That is certainly sage advice....   -Ski

Quite a variety of these knives it seems.  Any issue fighting knives as opposed to private purchase?      

Welcome aboard!  Nice man-cave.    

Hi all, I always thought this was a Dutch bayonet but my google image tells me it's Japanese which I know it's not. It's about 13 inches long with a T back blade and metal scabbard. My google does not tell me what the marks are either. Any help is appreciated so I can mark it properly.  Thanks Mark

Once and for all putting this to rest, I had it authenticated at a militaria show and it’s a Chinese knockoff!

hello..what do you think of this case covered in Kai gunto leather? 

FOR SALE: a personal scrapbook, compiled during the 1990’s by former SS officer Heinz Macher, a large 275-page book absolutely chok-blok filled from front-to-back with newspaper clippings, photographs, letters and trinkets. This massive tome measures 11” high x 9” wide x 4” thick and weighs 6.5 pounds!   This scrapbook contains literally hundreds of miscellaneous items of personal interest to the “author.” There are about 100 pages of newspaper clippings, which touch on a wide variety of subjects ranging from local political and criminal matters to events and controversies involving former SS members, and so much else! There are 40 pages of friends & family photos, including Macher’s brother, wife, son and grandkids. More than 30 pages of military-related images focused on his buddies in the SS Kameradschaft group, plus some 20+ pages of letters (personal correspondence received by Macher) pasted directly into the album. The old guy must have really enjoyed going out-to-eat because there are approximately 30 pages which contain restaurant-related things like menus, receipts, photos of the places/owners and pics of the food! He must have been somewhat of a photography enthusiast because there are 40 pages of color photos “nature scenes” also included. Sprinkled in randomly are things like his veterans’ reunion “Treffen” badge, a Third Reich vintage 5-mark coin, and black paper cut-out profiles. The final entry is a photograph of Macher’s wrecked car, where he actually glued the car-key from the wrecked vehicle into the album!   $1500 includes tracked domestic postage via USPS Priority Mail. International shipments @ actual cost. I assume PayPal payment (no extra charge from my side) but I also accept cash, personal checks, postal money-orders and Western Union.   For those of you who are not familiar with Heinz Macher, click here:    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Macher    

Nice!  I have always felt WWII Italian items are generally underappreciated.  I find the Italian Navy and Italian Air Force particularly interesting.

HELLO ALL,    I just picked up this beret, a Lebanese flag, Turkish flag and other things from an online estate sale. Looks like he was in the Marines have his dog tags etc.     Thanks for any help on this badge!!!   Regards,   Mark

FOR SALE: the excellent and rare Unteroffizier Felix Schäfer grouping, consisting of his soldbuch, two military award documents, two marksmanship booklets, his driver’s license and a discharge paper.   Soldbuch: Unteroffizier Felix Schäfer carried this paybook for the entire war, well over 5 years! It was issued to him in August 1939 and the latest entry for a 10-day leave is dated January 1945. Schäfer served with Infanterie Regiment 45 during the French campaign, where he was wounded in June 1940. He was subsequently transferred into a tank training/replacement unit (Panzer A.u.E. Abteilung 11) and then into a full-fledged tank unit, namely Panzer-Abteilung (Fkl) 301, where he saw action on both the Eastern (Kursk) and Western (Bulge) fronts. Schäfer served in the unit’s Werkstattzug (repair & maintenance section) and eventually became a Vorhandwerker (foreman or lead mechanic). He must have possessed superlative mechanical and technical skills!   Panzer-Abteilung (Funklenk) 301 was a highly specialized unit equipped with unmanned, radio-controlled demolition vehicles (Borgward IV) which were used to destroy enemy fortifications, minefields and bunkers! Initially formed in 1943 as an independent remote-control assault gun unit, it was re-organized and re-equipped as a heavy tank battalion in late 1944. The unit received approximately 30 rebuilt Tiger I tanks (since regular production of the Tiger I had already stopped). The Tigers served as command and control vehicles (Befehlstiger) and provided direct heavy fire support for the remote-control detachments.   The soldbuch features a really nice picture of Schäfer in black panzer wrapper, with collar tabs skulls and silver NCO shoulder-board tresse clearly visible. Breast eagle partially visible at lower left. Schäfer personalized the back cover of his soldbuch with the addition of a small photograph featuring him and his wife, as well as information about his and his mother’s home addresses, plus details of his bank account, savings, pistol serial number, etc.   Urkunden: one for the War Merit Cross Second Class with Swords and one for the Black Wound Badge. Worthy of note is the fact that the award document for the WMC2 features an original ink signature by SS-Gruppenfuhrer Wilhelm Bittrich! Interestingly, the award document for the BWB is dated July 1944 but “retroactive” to June 1940 during the French campaign!   Schiessbucher: two marksmanship booklets, which record the target-hitting results of multiple live-fire exercises, one for the rifle and one for the light machine gun. Both of the booklets date to the 1937/1938 period when Schäfer was still training with his original unit (5. Kompanie, Inf. Regiment Nr. 45).   Führerschein: standard-issue gray oilcloth driving license, with specific reference to the military directive justifying the absence of a photograph and with a specific notation that the license is only valid in conjunction with the soldbuch!   Entlassungschein: dual language (English/German) certificate of discharge with both personal and medical particulars, confirming Schäfer’s official release from Heer/army service in December 1945.   $1200 includes tracked domestic postage via USPS Priority Mail. International shipments @ actual cost. I assume PayPal payment (no extra charge from my side) but I also accept cash, personal checks, postal money-orders and Western Union. Pick your poison!        

Better pics of some of the stuff.   Rich A. in Pa.

Nice.  Rich A. in Pa.