SOS 2015 - Paper Collectors

[Brian R]

Ok, guys. It's still 1.5 months away but... are any paper collectors going? I'm planning to be there and will be sharing a table with Trevor (Streptile). Similar to last year, I expect it to be limited as far as paper treasures go. However, I'm sure I will find something good and it will be great to meet other collectors and chat about similar interests. For those who can't make it, I will report back some details.

[Simon O.]

I wont be going but i'll be looking forward to hearing about it.

[InfanterieSammler]

Hi Brian,

Hope you have a good show. I will not be attending - my wife and I are expecting our 2nd child in May. It's funny, they say kids are expensive. This one isn't even here yet and already costing me - bassinet, crib, etc...

Looking forward to getting into the show circuit again at some point, that date is TBD though.

I always love a good post-show thread with photos. It's fun to see all the goodies that you guys score.

Best,
John

[Lionel H.]

Again there this Year with my Friend Phil, with some nice Papers and Albums for sale or trade, not that much, but happy to meet there one more times some Paper collectors of the Forum including Brian ! Lionel.

[mac-apple]

This will be my first SoS show ... Looking forward to it!!!

[Brian R]

Just about a week away!!

[mac-apple]

I am just hoping the weather cooperates, I hear they just got a foot of snow on Sunday...

[Brian R]

I will not be attending - my wife and I are expecting our 2nd child in May. It's funny, they say kids are expensive. This one isn't even here yet and already costing me - bassinet, crib, etc...

Yup, kids definitely put a major crimp in the collecting budget. Mine took a HUGE hit when my wife stopped working. Gone are the days of waiting for Friday updates and adding all sorts of fun things to the collection.

I'm going to the SOS with very little cash. That said, I'm looking forward to it. I should be at P25 but that could change (I will update this thread if need be). I will have some books for sale, a few document groups and singles, and two nice 1939 EK1s. Looking forward to saying hi to people...

[Tim W]

I'll be attending Friday and Saturday and hope to find some SS photos. Lionel we met at Jim Hauleys table but only for a minute last year and I hope we can meet up again and talk photos!!! Anyone that's going that has SS photos please feel free to contact me. My main focus is SS panzer officers photos.
Tim Willemsen

[Brian R]

After a disaster of trip to the SOS, and getting blasted with the flu upon my return, I can finally report back.

Overall, I had an enjoyable time. The SOS is a tremendous opportunity to see various types of militaria in person and to discuss the subject that we all enjoy so much in person. Everything you can imagine is available - from the simplest Hindenburg Cross to the most exceptional officer groups. The SOS offers things for everyone, and I continue to be impressed by the various types of militaria offered. There definitely seems to be just as much US militaria offered as Third Reich, which is a far cry from militaria and gun shows in previous decades.

My main collecting focus is award documents, so that is what I watched for the most. And, it seemed that there were far more award document groups offered this year than last. There were simple groups as well as the extraordinarily rare.

Personally, I scored a nice 21. PD EK2 doc from the 1945 Lorraine fighting from Lionel, a book on WWI Sturm troops, a killer engraved EK1 from the 1916 fighting in the Ukraine and a small schwerverwundete document set to a soldier with a border security unit, wounded on September 12, 1939 in Poland. I really enjoy the heavy wound sets (as sad as they are) because of the research possibilities, and this one will probably go down as the earliest wound citation in my collection.

[Brian R]

Some standard award document offerings...

[Brian R]

2

[Brian R]

3

[Brian R]

The "biggest" document/signature guy there was Terry Patton. He has a lot of decent stuff but his prices are very much based on the signature. I think one has to know his stuff as I'm not convinced that Terry is immune to fakes. For instance, I'm convinced his Rommel Verleihungsliste is bad. Here are a couple of images (I think some of the documents shown in the second image came home with a WAF member)...

[Brian R]

Of course there were other fakes. Some were good and some are laughable. The first picture shows a number of SS documents that looked really good but I'm betting they are bad based on similar fakes I have seen on the market. The second is a whole booklet of some pretty absurd fakes. I have seen it at the MAX too - basically, any fake you want is in there.