Re: Jacket Update (Must Read!!)

[ Reply ] [ The Indyfan Forum ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Patterson from gw.wizards.com on September 13, 1999 at 11:41:29:

In Reply to: Jacket Update (Must Read!!) posted by Indiana John on September 13, 1999 at 10:57:13:

: Those of you who visit Indy Gear regularly know that the U.S. Authentic page has been removed. Here's the scoop...

: I chose to feature this version, because I was led to believe it was
: a licensed copy. From my research, it appears to be the antithesis of such a claim. U.S. Authentic offers a goatskin "Indy" jacket, which is supposed to be of high quality. I am not denouncing the quality of the jacket necessarily, as I cannot honestly do so; BUT...

: The owner's business ethics are definitely in question. I spoke personally with David Hack, the CEO of U.S. Wings. He informed me that U.S. Authentic is actually selling the "Indy" jacket illegally.
: By using an Indiana Jones picture on their page, and then marketing & selling the jacket with the "Indy" name--they are in violation of copyright laws.

: Hack indicated that the owner has been contacted by Peter Botwright, requesting that he stop production--the response was less than cordial, I was told.
: Botwright could legally file a suit; but cannot justify the legal fees involved.

: This owner was also said to have been dismissed from Willis & Geiger for producing faulty product; which incidentally cost another employee his job. I was also told that the official Indyfan Club has had run-in's with U.S. Authentic as well--so it appears pretty obvious that something foul is at work.

: After hearing these accounts; I called U.S. Authentic myself and spoke with the owner about it. His replies were not incriminating nor to his credit. However, he did speak ill of U.S. Wings.

: And those of you who are wondering about U.S. Wings...
: David Hack is a retired citizen, with a superb career in both military and law enforcement. He is the CEO of U.S. Wings, which is evidently a top page on the web. His page receives 256,000 hits per week!!
: U.S. Wings is also the distributor for the Cooper jacket company, which produced a licensed copy of the Indy Jacket to the public
: at the time of Raiders & now recently back for sale. He said that they were not contracted for production, but some of them indeed slipped into the filming.

: In clarifying the licensing, he said that the jacket patterns were made by Peter Botwright, who gave Lucas copies, who in turn gave copies to Cooper for sale to the public.

: I asked him about the Disney version while I was at it. He told me that these are actually the Cooper version. Evidentally Disney bought a 500 jacket lot to sell at their attraction at the park.

: Getting back to Hack--his clientelle is very impressive and his personal friends include Harrison Ford's attourney & his agent.
: Plus he had only good things to say about Peter Botwright.

: At this point I am more likely to believe Hack's story than U.S. Authentic's.
: Once Botwright gets back with me; I will post a confirmation on the forum here.

: Regarding the Cooper jacket, I plan to have a seperate page for it in the jacket section by the end of the week.

: John

This is consistent with my experience with U.S. Authentic. I was considering purchasing some of the jackets in bulk for use as award jackets for work. He didn't say anything specific about David Hack, but was fairly free with his opinions about Peter Botwright, whom I've come to know as a very cordial and ethical person. I could go on, but I won't.

Glad to see these things are checked out.

Cheers!

Patterson




Follow Ups:



Post a Followup:

Name:    
E-Mail:  
Subject: 
Comments:

Optional:

Link URL:   
Link Title: 
Image URL:  


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Indyfan Forum ] [ FAQ ]