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Mexican Frye boots - quality?

mbc

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I gather that most of Frye's product line is now made in Mexico. I have read many comments about those products on this board which imply that their quality is greatly reduced as a result, however, I have read only a handful of actual depictions of how this reduced quality has manifested itself. Is it in the choice of leather, the durability of the welting, faulty hardware, etc? What have you seen about these boots that leads you to believe the quality has suffered? I am considering the purchase of some, but would like to know what the drawbacks are likely to be.
 

mbc

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Nobody knows?
 

Steve B.

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For my feet they don't fit worth a ****. The most painful shoe in either of my sizes I ever tried on. Looked great, but unwearable.
 

Stylin-1

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No experience with the Mexican ones but I have the Fyre Kasper which is made in Spain and I will say that the quality seems to be on par or slightly higher than either pair of my Brandos which are US made. The Kaspers are considerably more expensive than the Brandos however.
 

mbc

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Originally Posted by Steve B.
For my feet they don't fit worth a ****. The most painful shoe in either of my sizes I ever tried on. Looked great, but unwearable.
Are you referring to the Made in Mexico Fyres relative to US made, or just to Frye boots in general?
 

benjamin111

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I bought two Frye boots, the jackson engineer and the phillip- both made in mexico. First, the philip: came with substandard "antiqued" leather, which is just a gimmick to get people who don't know about leather to buy something worth half as much as they are buying it for. It HAD a major defect: the stitching on the welt was deeply off, recessed, in two areas. The sole was actually cut wrong there too. I sent it back, only to get a jackson engineer that was eaten up inside the footbed, and when I applied mink oil to soften up the leather, the threading at all the seams fell apart, nearly disintegrated before my eyes. It was falling apart everywhere! Sadly, this is not my fathers Frye boots... its cheap now. This is because the company got taken over around 2006 and then all of the manufacturing was outsourced. Say goodbye to a 150 year old tradition in boot making. Really, very sad.
 

glascoe

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All the above including their warrenty of two years, which frankly, with their price tag is one good season of wear...aaaaripoffchooo! Excuse me.
 

glascoe

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All the above including their warrenty of two years, which frankly, with their price tag is one good season of wear...aaaaripoffchooo! Excuse me.
 

glascoe

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All the above including their warrenty of two years, which frankly, with their price tag is one good season of wear...aaaaripoff! Excuse me.
 

Rincon

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Funny, I've had a great experience with my Frye engineers.

Bought em 6 years ago, wear them 2/3 times a week and they still look/feel great.
 
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I have a had 2 pairs of indys' in contrast I have had several pairs of frye boots mainly because of the price. I will never doubt anyone's experiences but speaking to my own I had to send back the first pair of indys (the fast lace holders were reversed on one shoe) so speaking from my own experience never sent back a pair of frye's had to send back one of the only 2 pair of aldens I ever owned.
Sometimes I think people like crap on brands that they dont feel are exclusive enough but most fry boots are $300 or close to it but when they sell so many pairs and they can reduce them to half price for a sale many people can own your boots too.
Now a $350 pair of mid lace boots are 178 and now many more people can own them taking away the exclusivity of the brand.

Sometimes I think its like that band you always loved in college and you feel like you were one of the first people to discover them and then when they blow you crap all over them ' yeah they used to be a real band then they sold out' ' their old stuff was real and now they are just commercial' i guess this is just how people are.
If alden reduced their prices and started selling at Dillards or Macys and sold 3 times the amount of product people would crap on them too.
 

SirGrotius

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Not a fan. First, the leather is junk. Second, the styling is so overdone, you should just wear UGGs and be through with it.

If you're a huge boot guy, and like to have lots of pairs, I'd say having a Frye Engineer boot in your collection can't be bad for a Saturday by yourself.
 

Edna1234

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@mbc. If the shoe was made in the state of León, Guanajuato (México) is prime 100% great quality leather. Why? Because if it's the real "León, Gto. deal" you'll have your shoes for some years (From 5 to7), if not, it's probably Chinese junk "USA wanna be" made in Mexico. The Chinese now days don't label our **** coming out of our ass because it comes from our own asshole, otherwise it would probably be coming out with a label of "Made in China". Chinese! You well know how to play the 'capitalism' game! And even marketing it the American way! I'm a Mexican, and It was a surprise to find out my Fryes were made in México when I was expecting American shoes! Doing my research found out the owners in México are Chinese. I've already returned the product, and got my money back. I refuse supporting Chinese products when they're making our Tequila, Nopal (Cactus), Guayabera shirts, and selling them for 2x cheaper out there!! That's so not fair for the artisans that originally make this products with ******* love, and NOT with the only intention to profit $$$ !
This whole odyssey has given me something really valuable to learn. Cheers.
 

Vicki Brady

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In my research of Frye boots, I have discovered that I would probably prefer a pair of Mexican made Fryes instead of US made ones. Here's why: unless they are true Vintage USA made Fryes, you will find that the newer ones have a stamp inside that say, "Made in USA of US and Imported Parts." This means that the leather is not necessarily (more likely not) cowhide leather. Could be lamb, or just about anything. Mexican boot makers are generally artisans and the quality is actually better. Here's an excellent link for all things Frye:

http://www.bootedmanblog.com/?p=971

This is a good blog site for all Frye questions.

So, Mexican made is not necessarily inferior and may be actually better made by skill and components. In the same vein, I used to be emphatic about USA produce in the grocery market too. But in recent years I actually prefer produce from other SA countries for the simple fact that many of them do not allow GMO seeds in their countries and are truly organic, whereas here, unless it is known for certain that the produce is non-GMO, it doesn't matter much that they're organic and don't use pesticides. Sadly, USA made these days doesn't have the same status as it once did. Truly sad.
 

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