My First SS "Danziger" Skull

[Aldo]

I could no longer resist the temptation to foray into the world of SS skulls. I know this area of collecting is fraught with danger and land mines of all sorts but I had to see what the fuss was all about. As a novice I decided to begin by acquiring a Danziger skull, the red headed stepchild of skull collectors. I thought it was a good place to start because of the availability and relatively lower cost. I'll refrain from calling it "early" or "jawless" for fear of a scolding from FB and others. Prior to this I have never seen one of these in person and have relied on the beautiful collages of skulls in this part of the forum. The first thing that struck me was the size of it since I envisioned them to be smaller. The skull has a beautiful slightly yellowed patina not really visible in the photo's. It instantly became my favorite piece and I am now officially hooked. I took a few pictures of the skull alongside two Heer panzer variety to demonstrate to novice collectors like myself the differences in size, color and detail. Enjoy, Al.

[carpediem]

Nice piece and well photographed. You are right, I had always imagined them as smaller too.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Who put the "less" in "jawless?"

Well done. Next step is to get the ensemble on a cap.

You know, I am a terrible scold, but there you are.

Happy collecting and may you, yourself, never become "jawless."

Danzig has its own charms, I think, which I am at pains to honor.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

The cap badges are surely larger than the collar patch badges, but they are all small versus the badge for the Hussar's fur cap, a mighty piece of tin like a hub cap.

[carpediem]

The cap badges are surely larger than the collar patch badges, but they are all small versus the badge for the Hussar's fur cap, a mighty piece of tin like a hub cap.

I can't remember who, but I did once see a comparison of the Hussar badge and the SS cap device. You are correct that the difference is quite large between those two.

[Aldo]

Nice piece and well photographed. You are right, I had always imagined them as smaller too.

Thank you. It's funny how every new piece I have ever acquired has always surprised me as being smaller than expected, but in this case the reverse was true. This hobby is all about getting a real specimen in you hands and examining it. Once you've done that you become familiar with the characteristics of the object and it's harder to be fooled by forgers. I look forward to hunting down more skulls but this will put a dent in my wallet.

[carpediem]

I am surprised at the asking price for items that represent such misery. You have done your due diligence well though and that is a real clean and crisp example. The details jump out at the level of magnification in your photos. Very nice.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Thank you. It's funny how every new piece I have ever acquired has always surprised me as being smaller than expected, but in this case the reverse was true. This hobby is all about getting a real specimen in you hands and examining it. Once you've done that you become familiar with the characteristics of the object and it's harder to be fooled by forgers. I look forward to hunting down more skulls but this will put a dent in my wallet.

In fact, the cap insignia is very small in real life. These pictures, especially the dealer porn shots and so forth, make them seem enormous.
They are not. Congratulations and happy collecting. I am a huge pain in the ass with words, but I use words professionally.
I hope we helped you, and may you find what you desire. There is a lot of nice things on offer, and these badges are very inexpensive
versus the RZM marked SS pieces.

You should try to find the Steinhauer und Lueck variant of the Danziger badge, i.e. the one with the RZM stamp.

I own them, but they are afixed to caps and I do not tear these things up.

[Aldo]

Who put the "less" in "jawless?"

Well done. Next step is to get the ensemble on a cap.

You know, I am a terrible scold, but there you are.

Happy collecting and may you, yourself, never become "jawless."

Danzig has its own charms, I think, which I am at pains to honor.

Thank you, I agree I am partial to the Danzig variety but wouldn't mind owning a Hussar's either

[Aldo]

You should try to find the Steinhauer und Lueck variant of the Danziger badge, i.e. the one with the RZM stamp.

I own them, but they are afixed to caps and I do not tear these things up.

Thank you I will be on the lookout for one and I appreciate that you don't tear up those beautiful caps to examine a prong or a mark.