Carl's militaria collection part 1

Hi Ryan, Kai, Volkbert.

Ryan--Volkberts correct--its the Heer/Waffen SS Artillery Badge.

Thank you Kai, and there's more to come in about 2 weeks. I'm holding off on making any scans untill my Grossdeutschland Panzer hauptmanns shoulderboards arrive from a friend from Switzerland.

Thanks for letting Ryan know more on the badge Volkbert.

Believe it or not---I only paid $125.00 for the Heer/Waffen SS Badge and I paid $250.00 for the Luft Flak Badge.

ANd as a VERY sad side note--I noticed that many of my favorite European dealers are now trying to sell common IABs for $1`35.00 on up the prices are really getting way out of hand.

 

$125,- is a very good price for that badge Carl! How long ago did you buy it?

I totally agree with you that prices are getting way out of hand. It has to stop somewhere. Otherwise people with a normal salary cannot permit themselves to buy pieces anymore.

 

Heidelberg is the first place we stop! I will try to find both places. Thanks for the info!

 

Hi Volkbert--I bought that Heer/W-SS Arty Badge about 2 yrs ago. The guy I got it from orignally had it at $215.00 but, as he wasn't making any money--I talked him down to $125.00 which paid the cost of his tables. So at least with me--he made his costs back.

Also--quite welcome. You will not regret eating at Zum Rothen Ochsen. Its pretty easy to find. It is pretty close to the river, the famous Lighted bridge and on the side of the river where Heidelberg Schloss is. Also, there is a huge church/cathedral not far from both the Schloss and Zum Rothen Ochsen.

I know my info is sketchy at best but--hopefully you will be able to find these places easy enough.

I ate a Wienreschnitzel for dinner and had Apfelsaft and a glass of water to drink.

Anyway, make sure you walk on the Lighted Bridge at night. I walked up and down it and stood on the bridge for about 2 hours--looking at the river and Heidelberg Schloss lighted up at night. Was really a nice experiance.

If you take some pictures--please send me a few or post them here. I sure do miss Heidelberg.

PS: Did you know that several Knights Cross Recipients live there as well?

 

Bump--for Daniel.

 

Great collection Carl, I like the big collection of ribbon bars.

Best regards/ Daniel

 

Thank you my friend. And unfortunately--I still have 2 of the 3 fake or believe to be fake--ribbon bars. Not shown is another 8 place ribbon bar with nothing really spectacular on it but--reason it wasn't shown as I forgot I had it displayed on my Artillery Majors uniform when I went to get these scans made.

 

Great collection Carl! Where do you guys find this stuff? I would't mind starting a collection of my own.

 

Quite welcome.

You have to hunt for it on various militaria sites, sometimes--you get to know people who have pieces to sell, sometimes if you know vets--sometimes they give you something of theirs and sometimes I find these at gun and militaria shows.

Before starting collecting anything-- I STRESS Do your homework first so you do not get burned.

 

David : I am no expert in the subject of militaria but I sure would ask the guys here on their specialties and they should be able to help you. do you want to specialize in US, German, Japanese, Russian ? What war years.... ? civil war ? Ww 1, ww2, etc ? as Carl pointed out he has some favorite dealers and so do the other guys but it helps to state just what U maybe looking for and as Carl said........do your research !!!

~E

 

To add on what Erich said--I have about 40 books dealing with different kinds of militaria--all German I guess you can say I have a 1 track mind

 

Thanks Erich and Carl! I'll keep that in mind. I have delt with sports collectibles before, so I know people can be sneaky.

I think I would like to try one German outfit and one U.S. outfit at first.

A U.S. Signal corps Tech grade corporal is what I would like for my U.S. outfit. Because that is what my Grandfather was.

As for the German, I'll have to do some thinking..
Afika corps and the Wehrmacht in Italy apeal to me the most.

Talk to me guys... What do I want?

 

David, where did your grandfather serve in italy again ?

for German I would have to rely on Carl, Bill, Volbert, Juerg and others.....

Fallshirmjäger maybe ? or a grenadier from an Infantrie regiment stioned in Italy ???

~E

 

Yes Erich, That's the right track, I think I would like to collect for a Fallshirmjäger. I was already leaning that way.

As far as where my grandfather served in Italy I don't know for sure. That is one of the things that I am trying to find out.

He was in the 63rd Sig BN, in Hq Co. I know that he was stationed in North Africa in 1943. And then in Italy(just not where).

Thanks Erich,

 

Hello David -

Concerning militaria, all of it has been faked big time. When I first started out twenty-two plus years ago, I did not have the availability of resources to confer with. For me, it was all, "guess and by gosh", and hope that I hadn't been taken. But, I was from time to time, and sometimes STILL am.

German militaria has some of the worst fakesters there are involved with it, but, being that this is my area of interest as well, perhaps I am being a bit prejudice about it.

I must state though that Carl, Erich, and some of the others here are correct. Take some of your hard earned dollars, buy some good reference books, and READ THEM. Then, after you feel a bit more confident in your decision making, take a go at purchasing something. But, at first, take a small step, and buy something fairly inexpensive. I mean, don't go for the big ticket item right away.

Also, use us as a reference too. I am MORE than willing to help a guy save a few bucks from making a mistake, and will help you out where I can. However, that doesn't mean I know everything. No one does. For example, if you want to find out about what constitutes an original $6,000 Knights Cross from a fake, I'm not your man. I'd rather put an original Iron Cross II Class around the guy's ( mannequin's ) neck before I shell out some big bucks only to find I'm out the six grand or what ever on some bawdy looking glass.

Go to the mannequin thread, and take a look at a couple of my mannequin's and see if you like what you see there. Maybe I can help you out.

Be good to each other.

Bill

 

Hi DM--thank you for the kind words.

Also--i'm glad that you do have some collectable experiance. I started out with comic books--graduated to trading cards of all types, then graduated again to collecting posters and then autographs and now to militaria.

I got out of all the others becaus eI got burned out on them--tho I still have great interests in those areas. Unfortunately--my money is stretched as it is without still buying in those areas.

On occasion I still collect autographs but only military.

I could not have expressed what Bill just wrote as well as he wrote it out. When I started collecting--I had no resources for info to learn anything from--and I didn't know any people who collected items either. No computers--nada.

Luckily being completely on my own--I got burned buying a bad ribbon bar and I traded a Mauser rifle (mismatched numbers but still fired OK) I traded it for a repo Afrika Korps Hauptmanns tunic that the collector swore up one side and down the other--that it was the real deal. Turned out that it was a British Army tunic made after ww2 but had real insignia placed on it like the shoulderboards--collar tabs and breast eagle. I also had another tunic that I got in this trade--which was made usung a west german airforce officers jacket--and had no insignia.

Luckily--I bumped into a person who was into reinacting and--I got rid of both repo tunics/jacket--and I got two Lithgow Lee-Enfield .303 rifles and two 1939 ek2s without ribbons.

All but two of the repo pieces I have managed to either get my money back on or traded these items away. I still have two items in my collection that are fakes--both are ribbon bars.

 

David - I started collecting two years ago. My main interest is German army, especially infantry. Besides that I have some items of the SA/NSDAP and dutch national socialist items. You see I find it also hard to specialize.

Books and contacts are required to start collecting. I have some books on uniforms and badges. Besides that I use the internet a lot. And finally sometimes I meet other colectors.

 

David :

I don't even think I can add a single thing to what our fourm experten have to say about collecting fine militaria, but.....

As Bill so well put it, German items of interest are often forged(faked) which is so sad. If you are interested in the Fallshirmjäger items be prepared to spend some monies. Beisdes being sought after they collect some of the highest figures for TReich items. Bill, Carl and Volkbert, Juerg can add to this if they would so do so.

References I would check with your local libray and go through their inter-loan to rent/borrow some of the fine books in print and OOP on the Fallschirmtruppen units, especailly ones like Fallschirmjäger by Ryton Publications and written by Thomas McGuirl and Uwe Feist. Some nice colour pics of Fallschirm smocks and weapons designed to give us that present day look. Osprey and Squadron-Signal have some cheaper softback books on the Parachute forces and U would be good to do a search on www.google.com
with Fallschirmjäger typed in. You may find some fun things to check out. Also from the UK, Greg Way's excellent site which besides history will show some fo the truppen in battle dress during the war.
www.eagle19.freeserve.co.uk/

last but not least go through the older pages on books/publications and I think some of the older threads will cover certain titles on the Parachute divisions that may help you in your searchs. You cannot go wrong having good reference materials by your side to ask questions if you think you have purchased a bogus piece. Asking here on the forums is always a wise choice....

~E

 

I agree with Erich that FJ badges are copied a lot and there exist some very good copies. The prices of these badges are also very high. I think it's better to start with some less expensive items.

Also be very careful where you buy these things. The copies I bought came mainly from local militaria shows. There are some good dealers on the internet where you can buy without having a big risk for a fake. See the list on this forum.

 

Wow, I didn't excpect such a helpful response. Thanks Bill, Carl, Erich and Volkbert!,

I will try to find all the literature I can on certain things before I buy.

Thanks Bill, Carl, Erich and Volkbert!

I wont be starting for a while.

Is a Wehrmacht Obergefreiter = to a U.S. Army Corporal? If so does anyone have some images of what his uniform would have looked like?

Oh, and where woudl Heer fit it with that?

Thanks again guys,