Well I've never bought a Real McCoy's jacket previously, may never again, but my WEPs I just bought are absolutely fantastic, at least from my perspective, and I've been involved in collecting (and this forum in all its forms) since 1998. In my eyes they're very well made indeed and also not too short so arguably even better than the originals
For me they're not a status symbol based on the price - barely anybody even knows what they are. But they're really really REALLY good. So a big thumbs up from me!
I don't think anyone will argue with you that they're very well done. But can someone really say one is empirically worth several thousand bucks?
NO, that price tag to a large degree is based on the status of owning something that cost that much. I once talked with some of the Real McCoys folks at an event at the Museum of Flight in Seattle several years ago. they confirmed that most of their jackets actually go to folks who wouldn't likely know (nor care) if any aspects of their products are historically correct.
I know a guy who works for the company that makes Bentley cars, and he said they know they sell them to people who don't care nearly as much for the quality than to brag about how much they paid for it. Many buyers of their cars, he said, only own them for a year or two before looking for the next 'shiny thing,' because they have the money to do so and crave the status.
Frankly, I never understood reproduction flight jackets, in that if you're making one at all, you can make them as accurate as possible, but many companies choose not to. Bronson has proven what I've always said; if you're making it at all, why not just make it as accurate as you can for the price point?
Sure, the Real McCoys and Eastman jackets are great, but it's clear to me that they're listed for as much as they are for the market I wrote of earlier, those who want to brag about paying more for something they could have gotten for much less money but doesn't can't be bragged over.
THOSE folks would rather spend several hundred bucks for a MA-1 made by those companies than one made for around $150 by Bronson. There's a difference, to be sure, but not enough to me that justifies the difference in price.