Wednesday, February 24, 2010
I pulled the Top-5 items from recent sales in the WWII category and found some real jewels. All of these items sold for more than $2,000+ led by the Chiang Kai-Shek auction. I really wasn't surprised to see the Zero radio land on this list because several months ago a piece from an original Zero sold for more than $20k. The item that I'm most interested in is the 82nd Airborne collection because Fayetteville, NC is not far from my home. Finally what would a top selling list from the WWII category be if it didn't include a few blades?
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
One of the interesting things about collecting WWII items is that each of the niche categories has its strong suit. For example in the Japanese subcategory its all about swords and edged weapons. When it comes to the Russia subcategory the clear winner is heavy medal! More specifically awards with what the youth today call "bling" dominate the boards. The top selling medal in this group attracted three different bidders over $2500.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The top tier of items in the Japan niche of eBay WWII is dominated by swords and other blades. While I've posted on those in the past - today I want to ask the question what else brings home the bacon in this subcategory? I set a criteria for this list covering the last thirty days that required items to be "blunt" and have a final sales price of over $1k. Would you believe if you looked at edged weapons you can name over forty auctions from the last month that went north of $1000. But for the non-lethal memorabilia the list is still fun to analyze.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Its been several weeks since I checked in on the Great Britain subcategory of WWII to see what's selling. Over the last thirty days two of the best selling items are associated with the great British wartime leader, Winston Churchill. The best selling item only received one bid at the asking price north of $2k. This grouping of items was sold out of the UK and included pictures and other documents with some carrying his signature. My favorite items on this Top-5 list is the spy radio. While its not in working condition it would still be a great conversation piece and it did come with a manual. How many WWII movies have you seen with this type of clandestine radio calling in for orders or passing on vital information.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
As I've been building these Top-5 lists its been unusual to see so much competition for the best selling items. Normally, I will spot one or two items where the seller set a high minimum bid only to see a lone bidder come in to save the day. With each of the items I found from early February the bidding was pretty active. Take for example this weeks top selling item - the German Paratrooper smock. Three bidders were willing to go over $5k to get this vintage piece. However, only one bidder was willing to go high enough to trip over the reserve price and score a victory. For my money I would have been more interested in the US Antarctic group of items which included pictures, medals, and documents.
