Two Questions: Disney & U.S. Wings

[mddonnellan]

Hey there,
new to the board and the first post I'm making. I came here largely because I'm in the market for a new Indy jacket to replace my 15+ years old one and have been frankly a bit blown away by the sheer amount of choices there are.
I've been checking out Wested along with U.S. Wings and had a question or two that maybe you guys could help me out on.

First: the jacket I'm replacing is an Indy jacket that I picked up in Disney World (the Market Place I think) many years ago. At least 15 years ago, perhaps even 20. The label/patch inside just reads 'Indiana Jones' with a graphic of a flying airplane in the background. Besides this is there any other info on this jacket? Like who actually makes it? I only ask out of curiosity at this point. It lasted me many years but now it's just a bit too snug and the sleeves has started to fray unfortunately.

Second: in looking at U.S. Wings I noticed that they have two offerings for their Texas Steerhide "Legend" jacket; one USA made and one imported. The USA made comes in at nearly $400 where the imported version is around half of that. Does anyone know why there is such a difference in pricing on these? I like the look of their Legend cut so I'm really closely eying one of these so any guidance anyone could give me would be really helpful.

thanks in advance, thanks for reading and thanks for making this board!
Mike

[kwad]

First off, WELCOME!

AFAIK, tge original Disney jackets were made by Cooper Sportswear, a partner of US Wings.
Wings ended up buying out Cooper and began selling the jackets under their name.
I don't think US Wings has ever made any jackets in house (they certainly don't now), so who knows who actually made them.

The new US Wings Legends are a great choice for an off the rack Indy jacket.
I have an import made out of vintage cowhide (which was later replaced by the "Texas Steerhide" when the supply of vintage cowhide dried up).

The US jackets are made by Schott NYC while the imports are made somewhere in Pakistan. This is the main reason for the cost difference. I'd consider both jackets as being of good quality and worth their respective asking prices.

The fit is different between the two. The US made jacket is more trim and runs a little smaller.
The US made jacket was meant to be the more accurate of the two, however, IMHO they are both as equally inaccurate (just in different areas). Looks wise, I prefer the imports due to the more accurate pockets and the overall cut/fit.

Neither jacket makes it to the top of the "S.A." heap, but, they are the closest to a Raiders jacket Wings has ever made.

[mddonnellan]

Wow, thanks for the quick reply.
So funny enough I sort of already owned a U.S. Wings jacket (in a very round around way) and didn't even know it.

Not to be a pest but any thought on Wested?
I'm liking the look of all their Raiders jacket, even the pre-distressed one. I have their X3 jacket and like the quality of it.