Monday, April 11, 2016
I saw a story this weekend on the news about three sailors stranded on a Pacific island who spelled out "HELP" with palm fronds and were rescued by the navy. It reminded me that some pilots in the war might have found themselves in similar situations although signaling help might not have brought the right side to the rescue.
Last week my 7th grade social studies students saw a video detailing how many casualties each side in the war saw. To say that the German invasion of Russia caused a staggering amount of deaths is hard to put into perspective. It does make you have a lot of "what if" thoughts when it comes to the strategies that were central to the outcome of the conflict.
This block sometimes has a lot of medals which is not my favorite listing. However, when you are featuring items from Russia, Japan and Italy you sometimes get a little bit of a heavy dose of those.
If you have read down to the bottom of the newsletter then you know that the last block is reserved for items from the WWI. Many of these listings are now 100 years old and looking good.
Friday, April 8, 2016
It looks like airborne paratroopers are making their mark ton today's issue. The dress uniform below is one example as is the grouping of patches. Make sure to check out the dog tags which belonged to a glider artilleryman that was captured by the Nazis and spent over 200 days in a stalag.
One reason I named this issue for the airborne is because of the amazing German listing pictured to the far left. This auction might finish over $1,000 before it's all said and done.
The uniform pictured here is not nearly as intriguing as the others I've pointed out. However, you can still find a great mix of items from the nations that took part including Japan, Russia, Italy and more.
Click to see the top auctions in the category for World War I including many that are ending soon.
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Ok so what exactly is a crystal radio? I didn't know myself until doing some digging trying figure out the listing pictured to the far left. It is described as a POW made radio of a very simple type and includes the dog tags from the Stalag where the prisoner was held. It's neat to find items like this in the category that have an interesting story to them.
Wow I know that binoculars are popular in this category. But if you combine that with the box and a complete kit to go with it you have a superstar auction in the German category. Click on the one pictured to the far left below to see an auction ending later today that is doing well.
There are several unique auctions in this block which covers many different countries. You might want to click on the RAF tunic below although some of the other listings are a little more unique today.
Click to see any auctions featured from the first World War including some colorful uniform pieces.
Friday, April 1, 2016
There are a pair of sweet listings pictured below. One is at $1500 and has not me the reserve and another is wide open. These are the uniform groupings pictured below and I bet you can guess which one is over $1k in bidding already.
It seems like almost every week I can share a strange issue in this German block. So since the time that I started building this newsletter the box of binoculars below has been pulled. Not by eBay but instead by the seller itself. Could it be that someone offered to purchase it off eBay and he was willing to cut it down and save on eBay fees?
I have often commented on the photography of sellers in this category. We've seen mannequins and even scantily clad female models. I'm just not sure I've seen an average Joe offer to photograph himself demonstrating an item up for bids. I don't know if it helps but seeing a human face did catch my eye.
I probably don't mention it enough but there is a website that I maintain which serves as the archives for the Hot Finds Newsletter. It is located at www.WWIIHotFinds.com and you will find all the issues of the newsletter linked in there.