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    Houston ..... we have a problem !!!!!

    LASTFRONTLINE

    I am at a total loss about what to do about this character. He is an American Dealer who has been around for a very long time, and initially was a very respected dealer. As of late he has been offering very questionable articles of NVA and MdI clothing for sale, and engaging in the unethical practice of trying to ponder off fake high end NVA, MdI and Stassi Medals and Orders on unsuspecting or naive and uninformed collectors.

    I have contacted him in the past and called him out on this to no avail. I have contacted ebay and they also were unresponsive.

    Frankly, this is fraud, and I am at a loss as to what to do about it. If anyone knows a recourse or has a viable idea of a way to seriously approach resolution of this situation, I would be extremely interested. It has got to stop. People are being cheated out of their hard earned income and it is criminal.

    For example, in addition to the Stassi Medal about which I am going to call him out on this forum, he is also offering an Engels medal that also is crap. These medals upon viewing, obviously originate from the German Dealer heretofore known as Truckdieler. He sells them on his own ebay store site as replicas. But the medals unfortunately are not in any way marked anywhere as a replica.

    Our boy Lastfrontline is selling Truckdieler "Engels" medals (already sold a fake bronze); and is trying to sell a gold one [Ebay article 310083287876] for $69.99. While he openly acknowledges some of the medals he is attempting to sell are replicas, such as the gold Bluecher Tapferkeit he is trying desparately to off load, he is not acknowledging that this Engels medal or Stassi Medal also are replicas. Incidentally, the real Engels medal would easily sell for several hundred Euro.

    He is now offering a Stassi Medal for $599.00. The selling price obviously is not for a replica. Problem is, that is exactly what it is - a replica.

    I do not know what the solution to holding him accountable as a Dealer on Ebay is.
    I'm at a quandary.

    Anyway, as a serious collector of legitimate NVA and DDR awards and decorations, I felt it my duty to alert all DDR Forum members pursuant the Stassi Medal that is now being auctioned off on this individual's ebay site with respect to the fact it is a replica, and not an original Order as is being falsely represented.

    The item number is: 310081594679

    Of interest to me anyway, is that while Lastfrontline seems perfectly capable of taking clear and concise pictures of many of the uniforms he sells, and medals he acknowledges are overpriced replicas, he does not seem able or willing to produce similar photos of the high end medals and orders he is trying to sell as original but are not. I've done my best to augment the pictures but he clearly has reduced them so they pixelate if one becomes too inquisitive.

    Nonetheless, one of the telling aspects, in addition to the incorrect size of the five sided ribbon, is the observation the end of the hilt of the dagger actually protrudes into the red banner above it. Of course the overall quality of the Order is clearly very poor as well. It is a sand cast medal and not produced from a mold.

    Here are pics:

    Boxed Medal:
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Michael D. Gallagher; 09-27-2008, 01:53 PM.
    Michael D. GALLAGHER

    M60-A2 Tank Commander Cold War proverb: “You can accomplish more with a kind word and a ‘Shillelagh’ than you can with just a kind word.”

    #2
    Front:

    *** You can clearly see where the end of the dagger hilt actually protrudes into the red banner above it. ***
    Attached Files
    Michael D. GALLAGHER

    M60-A2 Tank Commander Cold War proverb: “You can accomplish more with a kind word and a ‘Shillelagh’ than you can with just a kind word.”

    Comment


      #3
      Reverse:
      Attached Files
      Michael D. GALLAGHER

      M60-A2 Tank Commander Cold War proverb: “You can accomplish more with a kind word and a ‘Shillelagh’ than you can with just a kind word.”

      Comment


        #4
        Michael - Thanks for the warning. Most veteran collectors know to steer away from this type of seller, but novices could well be deceived. At least he is making some progress, he used to list all of his medals as originals. It seemed that he always had a minor misspelling of the medal name. I'm not sure this is by design or by mistake. I always find it amusing the high prices he puts on most of his uniforms and insignia. I have not checked lately, but for a time he was listing items on e-bay.de, I believe mostly general officer uniforms.
        Last edited by ehrentitle; 09-27-2008, 08:37 PM.

        Comment


          #5
          Hello all - Here is another thread to assist this thread (The link is minus the pictures from ebay - lesson learned to make sure to post pictures so it can be referenced back too).

          http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=189526
          Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did. Quote - Sophie Scholl - White Rose resistance group

          Comment


            #6
            Thank you for the "heads-up" . Another Ebay minefield to step around.

            Comment


              #7
              Kevin,

              This Seller's "General Officer" uniforms a few years back used to be for the most part, legite. Not anymore.

              Notice how he cannot move the Dark Collar General's Tunic he is offering for less than an Open Collar Tunic? All of the people who collect at this level know the various things that are wrong with it. Its been for sale for weeks now and no one will touch it with a ten foot pole. It stinks.

              Really, something has to be done about this guy.
              Michael D. GALLAGHER

              M60-A2 Tank Commander Cold War proverb: “You can accomplish more with a kind word and a ‘Shillelagh’ than you can with just a kind word.”

              Comment


                #8
                Michael

                Just wondering , are the general uniforms he sells also fake ?
                I'm not a uniform collector ( I have some ) but if I would buy uniforms , I would buy them from a german dealer and not from some suspicious american dealer .

                Regards , Johan

                Comment


                  #9
                  would anyone like to make a call on this 2200 Euros Scharnhorst Orden? Good or Bad?

                  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=310087093701

                  Cheers, Torsten.
                  Last edited by torstenbel; 09-28-2008, 03:52 AM.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Johan,

                    Some of the uniforms are in fact put together, and some are incorrectly constructed.

                    Mike C. awhile back bid on, and won a pair of General Officer breaches from this Seller, only to find upon receipt that they were fake put-together pants. Mike. C. was able to return them for a full refund, but given that this Seller has been dealing in high end East German memorabilia for years now, there was no satisfactory explanation for that mistake. Frankly, probably he was duped and then he tried to pass his error on to someone not well versed in this stuff. Mike C. of course is very well versed.
                    The Dark Collar General's Tunic appears quite probably to be a Normal Officer Tunic that has been done up by someone as a General's Tunic. It is supposed to come with matching hat and pants, but when the collar insignia and hat insigina all are closely scrutinized, they aren't correct for the type and year uniform being represented. So one can only conclude it is "Put-together".

                    Torsten.
                    The Scharnhorst is a legitimate medal. Problem is, there is no way on this green earth it is worth the asking price, and will never ever sell for that amount. This medal can currently be acquired from some very trustworthy German sources for far less cost, even inclusive of the shipping and insurance costs. The price being asked is rediculous.
                    Michael D. GALLAGHER

                    M60-A2 Tank Commander Cold War proverb: “You can accomplish more with a kind word and a ‘Shillelagh’ than you can with just a kind word.”

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Michael D. Gallagher View Post
                      Johan,

                      Some of the uniforms are in fact put together, and some are incorrectly constructed.

                      Mike C. awhile back bid on, and won a pair of General Officer breaches from this Seller, only to find upon receipt that they were fake put-together pants. Mike. C. was able to return them for a full refund, but given that this Seller has been dealing in high end East German memorabilia for years now, there was no satisfactory explanation for that mistake. Frankly, probably he was duped and then he tried to pass his error on to someone not well versed in this stuff. Mike C. of course is very well versed.
                      The Dark Collar General's Tunic appears quite probably to be a Normal Officer Tunic that has been done up by someone as a General's Tunic. It is supposed to come with matching hat and pants, but when the collar insignia and hat insigina all are closely scrutinized, they aren't correct for the type and year uniform being represented. So one can only conclude it is "Put-together".

                      Torsten.
                      The Scharnhorst is a legitimate medal. Problem is, there is no way on this green earth it is worth the asking price, and will never ever sell for that amount. This medal can currently be acquired from some very trustworthy German sources for far less cost, even inclusive of the shipping and insurance costs. The price being asked is rediculous.
                      Hi Michael

                      Thanks for your anwser .
                      I was offered the last model Scharnhorst for 800 euros and the
                      Verdienter mitarbeiter der Staatssicherheit for 500 euros , this guy also has the verdienter mitarbeiter der post ( all original )
                      I have some medals like the Karl Marx Orden , Held Der Arbeit etc. but I dont collect them espacialy , I'm more a flag man
                      who also collects music stuff .


                      Regards , Johan

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I've dealt with "lastfrontline" (Paul Spomar- Chicago) before, and have had no problems. This, however, was a couple of years ago and I have not dealt with him lately.

                        One problem that may contribute to this is the ease at which we are able to deal directly with German sellers these days... from my experience, American sellers' prices are often just too high. Instead of making their prices more competitive, they seem to go the route of making money on the inexperienced, novice collector (which we all were at one time). I recently had a seller offer a Dynamo wimpel (a pretty nice, large one) and a red- flag Dynamo ehrenadel (believe it was bronze) to me for $200. He got very upset when I spurned his offer, and got even more angry when I told him what the same deal would cost me from Germany.

                        I'm a collector because I enjoy collecting; I'm not a collector to make a seller rich.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I have had no problems at all buying from Paul. (in the past or recently) He has a high end collection that most can only dream of.

                          Jeff Mack

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I always thought....

                            It was kind of suspicious that a single ebay seller week after week
                            would have up way more DDR admiral's uniforms than the number of admirals in Volksmarine employment... but hey I see conspiracies everywhere

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I have had forum members contact me over the last year or so asking if I had ever bought anything from Lastfrontline. My answer was "Yes, but I would not buy anything from him now". The last generals tunic I bought from Paul was a put together one. The best thing to do with this vendor is not to buy. What he sells, at least in the uniform department, is not even good for reference material. When one thing is suspect from a vendor, everything is suspect. Because he posts a picture of an authentic piece does not guarantee that is what you would receive following payment.

                              Regards,

                              Gordon

                              Comment

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