I have a shell cordovan Fat Herbie in Whiskey shell from 2013 and a Bugs Moran in Intense Blue shell Cordovan with reverse interior. Just incredible wallets. I still want a custom Tony the Ant in shell.
I just received a custom Bugs Moran in Dublin. It is a piece of wonderful-smelling art. And it’s good to know I have something unlike anything else. Matt and Phil are a true joy to work with, as well. Couldn’t be happier. Funny thing is, my wife made fun of me through the whole customization process for being a nerd... then after they featured it in one of their videos and it showed up, she was so impressed that she wanted a custom piece of her own, so now I’m having Matt make her a custom Reverse & Raw UV Three-Shot. Also, FYI: because I had never dealt with them before I pulled the trigger on my custom Bugs, I watched this review for your opinion. Love the channel!
You're not the first or last one to cover your face in my wallets! The smell is perhaps the sensory characteristic that I enjoy most and it is what makes Horween leather extra special. Thank you for taking the time and effort to leave a detailed review!
Just bought Tony the Ant...love supporting my Chicago Ashland Leather and proud to have Horween in the neighborhood, as well. Love your reviews...and as Lloyd Bridges once said, " I guess I picked the wrong day to stop smelling leather."
I watched all your Ashland leather reviews and ended up going with the Capone was really close to this one but excited to upgrade my ridge wallet back to leather. Thanks for all the reviews!
I have the Fox in reverse black shell and it is outstanding. Their customer service is A+, and you can custom order any combo and request hand stitching if you want. I always recommend them to anyone wanting a quality wallet. Prices are very good as well.
Yes, for a handmade shop, their pricing is what I would expect and the customization that they're happy to do tells a lot about their passion for the craft. And when you can get personal with the company and they treat you like you're more than just a customer, it makes it all that much better!
Funny that you like the wax seal so much. I thought of you when I saw the packaging for STR Handmade wallets. Wrapped in a branded waxed paper, tied with twine, and then wax sealed. I just got mine today. Packaging was A+!
I ordered a wallet from them a couple weeks back, now you have me excited to see it! Yeah, box branding is something that tells me if the manufacturer really cares about their brand and image, I'm a sucker for great packaging 😂
I very recently bought a Johnny the fox in English tan dublin with my initials monogrammed and I absolutely love it! Now I'm hooked and want to get a tony the ant in amaretto shell with the inside reversed 😍
These guys and the team are just awesome 😀👍🏻 I love em. I want one of these with custom tweaks in Shell. Truly great gear with some fantastic customer service. 👊🏻
Thanks! So far the weighting we designed in the beginning have worked out well. We do have some large groupings of certain ratings but that just shows the competencies of similar wallets.
Tony the Ant is the wallet I currently carry in black shell cordovan. When it breaks in around 2-3 weeks it is awesome. Quality is top notch and guaranteed forever
Very nice review of Ashland Leather’s Tony the Ant. I just learned of your Channel from Phil Kalas of Ashland Leather. I own 4 to 5 Ashland wallet’s including a Tony the Ant in whiskey shell cordovan, (absolutely beautiful), Fat Herbie in reverse shell cordovan, etc. I find the quality of Ashland wallet’s to be exceptional, as well as phenomenal quality craftsmanship. I never felt that Ashland prices were excessively high, yet your rating of a ‘2’ on Price for Ashland wallets causes me to wonder why it’s rated so low in that category. Do you mind sharing your thoughts as to how you came to the rating of ‘2’ for Price of Ashland Leather Wallets? thanks very much...Ed
Hi Ed, thanks for thoughtful comment. One thing to mention is that all the rating criteria (which are weighted), are determined based on the merits of the wallet itself versus comparison to other wallets. That said, for Price, consideration is taken around the material, construction. difficulty of build, labor from where it's made and reasonable profit. For example, wallets made in SE Asia, have labor rates much lower than those made in the US or Europe. In the end for Tony the Ant, it was on the line between a 2 and 3 and fell into a 2.
walletopia Hi, thanks so much for taking the time to further explain your methodology for rating wallets with regard to Pricing. Fyi...i did watch your excellent video which explains your process as to your entire rating process...very good video!..wishing you continued success with your Channel. I look forward to watching many more of your videos...Ed
I don't see how the $60 Apple wallet which is mass produced in China with comparatively inferior pigment coated, thin, corrected leather has a price rating of 2 while the $100 Tony the Ant also has a 2 when it's its low volume US production, made of much higher quality Horween Dublin leather not to mention contains probably 4-5 times the amount of actual leather as the Apple wallet. It seems like something WAY off in the price rankings. You can bet Ashland's profit margin % on that Tony are a fraction of Apple's with their card wallet.
I'd be curious to see a Fat Herbie(?) carry test. It'd be interesting to get a comparison of all their bifold models actually. I think Fat Herbie, Tony the Ant and Johnny the Fox? I don't think they have a minimalist wallet that's better than the Big Finn or the Tauruscamp wallets but their bifolds are interesting. I'd probably still get a Bosca bifold though. Too much leather in these. Too thick.
Selling leather vs selling wallet is not the same thing .......unfortunately most wallet makers don’t understand it! However they are very good at breaking the banks of the buyers!
The design is very interesting. Would you consider this a slim wallet? I’m still carrying more cash than cards these days so want to know if it can hold reasonable number of bills
Nice wallet but it is die-cut and machine sewn and that removes a lot of the "handmade" aspect. I find the pricing to be pretty reasonable considering the quality and quantity of leather, burnished edges and the packaging. So my quality would be reduced for the stitching but the price would score higher, leaving me at about the same score as you, Mark. :)
Thanks for the insight, you do bring up a nice differentiator of machine versus hand sewn. Some companies sell different versions of the same wallets which are machine or hand sewn with different prices for those who know the difference.
Ashland Leather will, upon request, hand sew a wallet, for a reasonable charge. I’ve heard one of the owners state that the reason they don’t sew the wallets by hand is that they offer lifetime guarantee. thus if the machine sewn stitching should fail, Ashland will repair or replace the wallet.
I would agree with you completely. Machine sewing such a nice leather just feels like a waste. And while they do have a lifetime warranty on their goods which I am positive they honor I would argue that the point of purchasing a handmade wallet is for it to last you forever, as it is. You can’t achieve that with an inferior machine stitch.
Hi Mark. I bought tony the ant wallet. I rub it all over my head to ...just like you did. I thought that was hilarious 🤣. They make great wallets. You do outstanding reviews. Thank you keep up the good work.
I wish to get one from Ashland leather too, but I got the Tanner Goods Universal Zip Wallet instead. I feel you, I swear by veg tanned leather, can't get enough of the smell. Next is Tanner Goods, right? Haha.
QOTD: ⚡If you own an Ashland Leather wallet, let us know your thought! If you don't own one, which one would you like?
I have a shell cordovan Fat Herbie in Whiskey shell from 2013 and a Bugs Moran in Intense Blue shell Cordovan with reverse interior. Just incredible wallets. I still want a custom Tony the Ant in shell.
Likely Tony the Ant.
I just received a custom Bugs Moran in Dublin. It is a piece of wonderful-smelling art. And it’s good to know I have something unlike anything else. Matt and Phil are a true joy to work with, as well. Couldn’t be happier. Funny thing is, my wife made fun of me through the whole customization process for being a nerd... then after they featured it in one of their videos and it showed up, she was so impressed that she wanted a custom piece of her own, so now I’m having Matt make her a custom Reverse & Raw UV Three-Shot.
Also, FYI: because I had never dealt with them before I pulled the trigger on my custom Bugs, I watched this review for your opinion. Love the channel!
You're not the first or last one to cover your face in my wallets! The smell is perhaps the sensory characteristic that I enjoy most and it is what makes Horween leather extra special. Thank you for taking the time and effort to leave a detailed review!
Our pleasure! Thanks for making incredible products!
Don’t know if you’ll see this but will the lucky wallet be available soon? Might get this one unless that will be widely available?
Just bought Tony the Ant...love supporting my Chicago Ashland Leather and proud to have Horween in the neighborhood, as well. Love your reviews...and as Lloyd Bridges once said, " I guess I picked the wrong day to stop smelling leather."
Haha, yes, every day should include a whiff of some quality leather!
I watched all your Ashland leather reviews and ended up going with the Capone was really close to this one but excited to upgrade my ridge wallet back to leather. Thanks for all the reviews!
I have the Fox in reverse black shell and it is outstanding. Their customer service is A+, and you can custom order any combo and request hand stitching if you want. I always recommend them to anyone wanting a quality wallet. Prices are very good as well.
Yes, for a handmade shop, their pricing is what I would expect and the customization that they're happy to do tells a lot about their passion for the craft. And when you can get personal with the company and they treat you like you're more than just a customer, it makes it all that much better!
Funny that you like the wax seal so much. I thought of you when I saw the packaging for STR Handmade wallets. Wrapped in a branded waxed paper, tied with twine, and then wax sealed. I just got mine today. Packaging was A+!
I ordered a wallet from them a couple weeks back, now you have me excited to see it! Yeah, box branding is something that tells me if the manufacturer really cares about their brand and image, I'm a sucker for great packaging 😂
@@walletopia Sweet! Which one did you order? Or will that be a surprise? I tagged you in an IG post fanning out a pile of wallets. Two were from him.
I very recently bought a Johnny the fox in English tan dublin with my initials monogrammed and I absolutely love it! Now I'm hooked and want to get a tony the ant in amaretto shell with the inside reversed 😍
These guys and the team are just awesome 😀👍🏻 I love em. I want one of these with custom tweaks in Shell. Truly great gear with some fantastic customer service. 👊🏻
The variety of learners they use is great. I love it when a maker pushes their designs to different leathers which can be challenging.
Plz review the CRBNtech “The Switch” wallet
I love the concept of overall score for the wallet! 😊👌👌👌
Thanks! So far the weighting we designed in the beginning have worked out well. We do have some large groupings of certain ratings but that just shows the competencies of similar wallets.
The smell of leather is amazing I know because my brother has a lot cowboy boots.😁🙂👍😄:-)
In your dream you are standing in a field. Wallets open everywhere, the bees are buzzing
and
you can feel the delicate scent of the leather.
Heaven!!
Hi ca you try Focx wallet?
We have the FOCX Accountant and Minimalist in our inventory. We have the Accountant coming up for review soon!
@@walletopia Danke schön
Finally some high quality leather.
Indeed!
Tony the Ant is the wallet I currently carry in black shell cordovan. When it breaks in around 2-3 weeks it is awesome. Quality is top notch and guaranteed forever
They are amazing, great organization and quality products.
Thanks! Beautiful wallet and looks very well made. Will add that to my list!
Very nice review of Ashland Leather’s Tony the Ant. I just learned of your Channel from Phil Kalas of Ashland Leather. I own 4 to 5 Ashland wallet’s including a Tony the Ant in whiskey shell cordovan, (absolutely beautiful), Fat Herbie in reverse shell cordovan, etc. I find the quality of Ashland wallet’s to be exceptional, as well as phenomenal quality craftsmanship. I never felt that Ashland prices were excessively high, yet your rating of a ‘2’ on Price for Ashland wallets causes me to wonder why it’s rated so low in that category. Do you mind sharing your thoughts as to how you came to the rating of ‘2’ for Price of Ashland Leather Wallets? thanks very much...Ed
Hi Ed, thanks for thoughtful comment. One thing to mention is that all the rating criteria (which are weighted), are determined based on the merits of the wallet itself versus comparison to other wallets. That said, for Price, consideration is taken around the material, construction. difficulty of build, labor from where it's made and reasonable profit. For example, wallets made in SE Asia, have labor rates much lower than those made in the US or Europe. In the end for Tony the Ant, it was on the line between a 2 and 3 and fell into a 2.
walletopia Hi, thanks so much for taking the time to further explain your methodology for rating wallets with regard to Pricing. Fyi...i did watch your excellent video which explains your process as to your entire rating process...very good video!..wishing you continued success with your Channel. I look forward to watching many more of your videos...Ed
I don't see how the $60 Apple wallet which is mass produced in China with comparatively inferior pigment coated, thin, corrected leather has a price rating of 2 while the $100 Tony the Ant also has a 2 when it's its low volume US production, made of much higher quality Horween Dublin leather not to mention contains probably 4-5 times the amount of actual leather as the Apple wallet. It seems like something WAY off in the price rankings.
You can bet Ashland's profit margin % on that Tony are a fraction of Apple's with their card wallet.
I'd be curious to see a Fat Herbie(?) carry test. It'd be interesting to get a comparison of all their bifold models actually. I think Fat Herbie, Tony the Ant and Johnny the Fox? I don't think they have a minimalist wallet that's better than the Big Finn or the Tauruscamp wallets but their bifolds are interesting. I'd probably still get a Bosca bifold though. Too much leather in these. Too thick.
Wow I thought you were going to eat that wallet lol!
That wallet smelled so good, it was entirely possible. 😂
How many bills this wallet could hold in max capacity?
Hi Ahmed, it starts to get a little unwieldy at 10, but with gradual leather stretching over time it should be able to handle more.
I have their Bugs Moran in shell cordovan , very nice wallet more compact than tony the ant and perfect for front pocket.
H.E.H. - I miss having a cash slot though so am thinking of a Tony as well 😂
Richard Barnes I can carry cash folded once in my wallet, but tony the ant still a better choice for cash carry.
😂
Oh great, likely my next wallet obsession. 💙
All of Ashland’s products are excellent!
I love Ashland Leather too !!
Selling leather vs selling wallet is not the same thing .......unfortunately most wallet makers don’t understand it! However they are very good at breaking the banks of the buyers!
The design is very interesting. Would you consider this a slim wallet? I’m still carrying more cash than cards these days so want to know if it can hold reasonable number of bills
Another great wallet review!
Much appreciated!
Nice wallet but it is die-cut and machine sewn and that removes a lot of the "handmade" aspect. I find the pricing to be pretty reasonable considering the quality and quantity of leather, burnished edges and the packaging. So my quality would be reduced for the stitching but the price would score higher, leaving me at about the same score as you, Mark. :)
Thanks for the insight, you do bring up a nice differentiator of machine versus hand sewn. Some companies sell different versions of the same wallets which are machine or hand sewn with different prices for those who know the difference.
Ashland Leather will, upon request, hand sew a wallet, for a reasonable charge. I’ve heard one of the owners state that the reason they don’t sew the wallets by hand is that they offer lifetime guarantee. thus if the machine sewn stitching should fail, Ashland will repair or replace the wallet.
I would agree with you completely. Machine sewing such a nice leather just feels like a waste. And while they do have a lifetime warranty on their goods which I am positive they honor I would argue that the point of purchasing a handmade wallet is for it to last you forever, as it is. You can’t achieve that with an inferior machine stitch.
All are machine sewen including louie Vuitton fendi coach etc etc!…
Hi Mark. I bought tony the ant wallet. I rub it all over my head to ...just like you did. I thought that was hilarious 🤣. They make great wallets. You do outstanding reviews. Thank you keep up the good work.
Thanks Dan!
I wish to get one from Ashland leather too, but I got the Tanner Goods Universal Zip Wallet instead. I feel you, I swear by veg tanned leather, can't get enough of the smell. Next is Tanner Goods, right? Haha.
Thanks Raymond, I wasn't aware of Tanner Goods, great looking wallets and their brand lines are extensive! Very interesting sales model they have.
@@walletopia Individuality in their products. Don't worry, they only use full grain veg tanned leather.
Your like the MKBHD of wallets!
Thanks! I'll take that as a compliment, he's so good at the craft!
@@walletopia MKBHD is now pimping the ridge wallet.
I do like the look of this wallet. Resembles Popov's bifold.
I so badly wanna smell that wallet. Nothing beats fresh leather fragrance. 😉
Oh boy, you’re so right! The smell of good leather is so intoxicating!
Stitching, especially on the inside is a real shoddy job.
You're over stuffing the wallet!!!
I put 8 cards in, the company recommends up to 16, it can handle it!
@@walletopia I'm just giving you a hard time, you've grown a lot I subbed when you were in the hundreds, good job!!
Thanks man!