Hauptmann

Eagle:

[attachmentid=53107]

Swaz:

[attachmentid=53108]

Hi Dan

Any chance of a close up of the backing, braid and that spindly little swaz, are the real one so skinny?

Hi Larry,

Okay... hope I got what you needed on this one. Tried several different views in larger sizes... may take a couple of posts or so... but keeping my fingers crossed that I did okay. Kinda bleary eyes at this point.

First a bit larger view of one of the tabs:

[attachmentid=53106]

I would not be sure of either of them. Sevastopol, albeit small pic lacking details does not look completely right. Closer pics would help. Belrade is one of those medals its tricky to make a call on....

Hi Jim,

I have to chime in here real quick. Not that anyone is totally infallible, but... if it comes from Alexei it's good. No doubt or question in my mind on that and I'm sure most if not all of the membership would agree.

Dan

Hauptmann

As I see it - I do not like Leningrad as it is very worn out but I'd probably say its genuine (though i would not buy it). Sevastopol and Odessa - Fakes/Repros. Polar regions, Keningsberg and Vienna - Fakes/repros. I do not like your Kiev or Caucuses either. I'd say Fakes/Repros if I had to make a call.

FAKERS!!!! - Although I must say, they do make the hobby so much more challenging!

Jim

Hi Jim,

Appreciate the heads up. Part of this is these were all gotten at once in a large group (with the exception of the Stalingrad which as I say there's absolutely no doubt on, and the Kiev which I knew about but got cheap as a stop gap until I can afford more originals as some of these get a bit pricey. When I got them I had "no" guides whatsoever, and once I did they were the most basic available... and there were few of those. Wasn't until the red bible came out that there was better available and I was only able to get my copy a short time ago.

Also I got these for less than dirt basically as I got all these in trade in the big group and the items I traded I had next to nothing in, they were extras and such so I figure it's no great loss. They'll serve as examples till I can replace them with good ones.

To be totally honest, there are quite a number of these, the ones with only the inscriptions, etc. on them that are not... shall we say, things of beauty. No enamel, no pictures... just words. Not the greatest of designs. But the history and sacrifice they represent is of course what is important. It just goes against the grain in my eyes to have to pay the prices some of them bring when for that or a bit less you can get a nice enamel order that really stands out. Sigh. I'll eventually want all originals but not until my budget permits laying out what I'll need to get them, and then only from trusted sources.

Dan

And a second set:

[attachmentid=53064]

[attachmentid=53065]

If anyone has more examples please post them so we can see if they've improved or not.

Thanks,

Dan

SA Stabschef 2nd pattern (Victor Lutze):

[attachmentid=53061]

[attachmentid=53062]

Hi all,

I decided to pop in this thread as well as one on fake NSDAP tabs as companion threads to the one Paul started on fake Luftwaffe tabs.

These are made in India and are a few years old. No telling if they've used the intervening time to get better or what.

SA Stabschef 1st Pattern (Ernst Rohm):

[attachmentid=53059]

[attachmentid=53060]

These are the ones that were based on Bolivian Generals collar tabs as Rohm had served there for a time between wars.

Reichsleiter tabs:

[attachmentid=53057]

[attachmentid=53058]

If anyone else has any please post them so we can see if they've made any improvements.

Dan

Hi all,

I decided to start this as well as one on SA tabs in their appropriate section, as a set of companion threads to the one started by Paul on fake Luftwaffe tabs.

These are done in Pakistan I believe and are a few years old... so wondering if they've used the time to improve. The eagles especially are a dead give and anyone who's seen real ones, even in a good reference should be able to tell these apart.

Gauleiter tabs:

[attachmentid=53055]

[attachmentid=53056]

Very nice Pat. Hope you can find the ribbon for it at some point... always hate seeing such things "undressed" as it were.

And Mike, many thanks for popping in the date... as soon as I saw this piece that was my thought but then I realized I didn't have the "exact" dates listed in the information I'd previously posted. Silly me! I guess it's like always trying to post the back of things as someone will indeed ask to see it... but my brain has been elsewhere these last few days. Appreciate you "filling the breach" so to speak.

Dan

Interesting story on Frederick, thank you.

Hi Tom,

I really felt sorry for the man. He and his Mrs. had alot of great plans... but as with so much of history it just wasn't meant to be. There's no telling how different things might have been had he lived.

Dan

Actually, this is the Assault Craft or Small Boat Officer in Charge (OIC) as it's called. It's technically not a command badge but a qualification badge.

If I can ever find my old Navy Recruiter badge, I'll send it to ya. (I think I might have chucked it though as I haven't seen it for ages!) I was an Ensign working at the local MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) and had exactly zero decorations on my shirt other than two gold rank bars. A crusty old chief took me over to a storage closet, opened up a big bag of these "hubcaps" (as they are known) and gave me one, saying "Well Ensign, at least you'll have SOMETHING on your shirt now!"

Also, the gold jump wings aren't just for the Marine Corps - they are called the Naval Parachutist badge, and are given for five jumps over and above the requirement for the basic jump wings.

Dave

Hi Dave,

Many thanks my friend! Needless to say I hope it turns up. And hubcabs is a very apt description of this one. It's so funny as you find them all the time for Army and AF, etc. in the surplus catalogs and such but never the Navy version.

Loved that story about the Chief and that young Ensign. You've certainly come a long way... and I'm willing to bet the uniform is no longer anywhere near as bare as in those early days. Sounds like a Chief I'd have liked to have known. Not too many would have done something like that... sounds like a great guy.

And many thanks on the heads up on the other pieces. The assault craft badge and the command badges have always been favorites of mine. They're really big and heavy and well made... basically a handful. When you have one you really know it. Kinda the difference between a paper dollar and a silver dollar. I'd much prefer the latter... you get paid in those you really feel like you've gotten something for your labor.

Dan

Hi Tom,

Yes indeed, you are correct. On all but one point... Frederick III died from throat cancer after ruling for a very short period of time:

Wilhelm I (1871—1888);

Friedrich III (1888), who ruled for 99 days;

Wilhelm II (1888—1918), during whose reign the monarchy in Germany ended after World War I.

Hence the year 1888 was known as The year of the three Kaisers.

[attachmentid=52904]

[attachmentid=52903]

[attachmentid=52905]

Here is a brief description of what killed him from Wikipedia:

By the time his father died in 1888, the heavy smoker Frederick had developed incurable cancer of the larynx, which was misdiagnosed on 12 November 1887 by the English doctor Morell Mackenzie (later knighted by Queen Victoria). Due to a rivalry between German doctors of the local Charit? and the British doctors favoured by his wife, the misdiagnosis was sustained and surgery that might have cured the cancer was cancelled. When the error was caught, it was too late to operate. Later swelling by the tumor caused the prince to begin to suffocate, and so on 9 February 1888, a tracheotomy was performed and a silver tube was put into the prince's wind pipe. Frederick was unable to speak for the remainder of his life, and communicated through writing. His attitude is described by "Lerne leiden, ohne zu klagen!" ("Learn to suffer without complaining").

He was already in this state when his father died, leaving Frederick a very ill emperor, though only 56 years old. Frederick ruled for only 99 days before his own death.

Dan

Dan, the combat tank badge is bogus. It was floated but never authorized. The proposed version had yellow (branch color for armor) enamel.

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 Rob,

"VERY COOL"! I love those before and after pics. Really puts you in a virtual time machine!

I do so hope someday to walk those beaches and so many other places where all the history we study took place. Kim's been to London but that's as close as either of us have been.

Just have to save my pennies at some point and take the plunge.

Thanks so much for sharing this part of your trip. Just fantastic!

Dan

Hi Kevin,

Many thanks for all the ID's! Very cool on all counts!

Dan

A U.S. Marine Corps Parachutist Qualification.....nice! Steve

Hi Steve,

Really? Neat! Mucho thanks for the ID on this one!

Dan

Not the greatest quality, but since Mongolian items are my thing I had to have it!

I believe there were only two mongolians ever to go into space, so a fun little badge.

JC

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

This is a Veterans badge of their Space centre

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

Dan

#2:

If practical…

Remove everything from the room, including the trim on the walls. Seal every crack you can find with caulk, putty and/or Great Stuff. Don’t forget to pay close attention to the areas around the electrical outlets and lighting switches, and where floors meet ceiling and walls. Paint the walls, ceiling and floor with a good marine paint/sealant; reinstall the trim. Move the door casing back ?” and attach rubber seals. Use a low-nap indoor/outdoor carpet for the floor; no foam padding – that will only absorb moisture. Get a good ventilation fan that vents to the outside of the house, if possible. Make sure to install the fan on the outside of the house, to draw the air from the room as opposed to "pushing" it out. If you can swing it, build a “vestibule” outside the entry door, to form a sort of “airlock.” That way, at least one door is always closed.

Install plenty of lighting, and all around - lots of low-watt bulbs to shine on your collection... keep several on at all times. The heat seepage will dry the air.

Pay particular attention to any windows. Seal them up tight.*

Worked for me. Four years later and no dust, no humidity, no mold. Like walking around inside a display case. It gets fairly humid here in VA at times; I was afraid I would also need a dehumidifier, but to date that has not been necessary.

*my room has no windows, so this might present a problem for you. You might have to seal that sucker up.

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

Very interesting pieces. I know nothing about dinnerware, the pieces do make for an interesting display.

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

A good barometer of the wayyy upper end of soviet material prices is found at collectrussia.com. They list a buckle similar to yours for $80 Now, I think that the buckle has been there for years, and I don't see teh value being any more than $30, but, however you do the math, $5 is a helluva deal. congrats

-Nack

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