The 2nd Generation Freddie Mercury belt is now available! Suitable for daily wear, this new version improves upon the original in several ways, you'll especially enjoy the lower price! But first, the basics:
This studded leather belt measures 1.5" wide (3.8 cm) and features solid zinc alloy stars and chrome plated brass dome spots configured in the same pattern as worn by Queen front man Freddie Mercury. Nickel plated brass eyelets accent the buckle tongue holes, seven total, and the buckle is a super high polished nickel plated solid brass buckle with roller. Buckle fold is fitted with snaps for easy buckle removal.
The leather is now the same that is used on all LP belts; black dyed, heavy full grain bridle leather made to last many years under even the harshest conditions.
What's changed?
There are two major changes that make this belt better than its predecessor: The stars, and the leather. The new stars are solid, and have real weight to them and won't rotate or fall off. The old stars were not solid, they were simply stamped, which in itself wasn't a problem, but rather the amount of labor and time it took just to set one in place. The new stars are actually many times more expensive, but take a fraction of the time to set because there's only one center post instead of a dozen prongs, which is the main factor driving the price down.
The old style star prongs also created another issue for me: They were abnormally short and wouldn't fit through the leather I ordinarily use, so I had to purchase special lighter weight leather JUST for the Mercury belt. That leather was expensive too, and wasn't as nice. Worse yet, the stars still didn't hold very well. The new stars eliminate that problem and make this a solid, long lasting accessory that can be worn as a daily belt, not just for cosplay.
A minor design change also includes switching from the 1A style buckle to the 2A buckle, although you can remove the buckle to something entirely different, if you wish. I can finally hang my head high and say with all honesty that Freddie himself couldn't have gotten a better belt.