Lufo1138

Wow. An incredible first pass. Crazy high quality workmanship. I know its a prototype, but it appears in these photos that the main segment perhaps has too much padding. It seems so much more solidly built than the originals. No buckling. Or am I being over the top? these are sure to become the gold standard.

Actually the jerk he is talking about is me. My email to him was actually very pleasant. I just pointed him to the Star Fortress Productions webpage and pointed out how his item and their backpack were exactly the same. He must've taken it the wrong way. He responded by telling me I must get my *** kicked a lot. Not sure what he meant. But I am glad he put the disclaimer there, whatever the case. I don't mean to cause no one no trouble.

I've been to Skywalker Ranch on a few occasions. The surrounding grounds look like Naboo countryside. But not much in the way of props that I have seen. Mostly decor with threepios and/or artoos here or there. I think a yoda maybe. They have some props at ILM. Han in carbonite is there, along with several full stormtroopers just standing in the hallway. I guess the motherlode is still in the archives, though Luke's original ANH/ESB lightsaber recently sold on ebay for $200k, from Kurtz's personal collection (http://www.originalprop.com/blog/?p=8335).

I exchanged emails with him a couple months ago where I told him it was 100% guaranteed it was not a screen-used pack or even from LFL. He responded he 'knew that' though he then proceeded to say that several "employees" told him through emails it was like the ones used. I think we all know what that means. He went on and on about how one of the bottles was made in Italy. <_< He claims to have gotten the pack at a Marin county flea market in the 80's so its probably from LFL . He's either off his rocker or just a shameless scammer. I can't imagine he will ever sell it for that price. Let's hope not.

I would have to agree that the set-used mp-40 canvas pouch was almost certainly an original. In 1976 they were insanely cheap and easy to get. The WWII reenactor and collector markets which exploded in the 90's did away with all of that. The problem you are having with finding the perfect match to the on-screen version is #1) there were numerous manufacturers for the Wehrmacht making these things all through the war with production processes and values constantly degrading until the end in 1945. This leads to a WIDE variety of all sorts of manufacturing differences just coming out of the factories (if you are wondering why some have the D-ring in the corner as opposed to coming from the side... this is the pre-war style, largely made for the MP-38). So even if you score an original, chances are you would have to alter it (please don't do this!) #2) there is not one modern replica maker that makes a perfect replica of any of these vast varieties of war-time pouches. There is always some little detail that is wrong. For instance, the pic of the set you have as 'high-end' at a whopping $228 (way too much for any replica imho) has side stamping on the leather straps. They didn't do this during WWII. This is a post war thing only. It ain't correct. Additionally, the real pouches were actually used in a war. I suspect the long strap on the reloader pouch (the small pouch held the mag reloading tool) of the sceen-used one was quite possibly a field repair by a soldier who actually used these pouches and entrusted his life to their proper function (the MP40 was notoriously unreliable in cold weather). Field repairs are very common features on these things. Or maybe it was an 'on-set repair.' Either one of those scenarios are more likely than a scratch built ammo pouch replica. I think the best you can do is get one of your 'middle ground' sets and make alterations to suit the needs of on-screen accuracy. The military tour ones are quite good for replicas. You can also try hessenantique.com. I do not recommend the IMA version. They are not very accurate. And stay away from that czech stuff on ebay. Bad, bad, bad. Oh, by the way, there was no special tan version of the MP-40 ammo pouch used in Africa like you see for sale these days. This is a fantasy item. There were indeed special pouches made for 'tropical use' which saw action in Africa, but these were made in olive green canvas and had straps made of webbing, not leather. And they certainly were not tan canvas. All types were used in the North Africa Campaign, not just the tropical type. Since the Axis occupied Tunisia until the last of the DAK surrendered there in 1943, it is possible the prop crew could've found Mp40 pouches floating around on location to use in addition to what they brought, although, I would agree, probably not likely for the prop -- though it is not entirely implausible. I have a friend who spent some time in Tunisia back in the 70's and he said there was still a crap load of Axis hardware still sitting around back then.

Hello. I am new here, but I have been building a sandtrooper for the last couple of months. I was reading through this thread and I just wanted to chime in on the rivets thing. There was a reasonable assumption made in this thread that the rivets in the back of the Set-used stolla pouches made a strong case for a studio made prop rather than off the shelf WWII item. That is not necessarily so I am afraid. Near the end of the war a lot of the war time production processes were changed to make things quicker and more efficient. I know specifically that prior to 1942 all Kar98k ammo pouches were sewn, but depending on the manufacturer, after that you start seeing them being riveted together, and they are much smaller leather pouches than the Stollas. I do not have much knowledge of the production of the Stolla, but the point is, just because you are seeing rivets means little about the origin of the piece unfortunately. Towards the end of the war, things were just being hacked and thrown together any way possible. Just my two cents. I have a closet full of WWII items.