machine embroidered runic insignia

[Gary Wood]

Tony,

ok, so you make them for battle re-enacters?, do you have pictures of some of these items?

cheers,

Gary

[GLM]

Tony,

Although you do list your reproductions as reproductions, I think many collector's of original pieces are afraid your precision work will fall into the wrong hands and be sold as originals by crooks and thieves who thrive on selling to unsuspecting buyers. I fear your 101 A/B "white tongue" patch has already been used for this purpose. No one can stop you from enjoying your hobby, but I suggest that, somehow or other, you mark your new line of reproductions in such a manner that leaves no doubt they are current reproductions used for reenactors or everyday wear. A REPRO stamp or stampings in different locations on the reverse or inside, under cuffs or collars might be a good start? If a crook decides to cut the stampings out and patch them, this might give the honest collector of original gear a good warning sign that it's one of your pieces and pass on an expensive buy. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to try and keep your exact copies out of the hands of devious, larcenous people.

Regards,

Gary

[tonytay]

Again I thank you, Gary (Mohrlang)...you're doing wonders for my ego! I doubt very much, however, that my repro 101st SSIs can be passed off as originals, even to the untrained eye because I had specifically made sure of some details -

1. the backs of the patches are neither greenback nor 'salt & pepper' type which as you know were characteristic of wartime embroidery for these patches. Mine are a plain white backing.

2. Materials used for the thread are modern, meaning they do not pass the 'black light' test and probably glow.

3. My patches (type 1 and type 6) are made with the shields attached to the tabs. Again you probably know these 2 types were all made w/ seperate tabs and shields during WWII.

As for my German leather wraps, flight jackets and caps I think only a novice or really uninformed collector (aka. an idiot) without enough sense to check here first at the Forum (after all this is what everyone's here for, right?) would be fooled into thinking they were originals. I build in subtle yet easy clues ie. unmarked zippers, modified maker labels using modern materials, post-war plastic buttons etc, so we don't even need to get into real details such as no. of stitches per inch etc.

If anything, you guys should be more worried about a friend of mine from Hong Kong who makes repro M-42 jumpsuits, Tanker jackets and other WWII US attire. His products are accurate down to the Quartermaster QM tags and 'Talon' zippers! Again, he sells them only as repros.

Hope I'm not taking up precious space here talking about non-german items..just wanted to let you guys know seeing this thread was started.

Gary (Wood)..send me your e-mail address - I'll email you some photos of my leather jackets and caps.

Cheers guys,
Tony

Tony,
Have you made any repro ss insignia?
Regards,
Fred

[Ian Hulley]

" I think only a novice or really uninformed collector (aka. an idiot)"

Tonytay,the whole point is that we shouldn't do anything to add to the problems experienced by the young or less experienced collector. AND putting deliberate faults on the back doesn't work well .... the unscrupulous simply stitch them onto original material,whether it's IIIrd Reich or WW2 American.

Cheers Ian Hulley (aka former idiot)

[tonytay]

[QUOTE=Cheers Ian Hulley (aka former idiot)[/QUOTE]
Ian - we've all been "idiots" at one point or another I guess, some more so than others. Believe me, I was no exception either but that's how we learn. I guess the young 'uns will have to too, cycle of life so to say. They're more fortunate now because they have this Forum to come to, and to not tap on the resources found here would in itself be a sin, were one to start wanting to call themselves serious budding collectors.

But apart from that, what's your solution to this? Do people like myself just stop doing what I love doing, that is sharing my interest/knowledge w/ others who actually, really appreciate what I do; or should I be more concerned w/ appeasing those who really should be bettering themselves in the field anyway before crying foul?

Fred - hello! Sorry, but I won't be producing any repro SS insignia at all. Most of the repros (mostly referring to bullion embroidered insignia) found in the market today are made in Pakistan, where the labor rates are very low. I could not compete w/ that in Malaysia.

I actually started making the jackets and caps mainly because I recognized that I'm STILL an idiot in the field of original german militaria collecting and therefore dared not commit to buying original pieces myself! So after showing my work to some people who told me they really liked what I did, I just decided to share it w/ whoever was interested. It's really just a hobby, no more (I do have a day job!).

Take care,
Tony