The Great Flight Jacket Thread (wearing/buying Leather, NOMEX, WEP jackets/patches)

[DanMa1156]

Love TG's products. To me, though, it seems like a failure of capitalism. How is there so much demand for business and no ability to expand said business?

 

[Pags]

Love TG's products. To me, though, it seems like a failure of capitalism. How is there so much demand for business and no ability to expand said business?

because they're hand crafted products and there's not a lot of leather artisans around? There's also probably not a lot of excess income to support bringing on other people.

 

[DanMa1156]

because they're hand crafted products and there's not a lot of leather artisans around? There's also probably not a lot of excess income to support bringing on other people.

My point is, at least how I perceive it:

Lots of demand... little supply. Either a new business enters the arena or the business in the game expands production. I recognize it's a skill, but so is plumbing, HVAC, and electricity. People can learn.

 

[JBM]

You are assuming it is a profitable enough business to justify the startup costs. If margins are low, even with high demand, it may not be worth it expand or for a new player to enter the market.

 

[DanMa1156]

You are assuming it is a profitable enough business to justify the startup costs. If margins are low, even with high demand, it may not be worth it expand or for a new player to enter the market.

I recognize that, but again, if a business is seeing that his demand is 6+ months from order to delivery due to a backlog, it's probably a pretty good sign it's safe to expand, especially when you're the major player in the game.

 

[PhrogLoop]

I recognize that, but again, if a business is seeing that his demand is 6+ months from order to delivery due to a backlog, it's probably a pretty good sign it's safe to expand, especially when you're the major player in the game.

Not really. These patches are not a commodity as evidenced by our willingness to wait months for our ours. We could have easily gone to wings n things or other vendors for substitutes. Instead, we demonstrated the brand loyalty only evidenced by art collectors. Artists, by nature, aren’t really interested in building out production capacity to meet the demand of a few hundred patrons. They’re playing a different game altogether. The only thing I can’t understand is why TG didn’t charge us more. Oh yeah, he’s an artist...

 

[FLGUY]

Just throwing this out there, but TG is reversing the decision to stop, and is continuing his old style embossed patches. He made an announcement on his website recently.

 

[DanMa1156]

Not really. These patches are not a commodity as evidenced by our willingness to wait months for our ours. We could have easily gone to wings n things or other vendors for substitutes. Instead, we demonstrated the brand loyalty only evidenced by art collectors. Artists, by nature, aren’t really interested in building out production capacity to meet the demand of a few hundred patrons. They’re playing a different game altogether. The only thing I can’t understand is why TG didn’t charge us more. Oh yeah, he’s an artist...

Again, my point is that he could probably even increase sales more by expanding his own business due to the exact loyalty you describe. I don't know about you, but most of my friends did not wait the months on end to get their nametags from him due to his lengthy production timeline. That to me says: "dude, expand your business - everyone likes you better - but most aren't willing to wait on your business to catch up with their dollars." I don't mean to argue economics here with people, so I'll drop it, but the vast majority of his items aren't exactly rare collectors' items. Things don't have to be a commodity or fungible to be known by a businessman they are desired and expanded upon. You might be loyal to Playstation over XBox, but you don't see either one struggling to meet demand for stocking their games or consoles; the same could be said about most beers, whiskies, etc. Even the popular craft distilleries seem to rarely completely sell out and when they do, they have a good timeline of when you'll be able to get your favorite drink back in stock. TG is great, but he can only price so high above what you'd pay for Wings and Things - he is producing something that is neither completely fungible or exceedingly rare.

 

[scoolbubba]

Love TG's products. To me, though, it seems like a failure of capitalism. How is there so much demand for business and no ability to expand said business?

I like his stuff so much that I'm both willing to wait and I'm willing to pay more. Gypsy could charge a hundred bucks a patch and I'd still pay it.

I don't like the new pro-line. They look very cartoony.

 

[DanMa1156]

I like his stuff so much that I'm both willing to wait and I'm willing to pay more. Gypsy could charge a hundred bucks a patch and I'd still pay it.

I don't like the new pro-line. They look very cartoony.

To be clear, I too have TG's products and swear by them. I still stand by my economics argument though.

 

[Treetop Flyer]

To be clear, I too have TG's products and swear by them. I still stand by my economics argument though.

What exactly was your argument? It’s a niche market. What percentage of people know what patches are cool for navy/marine leather jackets? How swamped does TG need to be before someone else can enter the market?

Its a tiny market for a skilled service.

 

[Rugby_Guy]

What are the worth while modifications to make to the flight jacket? Tipsy patches finally came in, so going to get those thrown on and do the side entry pocket mod.

What else is good to get done while it’s at the tailor anyway?

Blood chit? Hawaiian print liner like I saw on an earlier picture in here somewhere?

 

[Waveoff]

I got my jacket from Osan with a nautical map liner, fleece lined side pockets, name on the map pocket (attached is not my name, but a sample from Chang at DarkHorse Leather). I had my tipsy gypsy patch sew on at a luggage repair shop because they were the only people I found in Jax that would actually open the jacket up and not sew through the liner. I've seen people put their squadron patches on the liner as well for a hidden history since we can't Top Gun it up anymore.



Also, my jacket came with the fun liner, so I don't know what the process is to get the brown one changed for a pattern if thats what youre asking.

 

[TAMR]

Anyone have a lead on a solid shop in the Kingsville/Corpus area to sew on a new TG patch?

 

[Waveoff]

The Canoe College's new superintendent has a pretty decked out jacket.