PL great coat ? Nobody want it?

[Pascal Bernhard]

Hello

Who want's a PL great coat ?

Think they are much scarcer than tunic, I'm asking because it seems actually to be absolutely impossibe to sell PL leader, SA or NSKK "political" stuff.
Even if the condition is the best possible, of course the price is in connection with the condition and scarcity, but nobody!

Where are the Political organisations items collectors ?

Let me know please if you found one ! All "missing in action" ?

Or it's going to be like in France, only cantines, bullits and k98 ammunition boxes collectors, and of course had to cost....nothing!

Sorry, but need some answers, what's going on ?

Thanks for your opinions

[Jeff Clark]

I love greatcoats, who is selling one?

I will say that I too have gotten the impression that I am the only one buying this stuff and paying fair market prices (and then some).

A few guys have contacted me since I wrote my book about buying tunics and other things. When I quote what I feel is an extremely fair price, the reaction has been something like, ....Oh, well...I didn't know the stuff cost real money...I thought I could buy it for army surplus prices.

People will pay thousands for a pair of SS underwear, but act like a couple thousand for a PL tunic is robbery

[Bob Coleman]

Pascal And Jeff-
There Are A Few Of Us Who Will Pay Real Money For Good Political Items. I Find It Far More Interesting And Complex Than The Military Items. For One Thing, There Is Far More Of An Assurance That What You Are Buying Is Real And Not Some Humped Up Piece Of Kaka. One Only Need Look At The Plethera
Of Fake Waffen S S Tunics That Are In The Market Place. Back In The Days When Collectors Were Few And Real Material Was Abundant, S S Tunics Were A Rarity.
Some Day, A Part Of The Collector Community Will Awaken To The Wonderful Area We Collect. Until Then, There Is A Bright Side. We Have A Lot Less Competition When Buying.

[luftwaffe blue]

I dont think its a lack of wanting Pascal its more a lack of the money sometimes, id love to own a nice SA tunic but the cost sometimes is just frankly out of my range..

[wessel]

How many suits or jackets have you bought in your lifetime? And how many overcoats?? Coats are just not stylish; they are there to keep the cold or rain out. And you cannot put decorations or award badges on them. At least PL or SA or NSKK can have nice brassards...but Army coats???
Also, display is more difficult. I have one coat (NSKK Marine) but it hangs in my wardrobe and not often taken out.
But cloaks...Ah, now that is different

[stonemint]

Pascal, I agree. The newer generation of collectors primarily collect armed organizations--Wehrmacht & W-SS, followed by A-SS and Polizei. Just look at the activity on the Helmet forum--probably the most active on the WAF.

Political organisations are a definate 2nd place to the above, followed by State/Civil, (a distant third).

One thing I can say is that in my youth (teens, 20's and early 30's), my collection was also somewhat "Wehrmacht-centric."

Mint, nice Political/State is hard to find at any price. Go to the major dealers, and SS almost seems to be more prevalent than Wehrmacht (oh look, another W-SS tunic/hat for sale--gee, you don't see those every day).

I do wonder if the non-SS political/civil daggers still have the desirability they did 5/10/20 years ago--I doubt it.

There are at least 10 W-SS visors for sale on various sites. When was the last time anyone saw a stonemint Bahnschutz visor for sale? A Gauleitung? Something just ain't right.

The surprising thing is that with an apparent lack of interest, I would expect to see more political/civil for sale. The old-time and closet collectors must be holding on to them, hoping for prices to rise. I just don't see all that much of an increase in the prices of Political/Civil in the near future, due simply to a lack of demand.

PS--I am looking for a stonemint Orts Greatcoat--let me know when you find one!

[stonemint]

One other thing to consider from a US perspective is the fact that the dollar is collapsing compared to the Pound, Loonie, and Euro. Furthermore, we are in a borderline recession, and gas prices are at an all-time high, so this probably creates some trepidation in those Wehrmacht collectors insofar as Political collecting is concerned.

BTW, Bob, I agree with your thesis--Political is much more intellectually challenging as far as collecting is concerned, and maybe thats also a problem....

[Radcollector]

theres not much of an interst it seems for political/states org stuff here in the states,there are a few collectors i know with an interest but not nearly the number of Heer/SS dagger/helmet guys-i have the same problem when selling some RAD stuff,no interest.i think the problem on the e-stand with slow sales is mainly due to the euro vs dollar and our poor economy.last night i took all the european dealers out of my web browser favorites,i cant pay what there asking.i have a set amount i am willing to pay for certain items and if its not in that price range i pass,theres nothing in this hobby that i cant live without haveing and i dont "have to have it now!"i wait untill something more afoardable comes along.i havent purchased anything from the e-stand or from european dealers in the last year becasue of this and i dont see my self doing so unless the dollar rises.

[Guymauve]

Hallo Pascal
I am a political organisation items collector but as you know, only for NSKK!
I pay real money when I find interesting stuff, but not for common items...
I also prefer to own a Stahlhelm with a nice NSKK decal, than a FJ or SS helmet.
Scuse my bad english
Cheers

[Erich B.]

As mentioned, there are a handful of Political/paramilitary collectors, and many dealers and collectors I speak with don't know the difference between the NSDAP, the SA, or the NSKK. I've specialized in SA pieces for many years, so, for me, the common pieces aren't of interest. Rare SA items are seldom, if ever, seen on the e-stand. I agree that PL overcoats are actually pretty hard to find, but overcoats have been a slow to impossible sell in the states since the 60s. And if they're stripped they're really a lower dollar item. Same for SA, NSKK, enlisted LW, Army, etc.
Erich

[Pascal Bernhard]

Hello dear forum members, thanks a lot for all this very interesting opinions

Agree with all the opinions here, I came exactly at the same conclusion.
To be honnest, I did'nt think receiving so many answers !

[stonemint]

BTW, how could any serious TR collector not want one of these?!

[Richard]

I too like the political stuff but even with the apparent lack of interest and smaller collector base, prices of many of the items I would desire are beyond my pocketbook.

By the way Jeff, I finally got a copy of your book and have enjoyed reading it tremendously. Great job! It was much, much larger in size than I anticipated.
Richard V

[Jeff Clark]

Thanks Richard...Schiffer did a great job with the pictures!

[Wim Vangossum]

Hi,

I think sales in general it is slowing down a bit. Here in my little Belgium country many common collectors (like me) have more concerns to fill their tank with fuell, then buying collector items. At the moment only the wealthy man can still buy like never before. An old story a guess... Many new collectors spezializing immediatley in one type of award for a maximum price of a pair hundred dollars each. And then they buy each month or two months a new manufacturer.

Regards, Theo