 G'day guys, welcome to my channel Boot Lossophy. My name is Tech. I'm on Wajik Country in Western Australia and I acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land. I'm not reviewing a specific boot today. I'm going to take a look at Thursday Boot Company as represented by four of their boots that I own and how Thursday for many people represents a gateway drug into quality, good year-well to boots. I haven't been a boot collector for very long. For those of you who have seen my other videos, you know that while I've owned boots before as part of my everyday rotation of footwear, I really only began to collect quality boots in early 2020 probably because I was cooped up in lockdowns and let my fingers do the walking on the internet. You have to be old enough to remember that Yellow Pages ad. Anyway, my interest in American heritage, mainly good year-well to quality, and I use that word intentionally, quality boots was first met by the Thursday captain. This particular model in brown Thursday chrome leather looked to me like an iconic American service boot. Six inches, cap toe, brown leather. I could imagine World War II soldiers or 50s construction workers wearing these. As an entry-level boot, the price and the modernized design was ideal to try out if I really did like these heritage style boots. I'll go into why I think that for most people new to boots, this is the ideal entry-level boot in a minute. But first, let's start with taking a look at Thursday. Thursday Boot Company was founded in 2014 by Connor Wilson and Nolan Walsh while there were still MBA grad students. They found that they had a problem that many of us found at the beginning of our boot journeys. They were looking for a good pair of affordable durable boots and were frustrated that they had to choose between delicate fashion boots or clunky work boots and between cheap boots and overpriced boots. So unlike most of us, they decided to do something about it and I'm guessing their experience and learning during the MBA course made a difference. The kickoff happened by accident when they went to a surfing holiday in Nicaragua and met someone wearing the type of boots they wanted and found out that they were made in Guatemala, made contact, made a few pairs and sold them on Etsy. I'm guessing as an MBA type exercise in sales and direct to consumer modeling and they sold out. They then contacted factories all over the world and settled on Leon in Mexico where there was the right infrastructure enough workers experience and established QC processes to make good quality boots. They met with several factories to suss out their basic values and philosophies always important in business and business partnerships to be in sync and then signed up with manufacturers to make $250,000 worth of boots with $40,000 up front. Nolan Walsh said of this, lucky it worked out. I think there was almost certainly a bit more than luck involving some great spreadsheets and business modeling plans The next step was a Kickstarter campaign in 2014 and from there it took off so they followed up by building their direct to consumer brand no physical stores all selling from a website. One of the stories I found was of Conor Wilson at the start asking a factory owner lots of questions and saying that they wanted to do things differently at Thursday. The owner replied that we've been doing this for nearly a century doesn't seem to need such a thing which kind of negatively encapsulates Thursday's thinking keep improving or die. I think that while they may have had the idea from the beginning a comment like that would probably cement the ideas of doing it differently including the development of a totally internet-based and internet-friendly brand from the sales on their websites to social media marketing and web-based marketing. Their Instagram account currently has three quarters of a million followers their Facebook account over a quarter of a million Facebook's Thursday enthusiast group unconnected enthusiasts have nearly 9,000 members keep improving or die. In the two years of the pandemic all-time bootmakers like Chippewa have closed their heritage lines larger companies that sell in retail stores took a hit on sales boosted only by their online sales the newer direct-to-consumer website-based brands like Thursday, Grant Stone, Truman they've all grown instead of taking a backward step been doing this for nearly a century is not going to cut it forever. Today you can buy Thursday boots through three primary outlets they opened a physical store in New York City so if you're lucky enough to get there you can drop in their website is their primary source of sales they also have an amazon store and for most people outside the US that is what I'd recommend because you can't take advantage of Thursday's free return policies when you're outside the US but you can use Amazon's own free return policies especially if you sign up for Prime. The only disadvantage that not all models are available on Amazon most of their boots are made in Mexico but they have introduced a made in the US range the vanguard and the logger almost all their boots are priced at under 200 US dollars and that is important on their website they have a men's and a women's range of footwear as well as leather jackets and other accessories including boot conditioners and cleaners and belts in the women's range they currently offer eight styles of boots and multiple make-ups as well as sneakers in the wide range of leathers for men they offer sneakers in both low and high tops four different styles of oxford lacing and monk strap shoes a couple of loafer and boat shoe designs and of course men's boots in men's boots they have wait for it 17 yeah go count them 17 different styles from lace-up service boots to chunky combat style boots to chelsea's and chuckers and lots more each style has multiple choices in leather including their rugged resilient range and different outsoles i counted them there are 102 different make-ups available i have a headache now let me introduce you to my four pairs of thursday boots so you can see how they have stacked up just be aware that i bought the captain from the thursday store on amazon i got the wing tips and the vanguard from thursday's seconds website page and the diplomats were in ebay purchase first the captains this was my first quality and again i use that word intentionally quality good year-welded american heritage style boots i chose the thursday chrome brown because they looked like the quintessential service boot to me uh thursday chrome is from a tannery in mexico uh as well don't look down your nose that tannery also provides hides to some of the more famous boot brands in america this is their version of hawin's chrome excel uh yes there are less lustrous but the pull-up and self-healing properties of a wax infused oil infused leather are all there uh it's fully lined it has a thursday proprietary version of a day night sole uh day night is the uk sole manufacturer famous for making these rubber compound studded soles uh with these low profile studs that give pretty good grip across many surfaces there is some discussion that both the leather and the soles don't necessarily wear as well nor are as sturdy as the originals and some at least earlier examples of the rubber breaking off but while i acknowledge i've seen some subpar examples on the internet let me remind you of the title of this video they're an entry-level boot at an entry-level price like almost everything else in life you get what you pay for the important thing is that you get what you pay for and not something less which i'll discuss when i get to value i've had these captains for two years now worn regularly but not frequently in mainly urban situations they have held up well and whenever i put them on i wonder why i don't wear them more because of the immediate comfort uh my second thursday purchase were these wing tips they were factory seconds but if you go and see my unboxing video or my review of these i honestly cannot see why they were relegated to factory seconds these are broguing tips or as the english call them country boots these are in a dark oak color and i wear them in dressy occasions mainly with a suit you can get them in lighter brown which could be worn in a more casual style what i like about these is the sturdiness of that thick sole again in the proprietary day night style studs at the design of the chisel toe uh being fully lined and the thickness of the uppers they really feel supportive of my ankle and they feel sturdy that lining helping a lot of course then i thought i'd try the us made range these thursday vanguards even though they look like the captains actually apart from the leather and burnt copper from their rugged and resilient range there are subtle differences i believe most of the materials are also sourced in the us including a different uh rubber sole manufacturer for again a proprietary version of the day night sole the last seems to be different from the captain i feel these to be a little more slim um whether the slimness of the last or the more stiff nature of the rugged and resilient leather i found these to be harder to break in now these are factory seconds as well so treat what i'm about to say in that light i found these to be less well made than the captains and the wingtips unlike the wingtips where i could not find the fault the faults and these were immediately apparent missed and crooked stitching empty stitch holes uh like they'd stitch something through and then had to go back okay one way to look at it is that the qc process stood up and they found these faults and sidelined this pair so probably unfair of me to bring it up but compared to the seconds wingtips you know i scratched my head on the plus side i do think the material stand up the rubber outsole feels like it's more sturdy and it's harder than that on the captain uh the leather uppers are great truly rugged and resilient i think i've worn these on bushwalks through rain and puddles and they stand up well and again fully leather lined finally my fourth pair these diplomats are from ebay and i bought them about a year ago these are thursday's take on the mocto wage sold work boot but as you can see modernized so it's a lot more sleek uh more so than a boxy toad mocto like the thoroughgood moctos or the red wing classic eight seven fires thursday's first version of the diplomat was a more old and indy style design with a flatter and sleeker vamp and the u-shaped mocto stitch was much more inboard uh these have reverted to a more traditional mocto with straighter side walls these are in matte black and i haven't polished them but to be honest i think if this was a wall paint color i'd be calling it low sheen rather than matte again fully leather lined the wage sole is a true vibram wage sole not a proprietary version these are the most comfortable boots i have now that's a big statement with currently over 60 pairs of boots but it's true the insole is built over some sort of structured arch support that fully holds up your arch and combined with the usual thursday pour on footbed uh the vibram wage sole the very soft and supple fully lined uppers these really feel like sneakers in fact with the white wage sole i often wear these like minimalist sneakers the fact that they go six inches up my pants leg is between me and my socks so there you are again i only have four pairs of thursdays all right uh based on my experience with these four boots while i may never buy any more thursday boots mainly because of my knowledge and experience of boot wear and collecting has grown uh into appreciating more expensive and handmade makes i will never stop supporting thursday because of the quality for the price their affordable entry point for a beginner and the customer service that i've experienced now why do i consider thursday boots as entry-level boots and is that a bad thing to be honest if you were an experienced boot collector and you're now buying whites or nicks and other pacific northwest boots i don't think thursday would cross your mind anymore if you're a construction worker or have another kind of manly um manual job you would not and probably should not look to thursdays for a sturdy everyday work boot they make no such pretensions by the way they are a blend between service and dress boot and not work boots even though their design may give a nod that way if on the other hand your appreciation of boots uh where you have like me and some of my friends a wide collection thursdays will likely form an appreciated part of that collection but if you're new into boots and you want a nice looking pair of boots that are sturdy enough to last a few years and be resold at least once if you're looking for a pair you can wear to the footy and spill tomato sauce and from your pies on them if you want a pair of boots do wear to the pub and step on puddles of beer if you want to walk the dog in the park and look good while your feet are also protected thursdays are a perfect first pair of quality there's that word again boots to buy some people will sneer when i say quality boots and mention thursday so here we go again these are quality boots at the price you get what you pay for you should not expect olden quality or trueman quality at 200 us dollars why would you expect that however the critical criteria is do you get what you pay for or do you get less i don't care where things are made as long as they're made well and in doing so have not abused the workforce thursdays contracted factory in mexico are part of several quality registered groups including sustainable registrations and audits for labor wages and conditions thursday so dependent on social media and the internet would be absolutely stupid to partner themselves with any manufacturer or company that has bad labor and other practices remember the importance of making sure that your values and philosophies are in sync that's what they did at the very start as for the quality received at 200 dollars they are good you're welcome this is the gold standard for quality recraftable footwear they don't often use brand name materials yep no original day night souls for example but what they do use are all right their leathers are good no doubt about it including some innovative rugged and resilient uh treated leather and waterproof suede most of them at that two mils thick standard for sturdy leathers and all of them fully leather lined their quality control is okay maybe not excellent given the number of returns and discussions and social media about should this be happening but it's okay for the most part and when you contact them by all accounts including my own experience the responsiveness is better than okay so don't compare them with the next level of 300 dollar boots like redwing compare them with other like priced boots and you will see cement construction whole spread factories around the world that maybe you're not sure of what kind of practices and qc to get up to faceless large corporations bring it all together i think you do get 200 dollars for the quality for a 200 dollar boot it's not overpriced you can't say in a reason analysis that you get a cheap boot for 200 dollars you get exactly what you pay for so that's why it's an entry level quality boot it's affordable at 200 dollars maybe a bit more than you'd like if you're used to 130 dollar tims or 90 dollar more boots go rewind and replay my spiel about quality just now it's good you're weltered so you can start to get used to breaking in boots and learning about recrafting they're comfortable and you can get used to them before you enter the world of a leather and cork midsoles with no foam and no pouring that you have to break in their letters are resilient and you can play with different conditioners and cleaners make mistakes and learn you can wear them and learn that a scarf or a nick is not the worst thing in the world for heritage style boots you can stop being frightened of wearing them hard and actually learn the difference between dress shoes and heritage style boots it's a journey and thursdays are a great start now i want to end with revisiting that thing that comes up even if not named on thursday's website in interviews with connor wilson and no one wash and in online discussions about what thursday offers i'm a management consultant in real life i help build business brands and the big words are vision and values these are the two things that companies must get straight and live up to in order to be identified as a value brand and be believed by their market it's about planting your flag on the hill and being authentic to that flag that's why no one wash talked about meeting the factories to make sure that their values and philosophies sync that's why connor wilson has said that he responds to social media platforms because he feels passionately he takes it personally about fixing customer issues it's about what the brand means to them and how they make it live let's just run through their our story page on their website and see what they prioritize in vision and values and if they still deliver there are five headings comfort durability versatility and honest pricing commitment to quality world-class partners a better experience for wherever the day takes you now these aren't published vision and values but they would uh should embody what those vision and values mean in real day-to-day life those are the value propositions in their vision those are the primary colors in the flag that they planted on the hill today in my opinion they design footwear that is comfortable durable at least for that price standard is versatile and the price two hundred dollars now not making a killing per boot i don't think using that basis as the central focus when they introduce new styles new leathers means they live up to that i can't say their quality and the evidence of what you sometimes get is excellent but i think i can honestly say that commitment to quality reacting to make things right ensuring they listen and adapting in new developments this i believe they show in their actions i've already mentioned earlier their customer service is super responsive and excellent they will and i have seen try to make things right that doesn't satisfy every customer and i have to say that when it does not i believe that some part of what that complainant demands is probably unreasonable when you look at it dispassionately they have in the past reacted to feedback and changed components and construction surely a desire to continuously improve is a commitment to quality as part of both the above and in fulfillment of world-class partners they seem to do business with highly reputable renowned and skilled people they look for high ethical standards they'd be fools not to under a better experience they say that their team will always respond to questions and comments and they do they monitor comments they answer they react they take things personally i will bet that within a reasonable amount of time there'll be a comment in this video from someone in thursday's team thanking me for this video i'm not sponsored all right go check again over the next couple of weeks and finally for wherever the day takes you yeah okay that is a bit of a marketing spin but embedded in that is a mission statement that whatever you do for work where you go for fun you can stand confidently in your thursdays marketing maybe but as a mission not too bad an inspiration huh in the description below i'm going to link to two interviews one from stitch down interviewing connor wilson and the other is published on thursday's own blog pages with no one wash read them they are open and honest and revealing and that's it i hope you like my dive into thursday boot company and the concept that for many they are the first plunge into the world of quality heritage style good year-world boots i'd love to hear what you think in the comments below and if you like the video or at least if it arouses some emotion in you click on the like button below please i also have loads more boot reviews and brand reviews so if you don't want to miss anything click on subscribe until then guys take care and see you then