UBB.threads Forums Edged Weapons SA & NSKK Dagger Forum NEW WHITTMANN SA BOOK.

I emailed Thomas T. Whittmann & asked him when his long awaited SA book will come out & got this email from him.
Dear Scott,

Thanks for your email. I hope to complete the SA book this year and get it to the printer early next year. I appreciate your patience - it has taken me too long to do this book. I am sure it will be worth the wait, however. Hang in there!

Best,

Thom,as T. Wittmann

As near as I can tell from all the daggers that are supposed to be in Tom's SA book, including one of mine, postage won't be an issue. Since the book clearly will weigh over the 75 pound US Post Office limit you will receive your copy via Railway Express or truck!!
Jim

Like Jim I've got at least one of my pieces in Tom's forthcoming SA book. I'm not an SA collector, per se, but have been earnestly waiting this book like most of you.

I decided to not have the tagged SA that was my entry in the edition and bailed, besides they lost John Merlings SA issue bag. To me thats not professional plus I'm just not into it that much to care about waiting and waiting and.......
Bret Van Sant

I believe this book will be THE definitive reference in the field of SA edged weapons.

Ralf Siegert's book even with the shortcoming of being in German although soon to be available in English was a truly great book written for collectors by a collector who took a reasonable profit for his effort.It sold 500 copies in a month.IMO Witty is a dealer producing a book to hump up prices to maximise his and other dealers profit and the longer this wondersome tome take to hit the streets the more he and his mates will make .Personally I will stick with Fisher and Ralf as Witty's book in my opinion wont be worth the $200 or so he will charge for it
His SS book was good but not mentioning a lot of RZM makers like RZM 7/72 1942 etc was inexcusable and probably because he didn't have any in stock that neede hyping as rare daggers Getting fed up with the mercenary nature of some in this hobby

quote:

Originally posted by Craig Gottlieb:
I believe this book will be THE definitive reference in the field of SA edged weapons.

Perhaps, but I'm really afraid to read some of Tom's analysis and opinions on the chapter that will deal with the Rohm inscriptions.
This could be extremelly damaging to the hobby and even more so, if people take this book as the devine and ultimate truth.

I sincerely hope that I'm wrong though.

Let's wait and see.

Mr Wittman's book will be a valuable reference but I don't see it being the definitive authority on SA's - Fisher and Siegert's works will still enter into the equation. I just wish that Dr.McAlvanagh would take the time to put his knowledge into a book. I have never, ever seen an individual that can take a SA and give you a complete analysis of every aspect of the weapon like he can.

quote:

Mr Wittman's book will be a valuable reference but I don't see it being the definitive authority on SA's - Fisher and Siegert's works will still enter into the equation. I just wish that Dr.McAlvanagh would take the time to put his knowledge into a book. I have never, ever seen an individual that can take a SA and give you a complete analysis of every aspect of the weapon like he can

Frankly I would like to see Mike McAlvanah as the co-author of this tome as well. I'm pretty sure Tom Wittmanns book will be excellently done and well accepted but I don't know of anyone with more knowledge of SA daggers than Mike.

In response to Pats comment:
Hopefully Tom will ask Gailen David to review the chapter on Rohm daggers before publication.

Jim

The political side of this hobby (obvious pandering) never ceases to amaze me. I like the history of the daggers but I think it is very wise to consider that most books like this are merely one man's opinion and never should be considered the definitive work.

Taken as a whole they allow one to form their own opinion and knowledge base. If Paul Hogle (LakesideTrader) wrote such a book, I think I would place more credence on it. He has no politics and loves the history of what he deals in.

Again, my own personal opinion having owned and studied hundreds of SA daggers (and still do). I consider Tom a friend and wish him well in this endeavor regardless. As I have often stated, the very best daggers are never advertised or seen by the general collecting community. They trade among the few who really have developed a strong trusting bond over years.
Tim Dauncy,(Loggy)is one example. I sold him one of my best SA's years ago as he made me an offer no one could refuse at that time. Bob Hunter (Sponge Bob) is another. I bought some of my very best SA's from him in a hotel room at the SOS probably 8-10 years ago. Only a very few, like Patrice for example, ever saw them besides me. Very rare and truly mint stuff.

Mark

In response to Pats comment:
Hopefully Tom will ask Gailen David to review the chapter on Rohm daggers before publication.

Jim[/QUOTE]

Jim, Tom and Gailen are in total disagreement on this and this is why I'm a bit worried.

http://daggers.infopop.cc/eve/...940096885#9940096885

quote:

Originally posted by kingtiger:


Tim Dauncy,(Loggy)is one example. I sold him one of my best SA's years ago as he made me an offer no one could refuse at that time. Bob Hunter (Sponge Bob) is another. I bought some of my very best SA's from him in a hotel room at the SOS probably 8-10 years ago. Only a very few, like Patrice for example, ever saw them besides me. Very rare and truly mint stuff.

Mark

Yesssssssssss, I remember all of those minty SA's sitting in his room, quite a site.

Bob Hunter and Tim Dauncey are definitely very passionate collectors who I respect, and who I enjoy a strong personal relationship with. So in this one single case (historians take note), Kingtiger and I agree. In fact, I believe this SA that Kingtiger mentions was the Large Oval Eickhorn that I sold him.

I don't think anyone can argue that Tom Wittmann's books on Army, Navy, Luftwaffe, and SS, elevated the hobby's understanding of each dagger-type. This is especially true of the Army and Luftwaffe book. I hope that Mike Mc and Wittmann will get together and collaborate. I think the Wittmann reference, and the collecting community, would benefit from seeing Mike's research incorporated into the book. I do believe, however, that the more books on a subject, the better the overall understanding of that subject becomes.

quote:

Originally posted by Craig Gottlieb:
I don't think anyone can argue that Tom Wittmann's books on Army, Navy, Luftwaffe, and SS, elevated the hobby's understanding of each dagger-type.

Not only is our understanding elevated but their value as well. Since my collecting has been sidestep the last couple years because of the bad sector I've choosen to have a career. My SA's have grew in value exponential. The only bad part trying to collect in any quantity nowadays!! They are too expensive and the book isn't even out yet!!

It would be nice if you "dudes" would at least spell Tom Wittmann's name correctly. I bet most of you "nameless volk" have never read most of his books or done any research on your own. I have been collecting and researching for 53 years and I believe Tom Johnson, Tom Wittmann and Ron Weinand have done more to advance our knowledge of Third Reich daggers than any other authors.

Please give me your name and your published research if you disagree.

This is my first time contributing to this forum. I don't have much use for it and those who use it to tear down others.

Adam,

Nice to see you posting, welcome back.

Thanks Billy, I'm glad to be back. Part time anyways. I still can't afford too much, with work being off more than on. But I don't want my skills to diminish too much from being inactive in the hobby. To be honest I'd probably not be posting today had I not run across my footlocker full of militaria. I caught the bug again. And my fall classes don't start until October.

quote:

Originally posted by: Ed Johnson
Please give me your name and your published research if you disagree.

This is my first time contributing to this forum. I don't have much use for it and those who use it to tear down others.

Ed who is tearing anyone down? Nothing wrong with a little criticism. Nobodies perfect and there is a lot of published rubbish. Although Wittmann's books are always swell and certainly not rubbish. Publishing a book doesn't accredit you in anyway. Otherwise holocaust deniers would somehow have credit, because they wrote books. I know many studied miliaria professionals who have never dreamed of writing a book. I believe only studied professional should write books, but sadly that isn't the case.

I have the upmost respect for those that have the time, the knowledge and financial means to write such books.
However, it doesn't mean that you have to be blind and stupid.
A bit of criticisms can only help in many ways, don't you think ?
They ain't exactly writing the Bible as far as I know, the divine truth can be found somewhere else.

Historians take note...Gottlieb did not mention that he offered me HALF of what Tim offered on his unsolicited offer. The truth should be known to be fair about it. Geez!

Mark

Would be nice to have a tad more knowledge of the actual group being covered for individual owned pieces, talking about this or that unit, command,ranks, actual person, etc. He could ask and get the info free.

He lists a nice SS dagger/sword set I gave him a photo of the owner to add + data. The description doesn't even mention the owner's important commands or that he got the German Cross in Gold and Knights Cross. I'd think that would be relative info on the desire scale.

Not that a dagger book should be a history reference, but some reasonable relative knowledge should be included on certain pieces,inscriptions, people etc. that I missed in the SS volume.

Even though I write on the SS, I have more interest in a detailed SA blade book. Earlier and and lesser known individuals and due to size in the early days more potential presentations, odd pieces, etc.

I do assume it will be more than the recent SS headgear book by Schiffer, basically photos with 10 word captions. Not exactly a "researched reference book" in the style of Bender and others. It's a catalog and not much else.

Hi, Mark.
You have published some great works; thanks! I have done some research on the numbered SA Group Nordmark daggers which I have provided to TW. Especially interesting will be some documentation regarding cross guard numbers.
Ed Johnson

Ed, you must have missed Gustavo's extensive research contributed to this forum going into great depth on Nm marked SA's.

Mark

I just bought a WKC NSKK dagger with the cross guard marked Nm. It is not unit marked and one can see that below the black is the original anodising (it shows through as slightly brown)

Each item that can be researched will throw up a lot of information. Books being books and editors being what they are, there will only be so much you can cram into a publication so it needs to be selective. I have some nice books on head gear that are nothing more than a gallery as Mark Yerger points out. But I can understand why as the authors are covering all areas and they are intended as generalised reference.

I am looking forward to TW's book because SA/NSKK daggers make up a large chunk of my collection. Along with the updated MCSARR list it will be an exciting bonus.

Regards

Frank

quote:

I have some nice books on head gear that are nothing more than a gallery as Mark Yerger points out. But I can understand why as the authors are covering all areas and they are intended as generalised reference.

In many cases some publisher's books are just a gathering of photos of items owned by collectors, the authors really having no interest in doing actual archive type research in the way of Spronks, Saris, etc. One recent one mentioned is a headgear dealer's catalog, not a reference book, the latter requires a bit more (time, expense, effort) than 20 word captions and honestly doesn't qualify as the former. But many don't actually read, despite the sea of data to prevent mistakes in actual reference books on militaria topics.

I still miss my bag!

Anyone have an extra??

I've got some spare string if you need it- mike

God how gorgeous, John!

Tom Johnson comes as close as anyone in my opinion in this hobby in terms of walking on water...two close seconds are Chuck Scaglione and Paul Hogle..all three are the definition of gentlemen in my opinion.now speaking solely about Tom J as he is an author...he has always offered help unsolicited..has always been totally upfront and honest when dealing with me and also was extremely fair when he made offers to purchase...he also went that extra mile to give a bargain or a lower price when he could've gotten more...one in a million...cheers, Ryan

I second your comments on Colonel Johnson, he is ever the gentleman.

Currently I am holding at three of them . All HERDER and RZM 7/18 1939 marked.
No, I do not mass fake them in the backroom .
They came from a hoard detected in the south of my homecountry. Yes, you still can find nice items here, but this hoard was found decades back. Up to now I have been aware for sure of four of these daggers. Now I got the third of them. Only one or at best two of these speciman made it to the USA (I am only aware of one which now is missing the bag ). Otherwise I would have been interested in it...
Sorry, no spare bag. And I have all the strings although not shown in this photograph as it was done in a hurry.

Wotan:

You never cease to amaze me!

WOW! THREE!



John

Drool!

Mark,
Don't jump to conclusions. I am very well aware of Gustavo's research and have read all that I know of that has been posted. I can take the dagger numbering system a step farther.
Thanks for your interest.
ED