Hauptmann

Hi Darrell, I've got to agree... "depths" is definitely an appropriate word to use... it's definitely a thick and heavy one! But that's the way I like them... all the more to look through again and again. Thanks! Dan

Hi all, I hope it's okay, me putting this here but I just had to share the news. After selling a few of my extra's and after a loooooooong wait, and after feeling I was the only person on the face of the planet who collected Soviet awards and didn't have it... I finally managed to purchase a new copy of McDaniel and Schmitt's book on Soviet Orders and Medals. And the best part of all... it arrived today!!!! Haven't been able to so much as crack the covers on it yet... been too busy with work and various other things. But I'm about at the point of being able to dive in and start devouring it. It's much thicker than I imaged and just by the look of it it's well worth the price. I can't wait to start studying it. I know to alot of you who have had it for a while it's probably not a big deal. But to me, on this day and at this time this is cause for celebration. I'm half tempted to run up and buy a bottle of champaign I'm so excited! It's just been so long in coming... was beginning to doubt it would ever happen. I'm so glad I was finally able to get this and I just know it's going to help me in my Soviet collecting well beyond it's price. I know alot of you have probably been keeping your fingers crossed that I'd manage to get this and for that I am deeply grateful. Now... the next item on the agenda... that Epson scanner! All good things come to those who wait. Thanks! Dan

Hi Greg, Never fear rambling on with me... I tend to be a bit of a rambler as many can attest. I really wish there was a way to check it out without messing up the framed display. What I may do is check with a frame shop the next time I've over near one and see what they'd recommend. If it's not much for them to pop new paper over the old, and if they can reglue the original frame companies label on the new paper then I wouldn't mind opening it up as I'm fairly sure seeing the backs would not be difficult at that point. It's been soooooo long since I got this set but I'm sure I have less in the entire thing than what you quote for low end on either of the badges. I don't know why I didn't think to ask Jack about makers at the time and there's no guarantee he'd have remembered... although he might have had it noted down somewhere. But this definitely gives me an idea and that's basically all I needed for those. Hopefully if I can manage to get good scans, or if I get it opened can take some better pics of them then perhaps we can nail it down a bit more. I really appreciate your help on this. And again, please feel free to ramble on with me anytime... even if you need to PM to do it. Always up for a good long chat. Many thanks! Dan

Also, I will try to get better scans of it all once I "finally" manage to get my Epson scanner. Dan

Hi Greg, No plan to let these go right now but just out of curiosity, of course depending on the maker, what these would be worth, especially as a set as I'd never want to split them up. I am sadly contemplating letting a few more of my TR pieces go. Am very torn, especially as the major one would be my GPB from Jack. Basically I have that, the set of IAB's and my navy dagger that were all from him. I definitely don't want to let loose any of them but from what I understand the GPB would give me a big boost in what I'm trying to buy. Am also considering my Aux Cruiser and cased Blockade Runner set. Very hard thing to do. I quite understand how Grant felt re: his 57's collection. Not easy to let the little ones leave the nest, especially after so long. Thanks, Dan

Hi all, Someone PM'd me suggesting someone who might be intro'd in badges like my Aux. Cruiser which were missing a clasp, etc, should I ever decide to part with any. I cannot find it in my PM's... may have accidently deleted it. Am indeed considering letting go of my Aux. Cruiser, cased Blockade Runner and possibly my GPB. But of course the Aux. Cruiser does have the missing clasp, hence my need to get that info again. But of course if anyone else is intro'd in any of these please don't hesitate to PM me and let me know. Many thanks, Dan

Hi Pat, Many thanks! And as far as mine go... I don't believe so. I believe all of mine are say 60's to 90 period. Thanks, Dan

Hi all, Here's my latest acquisition... just won on Ebay tonight so will probably be the middle or end of next week before I see it in person. Needless to say this is the sellers pic. I'll have to redo a few of these once this one gets here. Am hoping to manage to get a few poles to mount them on with their finials before too long. Once I do I'll snap some photos of them like that as well. Without further ado: [attachmentid=41939] I just love the Order of the Red Banner of Labor pictured on the flag. I'm hoping it's the same on both sides. I saw this a bit ago and no one bid. Didn't have the money at the time. But managed to scrounge up enough this time and think I did good. Only $15.50 plus $5 shipping. Not sure what it was from... perhaps some factory or something. But I really think it's a beautiful flag for sure... and not one I've seen all over like some of the naval flags on Ebay. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. Dan

Hi Chip, I'm very sorry to hear all that. I only wish I'd known as my wife and I were in the publishing field and worked with printers all the time. Of course that was a bit before the desktop publishing of the last fifteen or so years with it getting better and easier all the time. But had we been able to do anything we would have been happy to. But I do remember, now that you mention it, the endless waiting for more issues for my membership fee only to have them not come. The few that did were extremely interesting and I still have them somewhere in all my stuff, although I could not lay my hands on them right off the bat. It's a shame as I really thought it was a terrific idea at the time. I also used to get Der Gauleiter... both when it was an auction and sellers and then when it went to auctions only. Finally it sold to someone, don't know who, and it then also seemed to peter out. The one thing I deeply regret in all that time is not being able to get the book of cartoons of "Orders and medals that should have been but weren't". Some of them were sooooo funny and I would have loved a complete collection. Sigh... the good old days, gone forever. Definitely good times while they lasted though and I guess nothing lasts forever. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Dan

Hi Chip, Many thanks on the GM info. Quick question though... whatever happened to the Kaiserzeit, not to mention the Imperial German Military Collectors Association? I was a member... had received the KZ and then suddenly it was like they dropped off the face of the planet. Do they still exist and if so how do I get back in? I've even still got my original membership card and number info. Thanks, Dan

Hi all, Out of curiosity, roughly what would one of the Imperial German gasmasks, complete with cannister run nowadays? I have a WWII which I was told was likely issued to the Luftschutz and another WWII mask that I picked up a gazillion years ago for $10 in a surplus store in Clearwater Florida. It's nazi marked but was so dirty sitting on their shelf the only thing I knew was it was German and looked to be WWII. They didn't have the original cannister... just a West German which I got for $5 if I remember correctly. But I'm curious about these Imperial issues. Our local history museum has one brought back by one of our local vets. And a friend of mine up here had one a few years ago that she sold before we moved up... a complete set. She said it was just like the one in the museum. She hated to tell me but I figure one will turn up eventually and it's nothing I'm in a hurry for. In fact my son is more into gas masks than I am. They're a nice addition to general field gear but nothing I'm actively seeking at the moment. Thanks, Dan

Hey Pat, Good going on this one! And thanks to all the members who jumped in and helped. A great piece. Another question on this one though... now that she's known... is there any easy way to find out what, if any, other medals she was awarded? I'm assuming she would have gotten the WAC medal... and the Victory medal, but any confirmation or way to find out about others? Would be great to have examples of anything else she was awarded. Again great find Pat... and now extremely important to you, I know. Can't think of a better birthday present than finding out the history on this one. Dan

Hi Pat, Putting more of my poor little pics to shame again I see. Great scans... so detailed... love it... why did I let it go? Just kidding! I'm glad she's in a new home where she'll be loved all the more. You'll just have to get some more nice SA pieces to put with her... perhaps a dagger. Just remember, check with the gang first to avoid any more baddies out there. Dan

Hi and thanks for posting your's. Although I'm far from an expert it looks good to me. From the look of the materials used and the contruction, based on other armbands I've had and have. From what I can see it's a terrific piece! Thanks for sharing. Dan

Hi Pat, I LOVE it! But then again I'm biased. Glad you like her... she's purty!!!! Dan

Hi Joel, Many thanks for your encouraging words. I also believe that... although with a few things the belief is starting to wear a bit thin... it's there but barely as it's been sooooo long. Sometimes it's been my own stupidity. Not buying West German 1957 awards because so many collectors I respected were saying they were garbage and would never be worth anything. I loved them then and could have bought tons. I bought only a few and ended up still loving them and now not being able to afford them for the most part. But in the end it was my own fault for not listening to my heart. Then, at a gun show in Tallahassee once I passed up being able to buy literally up to three tables filled with those self same NCO swords... albeit the majority not near the condition of "the one" for $35 to $40 each! Probably could have done a great bulk deal too. But no one knew they'd go up like they did in a very short time. At that same show I had an opportunity to trade a stein I had... a rather plain one for the most part, for a Marine Mameluke sword in mint condition complete with it's original storage bag which he'd valued at $100. I passed on it. Even then I gritted my teeth as I did it. This pattern has always been a love of mine. Why oh why did I do it... I'll never know. But again my own dumb fault and to this day I have no examples of this beautiful sword. Sigh. But for every dumb thing I've done I've probably done several smart things so it all works out in the long run. I too love the thrill of the hunt... in all of my many hobbies. And there's nothing like coming home victorious with the grant prize slug over ones shoulder! Nothing beats that feeling. I'll be eagerly looking forward to seeing the bayonet... and of course if you happen upon a steal of a deal on one of those NCO's and/or a USMC Mameluke sword for a song on the way home... just remember... all donations are gleefully accepted! Thanks! Dan

I like Wakizashi's but really LOVE Katana's. No idea why but especially the NCO Shin Gunto's with the olive colored metal scabbards and the metal grips. They used to be the cheapest back in the day ($40-$50 each believe it or not!) and least desireable in most circles until the Japanese economy soared and they started to buy back much of what they'd lost in the war. Price was no object and darned if they didn't drive everything through the roof... and it's never gone back down. I missed a near mint example... I was absolutely in love with this sword. A local dealer I knew down in Florida had it and as I'd done him some good deals on some things I had that he wanted I'd asked him to hold it for me for a couple of weeks. It was only $200. He was one of those collected to deal types and in it for $$$$$$$$'s at all costs but seemed nice enough and we'd had some good deals. Well, he'd agreed and in two weeks as promised I had the money. He'd sold it two days earlier. Needless to say the free ride ended there as, pretty much, did our dealings. Really ticked me off royally. And to this day I've never been able to get one, and that really hurts. Even worse... years later I answered a small ad in the local paper for a Broomhandle Mauser for $250.00. Went and checked it out and bought it along with a Mauser rifle for $100 which is the one I posted that turned out to be a DDR marked piece, as well as a replacement stock for $50 (kept the original) for my M1 Garand with the cracked wrist. Well, long story short, we get to talking. I mentioned that dealer in Tallahassee and the story of the sword comes up. He says to hang on a second... goes in the other room and out he comes with MY SWORD!!!! He was the guy who bought it!!!! I begged. I pleaded. I did everything short of getting on my hands and knees in tears to buy that sword from him... but he would not sell. And all he did was keep it in a gun safe in his bedroom where it seldom saw the light of day. So again, never got one... don't know if I ever will because when I see some of the garbage they sell (good pieces though) for $350-$1,000 and up... and compare it with my memory of that jewel I could have had for $200 if that dealer had only kept his word as I did mine... ARRRRRRRRRGH!!!! Everything else pales by comparison. I still pray that perhaps God will bless me with a vet deal for cheap... but then again I would never want to take advantage of anyone and I'd have to be honest as I always have and tell them what it's potentially worth. But then if they still only want a bit for it it would be okay. That's one of my major problems I guess... I'm too honest and shoot my foot off quite often. But I'd rather be honest and lose a deal than be a pirate who knows full well what some vet's widow has is worth and giving her a pittance instead only to rush off and make ten times that on each piece. Hate it when I hear about such things. And I've lost more good deals being honest... but I've gotten quite a few jewels as a consequence of how I am too... so it all works out over time. And I can sleep at night which is priceless. Hey, please post a pic of the bayo when you've got time as I'd love to see that too. Just great stuff. Yet another branch of the hobby that I love but sadly the money only spreads so far these days. But I do hope and pray I'll get that Shin Gunto one of these days. Thanks, Dan

Hi Joel, Great display! I also love the rifle... have a couple myself, one of each caliber but one has been sporterized (not by me! ) and also the flag. I have that one meatball flag but not the one with rays. Would eventually love one of those too. Do you have the bayo? That's a terrific accessory if you can get one at a good price... but be careful as most I've seen have been razor sharp! They did tend to like sharp blades. Do you have any other Japanese pieces... insignia, equipment? I don't have a ton other than what you see in the pic... a couple of medals, one cased and a few pieces of collar insignia. I had a fantastic, untouched and very complete helmet literally walk in to my room one day many moons ago in the hands of a friend and he just gave it to me. His dad had sent it back from the Pacific and never did anything with it. It ended up in his mom's attic and when they were putting her into an assisted living facility and cleaning out the house they found it. He gave it to my friend who asked if he could give it to me. The dad had no interest in it so to me it went. Then like a fool ) I trade it off for some TR stuff as that was my primary interest at the time. Now they go for a small fortune like that. I have a helmet which I got for dirt... say $5-$10 range if I remember... been so long ago. But it looks newer and I seem to remember seeing that at least at some point (not sure what they wear now) the Chinese Peoples Army used the identical helmet but with a newer type liner. I may be wrong... I guess I'll have to do pics and post it at some point and get opinions. Haven't quite gotten up to the helmets yet. Great pieces one and all. Keep that collection growing and please... show more when they get added to the family. Thanks! Dan

Hi Joel, Beautiful Nambu! And the holster is gorgeous as well! Mine has the winter trigger guard but your's looks even more like a luger with the standard guard. In fact, the guards themselves are fascinating as when these are broken down for cleaning the entire trigger and guard come out as one unit if I remember correctly. Never seen that in another handgun. [attachmentid=41528] Have you ever fired yours? I know ammo is a bit tough to come by, not to mention expensive. Also the firing pins can be fragile. But some friends of mine found and gave me a box of ammo years ago which was short just a couple of rounds. I've fired two or three from it and that's it. Just wanted the experience and must say it's a fine shooting gun. Japanese guns got such a bad rap after the war but most are actually quite well made. In fact, the rifles were based on the Mauser action and are so well built in most cases (not the last ditch types of course!) that you can actually overload them quite a bit and they won't blow up. Not that I would recommend doing so but it was tested by the staff of Guns and Ammo magazine many years ago and it held up amazingly well. Again beautiful piece... thanks for sharing! Dan

Hi Pat, Many thanks. The nicest thing is there's a great deal of variety and something in all price ranges so just about anyone can put together a fairly nice DDR collection. On the GST it stands for Die Gesellschaft f?r Sport und Technik. It was formed 7th August 1952. It was a paramilitary youth organization for sports including things such as motorcycling, flying, pre-military training, etc. From what I've seen GST items are among the cheapest and easiest to get ahold of of all the DDR material out there. They even have a nice finial I'd love to get some day and even their flags and such turn up rather cheap from time to time. I've never really sought it out for the most part... the pieces I have mostly came from big package deals and they just happened to be there or as throw in's or gifts. Makes for a nice sideline. Nice tabs by the way. I have the same ones with the matching boards. Another throw in if I remember correctly. I also have a set of paratrooper tabs and some other miscellaneous tabs and boards, as well as several uniforms, field gear, headgear, etc. I'll have to get around to taking pics of those and posting at some point. Definitely would like to see your goodies as well. Dan

Hi Kevin, I'm in love!!!! Many thanks for all the info! Will be going over it a bit later when things get quiet around here and I can concentrate and enjoy. Thanks, Dan

Hi Kevin, Thanks so much for posting some of your pieces. Great stuff! I'm so glad to see some of the varieties I talked about. In fact I believe between your Kampgruppens and the service medals they also show the variation in the reverse wreaths as well as showing the early numbered awards not to mention the pins... something not mentioned in the book. Well done! I have some of the ones with the varieties in the flag on the obverse on the Army loyal service medals but not any of the Verdienstmedaille der NVA. But I keep looking. I just LOVE your service medals, especially on the bar. I'm still hoping for at least one DDR bar and I would dearly love to find one with some of my beloved Verdienstmedaille der NVA on them... just beautiful!!!! I don't know why in the world I'm so hooked on that particular type but I am so guess I've just got to go with the flow. And many thanks for showing the difference in the reverse attachments on the early qualification badges. So I take it that means my Panzer Meister is one of the restrikes? Again I'm far from an expert in such things... but I'm trying to learn. Beautiful pieces you have there. Loved seeing them. Please post more DDR's if you have them. And would absolutely love to see that entire medal bar... or medal bars in general if you or any of the other members have them. I've yet to see one for sale but I keep hoping. It's like ribbon bars... I have yet to obtain a single DDR ribbon bar... outside of the singles that come with the medals. Again many thanks for sharing. That's the greatest part of this... we all get to learn more about the things we love. Dan

Hi Paul, Many thanks! They did indeed have a large variety of qualification badges of both types with much of it still being dirt cheap which is great for collectors on a tight budget... which I've been for a long time. Lets us get in on some of the fun! I hope to get some navies eventually and perhaps a few from the air force. They're starting to turn up on Ebay and I keep checking hoping for some good prices. Oh for the return of the heyday in Soviet and EG collectibles. I also love the Urkunden. I never really was able to get into WWI or WWII award documents and these make terrific displays. I only wish mine were "awarded" pieces... but I'm always hoping to be able to pick some up at some point. And when I got my book on Orders and medals (see my addition in the reference listing) I was amazed at some of the variations on some of the awards. It seemed they were tailor made for collectors who love such things. I guess, along with the 57's this is one area that definitely needs improvement though... references in English. I've scrounged for whatever I could find but it's not much. And the prices on Ebay when such things turn up tends to make it so I can't afford it. I have a few in German but sadly I'm nowhere near fluent enough to learn enough from them. But there's a seller on Ebay with alot of this material on CD rom and I've been tempted to get one and check it out. Looks like an awful lot of info. And I really hope that by posting such things we'll all be able to learn more about them. Thanks so much for taking a peek! Dan

And last but not least is my Panzer Meister badge. There were three types of Panzer badge. The first type looked like this with the exception that the "flag" at the top of the wreath had only the DDR state colors. This was used from 1958 to 1960. The second type (mine) had the state seal included on the flag at the top of the wreath. This was used from 1960 to 1963. [attachmentid=41340] [attachmentid=41341] [attachmentid=41342] The third type (to my knowledge) looks similar to the majority of the qualification badges shown in my post, including the one for the Border Guard... except on the Panzer it has a pink background for the center color with a picture of a tank, the number of the qualification badge and the flag with state seal at the top of the wreath. Well, that's it for now. I do have some extras, field guard, insignia, uniforms, caps, etc. but as far as awards this pretty well does it for this post. If anyone has any additional information on anything I've posted please feel free to post it. I'm always open to learning more about anything I have. I hope to add more to my DDR collection over time but for now I've been trying to concentrate on my Soviet awards and flag/finial collections. Thanks for looking and I hope you've enjoyed the show. Dan

Next is the DDR Police Highest Honor medal. This one is also known as the "Grim Reaper" for obvious reasons. [attachmentid=41333] [attachmentid=41334] Two police academy graduation badges... I believe one is for the NCO academy and the other for officers: [attachmentid=41336] And a set of K9 badges: [attachmentid=41337]