Club Obi Wan

Hi guys
There is an interesting video on Rose Anvil builds about making Alden Indy Boots actually adventure-ready:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc8ZdebM6WA

Taylor, the cobbler, replace all the inferior materials, like cardboard and leather-board, with veg-tanned leather, he also swaps soles for the ones with better traction. I guess you may like it.

Thanks, fun to watch.

I wonder what all that type work would add to the cost of the boot?

Granted, if done from the get-go, it should be close, but with the better materials and the added tongue gusset, I’d bet they’d probably be closer to an $800+ price tag.

Regards! Michaelson

Regards!

Michaelson wrote: ↑Sun Sep 17, 2023 6:49 pm I wonder what all that type work would add to the cost of the boot?

Granted, if done from the get-go, it should be close, but with the better materials and the added tongue gusset, I’d bet they’d probably be closer to an $800+ price tag.

Regards! Michaelson

Regards!

The thing is Aldens are massively overpriced, they are basically 250-300$ boots positioned way above their real value.

Nick's is doing even better boots with 500-600$ price range.

Also, Weston made a 6 month review of the Alden 1050$ cordovan Indy boots here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQcKLkVNpCw and the results are very poor for Alden.

I know. I saw the other videos. The point I making was if they’re getting the prices they’re getting now for what they’re producing, what do you think they’d charge if they did the work properly as shown in this video?

As long as people are willing to pay for the provenance rather than quality, they have no reason to change their price point.

Regards! M

They'd charge over a grand...Although, I think I'd still pay that, if I knew they were using decent materials and building a shoe "worthy of Indy", since honestly, with the exchange rate the way it is now, I'd be paying about that in yen anyway...

I suspect a lot of the feeling over this, is because Alden ARE a "quality company", who should KNOW decent boot building, and they seem to have elected to just stop all that, and slide on the fame of the name alone....Now, were they EVER "great quality"? (Internally at least), that's something we'd need to question.....I suspect there was a peak, but what led Ford to them, might just have been as simple as his wider feet having a decently wide last to fit into, and him just going for those, not choosing them because they were "great shoes", but just "shoes I like"....And I suspect that's a a large part of it...Alden then coasted on the Indiana Jones name, and reduced the costs along the way by changing a few things over the years to lower the costs their end, while keeping the prices high or raising them......

It's a little sad, especially given how secure that name is now....We ALL expect more of Alden, and from the videos, it does seem as though they've consistently let their own side down by not providing quality materials through the whole boot...And we, as a community, have undoubtedly kept them going, simply through our love of the character...

I remember about 10 years back, reading a post somewhere complaining about the lowered standards for their boots, and Michaelson commenting that they had indeed slipped since the first time he'd had contact with them...It does look as though that drop has just continued since then...As you say Mark, no one holding them to account for the slide....

I would say that is also a product of businesses as a whole slipping. Customer service ain't what it used to be. We used to live in a society where someone would pump your gas for you, stores had cashiers and people to hoof bags out to your vehicle for you. Now we do all that ourselves because that stuff costs money. Forget taking care of the customer.

I know it is an apples and oranges comparison, but I think the quality/customer service sentiment is the same...if they will spend money with us then lets get as much money as we can from them and who cares about the customers feelings after the purchase or about the purchase. Take the money and run.

That's why customer service like Steele and Jones (which is EXCEPTIONAL) seems so extraordinary. Not too too long ago that was the rule and not the exception.

Good call. And just for me, I would not spend $1000 on a pair of boots like this. Plenty of other models out there that look the part and are probably way better in ruggedness, quality.

Quite frankly, until I have that kind of disposable income, I would be afraid to even wear a pair of $1000 shoes!

Regards! Michaelson

This thread/video makes me wonder if there are a pair of good "enough" uppers that one could have them rebuilt in a similar way to make a much better boot...

rc325

Well, this is basically what those guys in the video are doing. But if even Aldens have lower quality materials in them I don't know what brand you can get so the uppers will be good enough.

Or if the upper IS good enough I guess the rest won't need changing anyway?

But, yeah, for sure it's possible, don't see why not.

Cheers,
Bear

Hand stitching with solid grooved primary sole is never a 80$ range shoe, but more a 2000+$ range, actually it's only used in custom made, bespoke shoes, by brands like John Lobb or Berluti, I mean, the real historical workshops, not the branded fashionned modern stuff.
Standard new Lobb, Berluti, Edward Green,even Weston, based in France, which I visited the workshop, even using the good materials, they don't use grooved primary sole, they glue fabric instead, and fill with bark mix.
So the work shown on videos is really good, actually the top part is far from the sole material and work level.
Actually, if they start to make such level work, they should better make complete new shoes, from scratch, using primary level leather only.
I don't know any cobbler in my area, however we have a massive leather dealer here, selling to hermes and vuitton brands, as there are many workshops in my area, finding the cobbler and make ultimate indy boot pair should be a terrific project!