Considerations when purchasing new old stock leather 75mm boots?

[downontheupside]

Hey everyone,

There's a pair of new old stock Arkos on eBay in my wife's size for $50 shipped. Pretty awesome. She has a pair now which she enjoys more and more. Her's are starting to show their age though, and its always good to have another pair of boots. I've seen a fair amount of NOS leather telemark boots come up on eBay over the years (never in my size it seems).

Before I pull the trigger on these I wanted to ask if anyone here has experience buying anything similar. My concern is whether or not the boots have any sort of deterioration from 30 or so years of storage.

I bought a NOS pair of early Asolo NNN boots a few years ago which only lasted a few tours before falling apart, but their construction was much different.

Anyone here have any advice worth sharing?

Thanks

[phoenix]

Haven't ever known a good boot like that to deteriorate due to age, I think they'd be fine. Not much can go wrong with good leather and a Norwegian welt, that doesn't have any moisture damage.

[lowangle al]

I have 35 year old leather merrils that I used for about 15 years that still have 50 dollars worth of life in them. I guess there's a possibility they could have been stored improperly but if you think your wife will need them someday it's worth a chance. Leather is pretty tough stuff.

[Rodbelan]

The problem is not the leather... it is the rubber parts—if any, the shank...
Norwegian welt will be alright, but the plastic shank, in between the vibram sole and the leather with stitches will sometimes become britttle with time and crack.

I bought a couple of pairs over the years:
—a (NOS) pair of Alpina Telelite that fell apart after 2 outings — bad thermogluing process.

—a pair of Merrell Ultra, with shank cracking down in 2-3 outings; I had them refurbish and it is costly. But I do not regret: a boot like that today wouldn't be cheap. And they fit like a pair of glove
—a of Merrell Fuzion and a Flash (bought for a friend); those are really solid. Not much can go wrong with them
—another pair of Merrell in leather with thermo sole; 5-6 days of skiing and they were gone...