ausreenactor
Well-Known Member
Found my Saddlery jacket yesterday. Condensing boxes as we put our 'faith' in the flood levee.
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Modern issue A-2: the new collector item?
- Thread starter WingAndaPrayer
- Start date
ausreenactor
Well-Known Member
Goat A-2s stink!
Ed Rooney
Well-Known Member
Cool chinook patch.
herk115
Active Member
I disagree. Look at the WWII vintage jackets. It took almost half a century for their prices to start to climb to astronomical levels, and we're not there yet with the 1988 USAF issue jackets. No one can predict the future, but I'm with those that say "someday." I firmly think there will come a time when the Cooper issued to me by the USAF, and worn by me during the Gulf War, will bring far more than a pittance. Just my opinion.
Ed Rooney
Well-Known Member
I think your CWU will do better.
ZuZu
Well-Known Member
I saw this on greedBay and it started me to thinking, will current issue flight kit someday be highly sought after like the WW2 stuff is?
NOS USAF DSCP COCKPIT OFFICIAL A-2 FLIGHT JACKET 46L | eBay
Size is 46L. COCKPIT USA is the official supplier of A-2 jackets for the U.S. Air Force. Sleeve: 28. Pit to pit: 27.www.ebay.com
The answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT. These jackets are just not the same as the WW2 stuff- they aren't really a thing as far as I know. Avirex fucked up the design back in the 80' and it hasn't gotten any better since. Look at the gigantic overly square shoulders which the 8" epaulets hold in place. The horrible nondescript weird wannabe seal color which would be best described as "slug gray". Those twinky little heart shaped pocket flaps. The terrible pilling knits. The lady's garment eye-and-hook closure. The fuzzy polyester lining. The only thing it's got going for it is the goatskin which unfortunately is slug gray. They're still being made- phoned in as it were by companies like The Cockpit or DSCP which already make horrible G-1s.
The WW2/Korea stuff is extremely well made (unlike what what VLJ lore tell us) and has just acres of character. Each contract until the 1960s had unique features and weird foibles. The leather used was BEAUTIFUL!
The current issue A-2 is just a useless appendage (like the silly new Army WW2 uniforms) which try to do some bullshit morale thing or whatever... what do those jackets do?
IMO far more interesting are the CWU series- at least they have a function.
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ZuZu
Well-Known Member
That is one sad sack jacket. Look at those pocket flaps- LOOK at 'em! I've told this story before here but when I worked at UC Berkeley the AF ROTC guys (instructors) bought tiny jackets to look "sharp" because if you buy the right size you're going to look like one of our last couple presidents wearing it- not good!
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Southoftheborder
Well-Known Member
I bought one of these for my then girlfriend in the late eighties when a company was selling a batch they imported from the US and the A2 was going through one of its fashion periods. Apart from the thing fitting like a tent because they cocked up the ordered size I thought it was pretty poor. Thin paper like goat and a terrible cut. It went back.
Can't ever see them really being collectable apart from by military jacket completists.
Can't ever see them really being collectable apart from by military jacket completists.
Happy Hooligan
Well-Known Member
I see it like the Volkswagen Beetle. Will the 90's copy of the classic command prices that an original will? No.
Rutger
Well-Known Member
It's a too expensive, characterless car, mainly driven by wannabe-yuppies. The exact opposite of the entirely affordable original.
Ditto the Mini. And the Fiat 500.
Richard W.
New Member
I can understand that a 1940s cut for the new A-2s wouldn’t work for most 21st century American soldiers, but I can’t believe they couldn’t somehow make them a little more flattering than this.
(The hugely exaggerated peak on the service cap is mystifying, too.)
(The hugely exaggerated peak on the service cap is mystifying, too.)
FlakMagnet
Well-Known Member
That is a hideous fit.
Chandler
Well-Known Member
Wow. And no one in the Army sees how awful that looks?
I just blew up the image and am even more horrified. That fit is at least 2 sizes too big -- and we know he's not layering up for a B-17 flight!
ZuZu
Well-Known Member
Is this Army? Why the little SS hat? They really are confused over there at the Army uniform department! We wanna look like WW2 guys! We wanna look like Sad Sack! We're actually using the epaulets on a flight jacket/suit coat...We can put a canteen in the pockets!
Richard W.
New Member
It’s a Class B uniform item, and it’s required to be always zipped up.
Not sure why they even put a knit waistband on it if it’s just going to hang like a poncho.
Also authorized for wear with civilian clothes (!) with the insignia removed.
Not sure why they even put a knit waistband on it if it’s just going to hang like a poncho.
Also authorized for wear with civilian clothes (!) with the insignia removed.
MauldinFan
Well-Known Member
Within the last 30 years, I've seen common Vietnam stuff go from "you can't give it away" to drawing decent amounts from collectors.
Heck, I've even seen early Iraq invasion stuff start to climb in value at shows and online.
It's only a matter of time before these 'Current issue' A2s bringing in decent amounts. It'll just take time and numbers whittling away from attrition.
Ed Rooney
Well-Known Member
The new Army uniforms vary from brilliant to WTH were they thinking. The AGSU, which is the new "Class A" uni, looks a million times better than the old army greens or the ASU "Blues", but then they did some dumb stuff.
They made the buttons with a dark antique brass finish, which does not match glossy badges well. The original was shined brass.
They borrowed the updated USAF "Hefty Lawn and Leaf A-2" instead of coming up with a new cut. Some soldiers are buying unmolested Coopers as their leather jacket. Jacket is not an Aviation or Airborne thing - It is for everyone, but is mostly worn by staff officers and recruiters.
The shoes are about $150.
The droopy crusher hat looks dumb, mostly because it has a form in it to make it look so. Many officers are using the form from their ASU cap to fix it. As an aside, I live in Annapolis and have noticed the mids wearing their caps in a 1920's style, with the back of the form flipped up. I also saw some of this in the last few Army Navy games, so I'm sure it is creeping into the Army.
The tie is brown. Should be tan.
The shirt looks like a soup sandwich when worn as a class B.
They made the buttons with a dark antique brass finish, which does not match glossy badges well. The original was shined brass.
They borrowed the updated USAF "Hefty Lawn and Leaf A-2" instead of coming up with a new cut. Some soldiers are buying unmolested Coopers as their leather jacket. Jacket is not an Aviation or Airborne thing - It is for everyone, but is mostly worn by staff officers and recruiters.
The shoes are about $150.
The droopy crusher hat looks dumb, mostly because it has a form in it to make it look so. Many officers are using the form from their ASU cap to fix it. As an aside, I live in Annapolis and have noticed the mids wearing their caps in a 1920's style, with the back of the form flipped up. I also saw some of this in the last few Army Navy games, so I'm sure it is creeping into the Army.
The tie is brown. Should be tan.
The shirt looks like a soup sandwich when worn as a class B.
ZuZu
Well-Known Member
I don't think so- they're not well made and they're poorly designed. They're still made. They have no "panache". Blame Jeff Clyman!
