The Wolverine BLVD Cap Toe Boot vs. The Thursday Captain

Wolverine recently entered the "Goodyear Welt boot for $200" competition in what seems to be a direct effort to compete with Thursday Boots. The problem I’m seeing is that you can find very little information comparing the two. Which boot is better? If I’m considering buying a boot in this category, which should I buy?

I want to set out to answer that question today. Normally, I would review each boot on its own merits before making this comparison, but I think the lack of abundant comparisons warrants this post coming first. Wolverine is a company with a long-standing reputation. Thursday has built a name for themselves in the past few years, but to my surprise, when polling people through social media in my circles, no one owned a pair or even seemed to have much brand recognition.

I will be comparing the cap toe from each company. I also will be comparing each company’s customer service because I dealt with returns and exchanges for each one. I think this is an important part of the review if you’re a new customer because each company’s boots are only available online by-in-large so if you get the wrong size, you’ll have to exchange. (At the time of this writing, the Wolverine BLVD collection is only being sold online and the only way to try on Thursday boots is to go to their store in NYC). That being said, let's start the review.

Looks

If you're like me—and I'd be willing to be you are—the reason you get interested in a boot is because of the look. I really like the slim profile and cap toe look of both these boots. They each bring their own unique design to the table though. First, Wolverine only has three color options available in their cap toe—tan, brown, and black. I personally think the tan looks more brown and the brown should be called a dark brown. I opted for the tan. Thursday, on the other hand, has 13 color options available for their Captain cap toe boot, which gives you a myriad of options. Every now and then they will also do some special editions, but these cost more and aren't being considered in this comparison. I opted for the natural Chromexcel leather in the Captain, which I will mention more later.

The Wolverine seems to have a more inspired and unique shape than the Thursday. It has a bit more of a curve in the last and the toe has a noticeable upward curve that might remind you of the Red Wing Iron Ranger—but this is a very different boot than the Iron Ranger. If you're looking for a more unique shape, you may be more interested in the Wolverine. The Thursday boot is a slim, straight last that doesn't have quite the same standout shape. It's still a handsome boot, but just a bit more plain.

Upper

When it comes to the upper of each boot, I'll go ahead and say that I think the advantage goes to Thursday. Both companies source their leathers from Mexico. The difference is if you go with Thurday's offering of Natural Chromexcel from Horween. Horween Chromexcel is widely known and highly prized by boot enthusiasts. Thursday offering this leather at such a cheap price easily sets it apart if you choose to go this route. You won't find Chromexcel this cheap anywhere else. Like I said though, Thursday offers 13 different styles so the leathers may be equal.

I will say that I don't like the way the tan leather from Wolverine shows creases. I couldn't even try these boots on and walk without it showing creases. I was worried about exchanging because of this. I also don't like the noticeable crease that shows up on the inside of the cap toe. I thought this might just be my pair, but looking at pictures on Instagram and even in Wolverine's promo shots reveals that this is happens on ever pair. It might just be me, but I don't like the look of the crease on the actual cap.

Notice the crease on the BLVD on the right.

Both boots are leather lined. Wolverine says the BLVD is lined with sheepskin while Thursday says their boots are lined with a glove leather. Both feel nice inside and seem pretty comparable. 

Another common complaint with the BLVD cap toe is that the speed hooks are too small. I find this is a frequent frustration when I lace up the boots. Speed hooks lose the speed when the lace pops out regularly when you're trying to lace up your boot. For me personally, the tongue on the left boot also always slides to the side of the boot. I don't notice this in feel, but it's not a great look.

Finally, my last comment on the upper is that these boots have different styles of laces. The Wolverine has a round, thin lace while the Thursday has a flat, waxed lace. I prefer the flat, waxed, but that's definitely a user preference. I also think the flat, waxed lace is a nicer look. 

Sole and Insole

Both companies have Goodyear Welted soles, which means the boots are easily able to be resoled. I’ve heard many critiques that boots at this price point aren’t worth resoling because other materials will be worn out. Time will tell on that whether one should resole these boots or not.

Wolverine uses their own unique lug pattern on the bottom rubber of their boots. Thursday uses their own rubber, but it mimics the look of a Dainite sole. Which look you like is purely subjective. Both seem to provide excellent grip.

Each of these boots take a different approach when it comes to the insole. The BLVD has a cushioned, removable insole that is comfortable. The Captain has a non-removable insole that Thursday calls a "Poron Antimicrobial Shock Absorbing Insole". It includes a cork-bed midsole that forms to your feet and DuraEVA Comfort Strip. It certainly sounds fancy, but in my experience both boots achieve almost the same level of comfort when it comes to walking.

Sizing and Fit

Here is where some of my frustration came in. I used the size calculator on Thursday’s site and I bought the size it recommended, which was in a wide because I have wide feet. Well, it turn out it was much too wide, which is a problem I’d never had before. I then did the size calculator again and tweaked some things. It gave me the same size without the wide width. I got these and wore them for awhile, but they ended up stretching and I was afraid I was stuck with boots too large. I’ll revisit this later. All that being said, start with Thursday’s recommendation of a half size down from you sneaker size. It is perfect for most people—including me and it feels great.

With Wolverine, I honestly still don’t know what size I wear in this boot. As I mentioned, I have wider feet and the one review I could find said they ran way big and to go down a size and half from a sneaker. Having wide feet, I opted for a half size down from my sneaker to start. It was definitely too big so I returned it and went a full size down. I thought this was the right fit, but the leather on one boot kept pinching my small toe so I assumed it was too big. I then went another half size down to the full size and a half as the review mentioned. This was quite snug. It has stretched some, but it still pinches one of my toes. 

Not all boots work for all people and I’m afraid the BLVD just doesn’t work for me. I could not get the size right and the inability to try it on in a store made it a major pain. I was also worried about creasing the leather too much while trying it and it not being accepted for a return. This brings me to the next big thing that I believe is a huge factor for those buying boots like these.

Customer Service and Returns/Exchanges

I had to exchange boots multiple times with both companies. Thursday’s customer service blew Wolverine’s out of the water. I was so impressed by Thursday’s customer service that I was completely won over and I will be buying more boots from them eventually. Customer service can really make or break a company.

For boots that can only be purchased online, Wolverine’s exchange policy is atrocious. They will ship your initial purchase to you and it will arrive in a matter of days. However, if you need to exchange, it will take weeks if you live on the eastern side of the U.S. like I do. They will not ship your exchange pair until they receive the pair you are exchanging and they use the slowest shipping possible for returns. This isn’t good for someone who may need their boots quickly. Their answer is for you to choose a refund and buy another pair with a credit card to go ahead and get them—also not good. 

If you need to exchange a third time, you better be quick about it because they are counting your initial purchase as the date for your exchange window, not the newest exchange. My window ran out before I could exchange the third time. Their customer service did end up working with me on this, but it was not easy. All in all, Wolverine’s policies are poor and you could end up on the losing end.

Thursday, on the other hand, is just the opposite. When exchanging my first pair, as soon as UPS scanned that I had dropped them off, Thursday shipped out the new pair and it arrived to my house before they had received my first pair back.

Then after wearing my new pair for about a week, I realized they just weren’t going to work. I figured I was just going to be out the money. I decided to chat with customer service on their site just to see if there was anything they could do. To my surprise, after sending some pictures to them, they agreed to either discount my purchase of a new pair or exchange my worn pair for a pair of seconds evenly. This blew me away. I opted to go for the pair of seconds and they are almost just as nice as the pair I exchanged. I also now have the right fit. As I stated earlier, their customer service made me a customer for life. It’s also a big part of why I wanted to write this comparison.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a pair of boots in this price range, I heartily recommend Thursday to you. Their fit recommendation is accurate and if it’s not quite right, they will go out of their way to help you make it right. They also offer boots with Chromexcel leather from Horween, which can’t be beat at this price point.

Many people consider Thursday just hype marketing, but I’m here to tell you to believe the hype. The boots are great and the customer service is even better. If you’re on the fence between the Wolverine BLVD and the Thursday Captain like I was, go with Thursday. You won’t regret it.

I’ve included a few more pictures below.