Blundstone 550

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Here is my 5th Blundstones I think. And what's special about this is it isn't Made In Australia(MIA) anymore. And it never was for this model. For the 500 and 510, they were made in Australia when I bought them. They were one of the few shoes or boots that actually fit me and I like. This 550 is supposed to be an improvement over the 500/510 series, leather lined and extra insoles for additional padding or replacement. In terms of kip leather, from what I can recall, the MIA 500/510 leather is greasier. This 550, made in Vietnam, has more of a papery feel to it. Is it better, same or worse, I can't say objectively but I would say it's a touch worse off than before. The MIA 500/510 has no or minimum leather lining inside the boots. Minimum, because there is a thumb sized leather lining on the front pull. This 550 has more leather lining so it's supposed to be easier to put on and take off and more comfortable. Though the inside (or called vamp) near or in the toe box is not lined with leather but some sort of fabric which I of course have no idea what it is. I read somewhere that the sizing of the 550 is supposed to be slightly roomier than the 500/510, not that the latter is not roomy though. I think the 550 is at least as roomy as the 500/510, which is important for people who have full sized feet (read: wide, high-instep and meaty feet). Does it matter Blundstones aren't MIA anymore? I will leave it up to you. But I have a difficult time finding the country of origin for 550. When I wrote to Zappos, the good folks there cheerfully told me to contact Blundstone directly and I thought they could just open a box and see what it says, so much so for customer service. In the end I contacted Blundstone and someone told me that it was manufactured some where not in down under. And another seemingly knowledgeable eBay seller also confirms that. The official Blundstone rep went extra step to infer that I was disappointed to find out that it was no longer manufactured in Australia. You know maybe that's true too. But I guess if even the brand doesn't take great pride in where their products are manufactured by being upfront, they shouldn't expect their customers to be.  I just want the brand to take pride of its production partners themselves, whether they are in China, Vietnam or Thailand.

11/17/2018
I don't have a lot to update.  But I'd just like to add that it's almost common knowledge that the soles can turn into tofu or sort for I don't know why.  Apparently it didn't happen to all of my Blundstones during the time I wore them, which was like decades ago but I did have that experience.  I don't know if Blundstones ever cared to address them.  I don't know.

And I just went to the Blundstone USA site.  Again, the site makes no mention where the boots are made, so there you have it.  If you think the quality is the same or better, say it out with pride.  I stopped wearing Blundstones because they just don't fit me that well now.  I still remember the time I bought them online via eBay from a seller from Australia.  I got a toy koala bear with it too.  The seller had since been gone for a long time.