The Perils of Being a Closet Collector....

[Tim O'Keefe]

Pretty amazing collection of fakes. Here are the tropical M40's. Appear to all be from the same maker/faker. Notice the eagle used.
Shiny soutache on a couple and the cockades used. Hard to see the grommets but what is seen doesn't look good either.

https://bid.candtauctions.co.uk/m/vi...no&featured=no

[Tim O'Keefe]

Here are a couple more. Hard to believe this is not a scam. Am sure most of these will show up again for sale listed as originals
The corduroy cap has the classic fake "where's the feet eagle" ?

[AntiqueWW2]

The former owner is neither dead nor someone who does not know exactly what he has there. Nice story, but nothing more.

[ivbaust]

Not a single good, one-piece original SA / NSKK headgear


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[stonemint]

iv, I agree--ALL of the kepis were bad (even the EM/NCO examples).

[stonemint]

Can any of you medal guys chime in on whether those are all fakes as well?

[Chet Sowersby]

All of the Heer combat badges and shields are reproductions. The one EK1 listed is a fake as well. Cripes, there is even a balloon observers badge in the lot. I imagine others versed in the various collecting disciplines will encounter the same results.

Chet

[Ironheart]

I am not a collector even though I ended up with stuff by chance or it was given to me and then some were part of trade for my art services. Even I, who does not know didley squat about these things can see some are boners....especially the KM admirals visor.
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[Kehlsteinhaus]

Guess he paid over 500k....well we simply do not know...like many he may just like goid quality copies and added his own insignias to some...who can tell. But to say he has been scammed without knowing what he paid is just guesswork

[Ironheart]

I do have to admit that I would not know if those helmets are genuine or not.......and those kepis threw me off....because I had 3 kepis given to me back in the early 1980's when I was in Germany for my ex gf family funeral. Her mother gave me box of whole bunch of odds and ends. A couple of those kepis look very similar to ones I had. My studio fire in 1996 damaged most of it all. My ex gf's grandfather was in the military then the SS and her dad went into it also...her uncles were KM.

[WalterB]

Guess he paid over 500k....well we simply do not know...like many he may just like goid quality copies and added his own insignias to some...who can tell. But to say he has been scammed without knowing what he paid is just guesswork

We were operating on the reported information that “Apparently, the owner of the "collection" at auction in the current (and past) C & T Auction passed away, and his Estate is now auctioning it off.” If it was a collector, then chances ARE very good that he was sold fake goods. It has happened many, many times in the past, so if you were talking about probability, then it is definitely more probable that he was scammed as opposed to having a collector buying fakes at the cost of those fakes. So far, I haven’t met any collector actively and intentionally seeking a large collection of fakes. Makes no real sense. If you have enough money to spend on a large collection of fakes, why not just have a smaller collection of real items?

[Ironheart]

OMGinger Snaps!!!! That SS Panzer is a serious hoo haw....that Eagle and Skull are so obvious....did this owner ever check? This so freaking obvious!

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[Ironheart]

I just finished going thru it all.....makes you want to roll over laughing or start balling crying feeling badly for the family when they find out they got scammed.

[Gene]

Who owned these hats/collection?

[stonemint]

Who owned these hats/collection?

Gene, that was my original question--I think this guy was so deep in the closet he never came out.....