Gentlemen,

Just arrived from the Max show after a long flight to the Great White North.
First of all, I would like to honestly say that this was one of the best Max show that I have ever attended to. The new Monroeville convention center is really great, very nice cafeteria with lot's of tables and chairs( something missing at the SOS for some strange reason ).

On friday afternoon, there was a large crowd at the Convention center and most of the dealers that I talked to, said that business was fair, not great but fair.
Prices were still high but most dealers were willing to negociate their prices.
Some even had signs announcing a 20% discount on everything.
Good quality items were rare ( except for SA and SS daggers for some strange reason ) and I was lucky to find one SS dagger to my own taste.
Looked everywhere for a near mint early Luft 1st model and I couldn't find one. All of the one that I saw were in pretty rough condition.
SA's and SS's daggers were plentiful and prices were way down. I saw many minty SA's selling for no more than $ 1200 USD. These were selling in the high $ 1500 USD just a year ago.
Saw tons of minty SS RZM for less than $ 3000 USD. Minty SS Chained daggers were going for less than $ 10,000 USD and yet, no buyers.
I could feel that times were difficult for most.
I guess the economic crisis is having an effect on the hobby but that's just my opinion and I could be wrong.

On thing which surprised me a lot at the show, was the fact that I didn't see too many fakes on the tables.

The thing that I enjoyed the most at the Max was to meet my good friends and I did spent most of my time with Brian Rich, Serge Masche, Johnny V and Frederick Stevens.

Thank you guys for everything, we really had a great time together and I'm looking forward to see you all at the SOS show.

Here are some pics of the show.

Large crowd on friday afternoon.

Historian and author Frederick Stevens and myself.

The 3 Musketeers, Johnny V, Serge (aka: Wagner ) and the French-Canadian.

Frederick for goodness sake, stop moving that damned camera, the picture is still blurred.

Brian Rich ( aka: Notaguru ) and Serge discussing serious business.

Here's our ammunitions for the Max show, cold and plentiful, haaaaaa.

Yeah, see you at the SOS.

This show looked like fun, Pat. I am glad that you found it worthwhile.

John

Pat,

Nice to see you fellas in good spirits and health. Thanks for posting the photos and giving us a run-down on the festivities. Also glad to hear you found a "keeper" for yourself, that usually makes up for any shortcomings.

No Allach to report?

I'ts good to hear you had a worthwhile trip!

Bill

Great to read news of the Max , appears the new venue fits the bill a treat. After all the negative comments its good to hear it proved itself.
Any reports on Mr Stephens Friday grilling that was lined up for him ?. Knowing him personally I am positive he acquitted himself well and with honour. Rare to find an truly honourable man in this field.Next year I may even get there Saving now !!

Hi Pat,

Thank you for posting these pictures & a nice report.
Its always good to enjoy our hobby with good friends ;-)

Cheers,
Ibrahim.

Dear Willy, I was looking to buy some Allachs at the Max but I couldn't find any.
Perhaps I will get better luck at the SOS.

Concerning Mr. Stephens, I did go to the friday meeting but couldn't stay till the end, as I had an early flight the next day.
Here's a pic of the board of experts.
In summary, everyone beleived that the NSKK Honor dagger is original, including Mr. Stephens.
Where he doesn't agree, is on the Chained configuration beleiving that it could be post war made.
He made a great speech and his analysis of the matter was top notch.
After listning to Fred's arguments, I would be very weary buying a Chained NSKK Honor dagger but wouldn't be afraid to buy the M33 model type.

When I left, Craig and Frederick were really going at it and much was said about the NSKK Honor dagger that was found in Denmark just a year ago, too much info for me to summarize but I'm certain that Fred will be more than happy to make his own report when he get's back.

I spent much time with Frederick and he is a top notch guy. He invited me to visit him in England and I will certainly accept his invitation.

His new book will be printed out shortly. I was priviledge to read some of the info concerning certain types of daggers and I'm certain that the book will be a great success. Many new informations never published before will be available.

That's it now guys.

Going from left to right, Tom Johnson, Houston Coats, Frederick Stephens, Ron Weinand and Tom Wittmann.

I had a great time at MAX. Met up with a lot of old friends and found a couple bargains out there along the way.

I shared a couple tables and brought for the most part, larger or fragile items I no longer needed due to move down in living and collecting. I sold out of everything but one item. If you price things right, the collector/dealers will clean you out.

I talked to some folks who bought from me and they stated, they bypassed the big guys and targeted the collector setups for the deals.

Only brought one edged weapon, a DRK hewer and set it out late on Friday and it lasted all of a half hour.

Pat, I saw lots of minty Luft 1st models at both Brian Maederer and Tom Johnson's tables.
Also saw a beautiful Allach Rally bowel at a table in the front hall for $1,700. Also various Yule plates at different tables. Tom Johnson and Jason Burmeister also had Allach for sale.

Thule,

I also saw 2 beautiful Luft daggers on thursday morning on Brian and Tom's table but when I came back later on in the afternoon, both daggers had already been sold.
I first wanted to get around and see if I couldn't get it from a private collector.
Tom and Brian aren't exactly "bargain" retailers.

I missed a near mint early SS Boker for only $ 3500 from a private collector.

Well, you can't always win.

Nice to hear positive things about the Max. So SA's and SS's were cheap and plentiful hey. Why does this happen only when I'm not there.

Dave, Maybe you can help here. Thursday afternoon several announcements were made pertaining to parking and the expectation of an exceptional large crowd on Friday (and Saturday I presume). I recall these being made no less than half a dozen times. Perhaps it's just me, but I didn't sense what would be considered an "exceptional large crowd" either day. Can you tell us what MAX mgt determinded the gate to be on those days. Thanks, Andy

Andy,

I was in the back room and the sound was not good at the rear so I missed some of that. As for the attendance figures or things like that, I don't ask. None of my business. I do ask about things like the opening hours so I can keep GDC members up to date.

Dave

Thanks Dave. I did hear a rumor that for the everyone's safety, and in keeping with the local fire code, security was permitting only 100 people in at a time.

So Andy, guess they never opened the doors, there wasn't a hundred people to be found?

Maybe they will be there next year.

There were thieves at work, I know of at least 2 EK 1's stolen near our tables.

The MAX security didn't seem to care?

While the local crowd was not overwhelming, I did manage to buy from walk-ins: a nice Luft Sword and missed a nice black widow Luger.
A Gold Buyer did have some medals I bought and a nice RAD Hewer. So, some locals did come and were selling.
Ron Weinand