Who's afraid of "hollow" badges

[Philippe DB]

Hi Bruce,

Problem is I wouldn't know what they are made of because I have only seen them in a picture but my best guess is that they are trying to immitate the buntmetall variant.

KR
Philippe

[Mark S.]

I think many collectors used to look at hollowback badges with an air of caution, because there really wasnt anything to compare to. I remember a few years ago here on the forum, we would have members asking about hollowback badges, only to get a very limited response, usually comments such as "Can you bend it with hand pressure?" or "Here is a picture of mine, its real".

It wasnt until members like Phillipe and Frank shared with us their exhaustive studies on the hollowback badges, that things started to make sense. It was one thing to understand hollowbacks, and know what to look for, but I could see the forum peaking the learning curve when those details were used in conjunction with what was known about their solid back counterparts.

I just wanted to tip my hat to those members who have helped light the path on these badges, it makes the forum what it is. Thanks!

[Frank Heukemes]

Here is a relatively new fake closest to Mayer´s design. Note the strange finish. Imitates a zinc badge though. Does also come in silver, all look brandnew so far.

[Frank Heukemes]

reverse

[Frank Heukemes]

Legitimate question: "how would I know this is a fake?". Besides the weird finish and wrong revesre setup, I just found out by observation. Saw who wells them on the net and made my conclusions. I bet when one handles them it is even more obvious. I will look out for them at the next German show.

@Mark: Thanks for the flowers!

[Tom Yanacek]

Hi Tom,

Although you didn't specify if your hollow badges are zinkers or buntmetall variants I guess most of us will see the same thing when they look at their collection.
Hollow zinkers are easier to find but these for me to are less attractive then their solid counterparts.

KR
Philippe

Hello Philippe and everyone else too,
I have a fairly large assault badge collection. 50 Infantry, 26 Panzer, and 23 General Assault Badges in my present collection. I just went and looked through the badges. As it turns out, I have only 4 stamped assault badges. (3 Panzer and 1 General Assault) Not a single stamped Infantry Badge. I have owned several other stamped assault badges in the past, but probably less than 10 total. As I mentioned earlier, I have always preferred the solid type badges, maybe because so many more of the solid type badges are maker marked. The stamped badges that I own at present are all zinkers, and I do like zinc badges whether stamped or solid. Here is one of the stamped Panzer Badges. It is stamped zinc, by F.W. Assmann.
Best regards! Tom

[Tom Yanacek]

Silver Assmann reverse.

[Tom Yanacek]

Hey Philippe,

I know you're ok with this badge, but some will think that it's a "blobster" fake at first glance. Rest assured it is not. This badge was a direct wartime bring-back by my uncle who was a veteran of the 112th. Engineers U.S.A.

[Tom Yanacek]

Reverse:

[Tom Yanacek]

This stamped Assmann zinker still has a really nice bronze finish to it.

[Tom Yanacek]

Bronze Assmann reverse.

[Tom Yanacek]

Here is the stamped General Assault Badge that I own. Probably made by the same unknown maker that produced the unmarked Panzer Badge that I pictured. I found this one in Trotwood, Ohio about ten years ago.

[Tom Yanacek]

General Assault reverse.

[Levesque]

Hi Guys,

I have only been collecting PAB's for about two years now, but I definitely do not shy away from buying hollowback badges I also must agree with Philippe about buntmetal hollowbacks being the best! Once you get your first one you will see what he means....
Dan

[Philippe DB]

Hi Tom,

99 IAB's, GAB's and PAB's in your collection. From what I have seen you posting on the forum your without a doubt a very experienced collector. In my modest opinion you really owe it to yourself to add at least one buntmetall variant of each type to your collection. If you happen to be anything less then utterly delighted with these badge I'll gladly take them out of your hands

Tom your PAB for sure isn't a "blob" type and I agree with you in relation to your GAB that there is a possibility that it is made by the same maker.

Untill now we believe these PAB's are made by Frank and Reif and only recently we discussed a GAB that could be made by F&R also in this thread

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ight=F%26R+GAB

It is my believe that your GAB is a match with the exception of the cut-outs and the set-up. At this moment I'm still researching the possibility that besides Frank & Reif there was a second maker involved in the production of GAB's, PAB's, and IAB's all sharing the F&R design. The fact that your GAB features the cut-out only strenghtens me in this believe.

@Frank I still have another of these BH mayer badges in mind but don't want to stir up things before having had the chance to handle one. I'll send you some pics of the badge in question.

@Mark thanks for you kind words, much appreciated.

KR
Philippe