Micro Jo
Master Sodcaster
Cheers my man - now that I know who you arePurely tongue in cheek Jo however your contributions to the discussion of these fantasy items should not be underestimated. Particularly in the area of period source material. And agree with your statements regarding the depth of research regarding this subject within the HJ Research Forum. Although my submissions there have been minimal it is without doubt one of the finest resources available for the HJ/BDM collecting community.
Yes, I have always been big on period research. This is what pixxses me off the most with comments from the likes of "Stan" in Sodcast 12.. "If they were cast then that is probably how they were made."
NO, that is not how they were made. We have, thankfully, each and every copy of the official regulation/announcement papers for the German Medal Industry from the start, to the last paper, and they discuss in detail how items are made. These papers were the official papers for the Medal Industry, each maker, seller or dealer was obliged to subscribe and pay for them.
So, we know, we do not need to guess. We have historically documented facts, from the horse’s mouth, the correct foundations to either assist us in our debating and discussing, or to prove in black and white certain points.
It is not my fault that I speak a few languages and take a pride in research, but the way these Muppets just brush over historical fact like it does not matter at all, is equivalent to Blasphemy.
It makes my blood boil to such an extent that it now has me breaking into cow sheds in the alps wearing big rubber troll gloves! And filming it for all to see.
I know that the likes of Stan and his, are not interested in the slightest in fact, and need their rubbish to be real by any and all means, but it still gets my goat, or cow...
I tell you something else too, a few of the really older bigwig authors (German and American) really got mad at me when I scanned the full A3 sized 800 odd pages of the RZM Bible, The Handbuch der Reichszeugmeisterei a few years ago, and offered it for sale on CD form - for really interested historians and researchers. It had never been done before, why? All you would ever read about the RZM Bible would be that someone knew someone who actually had one, but would not share a detail or make it available.
And along comes Jo... offers meat instead of the usual Ra Ra.
Also, on my site you can access all the Medal Making papers I spoke about, for free! Knowledge is what can help the hobby, but it must be shared IMHO. And it MUST, be acknowledged and when possible used as the bedrock of a discussion pertaining to controversial items.