I just noticed that on Tom Johnson's web site that there are currently no SA daggers available. Are these daggers really in that much demand? Johnson usually had hundreds of SA daggers available. Hard to believe that he doesn't have a single one.The Russians really must be buying everything available. Mike

Maybe he pulled them and is repricing....Most likely thats what is happening...

There's at least 1 in the for sale section...

MARKING UP OR MARKING DOWN ????

quote:

Originally posted by the russian:
MARKING UP OR MARKING DOWN ????

You buying?

Houston Coates has at least 80 of them for sale.

Mark

I noticed that as well with Johnson's site, been like that for a while.

Where can I find Houston's for sale?

SA's have always been a hot item and will continue so, for the next few years.
The Russians are not buying.............the whole world is.
These edged weapons are still somewhat "affordable" in comparaison to many other daggers.
Many collectors can afford to spend a $ 1000 to get a nice SA.
These don't grow in trees and as time goes by, the rarer they get, especially those in a near mint conditions.
Buy them while you can !

Mint examples will always be in demand, I think when collectors do get pristine original ones they go into there collections and stay for quite awhile.

Well, the availability will increase soon-I am retiring from the practice of Medicine very soon and will start a slow release of my SAs. I have essentially all the makers and, while not all mint to say the least, all are very collectible. Some are already spoken for but I will sell the majority over the next 2-3 years. Mike

There ya are!
Hey Mike!
I can say thet even the ones that folks here didnt want are nice.
Bret van Sant

Hi Bret- good to hear from you-glad you liked that dagger ! Mike

Mike, thanks for the one I got from you a while back. You should start selling the rest now.
Eric

I'm posting this from Tom Johnson at his request:

Dear Mike582:



Since you mentioned my website in your posting of 10 June, I would like to reply. Contrary to “Tom’s” 11 June theory, we are not pulling them to reprice. The truth of the matter is that SA dagger sales have recently been phenomenal. Perhaps it is because of the two anticipated upcoming reference books on the subject of SA daggers (TW’s in the U.S. and Ralf Siegert’s in Germany) that is stirring up the extreme interest. Another possibility is the fact that SA daggers are one of the few remaining Third Reich daggers that are still reasonably priced. I can tell you that it’s not just the Russians who are purchasing all of our SA daggers, Mike, but also many American, Canadian, and European collectors. We can hardly keep any early SA daggers in stock.



LTC (Ret) Thomas M. Johnson

President

Johnson Reference Books & Militaria

I don't buy that statement. From what I've seen there are a lot of nice SA daggers that have been for sale but there are few buyers for the prices that are being asked. IMO, the soaring prices and the sinking economy have collided head on. If you want to sell now you had better lower your price expectations, or else hang onto them for years down the road.

Tom, thats what I thought the situation was. I have noticed fewer and fewer SA daggers available on your site for some time now and thought it was interesting that you had finally totally ran out. The SA has always been my favorite dagger type. I bought my first SA a Puma from you twenty years ago. Near mint condition for $265. Mike

I think there is only so much of this stuff to go around. SAs are very very popular as they are a great starting point for a collector. It is clearly a supply and demand issue, personally I think it will only get worse.

quote:

Originally posted by Skyline Drive:
I don't buy that statement. From what I've seen there are a lot of nice SA daggers that have been for sale but there are few buyers for the prices that are being asked. IMO, the soaring prices and the sinking economy have collided head on. If you want to sell now you had better lower your price expectations, or else hang onto them for years down the road.

Again, posting for Tom Johnson, who writes:

"Hang onto them for years, Skyline?? We can't hang onto them for two weeks!
Tom Johnson"

Depends on price. Nice Sa's will move if they are priced under a grand. Over that and they languish on dealer websites and in the for sale forums.

I tend to lean toward Johnson's statement 100%. Myself and Pvon have set up tables at the SOS and MAX for years and we have been next to dealers like Wittman, Johnson and the Pankowskis and I have watched Europeans buy entire showcases of daggers from these folks time after time. It won't be long before the supplies in the states runs thin! Even when I put several case of blades on the table many get sold fast. Mine are priced high ,but I strive to buy top quality and the prices really don't bother these folks. Scary thing about all this is I can't replace the quality goods fast enough and neither can the competition. I've seen this happen many times in our watch and jewelry business.

quote:

Originally posted by Ed Sunday:
Scary thing about all this is I can't replace the quality goods fast enough and neither can the competition. I've seen this happen many times in our watch and jewelry business.

I think this is the crux of the matter. Every time a thread like this pops up - here or on one of the other forums - we see comments like "greedy dealers", "collectors with more money that sense", etc. The fact is that every time a dealer sells an original piece in collectible condition, it creates a "hole" in their inventory that must be filled if they are to stay in business. Oh sure, there's the occasional good deal/vet buy/show walk-in, but chances are slim to none that they can consistently replenish their inventory without paying more and more for original material in collectible condition (Last time I checked, they didn't sell original material in collectible condition at freakin' Wal-Mart!)

As a result, prices rise. Faster than we would like? Probably. To higher levels than people are willing to pay? Apparently not.

Like Ed, I've seen dealers capitalizing on the exchange rate and/or the booming demand for this stuff outside the USA buying up original material in collectible condition literally by the armloads at the MAX and the SOS.

Yeah, I know, I've heard that the market has finally peaked, that prices have to come down because there are no new collectors, that nobody is going to want this stuff when we're dead and gone. And it's all because of the "greedy dealers" and "collectors with more money than sense" Know what? I've been hearing that for thirty years and it hasn't happened yet!

Best,
Skip

Be it a dagger or other special piece of militatia my motto is to buy it because you may never see it again and if you do it will probably cost you more.

Unless you plan on having this stuff buried with you then it will all be available again sooner or later.

Whether demand stays as high as it is now really depends on the next generation of collector.

The right price is what it sells for. If there are people willing to pay such and such price for the SA (or any other dagger), don't blame the dealers for getting more money than X years ago, they are not some charity institution. And hey, c'mon, look here at "for sale section", aren't they those "ungreedy COLLECTORS" asking $1500 for SA's ???