crusher cap any good?

heavy_mech

heavy_mech

RKI- Reasonably Knowledgable Individual
Now that this sold I will ask for any information about this item. I honestly have no idea as to originality or value. It was listed at $7500 which seems insanely high too me but again I have no idea.

www.ima-usa.com

Original Rare German WWII Waffen SS EM/NCO Schirmmütze Crusher Visor Cap with Maker Mark - Schutzstaffel

Original Item: Only One Available. The SS (Schutzstaffel - 'Protection Squadron') was originally formed in 1925, ostensibly to act as a small, loyal bodyguard unit to protect the Führer, Adolf H. Under the direction of the Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, the SS grew to be the most ruthless and...
www.ima-usa.com www.ima-usa.com
 
No Idea on authenticity, but to me it looks too good. The eagle and skull have a very polished appearance making me question them. My gut tells me its a reproduction, I think a real one in that kind of condition would easily top 10k. SS stuff is a minefield.
 
Hello!

I'm no expert on WSS stuff at all but a fellow collector I know had a very nice ss nco cap with known provenance and it looked very much different from the one shown on the ima website. The one on the link looks odd in some places I'm not going to lie.
 
Bigdibbs88 said:
That’s not a crusher
Click to expand...
Lol. I don't know squat about these but that's what IMA ekspurt called it. Honestly I'm shocked at both someone said one could go for 10k or more and that this has questions and was $7500. To me that's insane.
 
correct , not a crusher.. this has a stiff visor that will break if bent. This is a waffen SS type cap . Im not in touch with prices but , if real and it looks like it could be the price was on point.
 
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I purposefully know little about SS gear, other than assuming that most I will ever see is fake. But that aside, the cap just doesn’t look 75-80 YO. Even if it went into museum grade storage straight from the haberdashers’, it should have some signs of aging, I can’t see any. Fingerprints, sweat & oil stains, DUST, all collect on treasured stuff, even carefully stored items. I’m sitting 10 feet from a small wooden chest that my father, a Boy Scout from Casper Wy took to the National Scout Camporee at Washington DC in 1937.(big deal for a 13 YO) It has PATINA, the wood has a certain color, the traces of glue in the joints look a certain way, the dark blue paint on the outside looks 80 years old……..

The cap could be genuine, but plenty of motive at $7500 for it to be not so.
 
Muncher that was my thoughts and concern. It wasn't that it wasn't a 'crusher'... that's what IMA 'ekspurt' called it in his title. It just looked TOO good. And since I also no nothing about telling if it was genuine or not AND seeing that $7500 ask I thought I see what others thought. If it is a repop, no matter how good, seems like a really expensive mistake.

IIRC from the ad they had an option to add a genuine COA for $20 more.... Now THAT would make me sleep better at night. :ROFLMAO:
 
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Good as gold. The only problem is that the red piping has faded everywhere except under the chin strap.
 
My post here is twofold:

First, no serious collector or enthusiast should approach authentication of any article based upon item condition. There are very many legitimate vintage items that have survived into the present day in as-new condition, and conversely there are very many fakes that exhibit deceptive "age and wear". Those who profess to know nothing about a particular field of study yet state something cannot be authentic because "it looks too new" do a disservice to what may actually be a perfectly fine period original artifact. One must take a studious approach toward determining authenticity which will encompass an understanding of original materials (cloth, metal, leather, etc.), design, construction, and particular manufacturer traits (provided the maker is known). Photographs of key details of any item are often essential toward this end, otherwise there can be lingering questions that might only be resolved by way of a direct hands-on examination.

That being said, the cap in question exhibits the wartime maker logo which has been identified as Oskar Hertlein of Erlangen. This logo appears mainly in Heer visors but this company produced visors for other service branches too. It is somewhat common on many civil and political caps as well and as such a fair number of fire police, railway, etc, visors have been used by forgers to create more desirable SS visors by way of removal of those original liners to use toward construction of "Waffen SS" visors. Additionally, it is also one of the most faked logos which can complicate the issue further. Since the IMA photos of the subject cap lack illustrations of areas necessary for a complete analysis of construction (under the sweatband images are crucial), I would not feel entirely comfortable with what can be seen in the current images and further scrutiny is certainly justified. But that is a moot point since there is no opportunity to see additional details of this cap.

Lastly, a legit WSS EM/NCO visor is not realistically priced at $7500 unless one were an absolutely superb piece. Obviously there are certain dealers that would use that price point, or higher, for the average WSS EM/NCO visor but examples can be had in collector circles in the $4k-$6k range.
 
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