Review of the year 2017

[Venturefan260]

Interesting Tony, would be nice to see more detailed images! I haven't seen too many closed collar police tunics...

[Ralph P]

Hello all - tony james just asked me to post this photo in this thread for you all to see. He will follow up with his post with comments.

[tony james]

Thanks Ralph
this just arrived a few hours ago .1965 officer parade tunic with boullion insignia. .

[Ralph P]

Great edition just before the end of 2017.

[Rev462]

2017 was a good year for the collection, and of course rough on my bank account. I managed to pick up some very elusive items that I've been after for several years.

I also started dabbling in Cold War era Bundeswehr and Bundesgrenzschutz tunics and hats (sort of an East vs. West thing), which is now in danger of becoming a monster of its own. But that's for another forum.

Anyway, without further adieu, here we go...

First up is a Trapo enlisted ranks double breasted walking out tunic. The buttons are the 3rd Reich style domed pattern, so I'd say this tunic dates to no later than 1960/61.

Also there is an open collar Luftschutz officer tunic. I've had the visor hat for several years and am very happy to finally have a tunic to go with it. The tunic is custom made so there's no date. The cuffs are very short like you sometimes see on early Police tunics, so I'd guess the tunic dates to about 1965. The hat is dated "X".

[Rev462]

2017 was also a good for year for dark collar Barracks Police tunics. Tony James and I both got examples with metal collar tabs - see Tony's photo above. I also managed to get a 1961 dated example with bullion collar tabs. It's in mint / unissued condition with the tag still attached to the sleeve.

[Rev462]

Here is a Signals officer double breasted walking out tunic. I've had the visor hat for several years. Of course I had to photograph them together. The Signals qual badge & DDR sports badge were attached to the tunic when I got it.

Also here's a Grenztruppen NCO double breasted tunic. The collar tabs & cuff bars are the 1st pattern, 2-piece construction.

[Ralph P]

WOW!!! Rick. Just like Tony, Kevin and now you...you all have added some nice items to your collection for 2017.

[Venturefan260]

Simply stunning...especially the signals uniform!

[Mike G.]

Just wanted to thank David, Tony, Kevin and Rick for posting some of their newly acquired memorabilia. Superb examples !!!.
Good to see there is still DDR / NVA memorabilia of very high quality out there.

[delta576]

.... this was my personal highlight in these year:

Jumping exercise with historical stuff for the first-generation of east german paratrooper in celebration of the 55. anniversary of foundation of the paratrooper bataillon.



delta576

[Flash00TA]

Thanks to David for starting this thread, it is always my favorite one of the year to see the neat things that other collectors have been able to find. Congrats to Ehrentitle on such a haul, I don't think I've ever heard of any collector obtaining such a large group of items at one time before! Very impressive indeed! Also to Rick and Tony James on some absolutely beautiful and difficult to find tunics! 2017 was a good year for me as well, my Grenzpolizei/Grenztruppen collection continues to grow. It is hard to narrow it down to a few favorites, but we'll give it a shot! I hope to have photos of the items posted in the next day or two.

2017 started off on a high note when on January 1st I was able to grab a nice enlisted mans KVP style, DGP tunic. It has a few moth holes and stains, but all in all a really nice, hard to find piece. The tag on the inside is a little blurred and hard to read, but it looks like maybe 1953? Hard to say for sure.

Next up is a dark collar career enlisted mans tunic with subdued collar tabs. This is a really sharp looking tunic, I think. It is size K44 and dated III/K (1968). I believe this is likely a PKE tunic as worn at the border crossing points. I obtained this tunic along with another dark collar, career enlisted mans PKE tunic (but with regular, bright collar tabs) dated I/Z (1969) and a pair of "B" (1972) dated, MfS marked breeches.

Another great find this year was a grouping for an Offizier auf Zeit that I was able to purchase directly from the original owner. The set consisted of his tunic, hemdbluse, overseas cap, winter ushanka, and visor cap. This man served during the mid 1980s, and towards the end of his 3 years service decided to re-enlist to become a career officer in the military prosecutors office. At the end of his initial 3 years service, he began attending law school and was called back up into service with the prosecutors office twice before the end of the DDR. This is how he obtained the 5 year service ribbon, Oberleutnant rank and the military justice sleeve patch that he sewed on himself. We have become friends and remain in contact. He is always very helpful and willing to answer my bazillion questions. I've only pictured his tunic here, which is size SG52-0 and dated I/2 (1982).

As far as uniform items go, the last item I'll submit is a Generals raincoat I recently purchased in size M48 and L/I (1987) dated. It came with GT Generalmajor shoulderboards, which are actually the flat style as used on the Hemdbluse. This worked perfectly for me as I have a Generals Hemdbluse with normal GT Generalmajor shoulderboards, so I was able to swap the two pairs and get the "correct" shoulderboards on each piece.

Stepping away from uniform items, I obtained my first border plaque. It is in really nice shape, and does show some signs of old paint and is slightly bent, likely from being pried off the concrete border post. This plaque supposedly came from a border post near the town of Braunlage, in the Harz mountains, so take that for what its worth.

I've added another border sign to my collection, this one an older and much more uncommon version of my first border sign. I'm told that this sign was used in the 1970's and very early 1980's in the "Ring Around Berlin", and predate the more commonly seen "Passage allowed only by special permission" signs.

Lastly is a neat stein that I purchased honoring the 40th anniversary of the GT in 1986. On the other side of the sign is a picture of a street scene with the town name Muhlhausen below it and the wording "Fur den Zuverlassigen Schutz der Staatsgrenze der DDR". I now have a nice little grouping of five GT steins going.

Good luck to everyone in 2018, happy collecting!

[Ralph P]

Hello all - I am posting these photos for Flash00TA who just made his post.

[Ralph P]

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[Ralph P]

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