Hauptmann

Hi Bob, Hmmm, really? Think this one was a part of a very large group of U.S. items I got down in Florida for a song. So no great loss. But good to know. Glad I posted it as otherwise I'd have probably never known. Thanks much for the help, Dan

Hi Peter, Absolutely gorgious! As minis go these are just fantastic and by far the best little bar I've seen in a long time. My mini IC is rather detailed on the one side... but plain silver on the reverse. http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=7685 And of course mine does not have such close and distinguished company as yours... not to mention a decent piece of ribbon to wear. Very impressive! I'd be a very happy man if I could find one half as nice as yours. Thanks so much for sharing! Dan

Hi Kevin, Many thanks for all the ID's! Very cool on all counts! Dan

Hi Steve, Really? Neat! Mucho thanks for the ID on this one! Dan

Hi JC, Hey, looks fine to me! And with only a couple of their cosmonauts having gone out there I'd think it might end up being a pretty rare item some day. Here's hoping! And thanks for posting it. Dan

Hi Vic, Oh how I wish I read Russian and could translate it for you. I'm picking up words and such now without even thinking about it but as for translation methinks Rick is your man. Or perhaps Dave could help out if he's not too deep into something. Hope it turns out to be something good! But if you have more of this sort of thing I for one would love to see it when you get a chance. Dan

Wow... now I really love that one! Very nice!!!! Dan

Hi Ralph, Actually, within the next year or two I hope to have the basement totally redone and expanded in the back as we're also going to add more all the way up, as well as having the roof raised over the second story and I'll probably institute all of these precautions and more. Once I'm done I hope to have a decent display room, a small office/den and a home theater down there as well as a bathroom and small bedroom for those times when we have really bad storms as we then could go stay down there and not worry if the house gets blown away! But for now it looks like a constant struggle to stay ahead of it all. Thanks again. Dan

Hi Chris, Very nice indeed! And always terrific to have the original award documentation to go with it. Thanks for sharing that one! Dan

Hi Paul, Thanks. Nice thing is, they can actually be used, unlike alot of militaria. I was quite serious in that the platter has been used on more than one Christmas or Thanksgiving. We have one other big platter (just regular modern) but when we had alot of guests as we used to do down in Florida we'd have to recruit the Luftwaffe to help us out. And help they did. I dearly would have loved some personality pieces in this department... from AH or Goering or Speer as they had some really nice stuff. But by the time I came into the hobby those were already up there and moving steadily higher. But as a general rule, from the regular services this stuff tends to be rather inexpensive. Not alot of folks seem to be into it. And one can only imagine how much of it was made, what with all the bases, troops, etc. Not like modern militaries where most are fed at bases on metal or plastic trays and such. I only wish those two knives were not in such bad shape. I can only imagine that they were indeed in a bombing raid or in a building that got blown up or something. A shame as they were once really nice I'm sure. And they've got an earlier date too. Seems every once in a while I spot a piece or two for cheap and grab it. I especially love my Kreigsmarine fork which has a bigger eagle and a big M over it. And Lord only knows how much of that went to the bottom during the war. I actually had a few more pieces but over time they got traded off for one thing or another. But I still have the bulk of it all. Dan

Well, personally, if I found one at say... $30 to $35 I'd jump on it. But any more than that... perhaps if I had a ton of hobby money at that point and it was burning a hole in my pocket. But then again, someone else who is going for buckles or needs one of these to complete a uniform or something... they might go considerably more. I think one thing "certain" dealers make a mistake on is not being open to offers. And they end up being very high priced on certain items. I've no idea who buys this stuff... like on some TR dealer sites. Just blows me away!!!! And as you say, often the stuff just sits there forever. But these are great pieces. Nice and heavy, well made and that star is very impressive. Just looks terrific in displays. Dan

Hi Nack, Wow, that much! Had no idea. Needless to say I'm glad I jumped on this one when I had the chance all those years ago. Thanks!!!! Dan

Hi Nack, Yeah, I thought so too, both then and now. One of those "Can't pass it up." kinda deals. Haven't seen too many since then but then again haven't really been looking. Although as I say I wish I had the belt and cross strap that goes with it. Perhaps one day. But it's a great heavy piece and looks great in a medals display. Dan

Hi Rick, On the colors... as much as I "wish" it were true, I do believe these are AF and no the colors on this are not accure on the scan. Try as I might in adjusting it would not come out to the proper AF color to match the boards. But they match my AF privates boards so no doubt that's what they are. I have a couple of KGB shoulder patches and the boards do not match that color but do match the AF color. On the scanning tip... mucho thanks!!!! Will definitely try that in future. Thanks Rick... deeply appreciate. Dan

Wouldn't mind the first one... but they'd have to be pretty big. Would have to be sealed in with the goodies as far as the second one goes. Working on the third one. Never in a million years! Spent a total of 36 years there... too hot, too humid, too buggy, too many hurricanes and tornadoes... too many people... just too! Would not trade where we are for all the money in the world or anything else. Dan

Hi Chip, This gave me a thought... I went ahead and started a post over in the Preservation and Restoration section. So hoping we'll get some helpful hints over there. http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=10817 Thanks, Dan

Hi all, Okay, I'd just posted pics of my WWI German helmets and included my pickelhaube: [attachmentid=52447] [attachmentid=52448] As you can see... there's mold in them thar hills! I had had this problem our first summer here on several leather items... holsters, belts, etc. and had gone to great lengths to clean it all off and try to kill the little buggers off. This season I kept the windows open in the bunker and it was dry and cool down there. But seems some of the little guys decided to move back in. Chip pointed out the mold in the other post and it got me to thinking it would be a good subject for this forum. Does anyone have any good ways of killing off this stuff without hurting or adversely affecting the leather? Turns out some of my holsters and such have the problem again. I'd really love to get it taken care of for once and for all and sadly my bunker is the only place I have to store or display my collection. The house is not huge and there's just no where else to put such things. We're in a very dry climate here. Never had much of a problem with mold down in Florida which of course is extremely humid. I know I have to get this under control so any helpful hints would be most welcome. Thanks! Dan

Anybody got a pair of binoculars! Or perhaps a microscope... Dan

Hi Chip, Yeah, noticed that when I did the pics last night. It's cropped up before. Thing is we live in a very dry state. I keep the basement ventilated and it too is very dry. But this stuff popped up our first partial summer here. And try as I might I can't seem to kill it. I've even moved stuff around the house and yet it keeps coming back. It seems to love to live on certain types of leather. Any ideas on how to kill it off for once and for all? There must be some cleaning or something that won't harm the leather but will get rid of the mold. Thanks, Dan

Hi Ed, To me at least it's very helpful when a fellow member here makes such recommendations. I'm very leery about dealing with new folks, especially in an area where I don't have a ton of expertise or am just starting out. So such recommendations are extremely valuable. Just as when someone should be avoided... I want to know. I'm sure that at least most if not all of us feel this way. It's so easy in all this to lose our hard earned money to crooks and by the same token it's always nice to be able to feel comfortable dealing with someone new knowing that they have a very good rep to start with. Dan

Hi Paul, To my way of thinking it's good for people to post such things... even if posted before. With all the types, variations, etc. out there, not to mention the fact that the more "good" stuff one see's the better you can spot the good from the bad. Same goes with fakes... the more you see and handle the better you get at all this. And besides... a large part of collecting is in wanting to share what you have with others and to see their collections as well. I for one thoroughly enjoy each and every post on here... well, except perhaps for the occassional weight loss ad... Keep up the great work! Dan

Hi Paul, "VERY NICE"!!!! Ya know... if they ever want to start the DDR back up again... all they've gotta do is give us a shout and if they can afford our naturally up to date and much more inflated prices then I'm sure we could be pursuaded to sell back enough to get them up and running again! This is just truly amazing... the uniforms, insignia and equipment of nearly an entire nation squirred away in private collections around the world. Just astounds me when I think about it sometimes. And to think that from all of those Warsaw Pact countries, barely anything got out until after the wall fell and then boom... like K-Mart blew up! Stuff all over the place at rock bottom prices. I'd love to get an officers at some point. Plus as much as I wanted to doll mine up with some ribbons and awards I'm not really sure what to put on it. The extremely few ribbons I have would work on any police uniform but they're mostly long service... and without the sleeve chevron to indicate matching total of long service I don't think it would look right. Plus, I'd forgotten about that label on the sleeve so guessing it's best to just leave it in an unissued state. I'm also assuming these folks would have worn the black belt and I've only got the brown NVA officers belt and the web field belt. Don't even have any of the brocade types which I dearly want some day. I've got a Border Guard Colonel uniform and need the brocade for it as I already have the dress cords. Also need a BG officers peaked cap... but would prefer in 59 to 60 size so have been searching for one at a decent price. I much prefer to get the bigger sizes as those seem to dry up quicker than the rest. And at some point I need some full manequins... although finding those cheap is like finding hen's teeth! On the piping around the tabs... any idea what it might have signified? Mucho thanks for sharing! Loved seeing them and if you or any other members have or get more TRAPO items I'd love to see. Don't generally see much about this bunch. Dan

Hi Paul, You know... that thought never even occurred to me! But makes perfect sense! Mucho thanks my friend. Where would my brain be without all my fellow hobbyites? God how I love this place! Have a great one! Dan

Hi Pat, Actually I think the back is blank. I've been trying to post pics of the reverse of anything I post... unless it's blank and I don't feel it would add anything. If you really want to see it I'll be glad to do a scan and post it later today as I'm getting ready to hit the bed now. On signatures... basically there is generally a look that the paper has been compressed under the pen or pencil or whatever was used. You'll be able to feel the impression left by the writing instrument. And depending on the thickness of the medium (paper, cardstock, etc.) you can often see the reverse of the impression on the back. Also edges under magnification will be a bit rough in places. And you'll see different shades of ink, etc. whenever lines in a signature or any writing cross over other parts of the letter or number that's been written. Autopen signatures tend to be very even, crisp and just don't have the tell tale marks of something written by hand. Next time you get a paycheck if you work for a company that uses autopen signatures on their checks... compare it under magnification to a check you've written or one from another individual. You'll begin to see many differences between the two. Generally when you write to say, politicians... like the President of the U.S., etc., you'll receive an autopen reply. When writing such individuals you must request if at all possible that they actually sign the card, letter, document that you've sent to them or requested they sign. The best way to get autographs of course is in person. The big thing now is "reprints" where someone gets authentic autographs, does a print of the pic with the signature(s) and then sells it. Basically such pictures are worthless in my opinion... at least as far as autographs. They're like fake Rolex watches. You might impress your next door neighbor. But try reselling it down the road. Unlike real autographs they will not increase in value. Also keep in mind that a persons handwriting changes over time. What you wrote as a child will in no way resemble what you write now. And as you get older it will continue to change. Take Kaiser Wilhelm. When a Prince it was a normal sized signature. When he became Kaiser it got larger. The more powerful he became the larger his signature. Then, when his fortunes took a turn for the worse it became smaller and less bold. Hitler's signature changed in similar ways. He had an unusual signature to begin with... signing AF Hitler... short for Adolf of course. At times he'd also sign Wolf which was a nickname. Drives me crazy every time I see Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, when Indy is in Berlin dressed as a German officer and Hitler signs his dad's book. He signs it Adolf Hitler. Just didn't happen! And then, with things like the diaries the signatures and writing continue to be firm and strong even after the bomb plot... when Hitler could barely keep his arm from trembling much less sign anything. His signatures after that event are a pale shadow of their former selves. Just look at a copy of his marriage document compared with an early signature on a Knight's Cross document for example. Like night and day. If you're really interested I'd highly recommend that you get one (or several) of the late Charles Hamiltons works on the subject. He did two volumes on Leaders and Personalities of the Third Reich as a matter of fact which include photos as well as examples of their signatures. I have the first volume and hope to get the second if it ever comes down in price or I can find a cheap copy used. He includes comparisons of Hitler's handwriting in the first volume. He also has such a comparison of Hitler as well as the Kaiser and Napoleon as well in some of his earlier works. But during his lifetime he was "the" expert in the field of autographs. He was the one expert to state up front that the Hitler diaries were fakes, even while the other "experts" were touting them are being absolutely authentic. Sigh... yet another hobby of mine as if I need any more! Dan

Hi Alfred, Many thanks for that! That is indeed a huge help! Well, at least I still have a couple of possibles. And I'm guessing several of the others are early on after switching to the five sided's. Thanks so much for posting that. I'm sure I won't be the only one to benefit from it. Dan