5 comments about Standard Catalog of Military Firearms: The Collector's Price and Reference Guide (Standard Catalog of Military Firearms).

1. As a collector of Militaria I have found this volume a great help with the addition of detail on bayonets that were supplied with the rifles.Making it twice as useful over past copies.



2. Can't do with it if you are a collector or dealer, Has the imfo that you need to price your guns, Very well written so you can understand it and get a general idea of what your items our worth in todays market.



3. This is a great reference. One of the most complete and useful volumes I have ever seen. A must for any firearms collector.



4. I am not an expert, but I do have a collection of: German, Russian, Swiss, Turkish and American military firearms and the popular dedicated reference books for each. What I see missing most from Standard Catalogue of Military Firearms is accuate market values. Prices listed for commodity Milsurp firearms are 2x - 3x market value, even if compared to the past two years. Missing also is the value by country of origin or arsenal and not much attention paid to the glut of inexpensive imports sold through various Milsurp outlets. As an example what is refered to generically as a 1903/38 Turkish Mauser, could actually be conversions made from 1890, 1893, 1903, 1905 carbine, G 98 and the Czech 98/22 Mausers in both small, large ring and hybrid action/barrel.
   
   The Model 1895 Nagant revolver is, again, listed at twice to three times the accepted market value and without discerning the price difference amongst Milsurp models based upon production date, arsenal and configuration. These late production refurbished revolvers were not only made at the Soviet arsenal Tula, they were also made at Izhevsk and marked accordingly. The cartridge for the gun is listed as only the 7.62mm, a label that applies to several cartridges; it is the 7.62x38mmR.
   
   The book is a good source for general identification, which is more than a small accomplishment, it just isn't a very good price guide for buying and selling firearms. It's easier to go to an auction site and spot check as an opportunity arises and reference books dedicated to a more narrow category of firearms will provide a lot more informatio.



5. This book is very interesting and helpful especially when buying old military rifles to collect.

5 comments about Warman's World War II Collectibles: Identification and Price Guide.

1. I am a collector of WW11 items and this has come in very handy for Identifing items, when the tags have been removed from items, A lot of history of the item and would recommend this book to others. There are better books out there but this one is very usful for the novice.



2. Warman's World War II Collectibles book is very informative but it leaves out some gear that could be studied, like tents and the gear that goes along with with tents. I realize that covering so much more material in a single volume could be prohibitive.



3. Excellent reference for the military collectible "buff". Doesn't have EVERYTHING, but there's lots of good information for you to value items you have, or want to procure...Worth the money...



4. Being a intermediate collector, I thought this book was great for identifying and giving a good price guide for a great deal of WWII collectibles. Advanced collectors probably would not appreciate the overview of many subjects, but this book plainly states it is not specific in all areas. I would definetly take this to shows for ID help for sure! Great buy!



5. I did not intend to write this review today because I just obtained the book today. I found it by chance at a book store and since I am a specialist in World War II numismatics (coins and especially paper money and more), I bought it. When I got home, I found that there were no reader reviews here so I thought that I shold put in at least and short/temporary one.
   There is nothing on numismatics in the book which you might think would turn me off, but I did not really expect to find much if anything on numismatics. This or any book can only be an introduction to WWII items. Heck, our own book on just the numismatics of the war is over 800 pages. So far I have found the text satisfying if brief. Graf lists many hundreds of items in several chapters. The illustrations are excellent. I learned a lot and expect to learn much more. I will try to write a more detailed review later.

4 comments about Standard Catalog of German Military Vehicles (Standard Catalog Of...).

1. What a fantastic book, what a labour of love by David Doyle. However it's ruined by the terrible treatment of the photographs. Any one who uses a digial camera or has done some scanning will know what I mean. Basically a picture consists of a white point at one end and a black point at the other. Older photos often have no information at the start or end and the black and white point start a little way in. Left like that you get a muddy unclear picture. But if you draw the white and black points into the point at the start of the information then you end up with a clear picture with detail all throug the range. A black and white picture. Any old photo will look twice as good if this is done to it. Clearly no one could be bothered to do that here. Which mean we end up with grey to grey pictures with no white points and no clear black points. So on page 114 we are asked to notice the use of all-steel and rubber-tired return rollars,...well all you can see is a shape of a tank with very little detail. On page 80 we are told to notice the jack at the back of the tank,...I'm sure it's there but I can discern no details on the back at all, just a dark grey back of a tank with faint shadows.
   
   Sadly all the photos are like this, ever stuff from museums is lacking in detail and is just plain muddy looking. What a difference could have been made with just a little more care.
   
   David you book is a classic and is fantastic, but please find a publisher who can take the care to get the photogaphy side right, until then it's like listening to the best group ever through the phone, or looking at a masterpiece painting through a a piece of tracing paper.



2. This book is a must for anyone interested in weaponry of WWII. A great source for the vehicles at the Kabinka Tank Museum outside of Moscow and the Munster Tank Museum in Germany. I was amazed that there was a listing of the 12.8 cm Selbstfahriafeete L/61, of which only two were made, the only one in existence in the Kubinka museum. Thanks to the book I could figure out what was in the museums. Oft times they were not labeled correctly.
   
   I highly recommend this book!



3. This book has every vehicle the German Army used during the war.
   A must for every modeler.Execellent pictures!!!



4. I've always wondered about the heavy German use of motorcycles with side cars. And I've been fascinated with the German use of the half track configuration.
   
   This book answered all of my questions. The German half tracks, which came in a wide range of sizes had much better tracks than did the American M2/M3 (It was said that the American machines had rubber bands for tracks), but the German units were not four wheel drive. The little motorcycle looking halftrack was not a tracked motorcycle, but a small prime mover used to do things like haul aircraft around the field. And I've decided that what I really want is a Volkswagon Schwimmwagon, the four wheel drive amphibious vehicle (You can see of these at the Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles just off I-80 at Lexington, Nebraska.)
   
   This book has more photographos of German military vehicles than I would have thought existed. Of course it covers all their tanks, but you find these in lots of books. Here are the rest of the vehicles - trucks, motorcycles, prime movers, everything that the Germans produced during World War II.
   
   If these kinds of vehicles are your thing, this is a book you can't do without.

3 comments about FELDBLUSE: The German Army Field Tunic 1933-45.

1. Excellent book, but short. Wets your appetite for more. Excellent pictures & text - highly recommended.



2. This book is exceptional for its size (128 pages). It has many excellent photographs of original tunics: exterior, front, back, interior showing lining, stitching patterns; ink stamps of tailors, garment firms, size and acceptance markings. There are photos of tunics lying flat with equipment, firearms, personal items, with extensive captions identifying all items. Other accurately exposed color photos have male models wearing the tunics with typical gear. The chapters are arranged in chronological order, 1933-1944, with B&W period fotos. Only drawback, only nine pages on officer's tunics. Otherwise, an exhaustive reference with attention to detail and vivid realism you will never tire of examining. A beautiful reference book with no fakes, war movie fantasies, or poor quality reproductions.



3. This book is by far the best ever written on this subject. The book is detailed with great information and color pictures of original garments.

5 comments about Detecting the Fakes.

1. Covers basic information on detecting fakes. If the pictures were in colour it would help a lot more as some fakes have different colours. Overall an alright book for beginners. There are a lot more higher quality fakes out there that this book doesnt cover.



2. Great tool for collectors. After the book I found out I had at least one fake. Great help when look for other pieces for the collection. Pictures and diagrams and explations what to look for is a must.



3. Since there is no other book on the market which provides such essential basics to becoming a knowledgeable collector I rate this book very high. If you intend on getting into the fun of collecting Nazi era memorabilia this is the first book you should get your hands on. Don't buy anything until you read this book. Chances are if you take this book with you when your looking for Third Reich Militaria you will at least end up with an original and not a fake. Without this book it's buyer beware.



4. If you are going to collect 3rd Reich militaria this book is a must. The biggest drawback is the lack of short glossary explaining some of the terms and how to determine certain kinds of metal. For example: if an item is made out of "tombak" how do I differentiate that from zinc or aluminium. All photos in B&W, color would have been nice. All this aside this book seems to be the best book on the market on the subject.



5. This book is a very helpful guide for helping to separate the fake items from the real ones out there. The hundreds of pictures included in the book wonderfully illustrate the points made in the text. The "Miscellaneous Regalia" section could have been larger and more inclusive but what is included gives good examples of how far people will go to forge items, especially written documents. The book should be very helpful to anyone who purchases it and will be indespensible for the beginning collector.

No comments about Uniforms of the Waffen-SS 1942-1945 Ski Uniforms, Overcoats.

2 comments about Uniforms of the Waffen-SS, Vol. 1: Black Service Uniform, LAH Guard Uniform, SS Earth-Grey Service Uniform, Model 1936 Field Service Uniform, 1939-1941.

1. EXCELLENT BOOK FOR REFERENCE LIBRARY. GREAT SET OF THREE VOLUMES. SERIOUS BOOK FOR SERIOUS COLLECTORS.



2. If you've been looking for a book that offers BOTH wartime photographs AND multi angle/ close up studies of uniforms from actual collections, this book (and the two other volumes from that trilogy) is EXACTLY what you need. More than just a splendid coffee table book, it is an outstanding source of information about the history/construction and regulation for each and every variety of uniform issued to the various branches of the SS ( both BEFORE and DURING WW2) and it is worth every single penny I invested in it. As a militaria dealer, I could simply not afford not to add it to my collection. If you are interested by that subject and don't have those 3 books, then you are missing an essential resource. If on the other hand you want to know the subject in depth and do not plan to buy each and every book on the market, you have to get THAT serie. My only regret is that Mr. Michael D. Beaver is no longer among us to share his amazing knowledge of German Militaria.

1 comments about Uniforms of the Waffen-SS Sports and Drill Uniforms 'Black Panzer Uniforms'.

1. This third book in the collection of the "Uniforms Of The Waffen-SS" deals with with the panzer uniforms (2/5 of the book), the camouflage uniforms (2/5) and the special uniforms (concentration camps, Sipo-SD, female auxiliaries). I think this one is almost as interesting as the first book and the famous "Camouflage Uniforms Of The Waffen-SS" (the "prologue" of the present "trilogy" about the uniforms of the Waffen-SS) : the whole camouflage chapter is an update to the next release :Camouflage Uniforms of the Waffen-Ss : A Photographic Reference. (Schiffer Military/Aviation History)
   Since the release of that book, a lot of collectors around the world contacted M. Beaver, to update the topic. Surviving examples, and war photographs are therefore added on that book.
   After the camouflage uniforms, three different and usually not studied topics : the "SS-Totenkopfverbände" - concentration camp personnel, the Sipo-SD troops (usually known as the "Gestapo" in most of the continental Europe), and the female auxiliaries.
   The variety of topics make that book a very important addition to the collection. Highly recommended !

1 comments about Collector's Guide to World War 2 German Medals.

1. This book is a concise, standard reference work for Third Reich medal and badge collectors. Sadly, this field is a veritable minefield for collectors with fakes/copies/reproductions now possibly outnumbering original items.With reproduction techniques daily becoming more sophisticated (as prices soar), it is vital to use this work as a basic identification guide, but not as an absolute final authority of an items' originality. Especially useful is the organizational listing of badges and medals by types (e.g. Luftwaffe badges, Army badges, campaign medals, gallantry medals etc.) with a list of known manufacturers' contract LDO numbers, along with estimated numbers of badges/medals awarded. Information provided is limited by space and this can be frustrating as many awards (the Iron Cross for example) easily provide enough variation to require a complete book. The photos are crisp, but frustratingly small. The author is especially fond of the Eagle Order (once awarded to Lindburgh) and this section of the book is the most complete and well done. A number of very rare items are included (e.g. The Dunkirk Shield) but the overall effectiveness of the work is marred by the inclusion of several unawarded badges (the Army Balloon Observers' badge, the Luftwaffe Sea assault badge, the Balkan Shield) and outright fakes (e.g. the Lorient shield, type 1). While the author does often point out that these questionable medals/badges are rare and sometimes suspect, the collecting community would have been better served by a more complete treatment of these items. Several novice collectors I have met have sadly spent large sums of money on copies made in the 1960s, stating that they felt sure they were a rare and valuable find because they saw them in this book. Sadly, the authenticity of even a number of the items on the actual cover of the book has been questioned by medal historians. Overall this is a book worth having, but not a definitive work on the subject.

3 comments about Warman's Civil War Collectibles: Identification And Price Guide (Warman's Civil War Collectibles).

1. This a great book for collectors of Civil War relics! The book has nice colored pictures of everything from bullets and artillery shells to full uniforms and pictures. Great reference for all your collecting needs.



2. I've collected Civil War relics for over 13 years now & I can tell you that it's very important to have a book like this. By studying this book you'll be able to better identify relics as well as tell a fake from the real thing. I've already used this book to identify a canteen I recently bought for $40.00(!) as a Union medical canteen. Also, this book will tell you the general price of each relic so that you won't be cheated by some crooked dealer on e-bay! However, this book doesn't cover excavated relics well at all & doesn't even mention collecting Civil War veterans' relics. The very best Civil War relic price guide available is North & South Trader's Civil War Collector's Price Guide which not only covers ALL categories of Civil War relics but also has great sections on Revolutionary War relics & the War of 1812. That price guide cost at least double what Warman's guide does, but it's worth it. I think both are great & belong in every Civil War buff's library.



3. I thoroughly enjoyed this book - it had exactly the information I was looking for, and was extremely interesting. I highly recommend this book for anyone intersted in the Civil War, whether or not they collect Civil War items.