Untouched Böker SS or something else?

[DTS]

So, an original, untouched Boker has been butchered, and now two different "Parts" daggers exist, and of course, the new buyer will not be informed, pay top dollar, from a "reputable" dealer. This is why I rarely buy from dealers, and now, will never buy from this one.

DTS

[tanker]

Yea, and Houston is on the MAX board. Really shows how much faith you can put into that group!

[Mac 66]

This is one of the sadest threads i,ve read, butchering high priced SS daggers into parts daggers for profit

[Eric Von Rader]

mmmmm very sad, and a MAX board director Not good..... Karma has sent a large flock of roosters home to nest....

[mametz]

This is nothing new happens all the time
Mametz

[ETN]

Of course there will be no consequences to this either.

[The Red Baron]

As a younger collector this is just one more thing that makes me nervous, I don't claim to be any type of expert, but the blade looked very good and I was looking for the nicks, were they had been. The only thing that I remember was an odd "scratch" pattern on the lower portion of the blade where this work was done probably where some sort of repolish might have been done?

This was crookery at its finest though in the simple fact he told me "This just came straight from the vet, you wont find a nicer blade!". My buddy sitting at my table asked where it came from (geographically) and he quickly replied "oh somewhere in Ohio." He tried to scam me, simple as that.

I understand things like this, and often less severe than this, happen often, but I don't think it reduces the severity of it. An antique was altered from its original state and the work was not disclosed. The piece also had non original to the piece Part (crossguard) added and a new hanger added, (the original hanger had been on it since the period). This too was not disclosed and instead lied about to my face. When confronted houston simply said, "thats not true" and "its not the same dagger". There should be some recourse or at least a soiling of the good name he seems to have had.
I wonder how many other pieces have been so altered and reside in our collections as "untouched"....

[ValhallaMilitaria]

This is why when we hear the word 'dealer' whether it be car or militaria the first word that flashes into the mind is "sleazeball" actually another comes to mind but since this is polite company and not the local dive bar I will refrain from saying it here aloud. What a shame and what a sad,sad thread....I just purchased a fake Feldernnhalle blade from just such a character last week....this guy had real high end items, fakes, and some stuff that was so rare and valuable it was scary, now I am stuck with a worthless blade....I guess its inevitable with this hobby that one gets burned once in a while.it still leaves a bad taste in ones mouth...one question I have though: why the need to tinker with real items and make Frankensteins? what purpose does it serve?
Eric

[Eric Von Rader]

Once upon a time there was a Teno, Japanese Navy sword and a SS Dagger

[DTS]

This is why when we hear the word 'dealer' whether it be car or militaria the first word that flashes into the mind is "sleazeball" actually another comes to mind but since this is polite company and not the local dive bar I will refrain from saying it here aloud. What a shame and what a sad,sad thread....I just purchased a fake Feldernnhalle blade from just such a character last week....this guy had real high end items, fakes, and some stuff that was so rare and valuable it was scary, now I am stuck with a worthless blade....I guess its inevitable with this hobby that one gets burned once in a while.it still leaves a bad taste in ones mouth...one question I have though: why the need to tinker with real items and make Frankensteins? what purpose does it serve?
Eric

The purpose it serves is to raise the price and profit for the dealer. To them, all this nonsense about preserving history, the integrity of the item, etc., is just that... nonsense. Until it comes time to sell it to you.

Then it's the story, the history, the unique provenance of this one of a kind piece of history -- which is, of course, why it's so expensive. You'll find more honest dealers at your local used car lot.

DTS

[tanker]

And he is supposed to be a retired police officer. Real integrity to scam a new collector, right?

As a younger collector this is just one more thing that makes me nervous, I don't claim to be any type of expert, but the blade looked very good and I was looking for the nicks, were they had been. The only thing that I remember was an odd "scratch" pattern on the lower portion of the blade where this work was done probably where some sort of repolish might have been done?

This was crookery at its finest though in the simple fact he told me "This just came straight from the vet, you wont find a nicer blade!". My buddy sitting at my table asked where it came from (geographically) and he quickly replied "oh somewhere in Ohio." He tried to scam me, simple as that.

I understand things like this, and often less severe than this, happen often, but I don't think it reduces the severity of it. An antique was altered from its original state and the work was not disclosed. The piece also had non original to the piece Part (crossguard) added and a new hanger added, (the original hanger had been on it since the period). This too was not disclosed and instead lied about to my face. When confronted houston simply said, "thats not true" and "its not the same dagger". There should be some recourse or at least a soiling of the good name he seems to have had.
I wonder how many other pieces have been so altered and reside in our collections as "untouched"....

[ValhallaMilitaria]

Unerstood, real shame and it gives all of us who try to fund our own hobby by trading in militaria a bad name.

The purpose it serves is to raise the price and profit for the dealer. To them, all this nonsense about preserving history, the integrity of the item, etc., is just that... nonsense. Until it comes time to sell it to you.

Then it's the story, the history, the unique provenance of this one of a kind piece of history -- which is, of course, why it's so expensive. You'll find more honest dealers at your local used car lot.

DTS

[Jeremy92]

There IS NO defense on this! The dagger was bought with the defects and then after purchased, altered to reflect a better condition. That is nothing more than being dishonest and deceitful. If the "mods" were identified at time of resale, then better.
Getting caught in something something like this does nothign to bolster confident for young/ new collectors. And when the person doing the trickery is touted as being one of the "honest ones" leaves alot to be desired.
Houston, you need to step up on this.

It doesn't make any diffence on what the collectable is, is should not be sitched and modified to make it better than what it is. This same kind of behavior tainted the Totenkopfring and we all know who and what was involved in that!

I agree.

[DTS]

Interesting how some of the most "reputable" dealers seem to be the ones most often caught doing this fraud. They're reputable alright... but for what?

MAX dealers? MAX=maximum profit, maximum chicanery, and maximum laughter as they make their deposits at the bank.

[patrice]

If a dagger has been altered, modified or somewhat enhanced, I have no problem with that as far as it is stated in the description and sold as is.
However, if a dagger is willingly being altered in order to deceive and without anyone knowing it in order to make more money, that's something else and is dead wrong in my book.


There are no excuses for such behavior and it cannot be defendable, even if the vets did it themselves 40 years ago it still doesn't make it right either.