DUIs, medals, Third Reich uniform hardware? This seller had quite a variety.
Over the past weekend the hugely popular event, Emerald City Comic Con was a considerable draw for Seattle-area collectors. This event doesn’t just center on comics, but also includes Star Wars and Star Trek fans along with a myriad of other popular film and television sagas in various genres. This event has drawn celebrity guests over the years including William Shatner and George Takei. This year, the special guest was Lea Thompson who was appearing in support of the Back to the Future film trilogy. This event is more than a collectibles show and every year seems to draw more fans along with a considerable local media exposure.
Fifty miles south of the Emerald City Comic Con, located at a small airfield in Tumwater, Washington, the Olympic Flight Museum hosted a military collectibles display and sale (on Saturday, March 31, 2012), drawing collectors seeking to buy, sell or trade militaria items or simply view the aircraft and military displays. As you could imagine, this show didn’t have quite the wide-ranging draw as the Comic Con yet the turnout of collectors seemed to be on par with the smaller scale event.
-
- This seller had a mix of uniforms. I had my eye on the set of WWII navy dress whites that were complete with a pair of leggings.
-
- It is great to see the attendees, even the ladies, get into the period uniforms for the show!
-
- DUIs, medals, Third Reich uniform hardware? This seller had quite a variety.
-
- There were some nice USMC patches to choose from at this table.
-
- This show attendee was decked out as a U.S. Army Air Force aviator and was looking through the available hats.
-
- There were a few Third Reich items available for purhcase.
-
- It is hard to imagine lugging this beast around with the bullets flying by. I have a soft-spot for combat photographers.
-
- This seller had a nice Navy Lieutenant Commander aviator group available.
This show had something for just about any militaria collector with goods from periods ranging from the World War I and World War II participants (U.S., Japan, Germany-Third Reich, Britain, etc.), Korean and Viet Nam War to Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan).
I was on a mission to locate some items to finish off groups/displays for my veteran uncles. I was specifically searching for the correct (defunct) ½”-wide navy ribbons needed to complete the ribbon bars for the World War II-era uniform I am assembling. As I searched each vendor’s tables, I saw many artifacts I’d love to add to my collection. Had I not been focused with my search, I most certainly would have forked over the cash and brought home pieces that wouldn’t really fit my purpose. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am keeping my collecting focused as my budget is quite limited.
Unfortunately for me, I didn’t find what I was looking for. I had been on the lookout for a U.S. Navy/U.S.M.C aviator’s leather jacket (a G-1 model) for a friend of mine and I found one that was in excellent shape. The leather is soft and supple and the cuffs and waistband, while showing some wear, are in great condition.
This is the U.S. Navy G-1 flight jacket I scored for a bargain price...too bad it won't be staying in my collections.
Amazingly, I walked out of a militaria show with nothing for myself – an enormous feat of control considering I could have spent myself into oblivion (ok, that’s an exaggeration, perhaps).
