Japanese Militaria at Castle-Thunder.com

[haygar]

I have recently come into the possession of a set of Cased WW2 Japanese Artillery Optics . They are large with a metal case,rope handles, tripod, and some eye shades etc in the case. I was wondering if any members have seen a large set like this sell or have an idea as to what a ballpark figure would be for a set such as this. Any direction or help will be appreciated. haygar

[gwsiii]

Haygar, welcome to the forum! As always, pictures are always the most helpfull, along with any markings on the cases. There are all sorts of Artillery related optics, some of which are quite pricey, while some don't bring what you'd expect, its hard to say. Its sort of like saying I've got an old red chevy with a 6-pack, what's it worth? If it's a 67 Tri-Power Corvette, its probably worth a little more than a 73 Vega with 6 PBRs in the backseat.

I'm not up on optics at all, but maybe if we can figure out exactly what you have, we can find someone who is. Trey
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[haygar]

Trey- Yes , more information is needed and I have taken a few photos and will attempt to post them. The case is about 10 inches by 27 inches and the optics occupy most of the interior. With the optics inside , the case weighs about 40 to 50 lbs. I hope someone can read the writing on the case cover as that may be a clue as to what they are.

[haygar]

Trey- OOOOOOOOOOOOPS -I loaded a no flash photo and a photo of one of our recent ice storm by mistake. Sorry about that -haygar

[gwsiii]

Haygar, no problem, your snow picture caused a run on milk and bread here in Birmingham....Just kidding, I don't think we've had anything like that since 1993...Trey
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!

[gwsiii]

Our thanks to Edokko for the translation:

[gwsiii]

I know nothing about these so I'm not even going to guess. I know if I saw a set for around $300, I'd buy. I don't know what I'd be buying, but would figure they'd be worth that to me. So take that with a grain of salt.

estimate below:

[haygar]

Trey - Thanks to you , Edokko and the forum for helping me id the optics. I may try to post a close up photo of the manufacture's metal tag. It would provide additional information that may also be helpful. I am however confused by the origin of the estimate quote. Did someone see an optics set sell at auction, at a military show, or even dealer to dealer -just curious?? Sorry again about the 2 bogus photos and thanks for the help. Haygar

[gwsiii]

Haygar, the $300 figure is about the most I would spend on something like that, that I:
A: Know nothing about (history, id, or value).
B: Don't really need, but find interesting.
C: sort of think might be worth more, so I could quickly get my money back out of by selling if I got in a tight for money or just plain got tired of it.
Basically its what I would pay if I saw one at a show and had the money, it is in no shape form or fashion an estimate of actual value.

I know sniper scopes are going for $1000-$2000 or more. I do not know what LMG scopes go for, but if I saw one with a case, I'd be willing to give about $300 for it.
A: I don't know anything about them.
B: Don't have an LMG, but think the scope might be neat as a conversation piece.
C: Ought to be worth a little more, if I bought it and got in a tight for money or got tired of it and needed to sell it.
Again, basically its what I would pay if I saw one at a show and had the money, it is in no shape form or fashion an estimate of actual value.

Trying to determine values from Auctions or sales can be tricky. Some time back, 1 rifle at auction, common rifle, nothing special. 2 bidders, pissing contest. Rifle sold $1200 ($300 rifle tops). After it sold so high, another 'exactly the same just different' is listed. Only 1 bidder this time, $300 rifle inflated to $1200 rifle by previous auction sold for $200.

You could show me a $500 sake cup, unless I liked it, I'd pay about $10, if I liked it, $25 or more. Same with a $5000 sword, if I liked it, I might pay $500, but probably not, I don't know anything about swords, I'd figure I couldn't get hurt if I had $300 in it though.

Its just a ball park figure of what I would be willing to give for something that I have little interest in and (or) know even less about if I happend to walk up on it priced similarly at a show.

There is the 'neato factor', a hand held siren listed by a fellow board member a while back, $100, I didn't know the value then or now, didn't know anyone to ask, but the 'neato factor' said "I'll pay $100 for that" and I did. It was the most popular item at Riceone's last weekend. Not the T100 Paratrooper Bayonet, the rare Mukden/Hoten rifles, or the Short T100 Paratrooper bayonet. Nope, it was my $100 hand held siren. Is it worth $100, I don't know, but we sure had enough fun with it to make me smile about having bought it.

Then there's the Taisho Type 14 auctioned a while back. Maybe a dozen collectors recognized its real value, the rest of us guessed. 3 bidders sort of inflated its value. A few months later winning bidder fell on hard times, it was auctioned again, for about half its inflated value.

I'm sure everyone has been in this situation before:
"I don't know what it is, I don't really need, but that ought to be worth at least x number of dollars." Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't. But that doesn't matter as long as you're happy with what you paid for it.

I've never paid too much for anything, but I have bought a whole lot of stuff quite a bit too soon!
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!