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Catalog 94 Preview:
Catalog #94 will be very similar to #93 because once again, I was left largely unsupervised and in charge of catalog descriptions. In the past, our employees have labored through the 'meat and potatoes' portion of the catalog descriptions, and I was free to stay on the road most of the time; working to bring in new collections. When they finally strapped me to a chair and made me work on descriptions, I would turn my focus to what would normally be considered the highlights of the catalog. In the runup to Catalog #93, I described the situation this way:
"John baked the cake, I added the icing. Well... being a bit thick-headed, it never occured to me under the new circumstances that I should be baking some cake. I just kept adding icing. Before we knew it, Catalog #93 was stocked with some of the best items we have had in years, and the vast majority of these lots would be headliners on any normal AGM catalog."
The circumstances here remain the same as they were for #93, but instead of working exclusively in icing, I seem to have moved on to just pure sugar. If you liked Catalog 93, you will absolutely love #94.
As with the last one, rather than cut back and have a nice head start for the next catalog, we made the decision to keep #94 at the same larger size than normal. The print edition is an extra eight pages long. You all are going to enjoy Catalog 94!
A large portion of the Other Nations section on Catalog 94 is devoted to the Spanish Civil War collection of our friend Bill Combs. Bill has been refocusing his collecting to zero in on Spanish-American War era Spanish uniforms, insignia, and equipment. (If you know of any available, he would love to hear from you and we can put you in touch.) This Spanish Civil War collection is without a doubt one of the finest ever assembled outside of Spain itself. Highlights include:
- Republican American Volunteer Woman's Uniform w/ International Brigade Sleeve Star Insignia
- Nationalist German Legion Condor Tunic and Cap - ex. George Peterson Collection
- Republican Anarchist Militia Used Russian Winchester 95 Rifle
- Republican Named Socialist Youth 11th Division Uniform and Document Group
- Republican Blue Militia Mono
- Nationalist Heinkel He 112B Tail Rudder Section
- Nationalist Falange Soldier's Uniform and Document Group
- Republican Infantry Visor Cap
- Republican Infantry Commissar's Tunic
- Nationalist Italian Black Arrows Division Officer's Tunic
- Republican General Staff Corps Enamel Insignia
- Nationalist Italian Pilot's Bullion Wings and Shoulder Boards
- Nationalist General Staff Corps Named Tunic and Breeches
That is just a sample - there is much, much more! There are over 200 individual lots of Spanish Civil War material on this sale, including numerous hats, helmets, buckles and insignias.
It is difficult to construct a highlight list for Catalog 94, since as I mentioned, under normal circumstances most of the items on this sale would be highlights in a regular AGM catalog. Here are a few random examples, just to give you an idea of what to expect:
- Napoleonic Wars Era Pattern 1803 British Infantry Officer's sword
- Beautiful presentation grade US Civil War 1850 Staff & Field sword
- A nice selection of WWII AAF painted leather flight jackets, including an A-2 from a crewman on "Fortress Joker", shot down over Germany in October 1944.
- Painted A-2 and medal group from a P-38 Lightning Pilot, with a photo of him wearing the jacket around the base.
- Nice selection of WWI hand and rifle grenades, including the scarce British No. 19 percussion grenade with wooden handle and twill cloth streamers
- A German soldier's M43 tunic, M37 trousers, and M43 cap sent home in March 1945 by Pfc. Clarence Guillozet of Co. M, 346th Infantry.
- WWII Port of Embarkation Painted M1 Helmet
- WWII Taylor Huff D-Guard knuckle fighting knife
- Italian WWI Artillery Sergeant's tunic and kepi
- French WWI Tampon T Gas Mask, Goggles, & Carrier
- Brunswick Infantry Regiment Nr. 92 Officer's Sword
- WWI American Field Service Adrian Helmet
- Bavarian Napoleonic Wars Era Chevauleger Enlisted Saber
- A very nice and large selection of US WWI painted helmets
- Camouflaged M16 German Helmet
- WWII Chaplain's Painted M1 Helmet
- Nice Wehrmacht Reissue WWI Austrian M17 Helmet
- British Anglo-Zulu War Era Infantry Officer's P.1845 Sword
- Nice quality US WWI field gear including several eagle snap Cavalry bandoleers and the very scarce US Chau-Chat Automatic Rifleman's Belt
- WWI Tanker's Splinter Mask
- WWII Chaplain's Painted M1 Helmet
- Italian WWI Radio Signalman's Enlisted Kepi
- French WWI Cavalry Officer's Saber
- US WWI Trench Knives
- A selection of pressed felt and metal 'ersatz' spiked helmets
- WWI USMC 5th Marine Brigade Painted Helmet
- WWI US Shinkle Impact Fragmentation Grenade
- Several WWII US Hawley fiber helmet liners
- WWI Air Service Bomb Sight & Transit Case
And much.. much.... MUCH more. This one is another beast. One of our friends whose collecting interests are inconveniently covered by much of this catalog has started referring to it as "94-mageddon." Hmm.. I like that!
Be sure to visit the site when it opens Monday at 3:00 pm US central time. I look forward to hearing from you then.
Best regards,
Jeff Shrader
AGM
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