Repro Pole Top Question

[adlerfan53]

Hello. I was thinking of purchasing a 2nd pattern NSDAP pole top from Reddick. They're pretty cheap. Just want one that can sit on desk. No need for an original. The website says "new" moulds etc. ANyone have experience with these? What is the quality. I know they are nothing like originals. Just need something to fill a gap right now.
Thanks in advance.

[Br. James]

Hi Adlerfan,

From my point of view, patronizing those who have developed a business by making forgeries of period antiques is never a good idea, even if their products are "pretty cheap." For decades I have heard it said that "I'll buy this copy of a genuine relic to occupy the space in my collection, just until I can find a true example of that piece." Sorry, but that point of view has never sounded reasonable to me -- the idea of spending money on a fake piece just so one can view his collection and see what it MIGHT look like IF he ever finds the correct pieces to complete it is simply a waste of good money, IMHO.

The pole tops Reddick is offering, according to their current website, are not as obviously phony as you may think. Your thought that Reddick's recreations "are nothing like originals" is deceptive, for they have apparently worked hard for decades to develop the 'art of forgery' to heights where, today, their pieces can convince even the experienced collector that they are looking at a genuine artifact from the mid-last century instead of one made last week. In my estimation, this is a very dangerous situation...dangerous to those who will come after us and will be willing to spend serious money on so-called artifacts that were made in the 1990s or more recently. For even though a person may buy a piece made by Reddick, knowing full-well that it is a modern duplication or recasting, that piece may one day go out onto the collector's market and that is where the real danger begins.

I have had 'holes' in most of my collections for a number of decades, for the same reason that you are now considering buying a modern forgery from Reddick, but that course has never tempted me. Money is too hard to come by to throw it away by spending it on something that I know from the get-go is a worthless forgery of a genuine antique.

Apologies for this long response, but there are 2nd pattern PL Pole Tops available from a number of reputable dealers, or there will be soon; my advice is to save your money against the day when you find just the right piece to sit upon your desk!

Br. James

[adlerfan53]

BR,
You raise some good points. I don't disagree with most of what you are saying. However, as soon as we lowly educators get massive pay raises equivalent to our effort I will go out and purchase a real one right away. I am saving for a good one but I am pretty impatient. I believe it is up to us to mark such items as reproductions so those who follow know better. I am not a person who would try to take someones money for a fake artifact and therefore have no intention of dumping this to a less knowledgeable person.
I appreciate your point of view and will take your thoughts into consideration.

[mrec27777]

I agree with BR ...buy an original ,and it will/should go up in value as an investment you can look at daily ..i do not regret buying any of my poletops ...just wish i hadn"t let some slip by .... EC

[ErichS]

I have never understood place savers either. i would rather have nothing than a fake in my collection. Just keep saving until you can afford an original and you'll be much happier in the long run.

[Br. James]

Amen to that, Erich -- AMEN!

Br. James

[Richard]

I've used fakes in my collection as a "space saver" which, when viewing it alongside the original items, gives me the motivation to save for an original so I can trash the space saver.
Richard V

[adlerfan53]

The decision is also financial at times. This is the case right now for me. A real one is on the horizon in the future.

[adlerfan53]

So I went ahead and ordered one. There is no worry that these will be mistaken for anything real. They are not even close yet. Bad all around. It will fill the hole until the real thing arrives.

[Br. James]

Sorry to hear this, Adlerfan, though it is certainly your right to decide for yourself how you will spend your money. The Reddick knockoff PL Poletop is listed at $32.00 and, as you said, this is cheap enough, but I have to wonder what will happen to this Reddick piece when you finally do find a "real one" to take its place in your collection? Will it be tossed into the trash can? That might be hard to do, when you consider that you've knowingly spent $32.00 to buy 'a piece of trash!'

There are many 'holes' in my collections, and I've been collecting for more than 50 years. Some -- perhaps many -- of those 'holes' will never be filled in my collecting lifetime, which is now much closer to it's end than to it's beginning. Like your situation, money has always been a huge consideration for me, having come from a blue-collar working family. Undoubtedly that is a major reason why I have so many 'holes' in my collections today! But I have never once considered spending my hard-earned cash by knowingly purchasing a fake or a reproduction of an artifact; to my way of thinking, that would be against everything that I have respected and striven to put together over all of these years.

I have never had a proper space to display any of my collections through these decades, though my desk and the bookshelves in my library do hold a few of my favorite pieces up to view! The rest are stored away -- out of sight but never out of mind. Perhaps that's one reason why I have never been tempted to 'fill a hole' in any of my collections with a fake or reproduction piece; no one views my lifelong efforts but me. If I had a more public space in which to put various collections on view, then perhaps I could see your point in wanting to 'fill a hole' with a reproduction...but I am the only audience that my collecting efforts normally has, so who would I be trying to impress?

Sorry to chunter on about this, and I do wish you happiness in your study and collecting; after all, isn't happiness what keeps us reading and searching for new collecting triumphs?! Cheers to you, my friend,

Br. James

[daniel tarr817j]

Just my two cents worth here. With many Third Reich items I agree, wait for the real thing. Why waste money on a repo? However having had a shop I have heard many say when referring to expensive cuff titles the repo's were so good most could not tell a good one from a bad one. Their attitude was to buy the cheapest best looking one and leave it at that. The odds of getting a bad CT costing hundreds were very high. Outside of not purchasing any CT's that made some sense.

[scotty1418]

Everyone has a choice, but I also strongly feel that it is important to strive for a quality collection - whatever we focus on.

I'd prefer to have a collection of quality void of any false items as a reflection of my discerning eye.

It seems most people here have this mindset but people can do what they want.

Unfortunately all these 'placeholders' just end up in the ugly mix of junk later on that make it more complicated for collectors - especially new ones.

[adlerfan53]

Every word here is true. I imagine this piece will find it's way to a bookshelf at some point. At least now we know firsthand that these will not be mistaken for good. Maybe I took one for the team. LOL