What do you see?

Roadkill · 02-19-2004, 08:32 PM

When you see a luger, what is it that makes it a desirable item to you? Is it the "vacant" spot in your collection, the overall history of that representative gun, the implied or actual historical use that specific gun may have had, the package of gun/holster/magazines/accessories, or the simple hot flash of knowing that you just have to have it? What motivates you to pull out the cash, sell others, or trade in another gun for that one and bring it home? Is it the engineering, the possibility of the prior possessor's sinister use of the gun, or the collector potential ?

Just curious.

rk

John Sabato · 02-20-2004, 11:20 AM

RK,

For me it is the appreciation of the elegant mechanical engineering that is the same, yet different, on every single one I have to opportunity to examine.

I don't need to own them all but would certainly like to, ( I actually only own two...my finances have been tied up for family medical and related expenses since before the establishment of the Lugerforum) but seeing the magnificent and painstaking work of each craftsman's hand it took to create each one, is just one of the reasons to thank the good Lord that I have eyes. There simply isn't another pistol design that compares.

Vlim · 02-20-2004, 12:16 PM

Hi,

I tend to keep my eyes open and let things find me, rather than seriously looking for them. Then it's a simple matter of answering the 'can I afford it?' qestion positively and buying it.

Usually the item that crossed my way pulls me into a quest to learn everything I can about it, opening up ways to new things that interest me.

The main things that get me going are the form & function combination, an elegant form, combined with a superb quality, especially true for the Luger, but also for the Mercedes S-class of the eighties, my other passion.

I also like the German tendency to over-engineer things to a point when they are so good, they're worthless for the use they were designed for

policeluger · 02-20-2004, 12:32 PM

After all these years I am still not sure, but in sticking to Weimar period police Lugers, I do not believe there is such a thing as a "vacant" spot. Just a new and different one I do not own. As best I can put it, is it Weimar police and is it "talking" to me. Is it true, and original as best as I can identify?. If I do not have a piece like it, then I'll see if the funds will allow me to add it to my collection. I wonder why it is we "collect" and where am I going with the collection, I have never shown it, don't really care to, and only once have I got it all out of the safe to show one person who was interested in the Lugers. I sometimes admire the guy who just got his first Luger, the thrill. Or the guy who would not have a Luger he would not shoot, I have forgotten the fun of shoot one. What I am really doing is talking myself into start selling out, fund a few more moose or elk hunts before I can no longer get out of my retirement easy chair...John you are 100% right, no other gun compares with the P08, and we whould thank the Lord daily for all we are blessed with....the soap box is straining under all this weight and I best get off.

Luke · 02-20-2004, 01:13 PM

I limit my collecting strictly to WW-I DWMs, but the thing which demands that I reach for my wallet is the appearance of a not-boosted and not-modified example in the 1908-1918 range.

Those which have not been "messed with" are becoming harder and harder to find.

Luke

riffraff · 02-20-2004, 09:57 PM

There are a number of things I really like about a Luger. No particular order: THE FIT, In my hand a Luger just holds and points like no other pistol I have held but a distant second is the Browning High Power. THE LOOK, it is definately German over engineered Excellence! THE HISTORY, that cannot be explained simply but examples: movies, newsreels, documentaries, the History Channel, etc., etc.. Mike

Johnny C. Kitchens · 02-20-2004, 11:41 PM

A unique design, that stands out physically from all other handguns. A piece of history secondly, that has endured and been through history like few can imagine. I just wish I knew where it had been after being completed nearly 62 years ago. Whose hands has it passed through. Do I really want to know???

Roadkill · 02-21-2004, 08:42 AM

Great info, it's difficult to describe a feeling instead of an object's physical characteristics. I see history like a slowly flowing ocean wave coming in with a one way tide over a wide mostly shallow beach. There are ridges, depressions, rocks, and even obstacles. But it will not, cannot, nor can be stopped. Our place in this panorama unceasingly flowing around us or sweeping us along is like the grains of sand. We react intensely to or are moved by the pressure of our immediate position, being vaguely aware of however still influenced by the flow of the water far away. Within this one way wave are cesspools, garbage, beautiful gardens, organisims which thrive in the environment, and those which must drown. There are the skeletons of those who have passed and the constant rebirth of new in unceasing action.
For me to claim ownership of a historical item is like a tiny snail on the beach claiming ownership of an unusualy colorful pebble. I will possess it for a while, care for it, treasure it, however must realize there are others who wish to take it away from me, some for their own pleasure, others to destroy it. This Luger had its place on the beach in the tide, a very turbulent disturbing time. But that time, as will mine, has passed. I have an interest in that object and that time therefore I wish to claim ownership of the object for a priviledged moment in the time I'm allowed to exist on the beach.

rk

Carl · 02-21-2004, 06:03 PM

RK,
I was 10 years old when the war started in 1941. The neighborhood kids would play "war". I saw a picture of a Luger in the dictionary, copied it on a piece of wood, cut it out with a cooping saw and that was my toy gun for these games. Been facinated with them ever since. One of the kids father was in North Africa and sent him a helmet that he wore to play. I still remember the desert sand color. Would be quite a collectors piece today, wonder if he still has it. Since then I have owned about 75 real Lugers and I'm still looking for them. Must be some sort of fettish.
Carl

02-19-2004, 08:32 PM	#1
Roadkill User Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 1,632 Thanks: 1 Thanked 28 Times in 17 Posts	What do you see? When you see a luger, what is it that makes it a desirable item to you? Is it the "vacant" spot in your collection, the overall history of that representative gun, the implied or actual historical use that specific gun may have had, the package of gun/holster/magazines/accessories, or the simple hot flash of knowing that you just have to have it? What motivates you to pull out the cash, sell others, or trade in another gun for that one and bring it home? Is it the engineering, the possibility of the prior possessor's sinister use of the gun, or the collector potential ? Just curious. rk

02-20-2004, 11:20 AM	#2
John Sabato Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The Capital of the Free World Posts: 10,154 Thanks: 3,003 Thanked 2,306 Times in 1,097 Posts	RK, For me it is the appreciation of the elegant mechanical engineering that is the same, yet different, on every single one I have to opportunity to examine. I don't need to own them all but would certainly like to, ( I actually only own two...my finances have been tied up for family medical and related expenses since before the establishment of the Lugerforum) but seeing the magnificent and painstaking work of each craftsman's hand it took to create each one, is just one of the reasons to thank the good Lord that I have eyes. There simply isn't another pistol design that compares. __________________ regards, -John S "...We hold these truths to be self-evident that ALL men are created EQUAL *and are endowed by their Creator* with certain UNALIENABLE* rights, and among these are life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness..."*

02-20-2004, 01:13 PM	#5
Luke User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: NC - USA Posts: 1,239 Thanks: 0 Thanked 18 Times in 6 Posts	I limit my collecting strictly to WW-I DWMs, but the thing which demands that I reach for my wallet is the appearance of a not-boosted and not-modified example in the 1908-1918 range. Those which have not been "messed with" are becoming harder and harder to find. Luke __________________ "Peace, if possible; truth, at any cost." . . . Martin Luther

02-20-2004, 09:57 PM	#6
riffraff User Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: central Arkansas Posts: 28 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	There are a number of things I really like about a Luger. No particular order: THE FIT, In my hand a Luger just holds and points like no other pistol I have held but a distant second is the Browning High Power. THE LOOK, it is definately German over engineered Excellence! THE HISTORY, that cannot be explained simply but examples: movies, newsreels, documentaries, the History Channel, etc., etc.. Mike __________________ Time Warp

02-20-2004, 11:41 PM	#7
Johnny C. Kitchens User Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Arlington, Texas Posts: 518 Thanks: 0 Thanked 20 Times in 8 Posts	A unique design, that stands out physically from all other handguns. A piece of history secondly, that has endured and been through history like few can imagine. I just wish I knew where it had been after being completed nearly 62 years ago. Whose hands has it passed through. Do I really want to know??? __________________ Johnny C. Kitchens

02-20-2004, 12:16 PM	#3
Vlim Moderator Lifetime LugerForum Patron Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Europe Posts: 5,053 Thanks: 1,036 Thanked 3,989 Times in 1,205 Posts	Hi, I tend to keep my eyes open and let things find me, rather than seriously looking for them. Then it's a simple matter of answering the 'can I afford it?' qestion positively and buying it. Usually the item that crossed my way pulls me into a quest to learn everything I can about it, opening up ways to new things that interest me. The main things that get me going are the form & function combination, an elegant form, combined with a superb quality, especially true for the Luger, but also for the Mercedes S-class of the eighties, my other passion. I also like the German tendency to over-engineer things to a point when they are so good, they're worthless for the use they were designed for

02-20-2004, 12:32 PM	#4
policeluger RIP Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Ca. Posts: 2,141 Thanks: 8 Thanked 89 Times in 54 Posts	After all these years I am still not sure, but in sticking to Weimar period police Lugers, I do not believe there is such a thing as a "vacant" spot. Just a new and different one I do not own. As best I can put it, is it Weimar police and is it "talking" to me. Is it true, and original as best as I can identify?. If I do not have a piece like it, then I'll see if the funds will allow me to add it to my collection. I wonder why it is we "collect" and where am I going with the collection, I have never shown it, don't really care to, and only once have I got it all out of the safe to show one person who was interested in the Lugers. I sometimes admire the guy who just got his first Luger, the thrill. Or the guy who would not have a Luger he would not shoot, I have forgotten the fun of shoot one. What I am really doing is talking myself into start selling out, fund a few more moose or elk hunts before I can no longer get out of my retirement easy chair...John you are 100% right, no other gun compares with the P08, and we whould thank the Lord daily for all we are blessed with....the soap box is straining under all this weight and I best get off.

02-21-2004, 08:42 AM	#8
Roadkill User Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 1,632 Thanks: 1 Thanked 28 Times in 17 Posts	Great info, it's difficult to describe a feeling instead of an object's physical characteristics. I see history like a slowly flowing ocean wave coming in with a one way tide over a wide mostly shallow beach. There are ridges, depressions, rocks, and even obstacles. But it will not, cannot, nor can be stopped. Our place in this panorama unceasingly flowing around us or sweeping us along is like the grains of sand. We react intensely to or are moved by the pressure of our immediate position, being vaguely aware of however still influenced by the flow of the water far away. Within this one way wave are cesspools, garbage, beautiful gardens, organisims which thrive in the environment, and those which must drown. There are the skeletons of those who have passed and the constant rebirth of new in unceasing action. For me to claim ownership of a historical item is like a tiny snail on the beach claiming ownership of an unusualy colorful pebble. I will possess it for a while, care for it, treasure it, however must realize there are others who wish to take it away from me, some for their own pleasure, others to destroy it. This Luger had its place on the beach in the tide, a very turbulent disturbing time. But that time, as will mine, has passed. I have an interest in that object and that time therefore I wish to claim ownership of the object for a priviledged moment in the time I'm allowed to exist on the beach. rk

02-21-2004, 06:03 PM	#9
Carl User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Central PA Posts: 113 Thanks: 0 Thanked 5 Times in 2 Posts	RK, I was 10 years old when the war started in 1941. The neighborhood kids would play "war". I saw a picture of a Luger in the dictionary, copied it on a piece of wood, cut it out with a cooping saw and that was my toy gun for these games. Been facinated with them ever since. One of the kids father was in North Africa and sent him a helmet that he wore to play. I still remember the desert sand color. Would be quite a collectors piece today, wonder if he still has it. Since then I have owned about 75 real Lugers and I'm still looking for them. Must be some sort of fettish. Carl