Thursday, January 24, 2008

 

"Battle" Jacket

Over on the very excellent Lady, That's My Skull, "Sleestak" has posted a collection of fashion ads from old comics. Included in the mix is this little gem.



When I was eight, I wanted one of these with a passion that burned brighter than the sun. But in the thirty years since, I don't think I've ever seen one in person. Did they actually exist?

What's interesting to me now, looking back, is that this ad doesn't actually say "Battlestar Galactica" anywhere on it. Was this an frakkin' unlicensed knockoff?

Comments:
Wow, sudden flashback time! I remember this ad, as well as the accompanying battle-jacket lust. I've never seen one in the real world either, and I imagine that if I did, I'd probably try to strip it off the guy wearing it and run for the hills with my new precious... er, sorry.

My guess is that it was indeed a knock-off. Still wouldn't mind having one, though.
 
It does indeed look like a knockoff to me.
 
If it is a knockoff, which I suspect is the case, it's a pretty damned brazen one, isn't it?
 
Extremely brazen... the background art of the vipers looks like it was "borrowed" from Ralph McQuarrie's pre-production art, and the models all vaguely look like actual cast members. (The woman is a dead ringer for Maren Jenson, for example, and the little blond girl looks like one of the kids from the episode "Experiment in Terra." Can you tell I'm a fan?) I wonder if this company ever got sued?

Love the slogan: "From the disco to the outer limits of space!" Yeah, that was the late 70s in a nutshell, wasn't it?
 
I've looked online for more info about it, but all I've found is another scanned add, this one featuring the "Warrior's Battle Pack" as well. The pack, though, appears to be a photo instead of just a drawing, so at least *one* of them existed.

And speaking of BSG ads from the seventies, does anyone remember this "21 piece kit" that was advertised on the back of cereal boxes? I saved up all my proofs-of-purchase and waited impatiently for 6 to 8 weeks for my flat-pack of little cardboard cut-outs to arrive, and cherished them until they crumbled to dust...
 
I'm so disappointed that there's no more info out there about this jacket. I, too, would have sold my brother to have one and begged my folks to get one for me. I was wondering today if there's a photo online anywhere of someone who actually bought one, to see what it was really like, but yours is still the only post out there about this jacket, it seems. Was it all a scam? Was there no one out there who convinced his (and, yes, it definitely would have been a "his" never a "her") parents to shell out the bucks for one? Please, internet, can't you help me?
 
Neil, if you ever find a photo of the thing, let me know!
 
Holy frak! I found one! Check it out:

http://www.ketzer.com/movie_props_replicas/BSG_jacket.html
 
Well, look at that!
 
And now you can OWN one!

http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=2866986
 
Okay, *that* is tempting...
 
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