COMPARISON (a board first??)

[4nik8]

Here's a comparison of my vest (that you've seen pics of for years), side-by-side with the original

What did they get right??

[chrismasonic]

Fantastic...What Brand Of Vest Do You Have? (If It Is Branded Of Course)

[Ninth Delegate]

Fantastic...What Brand Of Vest Do You Have? (If It Is Branded Of Course)

I usually refer to them as the Shah Meeran mark 3s

Its fairly close in shade of tan (allowing for the fade of the 38 year old vest)
The diamonds are slightly wider on the replicas piping, but not bad to say they were going on guess work and a few dvd screen shots.
The lettering on the rocker is the right font/shape. This is their 2nd attempt.
The replica vests being too wide has always been an issue with all the various manufacturers of these.
The mark 3s have been around from 2007, and in my opinion are still superior to the newer replicas. I detest the maroon "reunion" vest.

[chrismasonic]

Are They Still Available?

[Ninth Delegate]

Are They Still Available?

I'm not 100% sure on that. I see them on ebay but someone said they are using photos of it but you receive a different vest.
I occasionally get links from spam girls who are advertising them on the fans worldwide facebook page. It links to a site which is still using a photo of me wearing one.

[Ninth Delegate]

http://www.motoleatherwear.com/index.ph ... duct_id=68

[4nik8]

Forget the shade, the diamonds, the width, the TINY armholes...

...the most staggering thing about the real vest:

it weighed practically nothing!

[LIER ONE]

This is awesome. We talked about this at the FEST. Here is what I see in the pics:

1) ROCKER: Like you said it looks like they sewed each letter to a satin base. I have been saying for years that the base of the ROCKER is not fully embroidered. In the pics the letters almost look like FELT with a merrowed edge. They then took each letter and embroidered it to the satin base and then added a RED merrowed edge to the entire ROCKER. The ROCKER is also much smaller than what is made today.

2) WARBIRD: The same could be said for the WARBIRD (I know 9th has one of these so maybe he can chime in). It looks like 3 separate pieces (SKULL, 2 WINGS) all embroidered to a BLACK FELT base.

3) PIPING: You said that there was undoubtedly material under the piping. It looks to be almost a CHOCOLATE colored piece of leather. The LIGHT TAN has been all wrong for so many years (even tho a lot of us had said this in the past).

4) VEST COLOR: We can finally put to rest the MAROON colored vests. It was a TAN/ORANGE vest!!

The vest looks very narrow almost like a t-shirt. You said it was extremely light. I wish Tricender was still on the boards. With his manufacturing capabilities I think we can make a very good replica. I also know there is a want for screen accurate vests by the amount of people who wanted the BOBBI MANNIX vests that were never made (rumor is she didn't want the vest the WAR THIEF was making).

[Cochese]

I think what's most amazing is that 4nik8 can squeeze into that thing "with all those muscles", HA!

[Ninth Delegate]

The felt backing is stiff; almost textured cardboard type. Can't tell if its 3 separate pieces, but I wouldn't rule out that theory.
It's a pity the small replica patch set has the last 2 letters joined together. There's only a couple of mm difference in size to the real thing, but they look too small on these wide replica vests.

[4nik8]

4) VEST COLOR: We can finally put to rest the MAROON colored vests. It was a TAN/ORANGE vest!!

It looked less orange in person - this might be the result of sunlight diffusing through a Brooklyn window!

[4nik8]

I think what's most amazing is that 4nik8 can squeeze into that thing "with all those muscles", HA!

I REALLY thought i was gonna rip that thing!

[Cochese]

I think what's most amazing is that 4nik8 can squeeze into that thing "with all those muscles", HA!

I REALLY thought i was gonna rip that thing!

Why don't you show the good folks you wearing it? You rocked that thing!!

[4nik8]

Stretched to capacity (and afraid to breathe):


There's, what, a foot to go across the chest before i could even attempt to button it!
David Harris must have been insanely lean in the 70s!

[Ninth Delegate]

Forni: Now that you've seen the vest in person, what is your opinion on the re-dyed theory? Has it had a thin coating after manufacturing to make this appear a shade darker on film like Cindy Chan claimed?
There's definitely some sort of dye that's rubbed off the buttons.