Original A-2's at War and Peace

[havocpaul]

Just returned from a day at the War and Peace Show, Beltring, Kent and was pleasantly surprised to see a good number of original A-2's for sale. There were some really nice ones with squadron patches and painted artwork, some impressive groupings and a few good condition 'plain janes'. Price-wise, varied from around £500 to over £1500 for the researched/decorated ones. Wish I had won the lottery this week! I have noticed some sellers putting their originals, mostly plain ones with maybe a name-tag, on eBay with very high reserves or BIN prices which if the prices at Beltring are anything to go by, are expecting too much in the current climate. Just shows there are nice A-2's out there for good prices.

 

[Andrew]

Don't s'pose you took any pictures Paul?

 

[havocpaul]

I did ask a few dealers but they are uncomfortable having pics taken on the stalls which makes sense as they don't know me from Adam. I did take one of a lovely goat Dubow size 40 with name tag/radio operator leather tag and squadron patch, price around £650. Eastman have a small stand there too selling their jackets but not on the scale of Duxford.

 

[blackcat]

Hi
Don't suppose you have the names of any of the dealers there or web addresses, thought you may have possibly picked up some business cards or leaflets etc maybe ?
If they have websites then they might be worth a look at for some of the forum members !

 

[havocpaul]

None I approached had any internet dealings, good old fashioned buy at militaria shows. I picked up their cards but they only had name and phone number. I would have thought had they had websites or ebay accounts they would have sold the jackets on there. There has been a shift away from eBay in particular by some dealers for reasons we've discussed elsewhere on the forum (fees, feedback, fraud etc).

 

[NW Carver]

Might nip down there on Sunday then - do yuo know if they only take cash (like they usually do) or whether they have actually started taking debit/credit cards yet....?

Suspect cash only....

Ta

 

[havocpaul]

Quite a few dealers now have these portable credit/debit card machines which is useful although I suspect for a good deal cash is best. I would be aware that in the past few years many dealers have packed up early and aren't there on the Sunday, they're not supposed to do that but it happens more and more as they say Sunday is just a family day.

 

[NW Carver]

Typical - must admit though I have had a few good deals on a Sunday at Beltring as the dealers pack in a rush to get away...

 

[havocpaul]

The feedback I had back this morning from my friend who is stalled there is the general feeling is the public numbers are down and they're not spending the money so maybe bargains will be had, good luck tomorrow!

 

[NW Carver]

Cheers - lets see what I can do. My mate has been there today and called to say that, at the moment, nobody will budge on prices - apparently there are some good jackets there but they are asking top prices (A2 with 1 patch on £1,000 whilst unadorned A2s min price starting at £500 for a shabby one)...

Lets see what happens...

 

[havocpaul]

Sounds like the stall with the goodies has shifted them all, the prices were excellent.