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ELCs New Combat Combat Collection.

mulceber

Moderator
Ah, thanks. Guess I was imagining things. Or I just started from the assumption that you couldn't buy from Eastman without getting into 4 figures. ;)
 

Smithy

Well-Known Member
Ah, thanks. Guess I was imagining things. Or I just started from the assumption that you couldn't buy from Eastman without getting into 4 figures. ;)

Much better to buy secondhand, you're assured a ore reasonable 3 figure fee and a fairer price!

Better duck down, there'll be some flak incoming from the "I like ELC no matter how much they choose to rip us off charge" fans :p
 

Serghei87

Well-Known Member
I have 2 A2s and both from ELC. One second hand from ebay and the other bought at their pop up shop in London. I love their leather and personally for my taste, they have the best looking leather from all the brands.

Even though i would love to have another A2 in a different colour and contract, i would not pay a full price again especially after doing the conversion from GBP to EUR.

With the amount that a new jacket from ELC costs, i was able to get a parka from Real Mccoy and 2 vests from Toys Mccoy and Freewhealers.

One of my desires is to have a 50 cal from ELC or B6 rough wear but i will pass on them for the time being :)
 

Smithy

Well-Known Member
To be fair to them, I still like Eastman too. I just don't think the mark up is a reasonable. ;)

Oh I've said it many times before and probably even in this thread they were my first flight jacket company heroes, I used to go into bat for them, defend them, recommend them in numerous threads here, over at the hat place when I was still a member and elsewhere. But their recent and incessant price increases have led to, for me at least, to a perception of out and out greed - over £300 for a pair of cotton combat trousers is a prime recent example- and because of it they have completely ruined their cachet for me. I know everyone is different and there's still guys around here who have no problem with the pricing. But over the last few months they seem to have become a minority and a lot of guys who were still sticking up for them last year when pricing discussions came up are now saying, it's too much now. That's the really interesting takeaway from this thread, just how many members have said it's over the top now in this thread.

Do ELC care what we think? Probably not.

But then again if they've shut down access to their old pages which show pricing via Archive, maybe they do, and maybe even a little more than what we expected.
 

mulceber

Moderator
One of my desires is to have a 50 cal from ELC or B6 rough wear but i will pass on them for the time being

Just as a heads-up if this sort of things matters to you: the B-6 rough wear, despite being listed as an "original contract repro" is an invention of ELC. They just made a russet B-6 and slapped the label from their RW B-3 on it. It's a nice jacket, but it isn't in any way authentic.
 
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B-Man2

Well-Known Member
To be fair to them, I still like Eastman too. I just don't think the mark up is a reasonable. ;)
Much better to buy secondhand, you're assured a ore reasonable 3 figure fee and a fairer price!

Better duck down, there'll be some flak incoming from the "I like ELC no matter how much they choose to rip us off charge" fans :p
Just as a heads-up if this sort of things matters to you: the B-6 rough wear, despite being listed as an "original contract repro" is an invention of ELC. They just made a russet B-6 and slapped the label from their RW B-3 on it. It's a nice looking jacket, but it isn't in any way authentic.

UH OH :oops: Now you guys have gone and done it!............Stand by for incoming!! ;)
 

Serghei87

Well-Known Member
Just as a heads-up if this sort of things matters to you: the B-6 rough wear, despite being listed as an "original contract repro" is an invention of ELC. They just made a russet B-6 and slapped the label from their RW B-3 on it. It's a nice looking jacket, but it isn't in any way authentic.
I know that but i love how these 2 specific jackets look with rugged and wrinkled leather :) just a personal taste :)
 

Smithy

Well-Known Member
Forgetting the pricing for a minute and looking at some of the their newer stuff the leather on some of the A-2s looks overdone, like what you'd see on antique leather furniture and not on a WWII A-2 jacket.

I know there's been a move over the last few years to buy repros which look like 75 year old originals in short order rather than what someone was issued in 1942 etc but to me some of it is really overdone.
 

mulceber

Moderator
Forgetting the pricing for a minute and looking at some of the their newer stuff the leather on some of the A-2s looks overdone, like what you'd see on antique leather furniture and not on a WWII A-2 jacket.

I know there's been a move over the last few years to buy repros which look like 75 year old originals in short order rather than what someone was issued in 1942 etc but to me some of it is really overdone.

Tim, it's like you heard the air raid siren, and decided now was a good time to turn on every light in the house. ;)
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
Forgetting the pricing for a minute and looking at some of the their newer stuff the leather on some of the A-2s looks overdone, like what you'd see on antique leather furniture and not on a WWII A-2 jacket.

I know there's been a move over the last few years to buy repros which look like 75 year old originals in short order rather than what someone was issued in 1942 etc but to me some of it is really overdone.
It definitely seems that way with their Irvin’s . I love the jacket but the crinkle sheepskin that they use now definitely does not look like an original Irvin or Warings jacket . The hide looks nothing like a WWII original hide. It’s just too crinkled for me.
 

Smithy

Well-Known Member
Dave posted some A-2 leather samples they sent him a few months back which he posted here and they were the spitting image of my grandparents' old leather chairs which sat half the day in the sun back home for 60 years.

I have wondered whether after the early days of wanting to give someone 1942 out of the box, and then how it's moved onto having an A-2 which ages super quick to look 75 years old in super short order or looks super old even straight out of the box, whether now they're using leather which now looks like an overdone pastiche, it's just too wrinkly, creased, has too much tonal variation and looks too old straight off the bat. The samples that Dave posted were just ridiculous like what you'd see on antique furniture or nearly to the point of aged, used antique book bindings.
 

dinomartino1

Well-Known Member
I have nothing against Eastman except the prices I cannot afford, back in the 80s in the UK you basically had a choice of Avirex, Aero or Eastman.
Eastman had a reputation of making better A2s and Aero the best non military jackets.
Like Smithy I have a soft spot for both especially aero, Ken reinvented the wheel for vintage style leather jackets but Eastmans focus was military jackets.
Japanese makers excluded Eastman has positioned itself as the second most expensive mainstream maker after Goodwear for their standard leather options, like Kelso other options increase the price.
Everyone on is free to spend their money how they wish and likewise I do not dislike anyone for high prices other than thinking they are overpriced but expensive does not always mean the best.

Prices are for worldwide shipping
Goodwear A1 capeskin 1299 USD 60.00 USD
Eastman A1 capeskin 1198.80 USD 63.09 USD
Bill Kelso A1 capeskin 883.33 USD 74.45 USD
Headwind A1 capeskin 650 USD 50 USD

Goodwear Dubow 1549 USD 60.00 USD
Eastman does not make a Dubow
but original maker a2s are all 1388.09 USD 63.09 USD
Bill Kelso dubow 971.66 USD 74.45 USD
Platon Dubow 513.27 USD 74.14 USD
I am yet to be convinced otherwise BK and Platon are not one in the same.

There has been discussion on a thread for another maker mentioning Eastman and "mall jackets" and by those criteria Eastman is also guilty with their Hartmaan "mall " jacket.
Well made and good quality but:
"Our reproduction of this style is faithful to the original jacket worn by Hartmann in every detail."
Sorry not true.
 
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