Imperial reports from SOS?

[normaninvasion]

Hi all, was hoping to hear any reports on the Imperial material at the SOS, good/bad, pics?

[Don D.]

Yes, please show us what we missed.

[Wik]

I know Trev had a few Imperial items but he is the only one I know of that went to the SoS and collects Imperial. I am sure plenty of others are out there though. Show us your gems!

[streptile]

I can only speak from two years of experience going to the SOS, so my report will be a bit limited.

I found this year to be better than last. For example, I saved for a long time for one specific piece last year. Last year, I contacted people in advance of the show, tried to build a network to help me authenticate it if I found it, and actively asked dealers to bring one if they had one. But there was nothing even close to it there. Then I found the piece in an auction months later. This year, there was a perfect one on offer. Unfortunately for me, I had one already.

There were a few tables with reliably amazing Imperial items. A couple of sellers I did not know. Weitze had some amazing items, including the Lequis PLM set that was recently auctioned by Zeige, a gorgeous 1813 EK2, a ton of WWI stuff, a WWI tank badge (Juncker), Don's old PLM -- basically, more great Imperial than you could shake a stick at. Barry Turk from eMedals had some lovely things too.

Of course Stephen Previtera had some sweet things -- his Prussian 1870-71 JFK, some 1870 EKs, a few 1914 named EKs, a bunch of flight badges. He was pre-selling Imperial Sky (I bought a copy). It looks amazing.

When I walked in I saw a beautiful silver-gilt (W 938) Prussian HoH3X for sale at $600. A dealer I know bought it within the next 5 minutes (before I could get back to it) and put it on his table for $1180. Then then next day a third dealer bought it from the second dealer and had it on his table for $1500. "I needed to restock," he told me. "These are the 'hot item' at this year's show -- I've sold three already." And we wonder how these items find their prices in the market...

A couple tables had some very nice bars. I wasn't really looking for those so I didn't pay too much attention, although I did stop to look at a Prussian bar with a 1914 EK2 and a Chilean award. I found this one interesting -- the idea was that it could have been some kind of naval attaché. Tim Erickson had a lot of great Imperial stuff as usual. Iron Crosses, Prussian, Austrian, an amazing mint cased Bavarian MVO of some class or another. Who can keep those straight? On various other tables I saw assorted HoH Inhaber Eagles, RAO4s, KOs, a lot of 2- and 3-place bars with an EK2 and a couple of other awards (some very nice) and a ton of Iron Crosses, and two tons of stickpins. Iron Crosses and stickpins everywhere.

Iron Cross highlights were a couple KMSTs with their nutty devices, Meybauers, Prinzens (a very nice Meybauer Prinzen EK2 sat unsold for a good price), and a handful of good 1813 EK2s. There were a few good 1870 EK2s, Tiger 1 had the only real 1870 EK1 in sight and it is a gem. I found one or two EKs for my own collection, but nothing drop-dead amazing.

I've saved the best for last. Andreas Schulze-Ising (who runs medalnet and its associated Facebook page), as usual, had the table with the finest Imperial German orders and decorations. At various points during the show he had minty gold and enamel from many different states. He had gorgeous bars, minis (including a nice Prussian KO3), some L/50 oakleaves and swords for the 1939 RK, an L/12 RK with oaks, some amazing Imperial cases and cased awards... so much stuff I can't remember, and couldn't name at the time. My knowledge of German states outside of Prussia is pretty thin at the best of times anyway. The overall impression was of extreme quality. Imperial German stuff is just so beautiful and his table was the best Imperial display in the entire show.

For me the nicest thing about a show like this is meeting others, talking about this great hobby we all share, and handling things I would never otherwise have the chance to. I held PLMs, RKs, Bavarian MVOs, stuff from Malta, enamel from Tsarist Russia, Legion d'Honneurs worth $30,000, and also all kinds of crap I had no real interest in, just to get a feel for it.

The bad news is that I was so busy talking and searching, I took very few photos. No photos of Andreas' table (real shame), nothing of Tim Erickson, nothing from Weitze. This was a terrible oversight. On the last day I hurriedly snapped a few bad photos, which I will attach. First is an unknown seller's table, which had some nice stuff including an 1870 Type B non-combatant bar (upper-middle on the left). Next is a terrible snapshot of one small part of Previtera's great display.

[historyguy]

Great report, streptile!! I wish more show reports were that detailed!!!!

[streptile]

Thank you Andy! Nice to know you enjoyed it. I'll post the only two other photos I took of anything Imperial -- really dumb not to have taken more photos of all the great stuff.

Previtera's table Part II, and same unknown dealer Part II, with a pair of amazing awards I asked the names of but promptly forgot.

[EK Hunter]

Nice work, Trevor! On behalf of those who weren't able to attend the show, like myself, thanks for taking us there with your detailed report and pics.

Best,

Alex

[normaninvasion]

Thanks for the update and pics, great drool material! Any Godet EK1 fangs to be had?

[saschaw]

Thank you!

(...) and same unknown dealer Part II, with a pair of amazing awards I asked the names of but promptly forgot.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Agatha-Orden

[streptile]

Oh, great Sascha, thanks for that. That's right -- San Marino St. Agatha.

Months ago I picked up this nice bar for a great price from http://woeschler-orden.de/, but without the KO4. At the SOS I finally found a good KO4 (marked JG&S., natch). It's not repaired, the KO4 is just sitting in there.

Thought I'd show one of my SOS finds.

[Claudius]

" although I did stop to look at a Prussian bar with a 1914 EK2 and a Chilean award. I found this one interesting -- the idea was that it could have been some kind of naval attaché. "

I wish I could see that!

....Anybody? Anybody know who was selling it?

[Willi Z.]

Though my focus for the SOS remained on FJ items, I was exploring Imperial items and of the things I picked one was this medal bar, the first one I have ever purchased.

[besslein]

Though my focus for the SOS remained on FJ items, I was exploring Imperial items and of the things I picked one was this medal bar, the first one I have ever purchased.

Willi very nice ,will look great on a m40 smock

[streptile]

Though my focus for the SOS remained on FJ items, I was exploring Imperial items and of the things I picked one was this medal bar, the first one I have ever purchased.

Very nice indeed. I remember that bar -- the fellow had about 10 1870 EK2 bars. Just an amazing selection of them, some with matching mini chains. Congratulations on a fine example.

[streptile]

For those of you who have never been to one of these huge militaria shows, I shot this extremely lame and uninspired video just to show what it feels like to walk in the door and walk down some aisles.

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iXBwBPk4iAc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Really, truly, the video is bad. There is no point to it. But if you want to get a sense of the space, etc., here it is. This was shot on Saturday, the day with the thinnest crowds by far. On Friday especially the place was packed.