i finally held a kooba irl...not impressed w/ the leather

Which bag did you hold? I have had several Kooba bags and kept only one - Lucy in camel. The leather is nice and meant to look distressed so the color takes on an uneven tone in spots (more like shadings versus blotches). I heard the cognac color is really flat and blah on the Marcelle bag. Without knowing which bag you held it is hard to help with your question.
 
I have a few Koobas too and the leather does vary by style/color. I have the Sienna in Luggage and IMO the color is gorgeous and the leather is sturdy yet soft. The Siennas from the following season were made of a really nice soft leather but the colors were blah. Since then, I haven't been overly impressed with any that I've run into.

I take it back.... in Vegas in January a store had the new cream color which I think is the exact leather used on the original cream. It's like the Luggage..... I like.
 
IMO, Kooba Sienna doesn't feel buttery soft like Ballenciaga or thick yet soft like Chloe Paddington, but they are not in the same price range. Agree with everyone here that leather texture and quality vary from bag to bag. The Scarlett I felt at Bloomingdale was very uneven, one section was distressed and another section was smooth, it wasn't very soft either. The ones I felt at other stores weren't nicer. Based on the ones I saw, Sienna's meant to be structured -- it's not soft soft. I can be wrong though. =)

Agree with Roey that Lucy feels very soft, some might prefer that leather more. I think it all depends on which type of leather you like, would be nice if you can pick them out in person.
 
I had several Koobas as well and only kept my Lucy. The leather is thin and soft and slouchy which is what I wanted. For the price, I thought it was a really nice bag!
 
When I checked out two of them, one was fine, one was kind of awful. I've found a better deal and more consistency with Sigrid Olsen bags. They, like Kooba, are made in China, but the prices are in the $148-$225 range. The one I got was on sale for $74, and the next day it would have gone down to $37! Very comfy on the shoulder, too.
 
I have the Kooba Sienna in Luggage (just got it recently from Kooba online) and the leather is wonderful. I compared it to the espresso which is lambskin. The lambskin is soft but just didn't feel nearly as rich or as thick and durable as the luggage. (However I have the Botkier Trigger in mahogany lambskin and I love it although it is getting really soft and squishy). I think sometimes when a new style comes out, it is offered in only one or two colors, and if it becomes very popular the manufacturer tries to leverage the popularity by offering it in many colors -- but sometimes the original one remains the best.
 
I picked up a Sienna for three seconds and immediately put it down. It's really heavy (to me). And I wasn't impressed with the quality either, it was almost $600 at NM and I was like...forget that.

The new Audras, on the other hand, are really nice. And not heavy.

I also tried on a knockoff paddington in Rampage. It was too silly for me to buy, but it was about 10lbs lighter than the real one and for half an instant I thought about getting it ;)
 
bethany said:
I picked up a Sienna for three seconds and immediately put it down. It's really heavy (to me). And I wasn't impressed with the quality either, it was almost $600 at NM and I was like...forget that.

Cripes, for that price (provided discounts can be accumulated), I can get a Chloe bag...
 
Typo in my last posting, I meant to say the Kooba Scarlett I held at Bloomingdale varied so much in leather texture, the ones I felt at other stores were nicer. I guess that's why everyone says that no 2 pieces of leather are the same. Agree that Kooba is overpriced, Scarlett would cost $475USD if there's no ongoing discount. I prefer my bags a bit structured so I chose Scarlet/Sienna, Lucy would be a better choice if you like yours soft and slouchy.