“Full gator” boots, i.e., those whose vamps and shafts are both made of gator, are extremely expensive if you buy them new. It will set you back several thousand simoleons if they’re made by a good outfit. But I get mine on eBay for a tiny fraction of that, and they’re often new or almost so. Like cars, the minute you take a boot out of the store, its value depreciates enormously.
This is a great pair: full American alligator boots in black by Rodney Ammons of El Paso.
Impressive!
What’s the flexibility factor like? Is the leather hard to work with?
I don’t know about the leather so much, but the belly skin of living crocodilians is beautifully soft.
Of course they’re a bit nubbly on top.
Beautiful! If you ever go to Bangkok, you can have such boots tailor-made to your feet for a fraction of the price you paid, with a choice of crocodile, python, ostrich, etc., leather http://www.dimlights.com/2008/10/cowboy-boots-in-bangkok/ . At the same time, you can order and buy tailor-made 3-piece silk suits with a silk shirt and a silk tie for about $100 – both boots and suits are beautifully made and of great quality. 😀
All my Indian friends tell me about how they go to India and get custom made stuff for really cheap, too.
That too, but the cost of going to both countries – Thailand for the boots and India for silk 3-piece suits plus silk shirts and ties – would negate the financial advantages! 😉
Snazzy
Just asking, Jerry….. how many pairs of boots do you own?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Excellent use of the word simoleans. One of my favorites.
Those look flashy!
Do you have to care for gator skin differently? Is mink oil the preferred emollient to keep them supple?
Coming from the other side of the pond and just recently getting back into wearing western boots, I would be interested to know what terms you use when ebaying for these boots, I find that putting cowboy or western boots in gets too many replies to be helpful, also as a ballpark figure what price should I be looking at paying for a good pair?
I believe you can filter by sex, too. You may also be able to filter by new/used, and you can definitely filter by adding a – right in front of any term you want to exclude. For instance, if you don’t want to see any Dan Post boots, adding -Dan or -Post in the search terms will remove all of those.
How many pairs are there in the cupboard?!