Questions about Luftwaffe, HJ and other Photos...

[dzyner]

I have a question regarding rarity and value of a photo lot I'm considering purchasing. How rare do you think this lot is, and what would you expect to pay if you saw this lot at a show, or online through a dealer? The overall condition and quality is average...

The lot includes a good deal of Hitler Youth shots, look to be mostly school and training shots, as well as a lot of Luftwaffe personnel shots (hardly any planes, mainly troops, including officers, NCOs, etc). There are several vehicle shots, and bombed building as well.

In this lot are several shots of Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal of the Luftwaffe during World War II (he was kind of a big deal), including one of him exiting his personal airplane.

There are also two shots of General Patton and President Roosevelt riding in a jeep (Patton in the passenger seat, and Roosevelt directly behind him in the back). Both shots look to be printed from the same neg.

Lastly, there are about 4 very tiny prints taken of a Concentration Camp. Not sure which one, hard (maybe impossible) to tell.

All-in-all, there are about 200 photos. Aside from the above mentioned unique shots, they're mostly Hitler Youth and Luftwaffe shots.

What do you all think about this? I know pricing photos is hard, but just give me your best guess based on what your gut tells you.

Thanks!
Dzyner

[Andrew Harris]

Just show us the photos... How we can tell you the price - if we don't see the photos

[dzyner]

Hi Andrew, thanks for the reply.

I don't have possession of the photos so I can't offer up any examples. Believe me, I would if I could, but when it comes to photos sellers are usually reluctant to let you take pictures of them, thinking you're going to duplicate and sell them off as original. I know, sounds ridiculous, but seems few sellers will allow it in my experience.

All I'm asking for is general value ranges from those of you who have purchased photo lots before that are anywhere similar to the one I'm describing. If you saw a lot that meets my general description (I think I provided a pretty good idea of what is in the lot), what would you expect to pay? I'm looking for general ideas here, nothing down to the penny.

[paddywhack]

well if its pretty mundane stuff 200 pics with one or 2 interesting pics id say maybe $230ish!

[Mil-Archive]

I think it's impossible to say without seeing them.

Pics of HJ are often valued more than say pics of RAD. Though it will depend on the pictures, how clear they are what's in them, where /when they were taken and so on.

The pics of the general will also bump the value (hopefully they are reasonable sized and sharp).

It depends on the vehicles you mention and re the concentration camp that also depends on the picture and probably which camp & when were they taken.

Bombed out buildings I'd say are not valuable at all unless it was a particular raid or a particular building or noteworthy in some other way.

If the pics of Patton & roosevelt are original and not repro or publicity (and particularly if they are unpublished) they would also increase the overall value - though it'd be hard to put a price on them sight unseen. I think Paddy's estimate would be in the right ballpark. How much is the seller looking for ?

You said that sellers will not allow you to take pictures of them - in that case I'd ask the seller to mail you some jpegs that they took with watermarks added to prevent duplication. If they are reluctant to do that I'd be asking why. If this is a non internet or non computer savvy dealer that might explain it but otherwise I'd be getting suspicious about the lack of pics being supplied before buying.

[dzyner]

Hi guys! Thanks for all the feedback, I appreciate the thoughts. I've already offered $200 and they flat out turned it down. They believe they're worth quite a bit more even though they have no idea that the two photos I referred to are of Patton and Roosevelt. They also don't know about the General. To them, they just believe they're valuable simply because they're photos of WWII and Germans.

I considered offering them $450 - $500, which is why I'm throwing this out there to the forum's opinions. The photos are all about average for the period, 2.5x3 or so, except the concentration camp shots which are concealable size (tiny).

I'm not sure what I'll do at this point. It's frustrating when people think they have gold, when in reality its silver at best. I may just wait it out and touch base with them in several weeks, see if they change their mind.

Dzyner

[paddywhack]

this happens all the time!iv gone to plenty of coin shows where a dealer has a west wall medal or a black wound badge and they think cos its got a swastika on it it MUST be worth LOADS!!!!!you can always show them what they go for on ebay and or the forums here!that might make them see sense though i really doubt it!!and also if it is just mundane common stuff pass on it as more interesting groups are always surfacing!!

[dzyner]

paddywhack,

I may end up passing on the lot if they don't budge. I need to get their email address so I can email them some similar lots, and what they sold for as you mentioned.

The only think I keep going back to is the couple photos of Patton and Roosevelt, as well as the photos of the Luftwaffe General (Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle), and how often they show up in lots. That's probably the only reason I may pay a little more than usual. The photos aren't publicity, or press photos since they do not have the traditional typed sticker affixed to the reverse. They instead have a postmark looking stamp that I believe is a sort of censor inspection stamp, which means it was allowed to be mailed home (i.e. it didn't contain any military secrets).

I'll post back to this thread if I do end up buying the lot, and will post some of the more interesting shots as well.

[paddywhack]

well if you think about it even if you dont see alot of pics of Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle is it worth paying over the odds for 2 or 3 pics?i f there were pics of tigers or panther then sure! but if they dont budge i would pass for sure!!let us know what they say though!!!