Japanese Militaria at Castle-Thunder.com

[gwsiii]

The TMCA (Tennessee Military Collectors Association) Show is Friday and Saturday, my Dad and I will be there. This is a quality show, chock full of old militaria. Hope to see you there. Click here for More TMCA Show info

From 2004 Show:

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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!

[gwsiii]

The TMCA show is over, some very nice items, Japanese related were noted. However, I'm going to start with the soap box.

A gentleman asked a couple of us to appraise at Type 2 Paratroop rifle. I knew we were in trouble when I pulled it out and it had one of the repro-VZ24 slings and what looked to be an unmarked Type 38 Carbine cleaning rod in it. After looking it over, it was a nice clean Type 2 with mum, mismatch bolt. I pointed out that the sling was a repro, and the owner replied that yes, it was, but the Japanese bought a bunch of them. I mentioned that the cleaning rod was not for a type 2, and was probably for a Type 38 carbine, I'd give $75 for the rod and get him a repro rod, I thought that was fair. I then told him that is was a nice clean rifle, but the bolt didn't match, and that really hurt the value. I deferred to a fellow collector that does more 'internet work' than me, and he suggested $1000-$1200 value, I thought that was reasonable, maybe high myself ($800-$1000), but I don't 'internet' a lot. Owner got really pissy, exclaiming didn't we know his rifle was a $1500-$2000+ rifle, and we didn't know what we were talking about. He indicated that they only made 30,000 of them (ha, ha, ha) to which we replied, "but about 21,000 of them survived the war and made it back to the US. He was pretty indignant by this point, the conversation sort of dried up, so I packed his rifle back up, thanked him for letting us look at it and sent him on his way. I guess the gist of this part of the post is, if you ask, don't get pissy, send me your gunshow horror stories, and I'll make a page of them for newbies that do a little research upfront to find, and learn from. Trey
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!

[Jareth]

Ok, but what did you see & buy?

[gwsiii]

There was a lot of Nazi stuff. A lot of early civil war and cowboy stuff. Mr. and Mrs. White had some really awesome stuff. Here's a few pictures:









There was rumored to be a Type 4 flare pistol, not totally confirmed, I think rarity wise though the late Izawa with no dustcover grooves was probably the rarest thing there.
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!

[type-14]

Looks and sounds like you had a good time. As for show stories man that would be a large thread. I guess the most recent for me, was the guy who swore he had an pilots head band and when I told him that it was in all likely hood a good luck item for is pocket, he got BOed, and then really got mad when I said if it was to be worn around the head how come it didn't fit!!! In fact there was a young boy standing by the table of about 10 and it wouldn't even tie around his head. The owner (with cloth in hand) departed my AOR in a huff!!

[03man]

I have given up trying to educate/inform folks at a gun show; they all know more than I do and don't want to hear anything different.

I see Ruth working as usual, but where is the old Ronin? Out goofing off I suppose.
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03man

[gwsiii]

Although it is a small show, and crowded if you don't have a wall table, it is really an excellent show. Usually, you run through before set up snapping up the obvious bargains. Catch your breath, set up you tables, then browse the rest of the weekend. I don't get to a lot of shows, but I am amazed at the amount of display cases at this show. After my initial run-through, I spend the rest of the weekend browsing through all the display cases. That has turned up several goodies over the years.

I picked up a 21k Izzy 9th from the Whites, a beautiful gun with ground mum. I got one of my old bayonets back from Labar (it cost a lot more the 2nd time around). I picked up a parade sabre for resale and a parts trainer. I got some sort of something that is ordnance related, don't know if it is part of a fuse or ignitor or what, its small diameter tube with yellow, red, and white lines. I'll try and get some pictures up after scouts tonight.

As with any show, some very overpriced stuff and some totally reasonable stuff. I think one collector purchased a Type 89 Smoke round and a Type 14 or two.

Ruth usually works the table while the Oldeone wanders through searching for bargains, most times he is quite successful, I don't know if its his cheerful demeanor or what, but he turns up some great stuff!
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!