Question:
What is the variation on the sailor hat as noted by Desimone?
What I'm looking for are prices on the common stuff ...or at least, what one
would hope was common. I added some of the scarce stuff just for the sake
of completeness. It'll save someone else from asking.
Answer:
I know the subject of prices are kinda of touchy, but just give me some
ballpark opinions on what you're seeing on the dealer tables and crossing
palms. I'm having a bitch of a time (no offense) trying to scare up sailor
outfits in crisp shape. When I do happen upon a nice set... oy vey, the
prices!
Oh yeah, feel free to flesh out this list with variations and info. Ya
won't hurt my feelings. The more I know now, the less of a reaming I'll take
later.
I usually see the HK vintage no pockets in the 5-8 range per piece....maybe a
bit higher for one or two pocket versions.
I don't know about the Japan tagged ones...for whatever reason, most of my
vintage uniforms are Japan tagged...I now try to collect only Japan tagged unis
for those sets that make it possible.
In my acquisition, I haven't noticed much price difference betw. Japan and HK
tagged items, which I find surprising.
Also, you need to distinguish from TM and R pieces. This in some cases makes a
HUGE difference in value, especially when it comes to pocketed fatigues. I
personally believe that all the early carded and pocketed shirts and pants were
ONLY TM-Japan, TM-Hong Kong and TM-N.C.O.; no "R" markings at all! ALL carded
fatigue pieces in my collection are ALL TM-TM cards too. This includes the
Soldier shirt and pants, Marine Shirt and Pants and Sailor shirt and pants
cards; all of these pieces should have two pockets on each of them. The TM also
applies to the Pilot Scramble jumper on a card; it absolutely should have a
TM-Hong Kong or TM-Japan jumper on it if it is an original piece and not
resewn. To give further credence to this "theory" I will point out that only
the 1964 and 1965 Hasbro catalogs offered carded fatigues. These pieces were
dropped from the 1966 and 1967 catalogs (except for the scramble jumper and MAY
be a hole in my theory, oops!).
So, with all that said I put a bit of a premium on TM-Japan or TM-Hong Kong TWO
POCKET fatigues. This is especially important on Soldier shirts which are
COMMONLY found with two pockets but with R-Japan and R-Hong Kong tags. The
difference is in the construction of the shirt and the much heavier weight of
the material the TM shirt (and pants) are made out of. On this same line there
are an abundance of two pocket camo shirts and pants which are tagged R-Hong
Kong. These pieces vary in material, stitching color and camo pattern from the
TM-Japan and TM-Hong Kong camo pocketed fatigues. I personally believe that the
R-Hong Kong Camo 2 pocket fatigues came only in the Sears Green Beret Machine
Gun outpost sets of which there seem to be a lot of surviving pieces. The
abundance of this set which also had two green beret caps would also explain
why there is such an over supply of green beret caps as opposed to the hard to
find camo scarf....but I digress....here are some answers filled in for you and
everyone else to hammer me back on. I am speaking from experience though;
watching what things sell for at shows, on ebay and what people put in trade
value for pieces. I have tried to add many of these sets to my collection
recently.
Also, to cover the basics on markings the TM I am speaking of is the letters
offset and above the E in GIJoe at the top of the embroidered lettering tags!
There is ALWAYS an R after the word Hasbro (middle line) and the country is on
the 3rd line of the tag (if not there then it is considered a NO COUNTRY OF
ORIGIN tag or NCO for short).
