MikeyB-17
Well-Known Member
That's it, I have finally become a candidate for the rubber room. I have suspected it for a while, and now I am certain. I have just paid forty English pounds, plus postage, for a woolly hat. And I consider myself to have done well!
Been after a Buzz Rickson watch cap for a few years now, got one from Pike Brothers but despite numerous attempts to stretch it, it's always been too tight and left my head looking like Thanos' chin. And it never quite sat on my head properly, so I had an annoying ridge on top. Saw this a few days ago, starting at £9.50, stalked it carefully and put in what I thought was an excessive bid just to make sure I got it. I did get it, but it took the full whack, as the bids flew up in the last minute. I then realised that I had bought not a USN watch cap but a William Gibson black AAF A-4 mechanics cap (I really should read descriptions more carefully). Which could be construed as an improvement, as the only one I can find new is £99! Rare outside Japan apparently! I mean, it's beautifully made and I'm very pleased with it, but £99? I thought £70 in the RMC shop in London was ludicrous.
Bearing in mind that I can get woolly hats issued at work for nothing! Or get one for a few quid in any number of emporia! Have we taken leave of our senses, when we're happy to pay this sort of money for an item that your average man in the street wouldn't look twice at? And would look at you as if you had lost your marbles if you told them what you paid? What have we come to? I guess it's the thin end of the wedge, a product of a market that is prepared to pay literally thousands for reproduction flight jackets. And judging by the news that ELC are preparing to up their prices again, business is good. So I guess I'm happy to have nabbed this A-4 for a lot less than I could have paid. About as close to the world of big money jackets as I'm likely to get.
Been after a Buzz Rickson watch cap for a few years now, got one from Pike Brothers but despite numerous attempts to stretch it, it's always been too tight and left my head looking like Thanos' chin. And it never quite sat on my head properly, so I had an annoying ridge on top. Saw this a few days ago, starting at £9.50, stalked it carefully and put in what I thought was an excessive bid just to make sure I got it. I did get it, but it took the full whack, as the bids flew up in the last minute. I then realised that I had bought not a USN watch cap but a William Gibson black AAF A-4 mechanics cap (I really should read descriptions more carefully). Which could be construed as an improvement, as the only one I can find new is £99! Rare outside Japan apparently! I mean, it's beautifully made and I'm very pleased with it, but £99? I thought £70 in the RMC shop in London was ludicrous.
Bearing in mind that I can get woolly hats issued at work for nothing! Or get one for a few quid in any number of emporia! Have we taken leave of our senses, when we're happy to pay this sort of money for an item that your average man in the street wouldn't look twice at? And would look at you as if you had lost your marbles if you told them what you paid? What have we come to? I guess it's the thin end of the wedge, a product of a market that is prepared to pay literally thousands for reproduction flight jackets. And judging by the news that ELC are preparing to up their prices again, business is good. So I guess I'm happy to have nabbed this A-4 for a lot less than I could have paid. About as close to the world of big money jackets as I'm likely to get.
