General´s Tabs

[clevischi]

I would like to share with you, friends, one of the itens in my collection that i like a most, a matching pair of SS-Brigadefuhrer collar tabs:

[Felix]

I remeber this collar tabs pair. It was on Bill Sheas site a few years back. It has also been shown on WAF. The pair is heavily damaged from water or from moisture. The tabs have lost their shape as well as the proper shape of the oak leaves.

I attach a tab from my collection with provenance back to around 1945-1946. This tab has the original shape of the standard card board templates used. Quality in general on these kind of tabs are outstanding!
The tab was brought home by a Swedish woman late in the war or just after the war. I bought the tab from her grandson. It has some wear especially to the centre strings. I guess it has been touched a few times by children or other persons. The tab has never been sewn on from what I can see.

[clevischi]

Yes Felix, is this one. I think its about some umidity that it lost the real shape. But is still a rare and nice piece, agreed?

[RaymondG]

Hi Carlos

I am not lucky enough to possess such and item but the execution and detail look like what I would be looking for if I was buying a set

Raymond

[Bob Wirtz]

Here is SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Karl Maria Demelhuber's insignia grouping that belongs to my friend, Willi Schumacher. This insignia came off of one of his uniforms.

Bob

[Bob Wirtz]

Here are close ups of the Demelhuber collar tabs and a pair of SS-Gruppenfuhrer collar tabs.

Bob

[WOODY]

Bob,
Its always good to see Good insignia:thumbup1:

[Felix]

Welcome to this forum Bob W! Good to have you here!

Thanks for posting some more examples of generals tabs! There were some variations of these tabs but a common trait always has been very high quality.

There are basically 3 valid patterns or forms and then you have some some sub variations of the standartenfuhrer tabs. There is of course the early pre april 1942 shape as well.

[Bob Wirtz]

Here is another pair of SS-Obergruppenfuhrer. These have the stems to the acorns.

Bob




Willi Schumacher Collection

[Bob Wirtz]

Of course I like these best when they're on the tunics like this SS-Brigadefuhrer... these are screw back collar tabs.

Bob




Willi Schumacher Collection/Mike Holverson photo

[Bob Wirtz]

Felix,

Since you mentioned SS-Standartenfuhrer collar tabs, here is a pair of the third and final version, April (effective June) 1942.

Bob






Willi Schumacher Collection

[Felix]

Bob;

They are stunners! Excellent quality!

[WOODY]

what about a comparison against the good quality fake examples?

[Bob Wirtz]

Thanks Felix on the compliment on the SS-Standartenfuhrer collar tabs. Willi wishes they had come on the collar of a tunic.

Well in keeping with Woody's request for comparisons of reproduction SS general's collar tabs, here are images of a couple that I saved in my archives. (Archives are a great idea to use for comparison purposes, as well as knowing where some of these are if they come up for sale.) The SS-Obergruppenfuhrer collar tabs surfaced last year and were being offered by Craig Gottlieb for $5,800. They are really well-made but reproduction. It took quite a bit of convincing by several members on another forum before he finally relented and took them off.

Bob

[Bob Wirtz]

Here are two more, an SS-Gruppenfuhrer and a close up of one of the SS-Obergruppenfuhrer collar tabs in the pair offered by Craig Gottlieb (above).

Bob

[Bob Wirtz]

These two are hilarious as far as quality is concerned. I think my 5-year old daughter could make better ones than these!!! These are being offered by Charlie Snyder of Synder's Treasures. The SS-Obergruppenfuhrer collar tabs at the time I captured this image was being sold for $1,300 and the SS-Oberstgruppenfuhrer for $2,000. If I got stuck paying $2,000 for the SS-Obergruppenfuhrer collar tabs that were being offered by Craig last year, I wouldn't feel as stupid as if I bought these! Even the Pakistanis do far better work than these. Problem is he probably has sold some of these!

Bob

[Rob Johnson]

Here is SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Karl Maria Demelhuber's insignia grouping that belongs to my friend, Willi Schumacher. This insignia came off of one of his uniforms.

Bob

Absolutely spectacular, Bob... Just Beautiful!!!
Nice to see you here :thumbup1:

Rob

[Bob Wirtz]

Thank you, Rob. I'm hoping this forum will bring aboard the best from the other forums and we can have a productive forum here. Two of the old ones that I used to belong to are just dead --- I check about once a month and nothing moves.

To continue with some of the fake SS general's collar tabs, here are the typical fakes you see around, these being offered by Third Reich Depot for $700 each.

Bob

[Bob Wirtz]

Here is Third Reich Depot's SS-Obergruppenfuhrer collar tabs for $800. TRD is selling the ones on the top; the ones on the bottom are in one of Hayes' books. Christine once used a green camouflaged skull on Peter Whamond's website (an original one), on her site to use as a comparison to the fake that was sewn to a fake camo field cap. I notified Peter who read her the riot act and she withdrew it (actually I don't think Peter read her the riot act but he contacted her and told her not to use his stuff on her website of fakes).

And then there is the fake Globnick's general's tunic --- all fake of course! This was one of the many SS-Gruppenfuhrer tunics that Brandt had bought and then found out that they were all fakes.

Bob

[clevischi]

Thank you Bob, for all these good information.

[Bob Wirtz]

To really appreciate SS general's collar tabs you have to have them in hand and in good light. They are very impressive in their workmanship.

Bob

[Felix]

Thanks Bob for posting some common fakes and a few of the better repros available on todays market. SS generals tabs and SS bullion sleeve eagles are among the most difficult areas in the field of SS insignia to collect. You often se so called big name dealers having repros of these kinds in their inventory. I wish not to make a general verdict that all top dealers are like this but surprisingly often it happens. I guess it is all in the light of that too few has actually handled real ones.

//Felix

[Rob Johnson]

Thanks Felix on the compliment on the SS-Standartenfuhrer collar tabs. Willi wishes they had come on the collar of a tunic.

Well in keeping with Woody's request for comparisons of reproduction SS general's collar tabs, here are images of a couple that I saved in my archives. (Archives are a great idea to use for comparison purposes, as well as knowing where some of these are if they come up for sale.) The SS-Obergruppenfuhrer collar tabs surfaced last year and were being offered by Craig Gottlieb for $5,800. They are really well-made but reproduction. It took quite a bit of convincing by several members on another forum before he finally relented and took them off.

Bob

These two are hilarious as far as quality is concerned. I think my 5-year old daughter could make better ones than these!!! These are being offered by Charlie Snyder of Synder's Treasures. The SS-Obergruppenfuhrer collar tabs at the time I captured this image was being sold for $1,300 and the SS-Oberstgruppenfuhrer for $2,000. If I got stuck paying $2,000 for the SS-Obergruppenfuhrer collar tabs that were being offered by Craig last year, I wouldn't feel as stupid as if I bought these! Even the Pakistanis do far better work than these. Problem is he probably has sold some of these!

Bob


Bob-

I'd like to thank you for taking the time to write and share all of this information with us. It's invaluable to newer collectors, like myself, who are still 'new' to the hobby and were not around to follow the fakes as the trickled onto (or sometimes flooded!) the market. As someone who plans to one day add a matching pair of tunic-removed SS-General's ranks collar tabs to my collection, this info comes in very handy. Your years of experience really shine through in your posts, and I appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge with the rest of us.

Rob

[Bob Wirtz]

You're welcome Rob. Actually Willi was my mentor for several years when I lived in the Northern Virginia area. Even though I ended up not collecting Waffen-SS, for the same reasons that you don't (price and availability), the education has come in handy. Even though I collect Wehrmacht (Armed Forces) and have three Luftwaffe, two Kriegsmarine and two Heeres tunics and some caps, I probably know Waffen-SS better than Wehrmacht.

Bob

[Bob Wirtz]

Here are a pair of the SS-Gruppenführer collar tabs that Willi used to own. He was very much into the post April (effective June) 1942 style collar tabs. I think they were much nicer than the previous sets.

Bob

Willi Schumacher Collection (at one time)/Bob Wirtz photo