SOS report

[GeorgeP]

Well, that was quick. The SOS always seems to slip by and before I know it, people are racing for the exits come 3 pm on Sat. Overall a really good show this year, with attendance up for the public days. I had on display several examples of captured paper from Iwo Jima, as well as my grandpa's helmet. Also had several of my dog tags for sale, as well as some cups and other misc. Japanese items. Thought I priced some of my items too high for serious inquiry, but alas, some things went, and I am a little lighter in the collection. I didn't purchase too much for my collection; a few paper items and a couple of techou to fill holes, as well as a couple of sake cups. Was able to make a trade for an Iwo paper grouping and small poster captured there, which was awesome. There was a walk-up on the last day that made my show: A captured Japanese naval unit roster booklet from Iwo Jima that was a total one-looker. Try as I might, I was unable to make a purchase. Oh well. It was great meeting up with the Banzai folks and others. We all felt the absence of John Egger. Not seeing him walking the aisles (usually with helmet in-hand) was sobering. While there did not seem to be a ton of unusual Japanese militaria there, at least to my eyes, there were some interesting items to be had:

Rare IJN flight logbook with 1st class aviation badge

Cherry blossom IJN helmet with partial badge and no liner

A few IJA helmets with covers

Several NCO swords and other swords sprinkled throughout

Several good luck flags and senninbari (MikeB found a killer air-related flag with a drawn picture of a fighter on it -- very nice!)

A bugle with ancient tag attached stating it was captured on Guadalcanal (~$800!)

A $250 "CB Special" flag

A 2nd Tank Regt. marked cigarette case

Plus various photo albums, insignia, uniforms, wooden boxes, things of that nature here and there throughout the show.

Looking forward to hearing from others who attended the show. All in all a really good one, imo. Sorry no pics. from me this year, time did not seem to materialize for me this show.


Tom

[Jareth]

Thanks Tom! Greatly appreciated

[Lt. Dan]

Thanks for the report! Even though I didn't make it this year, it still seems unreal that John wasn't there roaming the hall.

[GHP]

Tom,


Thanks for the after action review. By the way, what makes a "CB Special" worth $250?




-- Guy

[Lt. Dan]

Art, Guy, art.

[GHP]

Art, Guy, art.

At ease, LT!

[GeorgeP]

Tom,


Thanks for the after action review. By the way, what makes a "CB Special" worth $250?




-- Guy

Dealer thought he had a real one. When he stated the price, I nearly dropped the flag like I was burned. Have to keep reminding myself that by and large these flags are thought to be legit in the greater collecting community. An example of cognitive dissonance on my part I suppose.

Tom

[GHP]

Dealer thought he had a real one. When he stated the price, I nearly dropped the flag like I was burned. Have to keep reminding myself that by and large these flags are thought to be legit in the greater collecting community. An example of cognitive dissonance on my part I suppose.

Tom

You'd think someone could start a website where people could get input from actual experts.

[RussellM]

Thanks Tom, always good to read about these shows!

Regards

Russ

[dog soldier]

I came by your table.Your grandfathers helmet was amazing truly .I nearly bought the dog tag you had with the battle damage but ran out of money

I had a great show bought a helmet and cover which had never been off the helmet.Also a few caps flags and bits and pieces

Graeme

[Jareth]

Hey start a new thread & post your helmet/cover, caps etc! Love to see them!

[dog soldier]

I know.I will have to pay my dues soon so I can start posting pictures

Graeme

[MikeB]

SOS update

Tom-

Thank you for your very thorough update! It was great seeing you throughout the week. As always, I enjoyed hearing about your finds and sharing with you mine. The flag that you mentioned has some great pilot and air related slogans and exhortations covering it. The fighter plane, speeding through the clouds art painted on it is amazing too!
It was also nice to see Graham (sorry, I fall back into the American-ized way of spelling your name!), and see the really nice pieces that he picked up. His helmet and cover were an impressive one-looker. He also picked up a nice and authentic kempeitai armband among other things.
It was also nice to see David again. His table had a few very cool NLF related items on it and I am sure that he found some great pieces for his collection.
As always, I had a great time speaking with Dan and Bob. We reminisced about many things and it was just good to see these old friends at the start of 2020.
I would add a few additional things to Tom's list:

1- I noticed approximately 3 knee mortars, 2 with carrying bags.
2- There were 1 or 2 navy ranked flags in displayable sizes.
3- I only saw 1-2 navy brass anchor helmets.
4- I saw maybe 3 navy stencil anchor helmets.
5- Asking price for the cherry blossom helmet with partial anchor and no liner was 4-4.5K On the last day of the show, I heard that it had sold. No idea of price.
6- Many nice Japanese rifles, various pistols and plenty of Grandpa and Baby tagged similarly related items.
7- There were senninbari but not too many. I saw a nice stitch vest and a couple of nice tiger painted belts with shrine seals.
8- I picked up a nice parade sized hinomaru yosegaki with 8 shrine seals from a pilgrimage that was made. The shrines were nicely ID'd in kanji as was the soldier who was given the flag, unit and group presenting the flag.
9- There were 2 nicely made, larger battle flags. One was priced in range, while the other was over-priced.
10- I saw 1 Japanese helmet star for sale and 1 Japanese navy helmet anchor.
11- Many dealers will now be light in their inventories when it comes to Japanese float flags and collapsible poles!
12- There were a couple of airplane relic pieces but I did not see any aircraft hinomaru for sale.
13- I also saw many swords available, including some very nice polished and papered ones.
14- Some dealers had nice individual vintage photos for sale too and I filled my pockets with flag related ones.

I want to take my hat off to Larry and Terri Stewart for sponsoring a memorial table for John Egger. The Stewart's created a wonderful poster that listed many photos of John from over the years. There was also a condolence book for people to sign, that will be presented to John's wife. I think that the book will again be displayed at Bob's West Coast Show in case anyone missed the opportunity to add their special thoughts. Sadly, many people had not heard of John's passing and it was often painful to have to inform them of his death. On the flip side, the sadness often passed quickly as nearly everyone had a special story or funny anecdote relating to John. He was deeply missed but certainly not forgotten.
In that regard, I would like to take my hat off to the OVMS for their extremely kind write-up of John, posted near the front of the program. Jeff Shrader created an amazing program cover that featured some of John's favorite items. For anyone who regularly attends the SOS, you know that Japanese militaria related covers are few and far between; this year's cover was terrific!
I am probably forgetting a few things but with a Show as large as the SOS that's pretty understandable. I look forward to seeing many of you there next year and hope to see you before that, in York.

MikeB

[Lt. Dan]

Thanks, Mike. Great after-action.

[Paul G]

Thanks Tom and Mike for the nice glimpse into a show that I have yet to attend. Its on the bucket list!

I know.I will have to pay my dues soon so I can start posting pictures

Graeme

You can now post pictures without having a paying membership! nice!

PG-