Rare SSVT tunic illusion...or

[Eddie]

Sounds pretty rare to me.

There is much more and again,only pieces that wore made in small quantities are rare.

I agree that allot of uniforms did not survive,but you can still find a good one if you have the money.

All depends on how deep your pockets are at this time.

[kaiserwilhelm2]

For the collector what is rare is determined by availability now, not by the criterium if anything was ever plentyfull. Once there were many many Roman soldiers with headgear, shields, swords and the like. Pretty hard items to get hold of these days. The same goes for untouched, original SS uniforms.

[Bob Hritz]

In forty years I have found 5 SS feldgrau SS officer tunics. I kept four and regret selling the one I let go.

Bob Hritz

[DonC]

I am waiting to see what a 22k Minimum Reserve Waffen SS Officers JSB Tunic looks like over at Empire Auctions. That should be interesting !

I took a peek at the Army tunics that are on the auction site. For the higher end stuff, I would definitely say caveat emptor.

Jon Pic, I wanted to add my appreciation for your detective work on the VT tunic. This forum can save people a lot of money if they pay attention.

Don

[kaiserwilhelm2]

Don, I fully agree with your buyer beware when it comes to the uniform section of EMA.

[kaiserwilhelm2]

That army sturmgeschuetz wrapper on EMA has been on Weitze's website for probably more than a year for 3500 Euro now it can be had for 2000 USD. Still a lot of money for a questionable item.

[kaiserwilhelm2]

By the way did anyone notice that Weitze's update is a bit late this week? They are probably double checking that there are no more of their special costum build tunics popping up for the general public.

[DonC]

That army sturmgeschuetz wrapper on EMA has been on Weitze's website for probably more than a year for 3500 Euro now it can be had for 2000 USD. Still a lot of money for a questionable item.

I noticed several tunics and uniform sets on the site that have been floating around the collecting world for a while, some now at considerably reduced prices

Don

[kaiserwilhelm2]

I guess the market has slowed down a bit the last couple of years. Very few good, exciting and fresh items have been appearing. Several items showing up at Thies are also long time pieces most of them from Wolfe.

[Richard P]

This is Oakleaf Militaria you're talking about ? Were these people from the Chicago area pray ?

Ian

Ian,

I'm curious...is that the form of the word "PRAY" you meant to use....or did you mean "PREY"?

Richard

[Bob Hritz]

Auktionhaus Andreas Thies, in Germany.

http://www.andreas-thies.de/

Bob Hritz

[kaiserwilhelm2]

Another original piece by Weitze? Now for sale on ebay Germany.

[Zauberflöte]

Sure thousands were made but how many survived? Let's face it most SS people changed out of their uniforms and slipped into something more comfortable at the end of the war. Being picked up in a SS uniform could mean being shot immediately. Also whilst Wehrmacht POWs could keep their insignia, SS POWs uniforms were stripped of collor tabs and SS-eagles. Also keeping a SS-uniform in your closet just after the war was also not the smart thing to do. The SS was totally unacceptable post 1945 and SS-men were denounced after the war. If you wanted to have a life in post war Germany you better keep a bit of distance from your previous carreer in the SS. So keeping your uniform at home was not the thing to do.

This is a fact. The last two decades I've had contact with approx 300 W-SS veterans and 9 out 10 came with a kind of similar explanation of events. Only possesions that remained were most of the times only photo's, award documents and sometimes the awards. Genuine and untouched dress or Heimat uniforms that survived the allied bombing or above should therefore considered to be very rare; untouched combat worn SS tunics are of course almost even more impossible to come by. The ones I have took me many, many years to collect.

Concerning the topic of this thread, well all is said already. Indeed the only protection in this world is to know at least as much, or even better more, about what you are buying than the person selling it. ...And this is more fun also.

Dealers will always sell items they would not like to have in their own collection, if this is merely their gut feeling/taste or deliberate deceit; that's where IMO lies the border of ethical and honest business.

[John Pic]

" UNTOUCHED" This has no meaning whatsoever anymore with tunics that require insignias you cannot tell altered, or put together from "Untouched" Period. The only "Untouched" tunics are those with photographic evidence. This thread emphasizes that for many.


1. Tunics especially insignias were moved and resewn during the period so this is not an indicator.

2. Mint condition un-issued tunics survived the war and probably more than we know did...badged up to be a rare SS tunic using correct threads no one can tell.

3. Many early collectors had no problems adding loops and ribbons replacing buttons etc. or fully restoring tunics that years later have been from collector to collector and each time the stories change and it becomes an "untouched" piece.

To answer the question where do you go to buy an "Untouched" tunic..you have to hope someone will offer one that can be proven back to the war with pictures..otherwise you take the owners word . There are veteran aquired tunics that are "untouched" but the only evidence is hearsay and you have to trust the seller and have a reasonable ability to discern truth from B.S.

This is why I shout about prices because it is simply ridiculous to price something in the range of a small car that has absolutely no proof behind it whatsoever...but there are foolish people who pay the money ...trying to climb the high end collecting ladder of prestige...I was buying them when you could pay $2-7,000 for one but now I refuse to pay a couple years savings to have something I can never prove authentic....especially knowing what I know about several dealers and their antics and some collectors and their antics.The very first SS tunic I bought was a perfect put together done by Fred Seber and Dennis Paxton a collector and sold to me as real and when it was proven not to be real by the guy who sold them the stripped tunic they became angry at me and suggested I would never fit into this hobby if I didnt accept these things.Same guy was walking around the SOS a couple years ago with an SS officers uniform months before the show he told my friend he put it together becasue he bought parts for it from him...later during the show he tried to sell it to the guy who sold him the parts as "untouched" and had to be remined of what he had said before.

In fact someone just told me privately how they hate when I start these threads...oh well...I dont know maybe we should just let everyone be fooled and let it go.

[Ohlau]

how they hate when I start these threads

"easy money and the death for unaware"

It's old like world.......