Obiturary for Ron Manion

[gwb123]

I was just sent this tonight:

 

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/kansas-city-ks/norman-manion-8219612

 

For those of us who were collecting more than 15 years ago, Manion's Auction House was one of our prime sources for our collections.

 

I used to wait in great expectation for their semi-monthly catalog to come from Kansas City. Manion's established a national market place for military collecting long before eBay was ever on the scene.

 

I'd spend hours paging through their catalog, highlighting the items I wanted to bid on. You mailed in or called in your bids before the deadline and hoped for the best.

 

I never got everything I wanted, but I still had plenty of items come my way. And if collected something that was not en vogue at the time (like USAF fatigue uniforms with unit patches) you could do pretty well for yourself.

 

I won't say that eBay did mail order auctions in, but Manion's was slow to take up the on-line format.

 

I'm not sure how many years they have been closed, but this is the passing of an era for me.

 

Rest in peace.

[Bugme]

I so enjoyed the magazines and later the online stuff. Another of the groundbreakers leaves us.

[kaszanka]

dang.. time doesn't stop for anyone...

 

I was raised on Manions - it was like a Bible for a rookie collector like me back then ... RIP Sir

['Flage Guy]

Oh wow, what sad news. A big percentage of the stuff in my home came from Manion's catalogues, starting with Auction #123 in 1990. Still have all the catalogues, right up to the very last.

Here is the article announcing their closing: https://www.antiquetrader.com/antiques-news/end-era-manions-officially-closes-doors/

 

A big thanks to Ron Manion and his family for all the fun they provided us.

[everforward]

Sad indeed. I echo the things people have said here already.....Loved the catalogs, bought a few things through them, especially remember a flat new WW2 M1 helmet and liner.

[USARV72]

Condolences to the family. Sad news, Jim, remember all our conversations about Manions? Good stuff back then.

[BILL THE PATCH]

Condolences to the family. I've still got most of my old manions catalogs, I scored lots of patches from there. I know of one mail auction catalog left still in business that I know of. can anyone guess?

 

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

 

[Dave]

I started buying from Manion's in the early 90s, and at the time, it was THE place to buy stuff. I got some great deals, got some things I sent back becuase they were obviously bad, had some headaches over getting paid in a timely manner for things I consigned, but hey...on the whole...before the days of eBay, Manion's and the occasional gun show were the only ways to pick up militaria for most of us and it was like Christmas morning every time the catalog showed up in the mail...what was I going to bid on this time???

 

The passing of an era, for sure! RIP, Ron.

[Allan H.]

I was recently notified that Ron had passed as well. My perspective is a little bit different as I was a kid when I started getting his catalogs and all countries were listed on the mimeographed sheets. All of the German badges had pictures of the backs of the badges too. NOBODY cared about US militaria when I got started (my bidder/ vendor number was 36 though there was at least one "re-numbering" before I was given such a low number). I used to ride up to Ron's house from Topeka with a couple of other collectors where we would spend two or three hours looking through the lots. I found lots of treasures there. I even remember one time when we were there and when we were getting ready to leave, we found a note on the table that Ron had gone out with his wife and kids and to please make sure the door was locked when we left!

 

I worked for Ron for a couple of years while I was in college and before going to play army. The pay wasn't the greatest and Ron was a tough taskmaster, but the experience that I picked up there was invaluable. I've often times had people mention that I must have gotten the bulk of my collection from Manion's since I was associated with the auction for so many years, but the truth is that the bulk of my best pieces came well after leaving Ron's employment. The thing I learned from the business was the need for collectors to network in order to find the best items out there.

 

I'll never forget the time that Ron brokered a deal for Herman Goring's daughter to sell some of his uniforms. We got an overcoat and a visor cap in. The overcoat was so large that two of us could put it on together. Ron got really pissed when he saw us wearing the coat like that! I'll also never forget Ron telling me that he couldn't afford to give me a raise on the day that he bought his 14 year-old daughter a brand new BMW Z3. I think she only wrecked it three or four times.

 

RIP Ron.

 

Allan

[bobgee]

I started buying from Manion's in the early 90s, and at the time, it was THE place to buy stuff. I got some great deals, got some things I sent back becuase they were obviously bad, had some headaches over getting paid in a timely manner for things I consigned, but hey...on the whole...before the days of eBay, Manion's and the occasional gun show were the only ways to pick up militaria for most of us and it was like Christmas morning every time the catalog showed up in the mail...what was I going to bid on this time???

 

The passing of an era, for sure! RIP, Ron.

+1

[Mr.Jerry]

Sad to hear, he sure helped create access to the hobby for many of us.

[iron bender]

Sorry to hear this. Pretty sure I can still think of every single auction I won from Manions back in the day. I was the guy on the phone at the last second

['Flage Guy]

Condolences to the family. Sad news, Jim, remember all our conversations about Manions? Good stuff back then.

Oh man, what memories, buddy!! They were about the gold standard for collecting old military stuff. I've still got everything I ever scored from them, including that

UDT Satchel you ID'd for me!

[USARV72]

Yea, remember that, years ago. The Shotgun News days were pretty good, tons and tons of good stuff back then.

[Rakkasan187]

I remember my first Tinnie book came from Ron Manion's "Foxhole"... and I received a catalog from another collector that really helped me identify some of the unknown Third Reich Tinnies I had in my collection..

 

Years later when I was able to afford items I bought several Kriegsmarine insignia from Manion's for my son.. He used to have loads of them and they were fairly priced..

 

I also remember when the tornado ripped through the area in 2003ish?? where Manion's was located and many of the buildings on the complex were affected....

 

I still have many of my US, German and Foreign catalogs from those days.. I enjoy looking through them every now and then.. They are fairly decent reference books for some items although admittedly some of the items were misidentified but no-one's perfect...

 

Rest in Peace Ron, thank you for what you did in bringing militaria collectibles out to the market...

 

Leigh