I would just like to address the point raised by TC earlier in the thread about the "sponsorship" of this forum by Ralph Shattuck.
This forum was run wholly and solely by John Chapman until late 2000 when a number of issues caused him to back out. I was unanimously "volunteered" as the new webmaster. I chose eight other member/posters as a Board of Directors so that the forum would be run democratically and not autocratically (even by me). Ralph Shattuck has never been one of the Directors.
John D. was one of the member/posters I chose to serve on the board. I was behind moving the forum out of Italy and Taiwan where it was then hosted and onto to US soil and picking the the web domain
www.lugerforum.com, and it was John D. who graciously and generously offered his hosting, and expertise to the forum AT NO COST. John appears as the owner of the forum ONLY because he beat me to the punch in registering the name (we were both working on that simultaneously) and John paid that fee personally. Ralph Shattack was not then, and is not now, in any way a sponser of the forum.
It is true, that we have made annual "pilgrimages" to Ralph's World Of Lugers exclusively. Perhaps we would have been smarter to have "spread the wealth" and visited Bob Simpson and others, but we didn't see that as a problem then (and I'm not convinced it is one now). To be sure Ralph profits from his association with us, but there are many I'm sure who feel the reverse is also true.
Not being a collector, I can't venture an opinion on the authenticity of an particular weapon, and yes I have heard the "Ralph Shattuck" stories too, and I am long enough in the tooth to recoginise that nobody is perfect, I can say however, that Ralph Shattuck has always treated me with dignity and respect, and on my one visit to Phoenix, he was a most gracious host, and yet I have never purchased anything from Ralph.
As collectors, you have a symbiotic relationship with dealers, they are not predators for the most part any more than you are out to screw them. You need them, they need you.
While we may have erred by forging a very strong bond with only ONE major dealer, I would like to put to rest the notion that Ralph Shattuck is in some way "behind" this forum... he has NO financial, political or promotional sway in this forum, and the favourable comments or recommendations expressed here are those of the members themselves.
Dok <img src="graemlins/soapbox.gif" border="0" alt="[soapbox]" />