Karol offered up a pair of original Rossiter’s boots and, deciding that this was probably my last chance to own an original pair, I talked myself into buying them.
They were in pretty rough shape and needed new soles and a repair to the rear loop on the left boot.
(Above pics courtesy of Karol.)
I looked online for a restoration place but wasn't comfortable with sending them away, so I took them to my local shoe repair guys (who had dyed and refinished a holster and altered my AbbyShot jacket for me) and asked to have them restored. The shop replaced the soles, repaired the torn loop and dyed and reconditioned them, plus they stretched the uppers a little so I can fit them over my massive calves. I probably could have had a replica pair made for less than what I’ve put into them, but since these boots are super rare, I figured it would be worth the investment. (And it makes me feel good to save a small part of Mad Max history for posterity.) Several weeks later, when I picked up the boots, the shop owner showed me a piece of one of the original heels. It was a shriveled wreck. I said, “Well, yeah. They’re 30 years old.”
Now that I’ve compared the restoration with the original, I realize (much too late) that I should have been more specific about the restoration and provided pictures. They may have repaired them using modern techniques, but they didn’t stitch the soles per the original, which IMO is one of the most interesting details. On the one hand, I don’t see why I would have needed to specify that I wanted the soles done a certain way; it seems intuitive that if a customer brings something in to be restored, you’d want to get them as close to how they were brought in as possible. On the other hand, in terms of usability and/or "collector value," does it really matter? Having the boots resoled (I believe they'd already been re-heeled) has already altered them; they’re no longer “original.” And no one is going to look at the soles anyway, right? So is it a legitimate gripe, or am I just being particular?
Having said all that, I just removed some of the straps from the boots so I could take the excess dye off the buckles, and found that except for the strap they had to remove to repair the loop, they didn’t remove any of the straps and instead dyed over and around them. For the price I paid, that’s completely unacceptable and they’re going back to be finished properly. And I’ll ask about the soles, too.
Once that’s all done, all I’ll need is a Bonds raglan T-shirt and I’ll have the closest replica uniform possible, only 29 years after I started coveting one. Oh, wait—does anyone know what brand of socks and underwear they used in the movie?
I'll post pics with the pants later. Maybe even the whole uniform eventually...
