Pionnier Afrika boards.

[OSS]

I should mention that I have seen Riker mounts full of these straps at US shows, in different Waffenfarbe. Their construction is poor and the materials similar but not identical to originals. I am surprised to hear that there is enthusiasm for them but for those who believe them to be good, they should have no trouble assembling an impressive collection in a short period of time at a fraction of the cost of accepted originals.

[Tim O'Keefe]

Hi Chris 90th

What is your thinking on the buttonhole stitching on the Pioneer straps ?

Interesting topic will follow with interest.

& Christopher H.R. good to hear from you too

& last but not least OSS, the straps at the shows are the same material & construction or just the material is the same ?

[90th Light]

I should mention that I have seen Riker mounts full of these straps at US shows, in different Waffenfarbe. Their construction is poor and the materials similar but not identical to originals. I am surprised to hear that there is enthusiasm for them but for those who believe them to be good, they should have no trouble assembling an impressive collection in a short period of time at a fraction of the cost of accepted originals.

Thank you again OSS,

I welcome any images of these straps from the "Riker mounts" at US shows that anyone is willing to post on this thread.

The construction of the examples that I have handled out here is what I would expect from an original WW2 German tropical board. The twill used is a little different as one can see on the example which started this thread.

The examples out here in NZ that are known to be good because they have come directly from veterans hence the enthusiasm.

However, if there are so many fakes in the USA then I expect we will see no end of images being added on this thread.

As I have already stated, I welcome any images that any collector can add here and will start a thread showing veteran acquired examples, hopefully next week,

Chris

[90th Light]

Hi Chris 90th

What is your thinking on the buttonhole stitching on the Pioneer straps ?

Interesting topic will follow with interest.

& Christopher H.R. good to hear from you too

& last but not least OSS, the straps at the shows are the same material & construction or just the material is the same ?

Hello Tim,

I have an example here in hand and I am comparing with other original tropical & continental boards. Not finished going through them all yet. Thus I will comment about that feature on the other thread. Certainly a footprint worth checking.

Equally, does anyone reading this have a reproduction board with this exact type of button hole ?

If so please post an image,

Chris

[MilitaryCollect]

Pio boards

Gentlemen,

I had and sold a textbook matched pair of DAK Pio. NCO boards. And they did not go cheap. A search will find the many pics uploaded here on WAF.

As mentioned, one could fill riker mounts with boards such as the one presented here in this thread for less than the cost of an original pair. Gotta be a reason for that. Either they are fake and/or the militaria community has little to ZERO confidence in that type of board.

Either way, IMVHO it is not an attractive investment of any collector - unlike original and unquestionable DAK items.

We know that the Allied Army in North Afrika overran a few major DAK supply dumps - including clothing supplies. But I've never heard that this type of board came from a captured German clothing depot in Tunisia?

Original DAK boards are rare. Pioneer piped DAK nco boards are rare as hens' teeth. And I saw this same type of board in white piping decades ago as a known fake. I hope that we will not begin seeing more of these emerging as originals albeit with different colored piping.

Chris

[90th Light]

Hello again H.R.17,

I am not interested in any Militaria as an investment. There are far better vehicles of investment that actually have yields, cash flow and payback to name a few. Also I do not use the price of something to determine if it is original or not.

The cheapest original German tropical single board that I have seen sell was 50 cents NZ money in a junk shop and the dearest pair was over US $2000 in an auction were two serious collectors battled it out. Price is nothing more than a offer to all the world. An invitation to treat and indicator of what the market will bear. Of course the old rule that if it is too good to be true then it probably is applies but sometimes one can still be lucky enough to run across a sleeper.

What I am more interested in, is real history. As I have already said, I came across a pair of these 2 or 3 years ago and thought bad/ fake. Then those who have seen more than me said "look again" here is what the NZ veterans have brought back.

This type of board did exist before May 1945 and that is what I am hoping to document before such knowledge is lost forever.

Anyway this is now going round in circles so again if anyone has images of this type from Riker mounts or any where else then please post,

Chris

[pauke]

pics

A few more images of your straps in question would be useful, especially of the parts not yet shown.

[MilitaryCollect]

Hello,

I ran a WAF search "fake tropical straps" and this is what I found:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...+straps&page=2 See post #8. (Known advanced fake). See also post #10.

What material is the green underlay made from? Wool or cotton?

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ropical+straps Post #39. (Eyelets are not standard).

There are other such discussions with photo comparisons here on WAF.

And forgive me please, I did not mean to infer that militaria is strictly an investment. Rather, I submit that there is a certain evidentiary value to the collecting community's pricing of an item ... and in relation to authenticity.

Chris