One reason I will never buy from LOST WORLDS...

[Hawkeye]

..besides the obscene pricing and rock hard leather is his utter contempt for his customer base.

From Lost Worlds:

"BE VERY WARY OF SO-CALLED "NON-COMMERCIAL," "INFORMATION ONLY" WEB SITES AND CHAT GROUPS, RUN BY SELF-APPOINTED "EXPERTS." SUCH ARE USUALLY MANUFACTURER SHILLS OR "BASEMENT BOMBARDIERS" ("Mom, throw down some more soap." ) OF A HILARIOUS, SELF-IMPORTANT SORT. (Think the priceless and hopelessly plump Comic Guy in THE SIMPSONS!) The manufacturer shill is, of course, the "stooge" who stands in the crowd during the shell game and puts up twenty after twenty to entice others into the fraud.

REMEMBER WHAT GOEBBELS SAID: THE BIGGER THE LIE, THE MORE READILY PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE IT. Unfortunately this is true in the esoteric business of flight jackets. Distrust ostensibly objective, here-to-help-you "enthusiasts."

Rampant and almost beyond belief on what we affectionately call "THE FAIRY FORUMS," where "men" like to talk to other "men" about how they look in flight jackets. Cross-dressers. Trainspotters. Eunuchs. The "JACKET QUEEN" phenomenon. Ambassadors of geekdom. Replicants."


Way to instantly alienate over 12 000 potential customers Stu, I wont lose a wink of sleep if your company goes down due to attitude like that.

 

[mazeta]

That text in his website is about as old as the Internets itself. It is older than some of the members who visit this forum, so he's not referring to the VLJ or any current forum. His site is worth visiting just to read his rants; makes for entertaining reading.

 

[zoomer]

True. And I for one plan to continue b!tching about it as long as it's still up.

 

[Hawkeye]

Another gem from Stu:

"On the various flight and vintage jacket forums, where "men" put up digital pictures for their "buddies" of how they look in flight jackets -- children dressing up, no, cross-dressing as adults -- one can read expert instructions on aging, softening, antiquing new jackets to give them that flown-in look, for those whose knowledge of American history and masculine imagery are but flights of the remotest fantasy. There's putting 'em in the washer, sanding, nail polish remover, heat treatments. Avoid these forums, their self-appointed, fatuous "authorities" and instructions like syphilis if you want to know anything -- tanning, history, technical data (Nietzsche might say rulers are only for the small)-- about this important if esoteric niche of Americana. A disgrace that manly pursuits are contaminated by the unmanly. Welcome to the afterbirths of political correctness. Mass eunuchry -- a different kind of gun control."

 

[John Lever]

The appearance of LW sale items on ebay makes me think the business may be struggling. In the past he has always stated that he hates ebay so times must be tough. Could be the end of the road.

 

[Anonymous]

I personally think Stu hates himself but has not come to that realization yet .He is in a buisiness that he despises the customer because we do not agree with him and also his competition from his point of view has relagated him to the back burner ,quite a self destructive circle with no way out of .The only people that make sense to him are the voices in his head ,and he sometimes falls out with them because they do not know what they are talking about .Like the saying goes insanity is the perfoming the same acts or tasks expecting different results and doing it to put food on the table .Must be lonely up there in his ivory tower indulging in private delusion .Colorful chappie all the same !.


Should A-2 Jackets have inside pockets !,Thought this would attract more poeple to the post .

All the best Jeff

 

[jacketimp]

angels.....devils........bad boys.........

guess stu doesn't do angels of the repro makers.......

betcha he's struggling to sleep at nite........voices in his head........knowing repro collectors hate his guts.......

stu is stewed

 

[mazeta]

Another gem from Stu:

"On the various flight and vintage jacket forums, where "men" put up digital pictures for their "buddies" of how they look in flight jackets -- children dressing up, no, cross-dressing as adults -- one can read expert instructions on aging, softening, antiquing new jackets to give them that flown-in look, for those whose knowledge of American history and masculine imagery are but flights of the remotest fantasy. There's putting 'em in the washer, sanding, nail polish remover, heat treatments. Avoid these forums, their self-appointed, fatuous "authorities" and instructions like syphilis if you want to know anything -- tanning, history, technical data (Nietzsche might say rulers are only for the small)-- about this important if esoteric niche of Americana. A disgrace that manly pursuits are contaminated by the unmanly. Welcome to the afterbirths of political correctness. Mass eunuchry -- a different kind of gun control."

Engrained like a splinter inside this particular manifesto from Stu, lurks a valid point. I've noticed that as of late, there are serious discussions about jackets that are intentionally made to age prematurely, or even worse, obtaining artificially 'distressed' pieces direct from the maker (e.g. ELC's 'time worn' jackets) to avoid wearing a jacket out the old-fashioned way. How can a forumner willing to do this still have the right to make fun of 'mall jackets'?

 

[jacketimp]

..besides the obscene pricing and rock hard leather is his utter contempt for his customer base.

From Lost Worlds:

"BE VERY WARY OF SO-CALLED "NON-COMMERCIAL," "INFORMATION ONLY" WEB SITES AND CHAT GROUPS, RUN BY SELF-APPOINTED "EXPERTS." SUCH ARE USUALLY MANUFACTURER SHILLS OR "BASEMENT BOMBARDIERS" ("Mom, throw down some more soap." ) OF A HILARIOUS, SELF-IMPORTANT SORT. (Think the priceless and hopelessly plump Comic Guy in THE SIMPSONS!) The manufacturer shill is, of course, the "stooge" who stands in the crowd during the shell game and puts up twenty after twenty to entice others into the fraud.

REMEMBER WHAT GOEBBELS SAID: THE BIGGER THE LIE, THE MORE READILY PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE IT. Unfortunately this is true in the esoteric business of flight jackets. Distrust ostensibly objective, here-to-help-you "enthusiasts."

Rampant and almost beyond belief on what we affectionately call "THE FAIRY FORUMS," where "men" like to talk to other "men" about how they look in flight jackets. Cross-dressers. Trainspotters. Eunuchs. The "JACKET QUEEN" phenomenon. Ambassadors of geekdom. Replicants."


Way to instantly alienate over 12 000 potential customers Stu, I wont lose a wink of sleep if your company goes down due to attitude like that.

plenty of potential customers.........

wonder how can any one repro maker cope with that BIG a batch.....

 

[John Lever]

Once I asked him if he ever used veg. tanned leather. His reply was hilarious,
' try asking the Eastmanites, or is it sodomites ? , was his answer !
I have bought from LW and would do so again, they make very high quality gear , some of the zips are not quite up to snuff and I'm not keen on the painted HH but the shearlings are hard to beat. I only ever sold LW jackets to fund others as I have with all the makers.
The fairy forum issue doesn't bother me in the least.
BTW there is another manufacturer that uses the same term....

 

[watchmanjimg]

What still amazes me is the morbid fascination you guys seem to have for someone you claim to hate so much. If Stu's business goes down, it certainly won't be due to his attitude. As Mazeta points out, his website has always spouted the same hyperbole. It's nothing new, and if it were truly so offensive to potential customers it would take a lot less than a global economic crisis for Stu to feel the pinch.

Those of us who have bought from Lost Worlds can at least speak from a position of knowledge about the product as well as the customer service. Whether Stu's jackets are better or worse than another manufacturer's is purely a matter of opinion--and a much more productive topic of discussion on this forum than bellyaching about his sales pitch.

 

[John Lever]

What still amazes me is the morbid fascination you guys seem to have for someone you claim to hate so much. If Stu's business goes down, it certainly won't be due to his attitude. As Mazeta points out, his website has always spouted the same hyperbole. It's nothing new, and if it were truly so offensive to potential customers it would take a lot less than a global economic crisis for Stu to feel the pinch.

Those of us who have bought from Lost Worlds can at least speak from a position of knowledge about the product as well as the customer service. Whether Stu's jackets are better or worse than another manufacturer's is purely a matter of opinion--and a much more productive topic of discussion on this forum than bellyaching about his sales pitch.

Good point, buy his stuff or just ignore him.

 

[havocpaul]

And any guy that grew up with the Ramones and buys vintage guitars can't be all bad....it's all rather amusing to read his opinions real or not.

 

[rich]

http://www.atthefront.com/


This makes me laugh, but I cannot figure out if he's being truly serious.................

( I mean the FAQ section, nothing funny about the splash-page image)

 

[Hawkeye]

http://www.atthefront.com/


This makes me laugh, but I cannot figure out if he's being truly serious.................

Yeah, Im familiar with ATF and I've bought one or two items from there. The difference is he lampoons actual stupidity he has to deal with from customers (quite humourously too), whereas LW goes out of its way to insult people who know more about jackets than he does.

 

[Vcruiser]

Having owned a LW A2(my first better quality repro purchased from eBay)...it can surely be guaranteed that the jacket is near impossible to ever show wear..unless it wears to the infamous black underbase..as some. Thus..Stu's rant about artificial aging. One just can't get there either way you go with his product.
After owning a couple LW HH utility jackets...the same criteria applies. A heavy paintedlike finish impervious to ever gaining the true charactor of most vintage HH jackets.
Also..having several friends who ordered jackets directly from LW(Stu)..that are now closet queens(or sold on) because he insisted that they needed a larger size..it became obvious..that he is never wrong...even if the customer insists the fit is off. Thus few measurements revealed.
If an ultimate bulletproof leather jacket that resembles a vintage jacket in pattern and style is what the customer is looking for..then they have found it. Otherwize...it's not a matter of hating Stu..but a resentment of a pompous attitude that should show through in his published rants that some initially seem to overlook seeking a quality jacket...but then,in more than a few cases,reveals it's ugly head later.
Yes..it's opinion...experience..and may differ from yours....but definately needs to be exposed from time to time.....IMHO...... :shock:
Van

 

[watchmanjimg]

No disrespect to Van, but is the LW situation really so insidious as to require periodic exposure? After all, the whole issue here is the language emblazoned on his website which is anything but subtle. Or are we actually talking about the jackets themselves? Opinions and experience sure do vary! Interestingly, the two LW A-2s I bought secondhand from Jerome displayed beautiful grain and character. Similarly, my custom heavy horsehide police jacket from LW is beginning (ever so slightly) to show grain after being worn during two winter vacations to the Northeast. Wait a minute, it's the customer service! Would anyone like me to post the emails I received after an inquiry to Aero Leather USA, where Mark falls all over himself trying to talk me out of ordering a jacket because of my problematic build (42" chest, 32" waist), even to the extent of referring me to Eastman? Could it be because I mentioned that I own jackets from Lost Worlds?

 

[Swing]

A disgrace that manly pursuits are contaminated by the unmanly.

A guy that I've heard still sports '80s era Sperry Topsiders trying to tell others what "manly" is? :lol:

~Swing

 

[watchmanjimg]

A disgrace that manly pursuits are contaminated by the unmanly.

A guy that I've heard still sports '80s era Sperry Topsiders trying to tell others what "manly" is? :lol:

~Swing

Touche', but shouldn't vintage enthusiasts be careful making fun of "outdated" stuff? After all, they say that one man's trash is another man's treasure and although many of our favorite jacket makers are long gone, Sperry lives on . . . :lol:

 

[Vcruiser]

No disrespect to watchmanjimg....but to dismiss other's experiences with LW or even deflect to another jacket company...whose rep "Mark' has a completely opposite reputation and personality among his customers as Stu...may kinda appear as an attempt at only deviating any criticism from the topic here. Of course Stu's philosophy and attitude reflects in how he deals with the public. His jackets are what they are....but your opinion of "charactor' might be quite different than many. In any event...it would seem that opposing experiences and info are more than likely just as valid as yours.
BTW..Mark's opinion of LW products might surprise you.
I don't know if anyone would like for you to post emails between you and Mark or not. Mark is pretty honestly helpful ....but if it would help you prove some kind of point.....
Van