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WRECKED Militaria - Post your "tragic" pictures!


MWalsh
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It's not just Militaria.... As an auctioneer of antiques and collectibles I see people take really super nice pieces and refurbish, refinish, and repurpose them to sell to a younger more hipster crowd. They basically ruin whatever they have, cut the value in half at best, try to sell it for three times more and think they have done something. It's a flea market flip type craze. Just like stripping period furniture, spray painting it pink and calling it shabby chic. It's atrocious.

 

I love my wife but she bought me a jacket from j crew that was modled after an m51. It cost her several hundred. I couldn't bring myself to tell her I have a pile of vintage ones that would last three times longer be three times warmer and cost three times less. End rant.

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Patchcollector

Interesting thread.I wanted to throw some thoughts into the mix.First,the tag on the helmet states "Signal Corps".I would ask the seller how he came across that info.You never know,maybe at one time the Signal Corps used some of these for their linemen?I for one would'nt want to use a steel helmet around a bunch of electrical wiring. :)

Second,I have no problem with others "repurposing" such items as ammunition boxes.I think it looks kind of "snazzy".Besides,a lot of this kind of stuff ends up being tossed into the trash or left rotting in storage,so why not get some use from it?

 

BTW,I have a "self done" horror story of my own.I had picked up a nice hard to find theatre made Sniper patch.The patch was mint except for some glue on the back.I started to soak it thinking it would be a quick and easy fix.The glue was very happy to remain on the patch so I decided to show it who was Boss and ended up soaking it for a couple of weeks,periodically checking it.I finally removed it from it's bath when I noticed that some of the fine threads used were disintegrating.It's not too pretty to look at now.Moral of story;many patches are OK to soak,but NOT Theatre made ones.

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Oh and last year we just bought an estate collection where they had a closet full of named bullion patches uniforms. They were going to "donate" those to a local artist that grinds up uniforms and makes paper out of them to use with veterans for art projects. It took me a while to convince them but we managed to buy the uniforms and trade them 3x the number of uniforms in blank mothed ikes, BDUs, ACUs and other misc for the good stuff.

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Oh and last year we just bought an estate collection where they had a closet full of named bullion patches uniforms. They were going to "donate" those to a local artist that grinds up uniforms and makes paper out of them to use with veterans for art projects. It took me a while to convince them but we managed to buy the uniforms and trade them 3x the number of uniforms in blank mothed ikes, BDUs, ACUs and other misc for the good stuff.

Great save Jerry!

 

And you avatar is a prime example for this thread, although it's not U.S.

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Fair enough Craig, and good point.

 

I will still say WRECKED for now though :) It is such an ugly shade of calf crap yellow that I am not sure it sok,d have been military used... Football maybe though.

 

But point taken

I do actually have a studio photo of a white painted armor used helmet too now that you mention it.[/quote

 

I don't think it is for football. It still has the headset in it and that would have been removed for football.

Ronnie

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Hey Mike,

 

Don't we forget what also makes us sick to see is 30-40 Krags and k98 sporterized saw a few at the last gun show when I saw you.

Very true. So used to seeing those that I hadn't even considered them.

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Don't we forget what also makes us sick to see is 30-40 Krags and k98 sporterized saw a few at the last gun show when I saw you.

 

 

Ugh! thanks for reminding me. My brother specialized in "sporterizing" or should I say vandalizing WWII bolt action rifles, an '03, 98k, and a Japanese 6.5 that I know of. He also had a bad habit of using bayonets and K-bars for prying open paint cans and inevitably breaking off the points and then using them as paint stirrers. Shelter halves and ponchos were just expendable drop cloths..........

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I can't fault someone for sporterizing in the '50s and '60s. Totally different today... but back then, my great grandpa got three 03A3s,and he, my grandpa, and his brother sporterized them and put them to use when they were still $15 apiece...

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I can't fault someone for sporterizing in the '50s and '60s. Totally different today... but back then, my great grandpa got three 03A3s,and he, my grandpa, and his brother sporterized them and put them to use when they were still $15 apiece...

 

And there were so many of them.....K98k's, 1903's, etc....G33/40's were quite popular too for their lightweight bolts and receivers....Bodes

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Another one which has always gotten me is the white paint phantom.... A nameless, faceless creature who roams the earth and in eternal torment sprinkles, dabs, drops, and swipes old white paint on cool militaria items....

 

How many of you have NOT had old field gear or a steel pot or a WW1 helmet which had white paint on it?

 

Fatigue or field shirts are another common one, I suppose they were just used (the shirts) as painting shirts to keep paint off the "good" clothes. I think I have had at least three WW2 Marine Corps HBT shirts or tunics like this...

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Now that I think about it, I see it all the time.

I own a M65 jacket my grandfather have me that has white paint sprinkled all over it.

 

I have also seen 2 29th helmets posted here with wonderful Provence with a streak of white paint. Still beautiful with the paint tho ;)

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Another one which has always gotten me is the white paint phantom.... A nameless, faceless creature who roams the earth and in eternal torment sprinkles, dabs, drops, and swipes old white paint on cool militaria items....

 

How many of you have NOT had old field gear or a steel pot or a WW1 helmet which had white paint on it?

 

Fatigue or field shirts are another common one, I suppose they were just used (the shirts) as painting shirts to keep paint off the "good" clothes. I think I have had at least three WW2 Marine Corps HBT shirts or tunics like this...

TOTALLY!!! I had a 5th Div. helmet that had been ina footlocker for most of its life... one blob of it that resembled a little gift from a small bird...

 

It's all over fatigues, which makes sense. I mean, if you brought home your old "jun," and had to repaint the picket fence, that's what you'd grab!

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While not technically "wrecked" it is this bayonet lug "update" that really, really takes away from the words: INLAND 1942 on the receiver.

M1 Carbine 007.jpg



And then there is this helmet that was recovered from a house fire but, retains the bubbled paint that comes with heat damage:

Cootie 3 (1).JPG

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My pet peeve are the folks that will take original posters and mount them onto foam core or even laminate them. A real travesty.

 

post-35406-0-68286400-1454713651.jpg

 

 

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