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504th theater made pocket patch


mortaydc60
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This item just closed on ebay for $1,053 the item #300612103452. The item had alot of activity with over 30 bids. Lots of pictures to view. My own feeling is that without some provenance I would stay away. Aside from the type made for WW2 collecters and the very rare large chenile jacket patch I would be very careful. What do you think? Mort

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Mort, I have never personally had the chance to handle a real one of these. With that said, I do not like this one. The "pitch fork" is poorly stitched, which makes me shy away. Also, I have real trouble with "dirty" patches. To many people are dirtying patches to try and convince people they are old.

 

I am with you on this one.

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Here's the actual link- http://www.ebay.com/itm/300612103452?ru=ht...%3D1&_rdc=1

 

I'm not going to go to the trouble of posting the photos (though the post is pretty much worthless without them), but will state emphatically that this patch is a piece of junk and is absolutely NOT WWII vintage. Somebody got hosed for over a grand. Of course, whoever bought it, should have known what he or she was spending their money on.

 

Allan

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Exotic WWII patches are out of my general expertise, but I have followed fakes and reproductions from the Vietnam War for years.

 

This one has alarm bells all over it, starting with what looks to be artificial aging. If it was really this dirty from wear, the threads would

be a lot more torn up.

 

The design details on this thing are horrid... what proud Airborne trooper would actually wear something like this. The real

WWII Airborne patches I've seen are usually quite impressive.

 

Another red flag is to look at what else the dealer has for sale. He has a Theater Made 82nd ABN patch that also looks shady.

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I don't claim to be the "Be All- End All" expert on WWII airborne pocket patches, but have collected and studied them for long enough that I can give everybody advice when looking at them. There are very few airborne patches out there that aren't well documented on somebody's website out there. Even the really rare pieces have been studied and have images on the www. The one thing that is certain is that in most cases, all of the really rare pieces were made in small quantities and at the same time. The material will be the same as will the construction. When a piece comes out into the collectors' market that doesn't look like the documented examples, one should really take a step back to evaluate the piece and compare it to those already documented pieces. For most units, even the rare pieces were often times machine made. The pieces are rather uniform. Even with hand made items like pocket patches and SSI for the Japanese Occupation, one need only look at other known examples for hints as to how the pieces are made in order to be able to compare the newly found offering out there on the market to those known documented pieces. Finally, as Gil alluded to- most of these pieces are true works of art and are really stunning in their intricate design and needlework. It wasn't until the Vietnam war where some of the really crude "Cheap Charlie" insignia started to show up with frequency. However- even the Cheap Charlie insignia can be extremely well executed and beautiful in their construction.

 

My advice to collectors young and old is to buy the pieces that mirror the already known examples out there. If you decide that you are going to buy a "Never Before Seen Example," just be ready to eventually throw that rarity into the fake pile at some point in the future.

 

OK, enough of the rant. Thanks for reading.

Allan

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oh man,,this thing is ungly,,no paratrooper would of worn this thats for sure!! details are king in this stuff,,parartroopers are proud of who they are and are no longer LEGS...I am guessing that somone has more money than sence.

 

Airborne all the Way!!

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The sad thing is the seller was told by me that the Airborne patches he bought were not real.It just goes to show that some people if they get hosed with a fake just put the fake back in the system to get their money back.This is just a small example I have seen 25000.00 dollars fakes pounded into the uninformed.Allan is absolutely correct unless you know where an item that is a non standard example comes from buy with great caution.I told the guy that if it had been real I would have payed 4500 to 5000 for it.Scotty

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