*EDIT- Vintage Exotics! Sea Turtle Wingtip Gunboats + Foot Joy Lizard Golf Spectators

Originally Posted by ThinkDerm

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Ebay find I am sure.

Best $20 you've ever spent.

Haha. I bet thats the case.

They are so sweet too. No crease or wear in them and really lovely matching of leather.

Bet more than 1 turtle was sacrificed to make this and the shoe maker had to carefully match the scale patterns from various turtles to get it right.

Originally Posted by isshinryu101

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Vintage SEA TURTLE V-Cleat Wingtip Gunboats.

360 degree welt, double thick sole, and natural color. They are slightly greenish black and there is a "marble-like" textured look. Holy Crap!


Really looks more olive green brown than green black.

Originally Posted by Jangofett

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Really looks more olive green brown than green black.
Makes them look even better, IMO.

Originally Posted by cioni2k

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Wow. Where did you find these? Thrifting?

Originally Posted by TRA8324

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where did you find them? just some random thrift shop?

Originally Posted by ThinkDerm

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Ebay find I am sure. Best $20 you've ever spent.


Uh, not exactly...

Originally Posted by ThinkDerm

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Also, these are dried out. Moisturize.

Originally Posted by Chips

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Very cool! Are they brittle? I'd be affraid to wear them if they were, I'd hate to destroy such amazing beauties.
Good question. Actually, I made some contacts in order to find out how to best moisturize them. I was told to use Almond Oil. Since it is very light oil & easily penetrates, it was suggested that I would get the best results using it. I used 3 coats, and they are very flexible now. There is no real evidence of dryness now. I also inquired about the brown lines between the scales. At first I thought they were evidence of extreme dryness, and was afraid the skin would tear. I was told that sea turtle skin is really very tough, as compared to vintage croc & lizard. The sea turtle lives in the ocean and dives to much deeper depths than the croc or gator. Therefore, their skin is much tougher and water-proof. Also, in gator & croc, you will see more bits of skin between the actual scales. That is because, 1) again, those animals' skin is evolved to handle much less waater pressure than the croc. & 2) the gator & croc need the extra skin between protective scales for flexibility, whereas the turtle needs very little flexibility on belly skin. I was told that these shoes are "natural" and un-dyed. Most exotics (including the other sea turtle shoes I have seen) have been dyed, so the skin between the scales is the same color as the scales themselves. Problem is that there is a complexity in color (a marbling effect) that the scales have naturally that is lost thru dying. The brown skin between the scales is the normal color of the un-dyed skin after 50+ years. Interesting stuff, I think.

Originally Posted by isshinryu101

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Uh, not exactly...

Your elusiveness on this question leads me to believe these are not vintage, but newly commissioned. Probably somewhere really shady, like North Korea - but I'm not sure they have capable cobblers.

Originally Posted by garymyman

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Your elusiveness on this question leads me to believe these are not vintage, but newly commissioned.

+1

Please PM name of rogue dictatorship where you bought these so my secretary can book travel - me want some

Originally Posted by garymyman

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Your elusiveness on this question leads me to believe these are not vintage, but newly commissioned. Probably somewhere really shady, like North Korea - but I'm not sure they have capable cobblers.
All I can say for certain is that they are pre-1979 (more like 1950's according to sources), which would put their construction BEFORE the sea turtle was placed on the endangered species list. I just figured I'd have some fun and share them with the SF community, as I can almost guarantee that it will be a LOOOOONG time until another pair shows up here.

Originally Posted by garymyman

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Your elusiveness on this question leads me to believe these are not vintage, but newly commissioned. Probably somewhere really shady, like North Korea - but I'm not sure they have capable cobblers.

There's wear on the inside of the counters. Nice try.

I thought the North Korea reference was enough to indicate my sarcasm... Exotic footwear (cowboy boots) are a bad habit of mine, if anything I'm green with envy This is just my baseball game pair: http://i316.photobucket.com/albums/m...g?t=1302272368

Originally Posted by JayJay

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Makes them look even better, IMO.

Absolutely. Makes me want to wear all my croc shoes and start ebaying for all croc look alike turtle shoes.

Originally Posted by garymyman

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I thought the North Korea reference was enough to indicate my sarcasm...

Exotic footwear (cowboy boots) are a bad habit of mine, if anything I'm green with envy

My apologies, friend. I got a couple of PM's with a bit of an accusatory tone, and I want to make sure it is understood that I would NOT have bought these if I believed they were made in violation of the endangered species act (post 1979).

That + there's a new baby in my house (our 3rd), and I'm working on around 4 hours sleep a night.

Cheers to you as well!!!

Originally Posted by garymyman

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Your elusiveness on this question leads me to believe these are not vintage, but newly commissioned. Probably somewhere really shady, like North Korea - but I'm not sure they have capable cobblers.

His response in #35 indicates its not an ebay gem but probably an old pair of shoes from a shoemaker.

Damn sweet deal. I honestly don't mind if some unethical shoe maker is willing to kill a few turtles now to make me a pair of shoes like that - brand new.

It's still early in the morning. Nice boots. Is that Arlington?

Originally Posted by garymyman

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This is just my baseball game pair:

http://i316.photobucket.com/albums/m...g?t=1302272368

Love them, friend! My uncle LOVES cowboy boots, and owns around 20 pairs of lucchese's. ALL exotics, like yours. VERY tough looking. Since I can't rock the cowboy boot, I was inspired to find some shoes in a similar style...