Austrian ribbon bar fakes again

[webr55]

I know we've been through this many times before: The current flood of fake ribbon bars coming from Austria. But looking at the prices these items have fetched recently, I do not find this amusing anymore. This one went for 122 euros:

Edited November 11, 2017 by webr55

[webr55]

People are obviously buying these things in good faith. With medal bars, one will at least - sometimes - get original medals. But these ribbon bars are worth NADA - this one went for 68 euros:

Edited November 11, 2017 by webr55

[webr55]

The seller has 820 positive evaluations, and 0% negative ones. How can unsuspecting ebay buyers know these things are fake? Yes, this is tedious, but WE have to point at these fakes again and again.

Sorry, I just had to say this.

[Guest Rick Research]

Since this faker is constantly sporting idiotically de-swastika'd Luftwaffe eagles (which I hereby dub "Legless Hummingbirds") on his crap, they will be as readily identifiable in future as the original early 1990s hand made brass Ohio Parts frauds.

Crime and stupidity always march hand in hand.

You'd think that even a fool would notice "de-nazified" devices ASSEMBLED when a bar was made.

[James Clark]

Since this faker is constantly sporting idiotically de-swastika'd Luftwaffe eagles (which I hereby dub "Legless Hummingbirds") on his crap, they will be as readily identifiable in future as the original early 1990s hand made brass Ohio Parts frauds.

Crime and stupidity always march hand in hand.

You'd think that even a fool would notice "de-nazified" devices ASSEMBLED when a bar was made.

I wasn't sure whether he was hiding the Swastika on the devices by cut-and-pasting a bit of ribbon over them on the picture, so as not to have the items removed. I get fed up seeing these but if people want to buy them they will buy them, regardless of what they are told. I do worry that they might be good enough to fool people in the future though (at least those without bogus devices). The main give-away is the over-reliance on unusual foreign awards.

[Guest Rick Research]

The same... purveyor of garbage also has EK2 Spangen which have been made with a blank pebbled surface inside the wreath. Having yet to actually have one of these

things

for in paw inspection,

I don't know whether the seller is snipping off eagles' swastikas as he assembles these Frankenstein bars or if they are cast fakes. His EK Spangen are certainly ludicrous frauds. (Apparently cheating PEOPLE is fine and dandy, but violating the fine situationally ethical folks at eCrap's Nasty Emblems Ban is too risky.)

Or really early M1957 variant prototypes. Yeah, yeah, that's it.

[Ulsterman]

The same... purveyor of garbage also has EK2 Spangen which have been made with a blank pebbled surface inside the wreath. Having yet to actually have one of these

things

for in paw inspection,

I don't know whether the seller is snipping off eagles' swastikas as he assembles these Frankenstein bars or if they are cast fakes. His EK Spangen are certainly ludicrous frauds. (Apparently cheating PEOPLE is fine and dandy, but violating the fine situationally ethical folks at eCrap's Nasty Emblems Ban is too risky.)

Or really early M1957 variant prototypes. Yeah, yeah, that's it.

I think perhaps he is more concerned about the "Manufacture and sale of Nazi items"-things that carry a swastika are a felony in Austria are they not? However, the internet sale of a "copy bar" is merely a misdemeanor or more likely a mere " linguistic misunderstanding". There is method to the madness here.

[Guest Rick Research]

Ahhhhh...

felony international mail fraud is-- at least by the elastic "standards" of the PC nitwits at eCrap.... OK.

Corporate permission granted to sell FAKE Icky Things but not REAL ones. Ahhhhhhh.

(Homer Simpson noises).

Yet, sad to say, at some point I just gave up on people who buy garbage like this. They are online to find THAT, they can just as easily educate themselves. So they CHOOSE not to.

Typical (practicing psychiatry without a license again ) "profile" is the Super Genius Smarter And Better Than Everybody Else. Who needs facts, or information, or experience when there is so much money that it can be wasted profligately?

Must be nice to be rich AND dumb-- but have wondrous self-esteem, never questioned...

all alone in their basements at 3 AM, chortling with glee surrounded by their treasures, treasures that only THEY are "smart" enough to have amassed, secretly, buwahahahahahahahahaa.

[webr55]

Apparently the seller has been encouraged by the prices his "things" now fetch. I have to admit that some of his fakes - combination issues aside - look really good. These must be old backings he uses, cannibalized from other bars??

Edited November 11, 2017 by webr55

[James Clark]

Apparently the seller has been encouraged by the prices his "things" now fetch. I have to admit that some of his fakes - combination issues aside - look really good. These must be old backings he uses, cannibalized from other bars??

I don't think they would need to break up old bars - original hardware and ribbons seem to be fairly readily available. I've seen lots of ribbon bar backings of all sizes sold on e-bay.

[Guest Rick Research]

That's another combination that doesn't make sense-- 40 years of plodding NCO level Prussian civil service, but a Super Red Cross "combatant" type (with the "peacetime" Austrian award of an officer-level person)-- wearing a uniform in his 80s in the mid-1930s (supposedly).

Back about 2003, somebody found a huge box of unused original backings-- THOUSANDS of them. Most were great huge long ones just like this--

of course, the REASON they were sitting around 60 years later unused is that REAL bars rarely got quite that big.

[Paul R]

Other than the combinations, what points make these bars come from the same source(Austrian faker)?

[webr55]

Just trying to keep track of this ongoing flood from the same seller:

Edited November 11, 2017 by webr55

[webr55]

#2

Edited November 11, 2017 by webr55

[webr55]

#3

Edited November 11, 2017 by webr55

[webr55]

Three Romanian awards on this one. Seller states exactly:

- Rumänien, Königin-Maria-Orden (ab 1938)

- Rumänien, Sanitätsverdienstkreuz (ab 1938)

- Rumänien, Treuedienstkreuz mit Schwertern (ab 1938)

Edited November 11, 2017 by webr55

[webr55]

never seen this last ribbon before, supposedly:

"Bulgarische WKEM für Hinterbliebene"

Edited November 11, 2017 by webr55

[webr55]

Very ambitious this one, two rows here. Look at the devices (probably only electronic denaz):

Edited November 11, 2017 by webr55

[webr55]

Too many to post them all. He's got 36 (!) bars currently on ebay. Bavarian style, too:

Edited November 11, 2017 by webr55

[webr55]

Mini Memel device:

Edited November 11, 2017 by webr55

[webr55]

This is really scary, he manages a number of different styles:

Edited November 11, 2017 by webr55

[Scott]

Were plain tab-back bars even made during the imperial era? I thought those were mainly a 1930s-40s style...

Scott

[Guest Rick Research]

Ahhh, I think those are indeed intact eagles and that he's put pieces of ribbon scan over the swastikas. Damn!

Yes, tabs came in during the last years of the first world war-- they were then very brittle steel and are invariably covered with a very thick field gray paint on all metal parts--backing plate, pin, and each ribbon's tab-backing. The old wartime stock can be found still being used up in the 1930s, especially for long bars that there had never been any call for before all the new decorations and Central Powers commemoratives of the later period.

One thing about the Feldgrau painted tabbies-- that metal SNAPS. It cannot be reworked, un-bent and rebent to screw around with bars. the tabs sheer right off.

Starting some time circa ? 1930, shiny nickled or brass finished (over steel) tabbies came in, as well as some individual ribbon tabbies that were aluminum, though the bars remained steel or even some weird bakelite plastic backs.

[saschaw]

Thanks webr55 for starting this thread, I didn't see it as I'm not around in this topic of the forum.

The Bulgarian ribbon with black stripe does exist, I've seen it ONCE before and missed the auction. That was a good bar, but I actually don't like these now. I don't want to say too much as am-militaria's lawyer wrote yet an letter to me and wanted 10k Euro (!!!) from me for telling such bad stories about his client in a German Forum ...

It hurts to see his bars go for this prices while really good ones go for 10,- and 20,- Euro ...

Edited December 11, 2007 by saschaw

[jabnus]

Ahhh, I think those are indeed intact eagles and that he's put pieces of ribbon scan over the swastikas. Damn!

Been thinking that too and im 99% sure he just paintshops all his auctions that contain a swastika to be able to put them on ebay.

I bought one of the bars from two of his auctions ago for really cheap (it was a not-fighters bar, probably not very popular?) and although im definately NO expert on ribbonbars and think "some" of his auction might be bad, i do hope i got an authentic one, will dig it up and photograph it tomorrow, would be nice if someone could take a look. It smells and looks very used and old though...

regards,

GAston