Dutch NSB triangles E-stand-discussion

[Niederlande]

I just saw this listing on the E-stand and imho these are fake.
Can I please get some other opinions too?

Thanks and kind regards,
Emiel


http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=796969

Moderator: please link this discussion to the sales thread

[vizenz]

Hello Emiel,

9 out of 10 pieces from Rikster are fakes. I'm sure he makes most of the stuff itself. I don't know what happens here, because there are a lot of experienced Cloth collectors, but it seems everyone is scared to say this open!

Best regards,
Andreas

[Niederlande]

Thanks for your reply and I also looked at most of his stuff and listings and didn't like what I saw. But since I mainly collect ss and dutch nsb/wa I wasn't sure about his other stuff. Could you be so kind to point out the stuff that is not good in your honest opinion and include the links?

Cheers, Emiel

[vizenz]

It's the same with me. I'm collecting Cloth insignia from the Wehrmacht (Army, Navy, Airforce), and I'm often not too sure in the authenticity of non Standard stuff of other branches. But if you Keep an eye on his sales, you'll see that the stuff is always made with the same "craftsmanship".

But let's take a look:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=782871

The handembroidered cufftitle is an easy to detect fake. I also don't like the machine embroidered one. The board was probably an original plain enlisted board. I think the backside was opened, and re-sewn after the embroidery was done.

Or take a look here:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=791074

I can not judge the Zeppelin patch, but all others are fakes.

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=797071

The Blitz here is also a simple to detect fake.

I'm sure there are more advanced collectors out there who can help to identify all this crap!

[Fred Green]

Hello Niederlande and Vizenz,

I am glad that both of you have taken the time to speak up. While this type of insignia is not in my collecting venue , I collect Heer cloth, it appeared suspicious to me.

I wholeheartedly agree with vizenz on every point that he has made on each piece of insignia. I don't believe that there is an original nor unaltered piece in any of the offerings.

While hand made and hand embroidered insignia was made and used during the period of the Third Reich, this individual offers nothing but that! After following his sales threads for over a year, I noticed a great similarity in the craftsmanship, and materials in all of the pieces. Not only were they similar they were identical!

Moderators- I believe we have a growing concern here and this thread should be shifted to the collector Community Forum. Thank you.

Fred Green

[Niederlande]

Wow I believe I opened a can of worms here. And feel sad for the ones that have already bought items that are not original. I guess the collecting community needs to know. Thanks for the examples Vivenz

[vizenz]

Hello Fred,

it's good to hear you have the same impressions.

I saved month ago some Pictures from Rikster sales, because I couldn't believe that no one will protest against this sales!

All are fakes in my opinion. I think most of the machineembroidered pieces are also self-made fakes. But this pieces are more harder to detect, if they are good made.

Best regards,
Andreas

[Fred Green]

Hello vizenz,

Again I totally agree with you. All of the above pieces are reproduction!! No doubt about it. The quality of the materials and the quality of the workmanship is sub par. There are "tells' throughout all of his "Homemade" insignia.

I was on a Facebook military forum a while back and an individual purchased on of Rikster's cufftitles. He said that it was pictured in one of Scott Pritchitt's books. I believe the cufftitle was returned. I left that page but give me a couple of days and I am sure that I could find it again.

Fred

[Dmv]

I confirm my thoughts are the same: if you monitor his listings for some time you will notice similairities in the embroidery. FAKE stuff! Buyer alert!

[afrikasandman]

Well I brought it up to SS mod Gary wood (over a year ago) that this guy was selling fakes when Rikster had posted a SS foreign unit patch. It was hand embroidered exactly as a Jäger patch I had bought from him (he did get me on that one for 125 bucks) Gary said he couldn't do anything unless I had more evidence that he was making stuff. So I attempted it and I have brought it up in several threads and it's just overlooked.

These pieces he has made are fakes. I'm a big fan of bullion insignia and these pieces don't measure up and the bullion isn't right for the period. I'm tired of this guy ripping off WAF members. The worst part is that people aren't picking up on his tells and are buying from him and then listing stuff they bought from him on the estand. DMV or DMZ who is a WAF member has relisted some signal blitzes that are clearly the work of Rikster. I'm thinking he bought them and is trying to resell them but didn't know they were bad.

I'd stay away from anything he lists as its all bad. Those people buying his GD stuff are probably screwed. Good luck getting your money back on those items.... It won't happen.

I did try to get my money back from Rikster after I realized it was bad and he wouldn't refund me. I did send him a nasty drunken rant and didn't even bother to read his response be perfectly honest. I was and am still quite pissed that he got me for a pretty small amount. It was after that incident that I really started to keep an eye on his wares and take the time to study them. He is good and it fooled me and he has fooled several others.

Also, I'm pretty sure he has an embroidery machine or someone who does have one helping him out on some of his insignia. That said it does leave tells if you take the time to look over the items. It's all in the details folks!

Matt

[Fred Green]

Hello Guys,

It is good to hear some other opinions. I have been keeping tabs on these products ever since I pulled up a Heer Panzer artisian patch for discussion. Nobody else would comment. It finally left the stand by attrition. He has been putting signal blitzes up that purport to be period hand embroidered but he has left a key feature out. When compared to an original hand embroidered piece his pieces are hand cut not die cut and they have no backing material for support. Not all Heer specialty patches and blitzes had a supporting backing material but most did, which is quite the opposite for any rikster piece. Did through your patch boxes and take a look!!

Not only is there no supporting material on any of the Heer patches but he takes this same trait over to the HJ and civil style patches that he makes. Here are a few Heer examples. These are from an old sales thread


Fred

[Fred Green]

Hello,

Vizenz has posted some current sales threads of rikster. I have a few more pictures from some older threads. Again look at the supporting material on the rear and the hand cut piece of base material. This wouldn't be a red flag if you see one because I am sure some were made this way. It is a major red flag when all of the insignia fit the exception to the rule.

Notice the quality of the wool also. It is the same quality through out all of his production.

Fred

[Fred Green]

Here are 3 more examples of insignia taken from a rikster sales thread that show these same traits. The last patch does have some supporting cloth on the rear but it also carries some very strange green thread. As I said earlier, seeing one piece of insignia like this might not be a red flag but seeing EVERY patch with these anomalies should now raise some serious red flags. Compare the base material wool.

[Fred Green]

Here are some more signal blitzes.

[Fred Green]

Here are some more Heer pieces, front and back. Notice the shoddy nature of the field grey wool and the uneven wear patterns on unissued pieces of insignia. The pip is the only original thing in the picture.