Fake Heer Flaks in Tucker

[Thomas Durante]

I was joking, Tom.

Me too Robin, I was just trying to wind you up too .

I don't know if you saw my book yet and read the introduction, but it was your book "Detecting the Fakes" that I bought when I first got into collecting. I actually wrote you about 2 years later asking about the CCC in your book, and you were kind enough to reply back to me with a letter as well.

Tom

[John T]

Guys!

I love books, but with the way what we know about badges seems to change every minute or so, and with how this information becomes readily available to anyone who is willing to look for it on the internet within that instant there is going to have to be a change in the future or books are just going to be collector's items that we take with us on a trip as creatures of habit..something that future generations will ask their parents and grandparents about ie ,"a book, what did you guys do with those, you carried those with you and read those"...

I would rather turn to a book for quick info on a piece then spend hours using a search function on a pc...life is only so long and I think one day we are just going to be born live and die in "pods" or cocoons wired directly into a hard-drive...

Anyway, with the info on badges changing (books on badges, collectables etc are reference IE non fiction items) perhaps a sort of expandable/modifiable book may be the reference book format of the future...granted I hate three ring binder formats, but maybe something along that grain where when new info becomes available you are sent the extra pages to insert into the appropriate section into your "book"..with these pages being printed on high quality paper...IE so the "flavor" is not lost...its like how sometimes many products are obsolete by the time they hit the shelves..not saying that about many of the fine works mentioned here, but but just saying new info comes to light...then say a section...Ie pages 45 to 46 contain some bad info in parts, well you get sent a replacement section and you chuck out the bad section or put it somewhere else...Ie the book is then a living document subject to change as new info comes to light and the flavor is retained....the only trick would be to design a classy binding system that can easily be modified, not a cheesy three ring binder, retain a nice glossy cover, like Previtiera's series has...oh yeah and a publication data page that is replaced each time you get an update, saying IE "2008 edition version 3" or the like so the reader knows what he has...anyway sounds a bit complicated, but maybe something like this is already in play in scientific circles....cost would be high but you could subscribe yearly, or the like, and the author would have to be willing to keep up...its not like a work of fiction where the attitude can be "I wrote my story been there done that"....new knowledge comes to light and what is done with it?

Johnny

[Darrell]

Anyone care to take a shot at authenticity in the ABP and WB sections?<o></o>

[redjames2004]

Tucker books

I think that Tucker's books are loaded up with many photos of fakes and few photos of real ones. I almost planned on buying on this Tucker book but I dropped my plan for that Tucker book after I met Dietrich Maerz at a local show. I spoke with him about Tucker book. He told me to not buy Tucker books. Tucker books are not good because of photos of fakes ,IMO.

[Robin Lumsden]

I actually wrote you about 2 years later asking about the CCC in your book, and you were kind enough to reply back to me with a letter as well.

Thanks Tom.

I'd forgotten all about that.

I'll need to check my files..................I still keep all the letters I got in the 'old days'.

Before the Internet.

[Robin Lumsden]

He told me to not buy Tucker books.

Well, IMHO, there's no such thing as a bad book.

Some are better than others, but every one of them has learning points.

It's up to the reader to take the best out of them all.

[Thomas Durante]

Robin, I still have your letter, sitting right in your book here next to me

I agree, there are no bad books, but you have to weigh the good points with it versus its cost and the ability to tell what is good from bad so you don't get burned. Actually, Tucker's book, with its large format color pictures of indvidual badges was the inspiration for Frank's GAB book, and therefore my CCC book. It was the forerunner of all the "detailed" books coming out on the individual subjects over the last few years.

Tom

[Robin Lumsden]

Actually, Tucker's book, with its large format color pictures of indvidual badges was the inspiration for Frank's GAB book, and therefore my CCC book. It was the forerunner of all the "detailed" books coming out on the individual subjects over the last few years.

That's what I mean.

Every book is a step on the ladder to even better books.

[Richard]

Even if Tucker's book is filled with fakes, it then becomes a great reference to ID fakes as the pictures are great. As Tom said, the format was the forerunner of the other great books about specific badges that came later. Sadly this hobby seems to morph with time. Badges thought genuine become fake and vice versa as we get new information.

Additionally what Robin stated earlier, has a ring of truth. As the hobby ages, it becomes more and more specialized and I can see collectors specializing in one maker down the road. When this hobby was in its infancy, a GAB was a GAB. Then came condition, then makers, etc. This happened in coins. First it was collect by type, then collect the type by year (one Lincoln cent for every year produced, for example) then by mintmark for every year (A Lincoln cent from the Denver, San Francisco and Philidelphia mint all made in 1968 for example), then came varieties (small mintmark vs. large mintmark) and then ......
Richard V

[Don D.]

We learn more every year. Funny how much info was lost in a 60 year period.

[Marc Garlasco]

Well, I did a quick look at the three Army FJ badges he has and the one marked one on page 140-141 is indeed fake. The other two are good. So he shot 66%.
Marc

[Robin Lumsden]

Sadly this hobby seems to morph with time. Badges thought genuine become fake and vice versa as we get new information.

How true!

[Darrell]

Well, I did a quick look at the three Army FJ badges he has and the one marked one on page 140-141 is indeed fake. The other two are good. So he shot 66%.
Marc

Thanks Marc.

[Marc Garlasco]

How true!

Robin, that's just a little unfair. We are not talking about things that suddenly everyone screams fake, but due to the internet we can now do a very diligent job of analysis. This isn't guesswork!

[Thomas Durante]

I agree, its not really true IMO.

We indeed saw a spike of good badges becoming bad and vice versa in the first few years of the internet. That is simply because collectors from all over the world now got to show their vast collections more openly and everybody compared notes and communicated all over the world in a very short time.

So, now you have some old-time dealer in Ohio for example, that is used to his little world of militaria that was contained withing a few hundred miles of his geographical area for 30 years, now can hear from experienced collectors all over the world and compare notes. Same thing with guys in the UK, or Austrailia. Now, everyone can talk all over the world and I would say that 95% of the stuff we collect now has a good consensus on what is good or bad. You may have 1 or 2 pieces switch from good to bad (vice versa) due to continued research, but I think the explosion of "new revelations" we saw over the last 10 years has now come and gone.

Tom