Hessen Antique repro uniforms

[Larry Davis]

Has anyone purchased a uniform from the Hessen antiques people?
Any comments on quality or how they compare with other firms such as Lost Battalions or 1944 militaria?
The prices are reasonable enough.
www.hessenantique.com/

[J Melvin]

He is handling the Sturm uniforms that come out of Germany (but made in Asia). In reality, these are pretty damn good uniforms - especially for the money. These are also teh same uniforms for sale by At the Front. Rick is a great guy. You won't find anyone better to work with.

[Gunbunny]

I had an unpleasant experience with "Hessen-antique". He listed a repo M43 cap on eBay which I bought. The one pictured was a nice looking cap with high peak and well defined scallops on the side flaps. What was sent to me was a lumpy-dumpy Sturm version. Not the one pictured! When I questioned him about it he explained that he deals in alot of volume and so could not guarantee the item pictured would be shipped. That's very nice except this was not mentioned in his description! He offered a refund but I would have to pay to send it back even though his policy statement indicated that if the wrong item was sent he would make a full refund including shipping. I would have been out half what I paid for the cap with nothing to show for it so I just kept it. I left him a neutral feedback explaining what happened. He left me a neutral and said I was "hard to deal with"!

As for sturm repros, they are generally OK but the M43's leave something to be desired. There is not enough room on the front of the caps to display the proper insignia. Just the opinion of one who is "hard to deal with"!

[CWP]

The Hessen Antique uniforms are definitely worth the money, but Lost Battalions makes the best reproductions hands down. They are more expensive but in my opinion, for reenacting, the extra expense is well worth it. Of course it depends what you plan on doing with the tunic.

[Dick Pumphrey]

Hessen uniforms.

Hi Larry,
I have one of their M-36 tunics and am delighted with it especially after Cyrus Lee (FHQ) worked his magic on it. I sent you a PM also. Thanks.
Regards,
Dick

[Larry Davis]

Thanks for the heads up. I think I shall give them a go.

In my opinion customer service is extremely important and the folks at Lost Battalions are sadly lacking in that.
I realize they must get alot of emails but when someone buys from them and has a problem or a question about/with the item, one would think they would want to get back to them in good order. Not completely ignore ones emails!

At least the people at Hessen got back to you.

Thanks again for the input.

Larry

[Gunbunny]

Larry,

Sorry to hear about your problems with Lost Battalions. Under those circumstances I wouldn't deal with them either, especially when they are asking premium prices for their stuff. I have never had any direct dealings with them. All the Lost Battalions items I have purchased came off eBay at substantially less than retail. I found both their green and camouflaged German jump smocks on ebay and they are pretty decent. They have probably the most accurate Luftwaffe style camo pattern available. Their WSS M42 blouse is also fairly accurate with attention paid to the details of this item.

I checked Hessen's store and will have to agree that their prices are pretty hard to beat. I'm sure with the proper insignia they would look fine on a mannequin or for reenacting.

Have you ever checked At The Front's "links" section? Check out their vendors list. This will lead you to a slew of people selling militaria.

Wishing all the best, Jeff (Gunbunny)