Any experience of replicaters.com?

[Hoover]

In my opinion nearly all of their pics are stolen from other books.
Most of the British kit pictures are stolen from Jean Bouchery´s "The British Soldier".

The items I have seen were okay, but I won´t order there, too.

[Hessler64]

While I have never purchased anything from them I did have a weird experience with them......I emailed him three times for a fabric swatch of Doe Skin Wool (which they claim they have on their website). I wound up getting a package from Sanjay two months later, and it had a piece of gaberdine material in it, so if he can't tell the difference between the materials or makes a mistake like that I don't want to deal with him.....I have also had friends who did deal with him return they uniforms they made like three times before he got it right to their standards.

Hessler

[moses]

well, i mentioned this site on another reenactor group, and got a few more comments, one from ed walton of LB. comments have been quite polarized, positive and negative. one guy said he sent detailed specifications of a rare (luftwaffe formal dress) item to to the guy(s) replicaters.com and got a well-made item back.

got a very unequivocal answer, though, from ed walton. not only is the replicaters site lying about having anything at all to do with Lost Battalions, but LB did investigate them in the past as a possible manufacturing source. the quality of work from them in this case was reported to be piss poor.

so, it sounds like if you need an unusual item that no one else makes, and you're willing to take a chance, then replicaters might be your source. if you need a feldbluse or something, don't go near them.

[Dieter]

I got a Brown Leather Luftwaffe "private purchase" fighter pilot jacket from replicators through a U.S. vendor. It took 3 months to receive it, and I was disappointed to discover that the jacket is made from Lamb skin, not cow hide leather, because of the religous beliefs in that part of the world.
The jacket is too shiney, the colour is more "tan" than brown, and I have to admit that it makes me look more like a New York City Cab driver (minus the fez) than a fantasy-prone Stuka Ace.
Anybody interested in buying it from me? U.S. size 42 Regular.

[Wilibald]

Out of curiosity, I "tested" the man... I inquired about the possibility of buying an M44 uniform as advertised (with no picture) on his website... "199.USD custom tailoring and delivered to your door". I asked a piture of his product too...

First of all, I received a very polite email today (included below) along with a small (5ko) image of an M44 (attached) taken from a website or a book... but surely not from one of "his own" production... How could he possibly think that it is okay to sell ANYTHING without sending detailed pix of the actual item???

Plus, the price he asked was quite different from what is actually advertised on his website, jumping from 199$ to 229$ USD... All in all, I have my doubt about his ability to produce the products he advertises... The chinese M44s are far from perfection, but at least, they are for real... So, no "Indian" M44 for me... sorry Sanjay, you were given a chance.

Wilibald



--------------------------------------------------------
Hari Om and salutations:

Thank you for your e-mail.

Picture of tunic attached.

Tunic is US$ 137 and trousers are US$ 92 delivered to Canada. Delivery will be in 36 days by DHL express.

We need more detailed measures. Please see size charts at the bottom of the page:

http://www.replicaters.com/sizechart.html

You can send measures and delivery address by e-mail.

Paypal ID for payment is the same as this ID, which is:

[email protected]

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

Thank you. Have a great day. God bless.

Best regards, Sanjay.

[Drew Maynard]

that's an At the Front photo isn't it?

[Gesetz]

Indeed, when I asked for detail pics of his KM coat, a while back he sent me pictures of the item posted, the same pictures blown up, with horrible resoluton so everything was pixelated, I chose then not to even think of it twice.

[Matt Gibbs]

If you look at comments on a popular UK reenacting forum website you will see there is a long running thread about replicators. Sanjay himself is a member and posted comments about peoples critisism. He regularly states he is only as good as the samples and measurements he gets.
He is supposedlygetting better all the time and although there are always a percentage of people who will either:
1] always be 101% fussy,
2] always want 101% accuracy AND only want to pay £5.25 for a Dennison,
3] moan and groan because they like moaning and groaning
4] probably lots of others I won't mention in case they sound like me, or you.
I have heard he has made some great one off items for people of rare stuff and they were well happy, and also that he has publicly on forums settled disputes, refunded money AND given replacements I think he is a pretty fair chap.
His Dennison is not 100% but I believe he is working on it. You could go out and pay £250 plus for one that you only wear now and again and might get filthy/ripped/damaged or you could buy one thats not too bad for about £50 and cover it up with all your gear, get muddy and not worry too much.
I guess it depends on your unit and how "classy" it is/wants to be, and how much you can afford and also what you want it for. Many people say you need to be 100% accurate to do respect to the Veterans, but out of interest has anyone asked THEM??
Regards
Matt Gibbs

[Gesetz]

So he seems like a fair guy, and pretty loyal to his customers as best he can, and it is said on the site about some of his items that he makes them on command therefor can't have additional pictures on hand, but this is no excuse for using other's pictures, that's basically fraud. Maybve if I had money u the wazzoo to take a chance I'd give him a shot, but if I want something and I'm investing a fair amount of money in it, not to mention S&H I want something good.
Earlier this year my cadet corps ordered 20 Guards forage caps for my unit, first time they were ever madein Pakistan, They were 10 weeks alte on delivery, then were also stopped at customs (can't blame the Pakistanis for that though!) but the quality of the products were horrible we had to invest a few more hundred dollars to re-alter the peaks to the 'proper' Guards manner of wearing them straight down over the nose, anyways long story short, I'm avoiding any product from Pakistan, India and the likes.

[Matt Gibbs]

Yes indeed, and I agree on the photo side of things, I don't have a clue why the heck that is? Maybe no digital camera available? Don't really know.
If you want 100% accurate and good kit of course, we all know you have to pay for it. I guess thats why original stuff is getting more expensive? Mind you even then there are plenty of fakes.
Kind regards
Matt Gibbs

[Wilhelm Stulenger]

If anyone has actually purchased and kept something from him, can you please post photos of the items versus "his" photos on his website?

Also, how are his German Officer Boots? Are those photos his or someone else's?

All the best,
Wilhelm

[pzrwest]

On this page of his he claims to have consulted and supplied our unit with KM items but according to our unit commander he has never even talked to the guy. The white and blue midi's are from epic militari's website.
http://www.replicaters.com/ww2germannavy.html

[Angus1235]

Does anyone know how good their boots are?
They sell a pair of knee-high reichswehr style (apparently SS) boots, but the photo is assumedly either original or a Lost Battalions pair of boots. I specifically want a pair of knee-height boots and can't find any (with hobnails and heelirons) reproduced anywhere else.