A couple years back I bought a little grouping of items which belonged to Maj. Heppner

Included in the grouping was an Indian made CBI patch and these two gems. His bullion Chinese paratrooper wings and the rare Santi Mala medal. Presented to foreign personnel who assisted the Thai government during the war.

Reverse

Last week I was surprised to find Maj. Heppner's photo album and ebay and dismayed that the seller had butchered the album and offered it in twelve or so different lots. I tried to go for some of the pieces but the hammer prices were beyond nuts and the lots sold to eight (8) different bidders

 

The piece I (of course) wanted most was the section of the album with showed the parachute training at Kunming. 180 photos but not sure how many were paratrooper related.

 

Sold for $5100 to 2***2 (1414)

Another section of his album sold for $3827 to o***m (160)

His wife was also in the OSS. Her section of the album sold for $205 to s***r (376)

One of her certificates (page removed from album) sold for $61 to o***- (1064)

Photo of group of men with Donovan (page removed from album) sold for $461 to s***r (376)

11 portraits (pages removed from album) sold for $316 to o***m (160)

Typed letter inviting him to Commando school (page removed from album) sold for $360 to e***n (347)

Invitation sold for $68 to s***u (7203)

Flag with hand written note on reverse (page removed from album) sold for $50 to i***i (1651)

Pure greed:(

Award documents sold for $109 to i***i (1651)

Shameless profiteering. Disgusting!

 

It's bad enough when things are broken up at garage sales, estate sales, etc. by the unknowing, but it's beyond the pale when so called "collectors" do this.

The government wants to make selling a Purple Heart illegal yet ripping American history to pieces is just fine. THIS is what should be against the law.

For the photos the high price was most likely some writing a book? If so, then it may have been a low price?

I followed these auctions Eric and was disgusted by the separation of this group.

 

Hopefully someone will see this thread and you can put add some of the group back together.

 

Paul

Wasn't "montanagifts" was it? He breaks up albums left and right. Tears the history apart for a buck. Hate that.

Anyone think if not split up it would have sold for the over $10,500 the parts ended for?

Anyone think if not split up it would have sold for the over $10,500 the parts ended for?

I doubt it, 10k for a photo album seems like a stretch.

 

i hate to see groups broken up but understand the economics of why its done.

 

It's a heart breaker for devote collectors but for the seller with 10k in his pocket it's the collecting business, not the sanctity of preservation.

 

2cents

Anyone think if not split up it would have sold for the over $10,500 the parts ended for?

 

 

Not trying to pick a fight. Just curious. Do you believe that profit trumps historical value? I understand that militaria is a business for many folks. It's just heart breaking to see stories torn apart and sold to the highest bidder.

 

Too often when the question gets asked "What's it worth?", the first reaction is in monetary terms.

 

Again, not looking for a fight or passing judgment, as we all have the freedom to choose how we operate in this.

 

 

Not trying to pick a fight. Just curious. Do you believe that profit trumps historical value? I understand that militaria is a business for many folks. It's just heart breaking to see stories torn apart and sold to the highest bidder.

 

Too often when the question gets asked "What's it worth?", the first reaction is in monetary terms.

 

Again, not looking for a fight or passing judgment, as we all have the freedom to choose how we operate in this.

That's a fair question! To me? Yes. In the end it's just "stuff", and I enjoy owning it for short periods of time, doing research, learning of the history and moving it along to seek out more. Some may disagree with this, but after all each of us does this for his or her own reasons. I am betting that if the seller came on the forum and listed the complete album for over $10k, many would balk at him and/or it would sit unsold. Would it be nice if everything sold as a group? Of course. But the reality for many is that monetary value is a big factor. I will pay over market value for certain types of items, which means I have to recoup that at some point down the road if/when I decide to sell. That may involve splitting parts off a group. I have offered full groups for less than the sum of the parts that have sat untouched for months. A half dozen people asked me to split it up, and I have started to do that as each wants only a few pieces that fit into their focus. In this case, there appears to be several bidders who will happily have a piece of this history to cherish, research, flip or break up further. In the end, the owner can do whatever he or she pleases with their stuff.

 

I should also note that this very discussion of "splitting groupings" has been had ad nauseum on the forum with no one agreeing in the end.

I have a little different take on this one. I think it goes beyond splitting up a grouping (of which I agree collectors as a whole will never completely agree on). I do believe in a persons right to do what they will with their own property and agree also that sometimes splitting up groups (of which 99% are never complete anyway) is not necessarily a bad thing BUT dividing and parsing out a single historical item I believe takes it to another level. The item is destroyed now and will never be the same again. This is not the case when selling off (complete, undamaged) items from a single source to multiple parties. This is what I (personally) have an issue with.

I tried winning these items in the 1st auction they were in. It was 2 different albums which it looks like he sold intact and two box lots of album pages and loose photo's. It looks like a different album had fallen apart at some point and been thrown in the two box lots. The big album went for 1100, 1 box lot 750 , 2nd album 550 and last box lot 425.