I will tell what is not restored, the San-Abt Montur belonging to FB. That is a set where you won't be left thinking..."I wonder..."
I will tell what is not restored, the San-Abt Montur belonging to FB. That is a set where you won't be left thinking..."I wonder..."
This is my first black uniform from more than forty years ago, and it was integral when I found it in 1972, and I could find witnesses to vouch for it many years prior to my owning it. You can tell little from the image, of course, but it is the VA issued uniform adjusted as a walking out dress with a shortening of the skirt and the removal of the hooks. It was originally found by the renowned and or infamous Tony Gordon in a used clothing dealer in the western U.S. many years before I got it. The original brassard had two cigarette burns on it from the non Aryan owner of said locale, who had defaced it when Gordon bought it in the early 1960s. I replaced the burnt arm band.
The reality of black SS items brings out the insanity that exists in the collector market. truly a handsome price for a mantel, which years ago were not conisdered to be of great interest. I recall a Deutschland Obersturmfuhrer mantel that sat in a Chicago dealer's shop in the early 1960's for $35.00 and went unsold for several years. Today, we have no idea what a dealer eventually sells something for. We only have the asking pirce to go on.
BOB
LIFE'S LOSERS NEVER LEARN FROM THE ERROR OF THEIR WAYS.
Insanity is right, and count me among the truly bonkers. USD 16,000 for said item is pretty outrageous, especially if it is put together.by BOB COLEMAN
I have seen many put together uniforms in the past fifteen years, when the market has grown as Bob has described it. The skilled collector, who has seen hundred of tunics and such over a long time, can well determine if a piece is restored or not.
This is an integral, organic LAH uniform found by Bruce Herman and which I bought for what seems a small sum today. All it serial numbers and such match each other in the dimension of date and place.
It and much more can be yours for the right price, my friend. I will dump it all at some point and my things are not fiddled with.
- - Updated - -
David Delich made clear to me the provenance of the SSVT Sani Abt things, which also all fit in place, time, and the totality of the thing.
The normal jazz with this stuff is always to say that it is put together, which is often true, but not always true. As long as I have collected since the early 1960s, collectors and dealers have embellished and defaced original things, as Bob will remind us, how SS insignia was farmed off of real, complete tunics by collar patch collectors. The same was true for the black overcoats, which were unwanted.
Paranoia is no guide, but some skepticism is warranted, and some experience with the actual items over a span of time forms a real requirement for success.
The magic pictures are hardly the coin of the realm.
I would also add that these things do tend, as FB wisely told me, to travel in circles. It is prudent to be aware of what fellow collectors have so that, once the items do come up for sale, there is no confusion about what is being offered.
This very item was shown on another forum. The proud former owner did not try to hide it was a put together Mantel. I think he did a rather good job, I would just hope the asking price is commensurate with what the item truly is.
..and this little tale is further grounds for my own happy preference for real, complete Allgemeine SS uniforms versus the often too good to be true SSVT and SSTV things.
Jawohl.
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