Kohai999
Second Degree Cutter
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2003
- Messages
- 12,554
Last year, I got into WWII wings a bit.
About 20 years ago, a good friend gifted me with two pairs of wings from WWII, an Aerial Gunner pin, and an Air Crew pin. Kept them in a special "military insignia" section, and didn't much think about it.
So, about 4 years ago, had the good fortune to be at a USO Gala where Louis Zamperini(RIP!) spoke and found him very inspiring. Last year, watched "Unbroken"....and decided to pick up some more WWII aeronautical insignia, mostly from the auction site....in doing so, amassed quite a bit of patches, insignia and whatnot that really didn't need....most of what I got came in batches, rather than individual pins. Nobody in my neck of the woods seemed to be interested, and the West Coast Militaria Show(biggest on the West Coast) was held yesterday and today. Quick drive up, sort of slow back, Mother's Day weekend and all.
Second guy that I talked to swapped out all of my "junk" for two nice 1950's era pins, a Meyer Senior Pilot, and a U.S. Air Force Navigator/Combat Systems Officer/Observer Badge, both the less desireable clutch back, rather than the "safety pin" type....which is ok, because for wearing, the clutchback are easier to put on He also had a "ruptured duck" Honorable Discharge lapel pin in 14k that I picked up for less than the cost of a gold plated version. This was in the first 10 minutes of the show. It was a great show....the selection was extensive, and the prices were more than fair, compared to the auction site.
There were a tremendous amount of military knives there. Maybe 40% of the entire show. Sadly, I don't know jack about any military knives...they have never been my forte' and you really have to focus/develop experience/knowledge if you are going to play that game. Counterfeits are prevalent, and pricing can be all over the map. Stopped at one table, was looking at an older Ed Kalfayan custom mixed in with the military knives. The guy asked me if I was a knife collector, and I said yes. He asked me if I knew anything about this knife, and I said that I thought it was produced anywhere between the 1980's-1990's, possibly in Germany or Italy. He said it was made for the Peterson Collection....the handle appears to be ironwood, very light knife though. The silver wire inlay is exceptional, as is the leaf carving. Anyone know anything about this one?
The last pic is the only "logo" on the knife
Bopped around a little more and picked up a Balfour Navigator Pinback at a VERY reasonable price and then a Meyer Flight Engineer, which is one of the few that I saw, also very reasonable price.
Dave Schmiedt and his truly world class collection of Indonesian and Phillipine barongs, shamshir and kris knives were there in full glory, and will let the photos do the talking for that:
Last but most certainly not least, in over 15 years of looking, have never seen another example of an item so amazing! Rosewood shaft, gloss finished, silver(or silver plated) TWIST mechanism 12 1/2" steel Poniard blade, USMC silver insignia on the butt, likely 1950's-1960's..superb condition.
As fantastic as this show was, it was lightly attended. I couldn't get anyone from my area to take the trip with me, mostly because of Mother's Day. I'd go back if someone would sojourn with me, but not likely otherwise, and that's a shame, because it was really cool!
Best Regards,
STeven Garsson
About 20 years ago, a good friend gifted me with two pairs of wings from WWII, an Aerial Gunner pin, and an Air Crew pin. Kept them in a special "military insignia" section, and didn't much think about it.
So, about 4 years ago, had the good fortune to be at a USO Gala where Louis Zamperini(RIP!) spoke and found him very inspiring. Last year, watched "Unbroken"....and decided to pick up some more WWII aeronautical insignia, mostly from the auction site....in doing so, amassed quite a bit of patches, insignia and whatnot that really didn't need....most of what I got came in batches, rather than individual pins. Nobody in my neck of the woods seemed to be interested, and the West Coast Militaria Show(biggest on the West Coast) was held yesterday and today. Quick drive up, sort of slow back, Mother's Day weekend and all.
Second guy that I talked to swapped out all of my "junk" for two nice 1950's era pins, a Meyer Senior Pilot, and a U.S. Air Force Navigator/Combat Systems Officer/Observer Badge, both the less desireable clutch back, rather than the "safety pin" type....which is ok, because for wearing, the clutchback are easier to put on He also had a "ruptured duck" Honorable Discharge lapel pin in 14k that I picked up for less than the cost of a gold plated version. This was in the first 10 minutes of the show. It was a great show....the selection was extensive, and the prices were more than fair, compared to the auction site.
There were a tremendous amount of military knives there. Maybe 40% of the entire show. Sadly, I don't know jack about any military knives...they have never been my forte' and you really have to focus/develop experience/knowledge if you are going to play that game. Counterfeits are prevalent, and pricing can be all over the map. Stopped at one table, was looking at an older Ed Kalfayan custom mixed in with the military knives. The guy asked me if I was a knife collector, and I said yes. He asked me if I knew anything about this knife, and I said that I thought it was produced anywhere between the 1980's-1990's, possibly in Germany or Italy. He said it was made for the Peterson Collection....the handle appears to be ironwood, very light knife though. The silver wire inlay is exceptional, as is the leaf carving. Anyone know anything about this one?
The last pic is the only "logo" on the knife
Bopped around a little more and picked up a Balfour Navigator Pinback at a VERY reasonable price and then a Meyer Flight Engineer, which is one of the few that I saw, also very reasonable price.
Dave Schmiedt and his truly world class collection of Indonesian and Phillipine barongs, shamshir and kris knives were there in full glory, and will let the photos do the talking for that:
Last but most certainly not least, in over 15 years of looking, have never seen another example of an item so amazing! Rosewood shaft, gloss finished, silver(or silver plated) TWIST mechanism 12 1/2" steel Poniard blade, USMC silver insignia on the butt, likely 1950's-1960's..superb condition.
As fantastic as this show was, it was lightly attended. I couldn't get anyone from my area to take the trip with me, mostly because of Mother's Day. I'd go back if someone would sojourn with me, but not likely otherwise, and that's a shame, because it was really cool!
Best Regards,
STeven Garsson
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