Blue Cased Award..not sure what it is.

[Mike Kenny]

I'm looking into whether I can gather info on where these items all came from. Cave creek special has come up more then once. What does that mean and where was that located? Thanks

Alex

Hi Alex,

There is a guy in Cave Creek, Arizona, who runs a shop called "Pieces of History". He was notorious on eBay for selling high end repros before eBay imposed their ban on Third Reich badges. He sold a whole range of high quality Schwerin marked Kriegsmarine badges and when they pop up on the forum here they are referred to as "Cave Creek Specials". I can't remember the guys name but a forum search may turn it up - or maybe someone could send you a PM.

Regards
Mike

PS: I can only agree with the other that the badge in this thread is a Cave Creek Special.

[Ron Weinand]

Repro Blockaide Runner

When these first appeared on the market place several years ago, the porthole was the best way to spot them, but the application of the silver finish to the eagle and swastika on the large badge was another dead given. Sloppy and not the same type of finish as an original. Too dull and not a highlight.
Ron Weinand
Weinand Militaria

[Ron Weinand]

Lowell Jackson

Lowell Jackson is the "Pieces of History" owner. I met him in Wisconsin over thirty years ago when he was mainly a true collector and an expert who was well respected at the time. HE had a massive great collection to include US (MOH, etc.).
Then divorced, sold his business, the move to AZ, a remarry and sudden turn to the darkside. Too bad because Lowell was very sharp and knew the badges and medals well; maybe this is how he found a truly good repro supplier.
His famous operandi today is to travel around the country, send out notices to local collectors and put on a one man show in a local motel to move his merchandise (BTW: some of the items are good, but you have to know what you are looking at and be sharp on the uptake-no bargains here).
Ron Weinand
Weinand Militaria
PS: He also does a large book business.

[Jeff V]

Some of his items may have been original 10 years ago but not anymore. It is pretty much all crap now. Another hook he has is his pricing(well below market) so someone might think they are getting a great deal when in fact they are getting screwed. I still see him sell things at a local gun show. I do enjoy perusing his tables for the latest fakes.
jeff

[Hank C.]

I'm looking into whether I can gather info on where these items all came from. Cave creek special has come up more then once. What does that mean and where was that located? Thanks

Alex

Cave Creek is in Arizona. Apparently a good number of fakes were produced by somebody there...more info somewhere here in the forums, I'm sure.

Hank

[Jody]

Cave Creek

Helllo,
As a native Arizonan I can tell you I don't believe high end fake badges are being produced here, they are coming from somewhere else. Most of the fakes I tend to see are of the same thing, bad HA Panzers, bad L/4 Spanges, SW 68 Pilot badges, etc. They do fake in Arizona uniforms, and re-painting German helmets seem to be very popular and I know several guys that do that.

We have a lot of gun shows in Arizona. They are almost every month, and guys from all over the place help bring this junk into the state. Some of these folks buy it up and re-sale it. There are a lot of bad dealers in the state. The good guys are Larry and Terry Stewart, George Notorpole, and of course Bob Hritz.
Regards,
Jody

[jwburchell]

Lowell Jackson! Yes, that's the name of the guy I could not remember! Thanks, Ron, for jogging my memory. He is the person who sold me the rather credible-looking - but bad - HSF badge (and fake case - as I now know) at the MAX 5 or 6 years ago. This badge appears in my HSF posting of last month. Pictures of this fake badge and the award case now reside on the respective WAF repro fora for all to see and beware.
Thanks,
John