neutronbomb
10-27-2010, 11:11 PM
Post subject: Tony Nowak Raiders HERO Pattern Replica #000/888 (tutorial) - Asiana Jones
"The Tony Nowak Raiders HERO Pattern Replica #000/888 was the 1st jacket that Tony made from the actual HERO jacket that he had obtained from a source that Tony promised would not be disclosed. Tony is a man of his word and therefore, I apologize, but I cannot reveal that information to you.
#000/888 is an exact replica of the HERO jacket worn by Harrison Ford during filming that Tony had in hand and was the first jacket he made period. If you order a Raiders Jacket from Tony and NO changes, you will get one made to your size based upon #000/888. Price is $975.00 for the Shrunken Lamb and $750 for alternative leather choices.
As those choices become available, I will update you with pictures, pricing, etc. Also, the run of 888 was not mandated by Lucasfilm, Speilberg, etc. It was Tony's decision.
This post has been created to provide you some in-depth detail about #000/888 as well as some photos at the end of this post. I will do my best to provide you with as much accurate detail as I can in this post. I took about 5 pages on notes when discussing this with Tony last week and he was adamant that we take a lot of pictures as well to provide you with as much information as we can. Also, the Replica #000/888 is NOT made out of Shrunken Lamb. It is in fact made out of Matte/Lamb and is actually the same Matte/Lamb that Binkmeister took photos of at Queen Mary. Tony didn't think to mention it at the time because he really didn't think things would come to pass as they have.
First off, many of you have asked why is it that Tony didn't just post/share pictures of the actual HERO jacket that he had in hand? The reasoning is quite simple.... The source of the jacket personally requested Tony to NOT take any photos of the jacket nor to share its origins with the public. Again, Tony is a man of his word and he abided by the source's wishes. Likewise, with the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull jacket that Tony had the opportunity of re-creating from an actual Last Crusade jacket that was sent to him, he was also asked to not take any photos of the actual Last Crusade jacket to share with the public.
What we can show you however, are the pictures of the actual #000/888 jacket that Tony copied from the HERO. This jacket matches Harrison Ford's sizing specs to a 'T'. I will demonstrate that at the end of this post for you as well in pictures.
Another thing that I want to share is that Tony and I are not official "gearheads" like yourselves. We are still trying to understand your passion to details and the 'art of screen accuracy'. So please be patient with us as we try to learn and understand your terms and viewpoints so that we can better answer your questions. Please be patient with us as we continue to learn and become a part of this community. We have a lot that we want to share with you as well in relation to all things Indy!!! And although we are not gearheads yet... we get it. What I mean by that is we are also starting to get the INDY bug and want to share our knowledge with you as well...
Tony LOVES his Raider's Shrunken Lamb jacket. Everytime I meet up with him, he's always got the darn thing on and is telling me about how its character is increasing everytime he wears it and breaks it in. Things such as how the jacket tends to slip off of your shoulders and how it drapes in the back when it does so. Also how the zipper and front panel curve outwards revealing the lining on the inside of the jacket increasing it's character. Honestly, I love my Indy Nowak jackets too, but I don't wear the thing everyday. I think he's just as giddy as some of you are with the same goofy smile that kids get on Xmas morning. He basically has also been stunk in to the universe of Indiana Jones!
Just as you are fans, so are we! We even have a couple of Steve Delk's Adventurebilt Fedora's each, although Bernie still has Tony's fedoras because he is personally going to bash them for him. These were being sent to Tony as a gift from Bernie, although Tony refuses to wear a Fedora because he thinks it doesn't suit him. When I first started communicating with Steve Delk, it was very apparent to me that he has a passion for getting the details correct, because he is a true Indy fan at heart. He strives to get all the details correct and stands behind his product 110%. I bring this up because I feel that Tony is also becoming an Indy fan, and will continue to bring that similar passion to his jackets for us as well.
The most important thing for Tony when creating his initial offerings after his #000/888 jacket were to come as close to the leather type, texture, feel, fit, weight, and color of the HERO that he handled. In his profession, those are the main elements of the appearance of a jacket. He didn't realize that COW members would be so detail oriented in their in initial examination of the Indy I jacket. He was basically trying to recreate the jacket and make it a better jacket in his initial creations purely because he wanted it to be more durable/functional while retaining the essense. However, he now realizes what COW members really want and wants to assure you that he can provide you what you want from #000/888.
Tony is also very adamant that the shrunken leather that he sourced was the closest thing to the HERO he had in hand. He actually went so far as to say that if no one believes him, thats fine with him. He doesn't care if he even sells another jacket.
Another interesting thing that I wanted to note was that when Bernie has intially provided Tony the Opportunity to create the jackets for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, he actually had NEVER seen any of the Indiana Jones films. Bernie gave Tony homework and asked him to "watch all three movies while focusing solely on the Jacket, NOT on Harrison's Lips." (-As quoted from Tony)
BTW, please don't take Tony's remarks to seriously. He uses a lot of colorful metaphors, but he's totally respectful and is not hateful in any way. He's just got a different sense of humor. After all, he's Polish! (~Tony told me to post that...)
Tony basically knew immediately in the first 3 seconds of seeing the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie, that the texture and type of leather of the jacket was different than the Last Crusade offering he was asked to emulate. That's because he's worked with leather all his life. That is why he was so adamant about getting the right leather for his Indy I jackets. This is THE JACKET. Tony Nowak believes it, and Terry Leonard believes it.
In actuality, he assumed that he was the last one to know about the Shrunken Lambskin in Raiders. He assumed that what he was seeing on screen was exactly what all of us on COW were seeing. He assumed that we all knew that the Raiders jacket was textured lambskin. He was blown away when he found out that the experts on this board had been convinced otherwise and didn't realize initially that the leather was textured. Like I said, he has a strong passion for what he does and he saw immediately on the screen that the jacket was textured. Why anyone would dispute this is a mystery to us...
Regardless, Nowak is the most approachable person and told me to tell you to never stop speculating and he admires your dedication and attention to detail in this Indy Gear hobby. Even though he gets busy, he will always try to make the time to help you out in any way that he can, and he never wants to be disrespectful. I will also pledge to do my best in order to help answer your questions on the web since I am a little more adept on the web front. But please feel free to always contact Tony via phone to hear it from the horses mouth! He welcomes it. His contact information can be found on his website: http://www.tonynowak.com
Hopefully between the two of us, we can answer all of your questions in a timely manner.
Another topic that I'd like to discuss is the speculation around the 2nd Raider's jacket that Tony had in his possesion, the Leather Concessionaires [sp?] jacket. This jacket was NOT the basis for the #000/888 jacket that Tony made. In fact, this jacket was sent to Tony by a "Collector of Rare Antiquities" by the name of Robert Sparks [sp?].
Sparks contacted Tony from Hong Kong and asked Tony to make a copy of what he believed to be closest jacket to a Raiders screen used jacket. This was a jacket that actually had a tag that said, "Leather Concessionaires" on it. This jacket had a brass zipper and hardware (buckle/snaps).
Sparks asked Tony to make him a copy of the jacket that he sent. At the time that Tony received Spark's jacket, he notified Sparks that he was actually working on his own Raider's jacket and that it was made from an actual HERO jacket that he had obtained from a secret source. Tony told him that his HERO jacket actually had a silver colored zipper and hardware (buckle/snaps). However Sparks at the time believed that his jacket was a closer match to the actual screen used jacket...
Tony ended up making Sparks a copy of his original Leather Concessionaires jacket as he had requested, he also didn't want to hurt Sparks feelings in any way and to honor what he wanted done. Tony then sent back both the original Leather Concessionaires jacket and the copy of it back to Sparks.
I believe that Sparks is actually an active member of this forum, or actively reads the posts on COW because Tony said that after Sparks saw some of the posts of initial Raiders jackets purchased by members of this forum, Sparks then contacted Tony again and asked him to make him another Raiders jacket in the shrunken lamb. I believe that Sparks was also convinced that Tony had the real deal HERO jacket in hand as well. (~Robert Sparks, if you are actually reading this, please let me know if I have in any way misinterpreted what Tony told me during our conversations and I will immediately edit my posts. I tried to take very detailed notes from my conversations with Tony and have about 5 pages of notes and writer's cramp. )
Tony wanted me to also state this: "DEAR INDY FANS, PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT I DID NOT LOOK FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE THE INDY IV JACKET. I WAS ASKED TO DO IT. IT CAME TO ME. JUST LIKE THE INDY I JACKET, I WAS ASKED BY ROBERT SPARKS TO MAKE. JUST LIKE THE INDY IV JACKET, I WAS ASKED BY BERNIE POLLACK TO MAKE. AND NOW I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE WITH YOU INDY'S JACKET FROM THE MOVIE THAT I MADE FROM THE JACKET"
What Tony is basically saying is that he was given the opportunity to make these jackets. He feels blessed that he is doing what he is doing and for the opportunities presented to him. "ONLY IN AMERICA!"
Finally, before I start posting up the actual pictures of the #000/888 jacket, I wanted to leave you with an interesting revelation that I had with Tony at the shop as we were trying to figure out what else we could share with you. I was trying to brainstorm ideas of what else will help get you the facts that you seek... Then Tony had a great idea!
We all know that Harrison Ford was sized up for a Kingdom of the Crystal Skull jacket that was very similar if not exactly the same as his measurements taken from the Last Crusade Jacket that Bernie had sent to Tony. Harrison Ford even tried on the old jacket from the archives and mentioned that it 'fit like a glove' in regards to his entire costume. I also remember reading a post from Patterson about Harrison still having a couple of his old movie jackets. Theoretically, Harrison's HERO jacket from Raiders of the Lost Ark should be very similar to his Last Crusade and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull basic measurements.
So Tony and I took pictures of the exact replica he made from the HERO jacket he had on hand, which Harrison Ford wore during filming on Raiders of the Lost Ark, and then we took comparison photos with Harrison's Crystal Skull jacket of any of the areas that we thought might be relevant for you to view and analyze.
Essentially, we lined up the sleeves, shoulders, the waist, the collars, the torso under the arms to the waist and snapped detailed photos for you to come to your own conclusions.
What we found was that the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull jacket that was made from Harrison's measurements that Tony made for the film seemed to be made size-wise for the same 'person' as the HERO Raiders of the Lost Ark Jacket that Tony had in hand. There was no doubt in comparing both jackets that they were actually made at different points in time for the same 'person', in this case, Harrison Ford. I found that very enlightening and hope that you do as well.
I also quickly snapped some pictures of emails that Bernie had sent to Tony as well.
I also decided that it would be a good idea to get some quick measurements of the actual #000/888 jacket in terms of measurements so that I could post them up for you. Mind you, I am NOT a seamstress/tailor, and I just took some quick measurements with Tony's help so they may be slightly off as I just eyeballed them, but I really wanted to get home because it was getting late so I kinda rushed it. I figured that you folks may find them useful:
#000/888 Measurements that I took:
Front Flap w/ Collar Stand vertically from bottom to top: 23"
Shoulder from sleeve seam to collar seam: ~7"
Sleeves from cuff to sleeve seam: between 25 1/2" to 25 3/4"
Back vertical length from Collar Stand to Lower back panel: 23"
Chest width: 22 1/2"
Waist width: 21 1/2"
Pockets: 8" x 6.5" (Crystal Skull Pocket for comparison: 7.5" x 6")
Final parting words from Tony Nowak: "STOP LOOKIN AT HARRISON FORD AND HIS LIPS, FOCUS ON HIS JACKET!!!"
-Tony and Michael..."
"The Tony Nowak Raiders HERO Pattern Replica #000/888 was the 1st jacket that Tony made from the actual HERO jacket that he had obtained from a source that Tony promised would not be disclosed. Tony is a man of his word and therefore, I apologize, but I cannot reveal that information to you.
#000/888 is an exact replica of the HERO jacket worn by Harrison Ford during filming that Tony had in hand and was the first jacket he made period. If you order a Raiders Jacket from Tony and NO changes, you will get one made to your size based upon #000/888. Price is $975.00 for the Shrunken Lamb and $750 for alternative leather choices.
As those choices become available, I will update you with pictures, pricing, etc. Also, the run of 888 was not mandated by Lucasfilm, Speilberg, etc. It was Tony's decision.
This post has been created to provide you some in-depth detail about #000/888 as well as some photos at the end of this post. I will do my best to provide you with as much accurate detail as I can in this post. I took about 5 pages on notes when discussing this with Tony last week and he was adamant that we take a lot of pictures as well to provide you with as much information as we can. Also, the Replica #000/888 is NOT made out of Shrunken Lamb. It is in fact made out of Matte/Lamb and is actually the same Matte/Lamb that Binkmeister took photos of at Queen Mary. Tony didn't think to mention it at the time because he really didn't think things would come to pass as they have.
First off, many of you have asked why is it that Tony didn't just post/share pictures of the actual HERO jacket that he had in hand? The reasoning is quite simple.... The source of the jacket personally requested Tony to NOT take any photos of the jacket nor to share its origins with the public. Again, Tony is a man of his word and he abided by the source's wishes. Likewise, with the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull jacket that Tony had the opportunity of re-creating from an actual Last Crusade jacket that was sent to him, he was also asked to not take any photos of the actual Last Crusade jacket to share with the public.
What we can show you however, are the pictures of the actual #000/888 jacket that Tony copied from the HERO. This jacket matches Harrison Ford's sizing specs to a 'T'. I will demonstrate that at the end of this post for you as well in pictures.
Another thing that I want to share is that Tony and I are not official "gearheads" like yourselves. We are still trying to understand your passion to details and the 'art of screen accuracy'. So please be patient with us as we try to learn and understand your terms and viewpoints so that we can better answer your questions. Please be patient with us as we continue to learn and become a part of this community. We have a lot that we want to share with you as well in relation to all things Indy!!! And although we are not gearheads yet... we get it. What I mean by that is we are also starting to get the INDY bug and want to share our knowledge with you as well...
Tony LOVES his Raider's Shrunken Lamb jacket. Everytime I meet up with him, he's always got the darn thing on and is telling me about how its character is increasing everytime he wears it and breaks it in. Things such as how the jacket tends to slip off of your shoulders and how it drapes in the back when it does so. Also how the zipper and front panel curve outwards revealing the lining on the inside of the jacket increasing it's character. Honestly, I love my Indy Nowak jackets too, but I don't wear the thing everyday. I think he's just as giddy as some of you are with the same goofy smile that kids get on Xmas morning. He basically has also been stunk in to the universe of Indiana Jones!
Just as you are fans, so are we! We even have a couple of Steve Delk's Adventurebilt Fedora's each, although Bernie still has Tony's fedoras because he is personally going to bash them for him. These were being sent to Tony as a gift from Bernie, although Tony refuses to wear a Fedora because he thinks it doesn't suit him. When I first started communicating with Steve Delk, it was very apparent to me that he has a passion for getting the details correct, because he is a true Indy fan at heart. He strives to get all the details correct and stands behind his product 110%. I bring this up because I feel that Tony is also becoming an Indy fan, and will continue to bring that similar passion to his jackets for us as well.
The most important thing for Tony when creating his initial offerings after his #000/888 jacket were to come as close to the leather type, texture, feel, fit, weight, and color of the HERO that he handled. In his profession, those are the main elements of the appearance of a jacket. He didn't realize that COW members would be so detail oriented in their in initial examination of the Indy I jacket. He was basically trying to recreate the jacket and make it a better jacket in his initial creations purely because he wanted it to be more durable/functional while retaining the essense. However, he now realizes what COW members really want and wants to assure you that he can provide you what you want from #000/888.
Tony is also very adamant that the shrunken leather that he sourced was the closest thing to the HERO he had in hand. He actually went so far as to say that if no one believes him, thats fine with him. He doesn't care if he even sells another jacket.
Another interesting thing that I wanted to note was that when Bernie has intially provided Tony the Opportunity to create the jackets for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, he actually had NEVER seen any of the Indiana Jones films. Bernie gave Tony homework and asked him to "watch all three movies while focusing solely on the Jacket, NOT on Harrison's Lips." (-As quoted from Tony)
BTW, please don't take Tony's remarks to seriously. He uses a lot of colorful metaphors, but he's totally respectful and is not hateful in any way. He's just got a different sense of humor. After all, he's Polish! (~Tony told me to post that...)
Tony basically knew immediately in the first 3 seconds of seeing the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie, that the texture and type of leather of the jacket was different than the Last Crusade offering he was asked to emulate. That's because he's worked with leather all his life. That is why he was so adamant about getting the right leather for his Indy I jackets. This is THE JACKET. Tony Nowak believes it, and Terry Leonard believes it.
In actuality, he assumed that he was the last one to know about the Shrunken Lambskin in Raiders. He assumed that what he was seeing on screen was exactly what all of us on COW were seeing. He assumed that we all knew that the Raiders jacket was textured lambskin. He was blown away when he found out that the experts on this board had been convinced otherwise and didn't realize initially that the leather was textured. Like I said, he has a strong passion for what he does and he saw immediately on the screen that the jacket was textured. Why anyone would dispute this is a mystery to us...
Regardless, Nowak is the most approachable person and told me to tell you to never stop speculating and he admires your dedication and attention to detail in this Indy Gear hobby. Even though he gets busy, he will always try to make the time to help you out in any way that he can, and he never wants to be disrespectful. I will also pledge to do my best in order to help answer your questions on the web since I am a little more adept on the web front. But please feel free to always contact Tony via phone to hear it from the horses mouth! He welcomes it. His contact information can be found on his website: http://www.tonynowak.com
Hopefully between the two of us, we can answer all of your questions in a timely manner.
Another topic that I'd like to discuss is the speculation around the 2nd Raider's jacket that Tony had in his possesion, the Leather Concessionaires [sp?] jacket. This jacket was NOT the basis for the #000/888 jacket that Tony made. In fact, this jacket was sent to Tony by a "Collector of Rare Antiquities" by the name of Robert Sparks [sp?].
Sparks contacted Tony from Hong Kong and asked Tony to make a copy of what he believed to be closest jacket to a Raiders screen used jacket. This was a jacket that actually had a tag that said, "Leather Concessionaires" on it. This jacket had a brass zipper and hardware (buckle/snaps).
Sparks asked Tony to make him a copy of the jacket that he sent. At the time that Tony received Spark's jacket, he notified Sparks that he was actually working on his own Raider's jacket and that it was made from an actual HERO jacket that he had obtained from a secret source. Tony told him that his HERO jacket actually had a silver colored zipper and hardware (buckle/snaps). However Sparks at the time believed that his jacket was a closer match to the actual screen used jacket...
Tony ended up making Sparks a copy of his original Leather Concessionaires jacket as he had requested, he also didn't want to hurt Sparks feelings in any way and to honor what he wanted done. Tony then sent back both the original Leather Concessionaires jacket and the copy of it back to Sparks.
I believe that Sparks is actually an active member of this forum, or actively reads the posts on COW because Tony said that after Sparks saw some of the posts of initial Raiders jackets purchased by members of this forum, Sparks then contacted Tony again and asked him to make him another Raiders jacket in the shrunken lamb. I believe that Sparks was also convinced that Tony had the real deal HERO jacket in hand as well. (~Robert Sparks, if you are actually reading this, please let me know if I have in any way misinterpreted what Tony told me during our conversations and I will immediately edit my posts. I tried to take very detailed notes from my conversations with Tony and have about 5 pages of notes and writer's cramp. )
Tony wanted me to also state this: "DEAR INDY FANS, PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT I DID NOT LOOK FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE THE INDY IV JACKET. I WAS ASKED TO DO IT. IT CAME TO ME. JUST LIKE THE INDY I JACKET, I WAS ASKED BY ROBERT SPARKS TO MAKE. JUST LIKE THE INDY IV JACKET, I WAS ASKED BY BERNIE POLLACK TO MAKE. AND NOW I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE WITH YOU INDY'S JACKET FROM THE MOVIE THAT I MADE FROM THE JACKET"
What Tony is basically saying is that he was given the opportunity to make these jackets. He feels blessed that he is doing what he is doing and for the opportunities presented to him. "ONLY IN AMERICA!"
Finally, before I start posting up the actual pictures of the #000/888 jacket, I wanted to leave you with an interesting revelation that I had with Tony at the shop as we were trying to figure out what else we could share with you. I was trying to brainstorm ideas of what else will help get you the facts that you seek... Then Tony had a great idea!
We all know that Harrison Ford was sized up for a Kingdom of the Crystal Skull jacket that was very similar if not exactly the same as his measurements taken from the Last Crusade Jacket that Bernie had sent to Tony. Harrison Ford even tried on the old jacket from the archives and mentioned that it 'fit like a glove' in regards to his entire costume. I also remember reading a post from Patterson about Harrison still having a couple of his old movie jackets. Theoretically, Harrison's HERO jacket from Raiders of the Lost Ark should be very similar to his Last Crusade and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull basic measurements.
So Tony and I took pictures of the exact replica he made from the HERO jacket he had on hand, which Harrison Ford wore during filming on Raiders of the Lost Ark, and then we took comparison photos with Harrison's Crystal Skull jacket of any of the areas that we thought might be relevant for you to view and analyze.
Essentially, we lined up the sleeves, shoulders, the waist, the collars, the torso under the arms to the waist and snapped detailed photos for you to come to your own conclusions.
What we found was that the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull jacket that was made from Harrison's measurements that Tony made for the film seemed to be made size-wise for the same 'person' as the HERO Raiders of the Lost Ark Jacket that Tony had in hand. There was no doubt in comparing both jackets that they were actually made at different points in time for the same 'person', in this case, Harrison Ford. I found that very enlightening and hope that you do as well.
I also quickly snapped some pictures of emails that Bernie had sent to Tony as well.
I also decided that it would be a good idea to get some quick measurements of the actual #000/888 jacket in terms of measurements so that I could post them up for you. Mind you, I am NOT a seamstress/tailor, and I just took some quick measurements with Tony's help so they may be slightly off as I just eyeballed them, but I really wanted to get home because it was getting late so I kinda rushed it. I figured that you folks may find them useful:
#000/888 Measurements that I took:
Front Flap w/ Collar Stand vertically from bottom to top: 23"
Shoulder from sleeve seam to collar seam: ~7"
Sleeves from cuff to sleeve seam: between 25 1/2" to 25 3/4"
Back vertical length from Collar Stand to Lower back panel: 23"
Chest width: 22 1/2"
Waist width: 21 1/2"
Pockets: 8" x 6.5" (Crystal Skull Pocket for comparison: 7.5" x 6")
Final parting words from Tony Nowak: "STOP LOOKIN AT HARRISON FORD AND HIS LIPS, FOCUS ON HIS JACKET!!!"
-Tony and Michael..."