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The Ohio Valley Military Society (OVMS) annually hosts the largest military collector event in the nation. The Show of Shows (SOS) brings collectors together from all over the world, featuring 1600 vendor tables and thousands of attendees coming through the door. This year it was held February 23-25, 2007, at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.
Having been a collector of militaria for quite some time, I had heard of the event but never had the opportunity to attend. This year I again began working for Manion's International Auction House (since it is under new ownership), the largest online militaria auction facility in the world, and was able to attend as a representative of the company.
My jaw dropped when I walked in the door. There were military collectibles as far as the eye could see. Items from the US, Japan, England, Germany, Australia,...any country you could possibly think of, chances are, their military forces were represented.
There were video screens playing footage of WWII bombers over Europe, mannequins decked out in complete uniforms, shelves and shelves of helmets, re-enactors in uniform walking the isles, WWII German military vehicles, patches, caps, weapons, pictures, and on and on.
A highlight for me was the on-site historic military figures and celebrities. The Gunny himself, R. Lee Emrey - the star of Mail Call as well as many Hollywood films, was there signing autographs.
Earl McLung, one of the original 101st Airborne, 506th PIR "Band of Brothers" was doing the same, as was Dutch Van Kirk - the navigator on the Enola Gay.
A lot of the items for sale were very rare and priced as such; however, bargains could be found by those with a little initiative. Digging through bins of seemingly common items yielded a few $10 (or less) purchases worth well over that amount. I also always seemed to find a good buy on vendor tables displaying a wide array of memorabilia, rather than a specialized niche. The very end of the event is a great time to get good deals - especially on the heavy things vendors don't want to bring back.
As a representative of Manion's Auction, part of my responsibility was to accept consignment. Before, during, and after the show, consigners were dropping off boxes for us to bring back, unpack, tag, photograph, and list on the website. It was great to touch base with so many of our longtime customers - and quite a few new ones as well!
After the show we broke down our display, packed the truck full of consignment, and hit the road - as well as almost every antique mall along the way!
It was a fantastic experience, and an event unlike any other in the world. In 2008, the event is scheduled for February 21-24. If you are a militaria collector, amateur historian, or military enthusiast, take a trip to the Show of Shows and find out for yourself.
For more information visit:
http://www.sosovms.com/show_of_shows.htm
You can see a short video I took of the show here:
http://manions.blogspot.com/2007/03/sos-video-and-more-news.html
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