SS LAH Panzer Wrapper

[Scout]

Ben, thanks for taking the time to state your POV and to clarify. I did not know the person in question and do not have the knowledge to have an opinion on his collection, but he certainly sounds like he was a good friend to some here.
R.I.P.

[goodbuys]

Actually I do not like the wrappers with 2 inside pockets, and the heeres type jackets hidden loops for the 2 buttons , which is mostly wool made loops. Also I do not like heeres type 4 stitchings for the belt hooks, when normal SS jackets have only 2 of them.

Always like your posts Dimas.You speak soundly and to the point without the B.S.After being in this hobby for now 43 years i am disgusted with the bad stuff,humped up and before they know about items like you F-B and Bob Coleman to name a few comments like i don't know about this piece,but i don't like it are without any merit! IMO!

[carlsson1982]

It looks a bit like mine..

[Jerry B]

A few people on the other forum, myself included are trying to get them to stick to the items and leave the personal attacks out, but some seem to relish this opportunity to attack him now he can no longer defend himself. It is a sad state of affairs IMHO as they had banned him before his demise and obviously that was not enough and there are still some who cannot leave it alone. At least the worst of the personal attacks were deleted and now the attacks are in the main less personal. It is still the usual case of some saying it is all junk without posting any evidence to back up such statements, which is a complete waste of time for those interested in learning.

[BenVK]

At least the worst of the personal attacks were deleted

Just as they were in a lot of threads Richard was involved in over the years. It's all part of the plan over there because when anyone reads the threads now, the impression is that a fair and respectful discussion had taken place when the opposite was true at the time. It's already happening with the latest threads, notice how people are reading the "edited" versions and wondering why some of us declared our disgust about what was written but has now been deleted.

If I thought it would do any good, I would post some of the emails I received from Richard about the some of the scandalous fraud some of the self proclaimed "we're doing this for the benefit of the hobby" collectors have pulled behind the scenes over the years but what's the point in starting a war. Plus no one would believe me anyway.

[Jerry B]

Too true Ben, though I saw them before they were deleted and it was sickening the response of certain people over there. Kharma will hopefully catch up with them.

[BenVK]

Well, maybe Jerry but most times the real crooks sail off into the sunset, never to be seen again or answer for what they've done. And people like Richard die much, much too young. That's just the sad reality.

[BenVK]

In any case, I'm happy to post and discuss any of the caps involved over on the headgear forum if you guys think it's worthwhile to do so? As I mentioned before, most should be treated with caution IMO but merely dismissing them as "crap" without any proper analysis is no help to anyone.

Maybe someone else with the knowledge can do the same with the wraps?

Or maybe we should just leave this all alone now? I really don't know what to do for the best. It's all too soon for me and still upsetting if I'm honest...

[stonemint]

& with regard to Richard, he was not trying to pass fakes on an unsuspecting collector community. He truly believed they were original, and his family are not collectors, they are just simply doing what we would expect any of our loved ones to do if we were in the same situation.
I have yet to see even the semblance of a cogent explanation at to why they are bad---simply a blanket condemnation of the entire collection. It seems that the reaction is "it is all simply too good to be true, so it must all be fake".

I do not collect schiffchens or M-43's, so I cannot comment on them, but Ben, I have no issue with you posting them on the headgear authentication forum.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Those of you have a collection larger than say five thousand dollars U.S. and who might be of middle age and male gender should pay close attention to an episode that signifies a new low in what is already a pretty pathetic aspect of society. If you are hit by a bolt of lighting or expire of natural causes, i.e. a rapid growing cancer, then you have a preview of what awaits your heirs and your benighted property.
I was acquainted with Richard P and know his friends who are trying to sell his collection in order to assist a family that is now fairly without means. I have some desultory familiarity with this kind of regalia, and I assign no expertise whatsoever to those on the Bianchi website who declaim their disinterested pursuit of the truth absent any comment on the late owner. What a transparent tissue of lies and calumny of the basest kind.
In fact, there are some pieces of his collection I am buying, for what it is worth and which I know to be wholly authentic.
My views of the Wehrmacht Awards Forum are a matter of public record, but this episode illustrates, I think, what I have said all along about those who are imitating the high human achievements memorialized in William Golding's novel.
I am grateful to Mr. Mint and Ben VK for their very human posts.
My interactions with Richard P. revealed to me a man of my age with a deep interest in knowledge who had run afoul of a clique on the other site who have recently shown their actual posture.
I expect that were myself and my collection to befall a similar fate, the results would be the same, and such goes for several of you who post here and have more than five pieces.
More than sufficient reason for me, at least, to absent myself as I am doing from these sites, but this outrage is so odious and despicable that it requires a word.


PS You may not believe this anecdote, but in 1974 I bought a field grey field jacket of self propelled artillery with general's boards at a theater sale in Bad Godesberg for fifteen dollars.
It had been donated to the theater by an ex Wehrmacht officer of whom many had come to Bonn in the new Bundeswehr or otherwise lived on the Rhine.



I am also friends with Bruce Herman as concerns full disclosure and I have cordial relations with several dealers and even some collectors. The dealers are often more solicitous and generous towards me than many collectors, the latter of which treat knowledge via this medium as some cheap public convenience like a urinal or a door stop.