The 2005 Militaria Antiques Xtravaganza (i.e., MAX) Show was held at Charlotte Merchandise Mart in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday, September 30th through Sunday, October 2nd, 2005. Dealer setup was on <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:date Year="2005" Day="29" Month="9">Thursday, September 29th, 2005</st1:date>.
The 2005 MAX Show Program listed 274 dealers in the Dealer Directory and 1088 tables in the show’s Floor Plan. (I counted the number tables in the floor plan twice and came up with 1087 and 1089 tables respectively.) Although the show was touted as having 1500 tables, I estimated there were only 900 tables at this year’s show as a number of (table) rows were not setup.
There was a good selection of original Japanese militaria at the show. However, there wasn’t much in the line of high-end Japanese militaria from what I could see and I could not find one (real) Japanese Navy helmet at the show. Unfortunately, there were also a number of reproduction and/or refurbished Japanese militaria items at the show as well.
There were some good deals at the shows. For example, several Japanese Navy proficiency badges; a rare Japanese Army divisional (a.k.a. General’s) commander’s badge; and a Bangalore Torpedo “ordnance device” in the storage can were found at the show for bargain basement prices.
While in Charlotte, I picked up a somewhat hard to find Japanese 90 mm high-explosive mortar round with fuse; a rare Japanese 81 mm semi-steel mortar round with fuse; and a boxed set of Japanese Army colonel Showa Type 5 shoulder rank insignia for my collection. (These items were purchased at the hotel and not at the show. There was also a rare Japanese Army paratrooper Type 2 rifle leg bag that traded hands while at the hotel.)
It was nice to have met a number of forum members at the show, thus being able to put a face to a name, and it was getting together with a numbers of folks that I only see once or twice a year.
On a sad note, a follow Japanese militaria collector, and friend, had a number of items stolen from his vehicle while at the show. (See related thread for additional information regarding this robbery.) Although I am of the opinion that this, and one other similar robbery, was (were) random robberies, and that the robberies could have happened to anyone, I was surprised that there were no announcements at the show about robberies.
The consensus amongst the dealers that I spoke to at the show was that sales were off and that collector and public attendance was low while consensus amongst the collectors that I spoke to at the show was that prices were high; there were a lot of fakes at the show (I am going to assume that this comment had to do with all militaria in general and not Japanese militaria in particular); and that dealer attendance was low.
There was also a lot of talk (at this year’s MAX Show) about how the MAX Show has declined over the years and a lot of talk about how good the Show of Shows has become. A lot of folks that I spoke with also mentioned that they were thinking about skipping next year’s MAX Show which is scheduled to be held in <st1:City>Charlotte</st1:City> again. Although, I feel that there is a place for two large militaria shows in the country, I feel that something has to be done to the MAX Show to get things back on track. The Internet has definitely changed the way we collect and do business, but nothing can compare to picking up an item at a show; examining that item; and then looking into the eye of the seller of that item before doing business.
For those of you that would like to read more about the MAX Show, I recommend following the link below:
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.net/forums/showthread.php?t=122396
For those of you that attended the show, I would be interested in hearing what items you sold or purchased at the show as well as any thoughts you may have about the show.
Eric
The 2005 MAX Show Program listed 274 dealers in the Dealer Directory and 1088 tables in the show’s Floor Plan. (I counted the number tables in the floor plan twice and came up with 1087 and 1089 tables respectively.) Although the show was touted as having 1500 tables, I estimated there were only 900 tables at this year’s show as a number of (table) rows were not setup.
There was a good selection of original Japanese militaria at the show. However, there wasn’t much in the line of high-end Japanese militaria from what I could see and I could not find one (real) Japanese Navy helmet at the show. Unfortunately, there were also a number of reproduction and/or refurbished Japanese militaria items at the show as well.
There were some good deals at the shows. For example, several Japanese Navy proficiency badges; a rare Japanese Army divisional (a.k.a. General’s) commander’s badge; and a Bangalore Torpedo “ordnance device” in the storage can were found at the show for bargain basement prices.
While in Charlotte, I picked up a somewhat hard to find Japanese 90 mm high-explosive mortar round with fuse; a rare Japanese 81 mm semi-steel mortar round with fuse; and a boxed set of Japanese Army colonel Showa Type 5 shoulder rank insignia for my collection. (These items were purchased at the hotel and not at the show. There was also a rare Japanese Army paratrooper Type 2 rifle leg bag that traded hands while at the hotel.)
It was nice to have met a number of forum members at the show, thus being able to put a face to a name, and it was getting together with a numbers of folks that I only see once or twice a year.
On a sad note, a follow Japanese militaria collector, and friend, had a number of items stolen from his vehicle while at the show. (See related thread for additional information regarding this robbery.) Although I am of the opinion that this, and one other similar robbery, was (were) random robberies, and that the robberies could have happened to anyone, I was surprised that there were no announcements at the show about robberies.
The consensus amongst the dealers that I spoke to at the show was that sales were off and that collector and public attendance was low while consensus amongst the collectors that I spoke to at the show was that prices were high; there were a lot of fakes at the show (I am going to assume that this comment had to do with all militaria in general and not Japanese militaria in particular); and that dealer attendance was low.
There was also a lot of talk (at this year’s MAX Show) about how the MAX Show has declined over the years and a lot of talk about how good the Show of Shows has become. A lot of folks that I spoke with also mentioned that they were thinking about skipping next year’s MAX Show which is scheduled to be held in <st1:City>Charlotte</st1:City> again. Although, I feel that there is a place for two large militaria shows in the country, I feel that something has to be done to the MAX Show to get things back on track. The Internet has definitely changed the way we collect and do business, but nothing can compare to picking up an item at a show; examining that item; and then looking into the eye of the seller of that item before doing business.
For those of you that would like to read more about the MAX Show, I recommend following the link below:
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.net/forums/showthread.php?t=122396
For those of you that attended the show, I would be interested in hearing what items you sold or purchased at the show as well as any thoughts you may have about the show.
Eric
Comment