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Hello everyone! Yank living in Germany with a question for European toy soldier experts. I've purchased several metal miniatures at museum gift shops and local toy stores in Vienna and Prague. They come with no box or paperwork. The only identifying mark is on the base. Can anyone tell me the manufacturer? Best Regards, Jacob

Just added the fuze. Quite a piece by itself.

Hannover, Linien Infanterie, ca. 1847-1866

Please see this link for the story and some great photos. Talk about history- I just had to repost this. https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/german-captured-1915-mosin-nagant.44190/ A view of a rather rare find, A German capture M91 1915 dated Mosin with the German capture stamp on the stock. How lucky can a person get? Here are three photos from the above source:

I have the chance to purchase a Wehrpass of a 21yr old KIA on the Eastern Front. With the purchase comes his Death Certificate which in themselves are fairly rare but to have them as matching pair seems quite interesting. I'm just wondering what the concensus would be for a valve. I've numerous Wehrpass and Soldbuch but I'm unsure what increase the matching death certificate would bring. Thanks for any thoughts.

Hello FDiv, welcome to the forum, the Death Certificates do turn up from time to time, last one I had we sold for £95, your Wehrpass is to a good unit so I would guess without seeing it, the pair would be worth around £225-£295 but it really just depends on how much you want it.

Even the base is rather unique and the lead figure painted with care. There were so many artists making there own brands in the 1990s. I collect mainly Barclay and Manoils, but then one type specimen of different companies or makers. That one with its unique base is also unknown to me. There are no know books that identify the many different small company artists Base marks, paint style attributes, or marker's marks like you see with ceramics or silver items. Lets hope someone can ID. What is its size? Unfortunately I do not get Old Toy Soldier or Toy Soldier Collector, I had to let most journals go due to lack of funds.

There is nothing special about the Wehrpass.. he enlisted in 1939 at aged 19 and was KIA on the Eastern front at 21 in 1941. No awards other than General Assault Badge (posthumous) and was in 39 Panzer Korp. The interesting thing is the Notice of Death Cert signed by the unit commander but some 2year later. The small collection comes with newspaper cutting of his Death Card dated 1941 and a translation of his Wehrpass. Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on an overall price before I overspend haha.

nice figure, not familiar with the maker unfortunately

Two belt buckles, Pionier and Artillerie, ca. 1914, both without makers mark

The cases add significant value though - well worth searching for.

Germans posing with captured French equipment, the FT-17 tank and Mle 1914 Hotchkiss Machine gun.

Rommel at the German victory parade in Paris, June 1940.

Soak the cracks in the stock repeatedly in linseed oil, and polish off. It will expand in time and strengthen the wood. Otherwise a spot of lime in the crack, pressing together and removing the excess should make a great difference.

Hi, Yeah I'd put the Wehrpass at around the £125-£150 mark as it's a nice clean example with good photo and entries. It was the Certificate that threw me a little but thanks for replying and giving me an idea of overall value. I'm in for just below the lower end of your estimate so I think I'll strike whilst the opportunity is there for me. I'm new to the forum but it's nice to get other people thoughts and expertise on items so we can all help keep history alive without letting others get taken advantage of with fakes or overvalued items. I like the document side of things (although I do have a couple of bladed items) and I've some very interesting documents. Some recently purchased at auction as a bundle. Incl a Luftwaffe purchase invoice and bill of sale for fuel made out to a French Service Station for quite a cost back then. I've also German POW cards sent from Canada with personalised drawings on. They tell how they're safe and well whilst their friends are "fighting the good war". I just can't get to the bottom of what POW camp are in the photos.

Could you post some pictures please

Cassel, Summer 1940

Same with me for my sight, they are really hard to find!

Unfortunately not- I’m on the lookout for one though!

Whew that is rough looking Lebel! And definitely not worth $1500

Very nice, do you have the carrying case as well?

Not sure this is allowed, but this one is bad news on the internal parts. Sort of a $400 rifle. NOT $ 1500. Box opening video. r For pictures only source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWnO9M-TrH4 Here is a photo documentation from libertytreecollector's reference library: https://www.libertytreecollectors.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=600&idcategory=82 Worth a read. The 1886/93 Lebel: France's Great War Masterpiece by GARRY JAMES posted on January 29, 2021 American Rifleman https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/the-1886-93-lebel-france-s-great-war-masterpiece/ A video redo., not as good as the Mc Collum video... Small Arms of WWI Primer 001*: French Lebel Mle. 1886 M by C&Rsenal

Here’s my MGZ34 model sight, great optics, intact spirit level, etc

Paste away, if you want any other pictures, let me know.

Thank you for those pictures. Unfortunately they are now way beyond my means, unless a club member dies and his family would give me one cheep. The inside looks better than I would have thought. I want to paste those into my note book on Lebels.

USMC, if you ever buy a Lebel fixer upper, I will help you out on the parts if you like. I do have to say this is one of my favorite rifles, and I am glad I got it when I did as they are only going up in value.

Another interesting item I noticed was that on the new butt stock, the rifle number is 87407, the receiver is 88457, not far off for a replacement!

The Lebel rifle listed above had the following parts missing. The rear sight slide and screw stop, internal magazine spring and stop, screw on side of receiver. Items that were damaged, butt stock had a good size chuck missing towards the butt plate, the front barrel band had the stacking rod broken off and the lever that controls the loading/magazine cut off was broken off. Fortunately I found a replacement buttstock, a sling, and the remaining parts in just under a year. But it took some serious searching as Lebel parts are not easy to come by in the US. Overall the condition of the rifle was not bad, very dirty, and the receiver had some pitting, but I was also fortunate enough to find a better condition one as well. The stock has a minor crack towards the front band towards the bottom where the tube magazine is. The fore stock wood has been cleaned, the butt stock has not been yet.

Polish soldier, ca. 1930 Sent by Karol Paskiewicz of his grandfather

Thanks Gildwiller 1918. I would be interested in a review of the rifle's condition and especially the barrel review and a photo or two. Was your stock cracked? How many parts were missing? What is the condition of the loading tube, interior of the barrel, and was the bolt complete? Did you take any as arrived and after clean up photos? In America it is strange how many bayonets are at stores and shows, but the actual rifle is a very hard find and a true expensive endeavor. In contrast Berthiers and Mas 36 are always seen.

Yes Fritz, as always your knowledge base is amazing, I have not yet found a cast iron example at any gun shows. Those are a hard find. Top one is iron handle. see this reference sticky & photo source https://www.gunboards.com/threads/lebel-bayonet-reference-sticky.239830/#post-1938840 for those that want detailed information see Patricks comments also maybe pages 197-205 in Chassepot to FAMS, McCollum (2019,2021). His chapter on the Lebel rifle is the best in English.

Nice medal. It would be very hard to fake those characteristic age 'bubbles' under the finish. Tony

I am a long standing student and collector of this type of badge. The badge originally put up for discussion with number 60897, is, in my opinion, a well used example of an original 30.5mm Deschler made Gold Party Badge. Comparisons with the later photos on this thread from Fritz and JamesT will confirm this. The characteristics of an original are present. It appears that the 'Ges Gesch' rear marking has been partially overshadowed by reaffixing the pin mounting plate upside down. These badges had various issue with insecure fixing pins and it is not uncommon to find pins and plates replaced or reaffixed. Unfortunately I don't have details of the recipient on my list of award holders , but I would recommend contact with Robert McDivitt, a researcher in the USA, who has expertise in finding such details in the US National Archives. The current market value of a badge like this, in the same used condition and with a currently unknown recipient, should be nearer to 2000 - 2200 GBP. Tony A

"Imprint" nach dem Angriff des japanischen Kamikaze-Piloten Mitsubishi KI-51 "Sonia" auf das Schiff HMS Sussex - Pacific, Juli 1945

Thanks for the info.I'll check out your post. Nice mortar bomb.

Look up my post on French Pneumatic weapons. It is indeed a Italian mortar, used in the French Lance Projector. Italy and France shared a great deal of ordnance details, and it is not uncommon to see designs represented in either country. Below is an image of one in a little better condition. The cap on the front is removable to protect the fuse, which was secured by a pull ring. Once the ring was pulled, the propeller would spin for a predetermined amount of time before stopping and setting the charge off.

Thanks. I have quite a bit more, if there is anything specific you would like to see just mention it. I have a collection of buckles, shoulder boards, some uniforms, etc. I understand what you mean when you say I won't find these things again. I have not added anything new to this part of my collection in decades, though I continue to look. The growing interest in Russia in all things Tsarist and the proliferation of reproductions has limited the availability of original items and has made purchasing anything on-line somewhat of a risk.

Also, I would agree with Kenny’s pricing but if you got it for the higher end of the estimate I still think you’ve had a result if the other info is with it.

This is beyond belief, talk about a collection... I just saw this post. Impressive!

There were also yellow brass, copper brass and steel handles.

1940 - British POW’s in the hands of troops from the SS-VT Division somewhere in France.

Great job cleaning it up! What color are you going to paint the exterior?

Update Well I stripped the black off the inside first, it came off quite easy so I then did the outside again it came off easy. The inside retains most of its original sand paint but the outside of the shell has very little sand paint left, I think this is why it was painted black to make it more presentable. What I have noticed is there are traces of three different paint colours ie- Green, Brown, and sand. After some research on the history of these helmets they were first painted in the standard UDF Green in about 1938, and later in a darker UDF Green and later in a Desert Sand. Helmets destined for troops in the Italian Campaign were painted in a Brown colour, so this helmet has seen some service in its time. So it looks like I will have to do a full restoration pant job on the outside shell, but I will leave the inside with its original look.

Here's a MKII South African helmet shell made by TSP=Transvaal Steel Pressing Syndicate Ltd of Johnnesburg, I found on a Saturday Market last weekend, cost me all of £8. I'm in two minds, do I strip it back to its original colour which you can still see inside, or just leave it black as a home front civil defence helmet and add a new reproduction liner? I doubt I could find a used original Jager Rand liner for it now?

Welcome to the forum Tommy1418, it looks like Hadfield changed to the HS stamp mark round about 1916 when the new improvements were added.

A Bren gunner of 13/18th Royal Hussars camouflaged in a beet field during an exercise near Arras, 16 October 1939. If you look at the war diary pages for October 1939, also posted, they would suggest this photograph was taken later than the 16th during one of the exercises the regiment took part in.

I have about fifty Tsarists officer and enlisted shoulder boards, mostly infantry, but also cavalry, artillery, etc. Most of them were shown in Johan Somer's book "Imperial Russian Field Uniforms and Equipment".

Marvellous examples. You won't find these again.

A few more items from my Tsarists Russian collection. They are, an enlisted man's peaked cap, a military railway belt buckle (Northwest rail line), Officer, NCO, enlisted and reservist cap cockades, enlisted man's winter cap, officer's shoulder board from the 26.Siberian Rifle Regiment, Zelinski-Kummant gas mask and a brass enlisted man's belt buckle from a grenadier regiment.

French manufactured, Russian Adrian helmet. White metal buckle for infantry and other units with silver colored buttons. From my collection.