Wow. Want a picture of the item before dropping fat cash on that tunic, only $1 each!
And then, a text only item list. Did you ever buy anything like that sight unseen?
Wow. Want a picture of the item before dropping fat cash on that tunic, only $1 each!
And then, a text only item list. Did you ever buy anything like that sight unseen?
No, the stuff was faked outright by whomever and sold as approved Nazi regalia to Nazis. I have posted about this fact with documents dozens of times.by avenger
This one of the reasons the Nazis created the RZM in the first place.
750 dollars was a lot of money, kiddo.
Yes, I bought sight unseen often, but most of what I bought was in my narrow circle, and it was pretty narrow.
That's funny...
"DO NOT SEND IN YOUR CARD"
You know, now that you mention that, I believe I have read something about this some time ago. I will need to make use of the forum search engine and get a refresher as the last time I saw that information I was quite green in general. I was looking back through some of my earliest threads today, and find I'm gleaning much more insight from the comments people made on my purchases now, than I did back then. There is lots of stuff I missed because I just didn't know what they were talking about really.
It's probably better that you traded in a narrow circle if the alternative was typed descriptions and a "trust me, I'm a professional" guarantee. Though, in light of all this evidence you've provided tonight, I will have to concede the point. We have it much better today in terms of information available.
Fakes were very good--there are a number of them in the Shutt book (most notoriously, the PL white-top of Walter Buch, among many others), and that book goes back to 1981.All excellent points Stonemint, and points taken. What you describe sounds like the wild west.
Do you believe the fakes were as good back then as they are today? Honestly, when I hear folks like you and FB who have dedicated much of your lives to the study of these pieces, express genuine surprise over how close reproductions have gotten, that's enough to give a person pause for sure. And, there is probably something to be said for holding a real piece in hand that a person can't get over the internet. Seems like it's possible the internet has also been an equally good reference for the fakers, and judging by some of the recent comments, the evidence appears to support that at least in some cases.
It may have been you or FB who mentioned a lot of long time collections are being liquidated these days from people who have passed away, and now some of those really close fakes are entering circulation for the first time in ages. That made a lot of sense to me. Mind you, I don't want to purport to express a "woe is us" kind of tone to any of this, I don't feel that way about SS collecting. It's more of a cautious timidity I'm feeling when I read these threads, like a dear always weary of a hunter.
The Di Fillipi French book from 1978 also contains a number of high-end fakes. The fakes from both these books are still fooling collectors to this day, and will do so into the future.
“Show me the regulation, and I’ll show you the exception.”
HOWEVER, I also want to add that IMO, visors are one of the safest areas of TR collecting (if not the safest).
The primary reason for this is that the level of skill required to make these hats does not exist anymore, as all the Master Hat Makers have died off (and the stuff currently being made is assembly-line junk made in the Far East).
Rebuilt visors are easy to detect, but usually require a hands-on to get at the "guts" of the cap.
Most fakes are BRD/DDR poseurs, and they have numerous tells.
The repros (even the Jankes) are no where near TR quality.
The only dangerous visors are the one-off visors built from scratch, but these are few and far between--the reason being that like potato chips, the fakers just can't make one--and the fakers (like in poker) all have their "tells".
I would say that 98% of all visors posted on the forum can be quickly discerned as being real or fake--as long as 10+ MP digital cameras are used (not cel phones), with good lighting, and pics from all angles (including the interior).
Everyone here is happy to give free input as to the authenticity of a hat, and as I have stated before, you will not find this level of combined knowledge on any other forum.
So, in other words, "have no fear, the WRF is here"(!)
“Show me the regulation, and I’ll show you the exception.”
F-B--thanks for the old Manions pages--you should put a quarter next to the pics for reference so they can get an idea of the size of the pics.
Unfortunately, when I moved out to the desert southwest some 20+ years ago, I threw out all my Manions/Der Gauleiter/House of Swords & Militaria etc catalogs (and now regret it, but they did take up a lot of room.)
Even worse was a company called AAG Mail Auction--they would just take b&w group shots of everything and anything lumped together w/o any rhyme or reason--I think I bid once on a hat in "mint" condition, which I sent back due to extensive mothing (and received the standard reply "hey, except for the mothing, the hat is mint!".....)
“Show me the regulation, and I’ll show you the exception.”
I have a bunch of these old Manion lists, and lists that are pictured here. One advantage I have is "inheriting" my Uncles "Life's Work." In that I mean - the three ring binder he kept of every dang xerox copy ever sent to him. I have two of these books about 5 inches thick. Yes, it includes letters, pictures, and envelopes from every major collector in the 60's, 70's, 80's and beyond. Those books are chalk full of pictures, used in a time when reference books were un-head of. I cant even imagine the days of "mailing" letters and xerox copies.. Waiting days, weeks, Months for a response. We are talking years, decades to build your own reference manual. I cant even fathom these times and don't even realize how lucky I have it - with this forum (including letters from "experts" on this forum in these books) and the internet at my finger tips... It was bitter sweet for me to even receive these "reference books." It marked a time when my Uncle was digressing from this hobby he loves and me - beginning my own journey that he started MANY years ago... To old and new collectors alike - Happy Hunting!
I don't want to turn this into a thread on fakes that are pictured in books, but this was represented as the visor of Reichsleiter Walter Buch in the 1981 Shutt book.
It is a Frankenstein cap made by what I call the "Kansas City Cabal" in the late 1970's.
It would still fool 95% of collectors today (and it sold for big $ some 7 years ago).
I post this as an example of just how difficult collecting was back then, and how good the fakes were as well.
“Show me the regulation, and I’ll show you the exception.”
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