As Promised, A Review of the SportsmansGuide Indy Jacket

Posted by Laurie Jensen from proxy2-external.frmt1.sfba.home.com on October 29, 1999 at 16:55:31:

Well, my brother did end up buying the Sportsmans guide Jacket for his costume, after being outbid on several Indy Jacket replicas on ebay. The Sportsman actually ended up cheaper than some ten year old jackets, but that just tells you how bad things are on ebay now. Anyway, the jacket came yesterday, and I can't say that I'm terribly impressed with it. The leather isn't right-it's more like flat suede that's napped, and it's just not as nice looking as lambskin or cowhide. The color is pretty close to the movies, and the design is fairly accurate, except that the straps are shorter and backward, and there's an extra seam down the back. The fit of the jacket is a little oversized compared to the films, but that's because the lining is filled with polyfiber which seems to slightly puff everything out. One thing that bothered me was the cheapness of the hardware: the D-Rings are made of a hard plastic or resin, and the snaps on the storm flap are gold with a geometric design. The zipper is ok and is also gold colored, but I didn't think it was particularly high quality, either.

All in all, the jacket just isn't accurate enough for my tastes, and the quality is what you would expect for the price offered. The jacket would be acceptable with more accurate leather, but since that's not going to happen, I would recommend looking at the other jackets on the market. If you want an Indy Jacket I would suggest waiting and ordering a Wested, which is still the nicest looking of all the options, and a very good buy. If you want an extra Indy coat to run around in, the only replica worth the money is the Cooper, even though I still think it's a bit over priced.

Laurie

Follow Ups:

Re: As Promised, A Review of the SportsmansGuide Indy Jacket red four 18:43:21 10/29/99 (0)

Post a Followup:

Name:    
E-Mail:  
Subject: 
Comments:

: Well, my brother did end up buying the Sportsmans guide Jacket for his costume, after being outbid on several Indy Jacket replicas on ebay.  The Sportsman actually ended up cheaper than some ten year old jackets, but that just tells you how bad things are on ebay now.  Anyway, the jacket came yesterday, and I can't say that I'm terribly impressed with it.  The leather isn't right-it's more like flat suede that's napped, and it's just not as nice looking as lambskin or cowhide.  The color is pretty close to the movies, and the design is fairly accurate, except that the straps are shorter and backward, and there's an extra seam down the back.  The fit of the jacket is a little oversized compared to the films, but that's because the lining is filled with polyfiber which seems to slightly puff everything out.  One thing that bothered me was the cheapness of the hardware:  the D-Rings are made of a hard plastic or resin, and the snaps on the storm flap are gold with a geometric design.  The zipper is ok and is also gold colored, but I didn't think it was particularly high quality, either.

: All in all, the jacket just isn't accurate enough for my tastes, and the quality is what you would expect for the price offered.  The jacket would be acceptable with more accurate leather, but since that's not going to happen, I would recommend looking at the other jackets on the market.  If you want an Indy Jacket I would suggest waiting and ordering a Wested, which is still the nicest looking of all the options, and a very good buy.  If you want an extra Indy coat to run around in, the only replica worth the money is the Cooper, even though I still think it's a bit over priced.

: Laurie

Optional:

Link URL:   
Link Title: 
Image URL:

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