SA Kepi for review

[stonemint]

& the even rarer propaganda visor:

[stonemint]

They would have been your one-stop shop for all the rare caps during the TR--here a Generals crusher:

[stonemint]

Mohawk Arms never shows the inside of their caps, but I guarantee it is the same as the other Kepis:

"E-180 German WWII NSKK officer's "coffee can" cap. Olive green wool body with a black upper section designed silver "tape" center and silver wire cord piping around the crown. Short winged NSKK eagle/swastika badge and eagle on a spoked wheel front button. Dark brown leather chin strap. Black leather sweatband and silk lining. "Diamond" moisture shield is marked "Hut-Mayer Neuotting".

[stonemint]

Hut Mayer from Neuötting never had an RZM permission for manufacturing political headgear,
as far as I know!

In any event, in case anyone has any doubt, Wim's words dispel all myths....

[Erich B.]

It's not impossible that the company might have made kepis prior to the finalization and tightening of the RZM regs, but I would be surprised if they actually made any that are pictured in this thread.
Erich

[stonemint]

Erich, for some reason the fakers grab on to some actual maker, and then churn them out all with the same logo. (I doubt Hut Mayer made these caps).

Same thing with the "Johann Frey" fakes--Frey was (and is) a real maker, but someone churned out a heckuva lot of rare fakes under that logo as well.

Of course, this was all done before the advent of the internet....

[Erich B.]

I read through the thread on MFF (thanks for the link!), and, yes, it's mainly opinions and so on, liberally sprinkled with comments about the WAF (e.g. 'The farmer doesn't eat what he isn't familiar with'--meaning a rube doesn't see farther than the nose on his face, but one could also say 'that might be a smart farmer!') opinions about the kepis in question. To me it defies logic a. why flood the market with a relatively obscure maker's marking all at once, and b. why the array of caps aren't better constructed--it wouldn't be that much of a step to make them the 'old fashioned way'.
Erich

[stonemint]

I think what we are seeing now is older collectors getting out of the hobby, and finding that they have some real lemons on their hands (and that is why they are being dumped on semi-obscure internet auction sites).


The latest "mega-dump" are the hats of Hitler, Goering and Feldbischof Rarkowski--these have been thru at least 3 (if not 4) auctions in the last 4 years:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=792167

[stonemint]

BTW, I don't know if they are supporting or trashing the SA Kepi by Johann Frey Rudi posted on the German forum (MFF), but he did post some additional pics of it, and Wim Saris provides the death knell for this one as well:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...37#post6854737

[ivbaust]

BTW, I don't know if they are supporting or trashing the SA Kepi by Johann Frey Rudi posted on the German forum (MFF), but he did post some additional pics of it, and Wim Saris provides the death knell for this one as well:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...37#post6854737

In the German forum are different opinions about the kepi from Rudi, but he is convinced it is original and some of the "headgear experts" on the German forum confirm him. So I would say the tendency in the German forum might be a "thumbs up" for the kepi in question.

[Richard]

Every thread I read like this makes me thankful that I learn something but it also makes me doubt about the future of this hobby. Fakes are becoming better and opinions of even old time collectors are becoming divided on whether an item is real or not. Over the last year I have really evaluated my position in collecting this material and may just happily retain what I have collected so far without adding anything new.
Richard V

[stonemint]

In the German forum are different opinions about the kepi from Rudi, but he is convinced it is original and some of the "headgear experts" on the German forum confirm him. So I would say the tendency in the German forum might be a "thumbs up" for the kepi in question.

All I can say is you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot force him to drink....

[stonemint]

Every thread I read like this makes me thankful that I learn something but it also makes me doubt about the future of this hobby. Fakes are becoming better and opinions of even old time collectors are becoming divided on whether an item is real or not. Over the last year I have really evaluated my position in collecting this material and may just happily retain what I have collected so far without adding anything new.
Richard V

Richard, they really are not that hard to detect. Fakers are like potato chips--they cannot make just one. These are older fakes---I have not seen any "superfakes" come into the market of late, because the market is not there like it used to be. Further, unlike tailoring, the hat making industry is literally dead from a "meister" standpoint, and they cannot re-create these caps like they were originally made.

As far as the WAF is concerned, I do not see anyone here trying to assert that either Kepi is the real deal.

I cannot speak for the German forum, but I would invite them to come over here and voice their opinions as to why they think the kepis are real.

If there is something you are looking for, and would like an opinion on, we are all here to help.

[Richard]

Richard, they really are not that hard to detect. Fakers are like potato chips--they cannot make just one. These are older fakes---I have not seen any "superfakes" come into the market of late, because the market is not there like it used to be. Further, unlike tailoring, the hat making industry is literally dead from a "meister" standpoint, and they cannot re-create these caps like they were originally made.

As far as the WAF is concerned, I do not see anyone here trying to assert that either Kepi is the real deal.

I cannot speak for the German forum, but I would invite them to come over here and voice their opinions as to why they think the kepis are real.

If there is something you are looking for, and would like an opinion on, we are all here to help.

Thanks very much for the offer of help. That is why I've been on this forum as long as I have, always someone with knowledge such as yourself who is willing to help out fellow collectors. My comment of opposing viewpoints is not so much directed at this thread (though the fact the German forum opposes the viewpoints expressed here) as it is on various other threads I've seen pop up more and more frequently. The fakers aren't quite there yet, but they are getting closer.
Richard V

[stonemint]

ivbaust--
Has anyone on the German forum contacted Hut Mayer to see if they made these, and when?
Because if they did not, someone has misappropriated their trademark.