lot of people age stuff and "make it yours" but that's not what I do. I wanted a pair of gloves that were movie accurate. They were for a display mannequin. I understand Indy's clothing and gear is very worn in the movies, but I really don't want a bunch of beat up stuff on this display. I would like to look at it and appreciate the fine work that has gone into very accurate replicas, like Marc's Aldens, and Delk's fedoras. These guy's work is the standard by which everything I collect goes by. I don't collect stuff that is kind'a - sort'a like something Indy wore or used. I collect screen accurate articles.

Texan Scott wrote:However, when I'm going out of my way to get SA and I end up with something I could have potentially found in a local hardware store, then I would not be too happy either.

That's exactly what I'm getting at here. A lot of this stuff costs a lot of money. I don't appreciate when merchandise is misrepresented. Another case in point are the Wested trousers. I bought mine several years ago and was disappointed when I received them to find all of the inaccuracies in them. I don't know if they've changed since I bought mine but about the only thing that's right about mine is the color and fabric. Even the pocket flaps aren't SA. I mean, who would go through all the trouble and not get something like that right?

Texan Scott wrote:Send them an e-mail because I'm sure they will take care of you.

I already had but have not yet received a reply.

Still no reply from Todd's. I sent a new email tonight. I am even more disappointed in Todd's service now.

The Man with the Hat wrote:Still no reply from Todd's. I sent a new email tonight. I am even more disappointed in Todd's service now.

That is surprising, might be worth giving them a call? (maybe you hit the spam filter or something)

djd wrote:Ive been very happy with my gloves from Todd. I've worn them a few times a week for the last three years when walking the dog and throwing his disgustingly, slimy ball for him! The gloves have held up perfectly and look suitably distressed. They were good value for money I think

Agreed! Aside from a zig-zag stitch on the elastic, and the lighter colored cuff trim...they're about spot on.

If a person wanted the correct gloves then I believe the Wells-Lamont gloves are available.

My grandfather had 2 quotes he use to say a lot, and both meant the same thing.

"The scrooge always pays twice" and "Only a rich man can afford to buy cheap things"

Food for thought for EVERYONE...not directing that toward the originator of the thread.

Here are Holt's Todd's gloves...earlier batch before the zig-zag stitch: Full thread here: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=45178&p=650983&hil ... es#p650983

Indiana Holt wrote:this is something you dont see all too often posted around here.






this is the only gear piece that Indy is missing thruout all the other Indy moveis. too bad cus they are a such cool touch on the costume!

Well when I purchased the gloves I didn't think that I would receive something entirely different from what was pictured and described as "perfect copies". I didn't think the price was going to be reflective of the quality of gloves that I would receive.

If a person is going for accurate replicas then the zig-zag stitch pattern and almost white color just simply isn't very close at all let alone "perfect".

If the gloves I received looked like the ones from the supposed early batch I would have been pleased.

Hi all,

Just wanted to show you my distressed Todd's gloves. I can't change the zig-zag stitches, but it's a detail that does not matter to me. I used some techniques to distress them since they were almost white just like THe Man with the HAT said. THe first picture shows the gloves before I distressed them.







Here are the steps:
1. First I went to my balcony where dust has accumulated on the floor, and I rubbed the gloves to get dusty.
2. Dipped the gloves into a bowl with hot water and tea bags... to be honest it didn't make a lot of difference, very slight only.
3. Rubbed a rusted bar on both sides of the gloves, then I wore them and worked with the bar into the palms and other parts of the gloves.
4. used a mixed of dust and mud and after I got the gloves wet, I rubbed the mud onto them to take out the reddish spots of rust.
5. Put the gloves on the floor and threw again more mud and sand over it.

After 2 days, I took the excess of the dust out and voilá.... here it is.
What do you guys think? Any more work should be done?
regards

Teko

Nice work Tekors! Maybe you could use some black paint on it? But either way it looks great already.

I tried rubbing charcoal on my gloves, but it didn't work too much. Maybe I wasn't rubbing hard enough. But I'll give it another try.

Noah wrote:Nice work Tekors! Maybe you could use some black paint on it? But either way it looks great already.

I tried rubbing charcoal on my gloves, but it didn't work too much. Maybe I wasn't rubbing hard enough. But I'll give it another try.

Thanks Noah...
In fact charcoal is a great idea. But try rubbing in wet gloves, just like I did with the mud.
The leather won't absorb some of the charcoal if it's not wet. Don't need to soak the gloves, just some water on the surface and then rub it with charcoal and let it dry

tekors wrote:

Noah wrote:Nice work Tekors! Maybe you could use some black paint on it? But either way it looks great already.

I tried rubbing charcoal on my gloves, but it didn't work too much. Maybe I wasn't rubbing hard enough. But I'll give it another try.

Thanks Noah...
In fact charcoal is a great idea. But try rubbing in wet gloves, just like I did with the mud.
The leather won't absorb some of the charcoal if it's not wet. Don't need to soak the gloves, just some water on the surface and then rub it with charcoal and let it dry

Great idea! I'll wet them first then rub it with charcoal.

Hey All,

I believe I've read on these very boards that finished leather has a light coating of laquer on it from the factory. If that"s so, then a couple good wipes with alcohol should remove it. This might explain 1). why leather when new is slightly shiny, and 2). why tekors had little success with the tea bags: the gloves were still slightly "waterproofed". It seems like the start of all leather disstressing must start with finish removal. I think Todd even had that on his site once upon a time.

Dan s

Alkali Jones wrote:Hey All,

I believe I've read on these very boards that finished leather has a light coating of laquer on it from the factory. If that"s so, then a couple good wipes with alcohol should remove it. This might explain 1). why leather when new is slightly shiny, and 2). why tekors had little success with the tea bags: the gloves were still slightly "waterproofed". It seems like the start of all leather disstressing must start with finish removal. I think Todd even had that on his site once upon a time.

Dan s

hummmmm....

Didn't know about the coating...
Thanks for the insight...

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to revive this thread somewhat to point to my Cairo Bazaar ad.

I have recently found some New Old Stock Wells Lamont gloves.

SCREEN USED


WELLS LAMONT's for sale

I jumped on two pair, these things are hard to come by. I'll start distressing a pair asap. I use dirt, grease from fork truck, ya I know grease but after you really work it in along with some pecards there beautiful. Got an older pair that are on the verge of wearing out in the fingers so I'm glad these came along.

Croft

Indiana Croft wrote:

I jumped on two pair, these things are hard to come by. I'll start distressing a pair asap. I use dirt, grease from fork truck, ya I know grease but after you really work it in along with some pecards there beautiful. Got an older pair that are on the verge of wearing out in the fingers so I'm glad these came along.

Croft

Thanks Croft! Yours actually went out in the mail today.

And for everyone else, I also am selling the stock I have available on that auction site that loves to rob, and as such the price is higher over there to cover various fees and shipping costs.

Those things I cut for the friends and family here at COW.

Basically I'm saying don't sit on the fence because supply is limited.

Hey RaidersBash, I got the gloves, awsome my friend. See my thread boasting the awsomness of these gloves.
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=50896" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Croft

Man, these bring back old memories.

I used to order them by the case when I worked at a uranium enrichment plant in Southern Ohio and ran their video studio back in the early to mid 80's.

That was when I learned that Paramount Studios had ordered this model of WL gloves and MidWest gloves of the same design for production work on Raiders for the use by grips and best boys on set. I used the same supply house as the main studios at the time.

That's another way I stumbled across Lee Keppler 'back in the day', as he found them the same time I did, but for different reasons. He was looking for costume items to sell, and I was looking for equipment for work....AND the Indy connection was a pleasant surprise!

These and the MidWest gloves were what Ford 'borrowed' from a stage grip at the time of the shoot, as no gloves had been figured into his costume, and Ford needed them, so he grabbed the first available he could locate.

Wow, that's a lifetime ago.

Regards! Michaelson