Boxed A-SS visor!

[PMan]

The online community has no doubt led to some serious price inflation just because these things reach so many more people than in the "good old days" of having items sent out for inspection, pictures mailed out, phone calls, etc.

Dealer websites reflect this. It's always funny to me when someone wants to claim that an item is a "real bargain", they invariably will go to the most exhorbitantly priced dealer websites for an example as proof of an item's value.

Don

Exhorbitantly priced this year, dirt cheap next year!

[Bob Hritz]

Exhorbitantly priced this year, dirt cheap next year!

Sadly, Peter may be right. A few years from now we be be lamenting 'the good old days' when Allgemeine-SS NCO hats were only $5K to $10K hats.

I have a good friend who is always passing nice militaria because he remembers what they used to cost, in years past. Of course, he didn't buy then because he remembered what they used to cost even earlier.

I guess the market is correct if items sell and that is simple economics. Apparantly, there will always be someone who values things more highly. With the high prices that these hats are fetching in Russia, it is only a matter of time before the hats start to migrate east. A lower supply will just cause further price increases.

I don't like it, but that is the way I see it.

Bob Hritz

[DonC]

Exhorbitantly priced this year, dirt cheap next year!

Very true, Peter, very true. This is why gas is $4 a gallon now (our European friend may feel free to guffaw at my bitching about oil prices at this time).

Don

[Koguryo9]

Sadly, I see all officer hats from $8000 and up for the gray and $12000 and up for the black.

I thought W-SS hats generally cost more than A-SS hats these days? No?

[PMan]

I thought W-SS hats generally cost more than A-SS hats these days? No?

The bar has been raised.

[Bob Hritz]

Allgemeine-SS officer's hats are far more rare than the Waffen-SS officer's hats.

Bob Hritz

[DougO]

I agree with Bob's observation that A-SS officer caps are more difficult to find than WSS officer caps, but the opposite is true for the enlisted caps. The WSS enlisted cap is one of the hardest caps to find, period. Thus, the high price on the one that Craig has.
The cap that started this thread is a real gem. The cream interior caps are highly desireable and the box just adds to the entire package. A high price, yes, but if you're only planning on owning one, it would be hard to upgrade this one.
A friend of mine once told me that when it comes to ss items you never pay too much, you just buy too early.
Doug

[redjames2004]

Boxed A-SS visor hat

The $11K was the exact price for my friend paid for then-brand new small foreign-made economy car back in 2001. Wow!!! This A-SS visor hat in its original box's price was so high and I cant afford to buy the original SS visor hat. It is simply beyond my budget. Too much for me!!!

[redjames2004]

Boxeed A-SS visor hat

This SS hat with original box was put on hold on the mentioned dealer's website as of today. This hat will be sold to new owner with big bucks! Wow!!!!

[tgn]

A friend of mine once told me that when it comes to ss items you never pay too much, you just buy too early.
Doug

Your friend is a very wise individual...Tom

[Bob Hritz]

I have paid more for some items in my collection than I paid for my first house. I paid more for many things than I ever paid for a car.

Bob Hritz

[N.C. Wyeth]

I have paid more for some items in my collection than I paid for my first house. I paid more for many things than I ever paid for a car.

Bob Hritz

Recently?

[stonemint]

Good thread--I have to get over here more often (& Pascal, you should know headgear of any organisation is to be posted over on the cloth headgear forum! )

What is interesting is that there are many more boxed hats (and loose boxes) from the Kaiserreich than the TR era--I would say, based on my experience, by 20:1. The WW1 almost always have extravagent labels on them, to include the maker's logo and address. Not so during the TR--most boxes I have seen are plain storage boxes, and logo'ed ones (like NTZ's Globus) are rare.

I can't vouch for the box that started the thread, but it appears that the hat was well-stored in something for the last 60+ years, so I would agree its probably the original box.

Regarding A-SS vs W-SS (or black vs feldgrau to be more precise) we did a poll a while back on the headgear forum and most preferred Waffen, ( disease I call "feldgrau-itis") where 25 years ago Allgemeine was all the rage. I agree, A-SS NCO issue visors are common, but still fetch a price out of proportion to their availability. A-SS officer visors seem to be rarer than W-SS officers, but thats just my anecdotal experience.

BTW, we had a thread going on what is more preferable, a private-purchase SS, or the "bells and whistles" RZM-marked piece, and consensus appeared to be the RZM pieces. I just went to Oakleafs site, and this private-purchase A-SS is going for $16,500 , which I think is more over-priced than the boxed A-SS which started this thread:

[Pascal Bernhard]

Good thread--I have to get over here more often (& Pascal, you should know headgear of any organisation is to be posted over on the cloth headgear forum! ):

Hi Stone,

of course you're right but the thread started so fast ...Impossible to move it in the headgear section

[Josef Hahne]

Bob,
Next time you have any Waffen SS headgear for sale, please drop me a line!!! Especially if you are giving them away at below market value prices.

Sepp

I have to side with Brad, here. Only 5 years ago I sold 3 nice Waffen SS officer hats for $3500 each and a nice Allgemeine SS officer, with some moth damage to the piping, for $3500.

Sadly, I see all officer hats from $8000 and up for the gray and $12000 and up for the black. Now when I need a Waffen-SS officer hat, everyone forgets when they bought them from me, at under retail prices.

God bless those who can buy $10000 plus priced SS hats. I certainly cannot.


Bob Hritz