Military Antique Show Haul

This weekend I went to the Renningers Military Antique Show in Florida.  I did not want to really spend the money but I have not been to one in a year so I elected to take the shot.

I seek items primarily from the World War II era that revolve around the Pacific War between the United States and the Empire of Japan. 

My secondary objective at these events is to locate current issue or recently issued military surplus that may be applicable as assembly or test fixture material for some of the products I am developing.

THE MODERN ERA ITEMS (1990s-Present)

To start, the less exciting, all the modern or near modern items I found that fall under the secondary objective.

The big collection of M249 machine gun sights and large metal parts came from the same vendor.  These are purely practical for me since I am building simulator guns of the same model.  All these parts will be used in assembly or as test fixtures.

The rough wooden stock with the cut up metal receiver is a deactivated AKM rifle.  I am thinking about turning it into a lamp and finding an Iraqi M90 helmet as the lampshade as some sort of 1991 Desert Storm tribute piece.

The two plastic weapon grips I was very happy to find, both $10 from the same vendor.  The one with the spring out legs is an early "Grip-Pod" that acts as a grip with retractable bi-pod legs.  This grip is correct for early 2000s Global War on Terror rifle clones I may build.  The other grip is a much newer M249 SAW grip.  Each is worth about $100.

The VHS tape was some old government media.  For a dollar I could not resist.

Lastly an AR-15 charging handle and sling end plate for any future GWOT clone rifles I build.  I have a friend who was a U.S. Army Ranger in the early 2000s and I want to clone his rifle.

This next item was likely a total waste of money but interesting enough for $30.  TL;DR, the military plays very expensive laser tag using blanks in their real guns for training to fight eachother.  All the weapons in the training exercise have laser transmitters that fire "virtual bullets".  All the soldiers wear laser sensitive vests and the vehicles have laser sensitive harnesses to detect when they have been shot.  Each vest/harness has its own computer to determine if the trainee is "wounded" or "killed". 

This kit you see is an Infar-Red laser sensor kit that would be wrapped around a vehicle.  The metal box on the top-right is the computer where all the sensors connect.  That computer determines simulated damage received.  The black plastic circles are the laser sensors themselves.

Worst comes to worst I may just cut out all the sensors for other IR laser projects I am working on.

WORLD WAR II VINTAGE (1930s-1945)

Now the exciting stuff (to me at least) are the World War II original items.  These all came from the same vendor.

We will start clockwise with the largest item.

This is an original map made by the Japanese of the occupied Chinese city of Nanjing.  This city was brutally (understatement) conquered by the Japanese who committed a number of atrocities against the local population.  Once the puppet government "Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China" was established by Japan this city was made its capitol.  This map serves as a guide for Japanese citizens, soldiers, or workers who come to the city.  It outlines various tourist destinations.

The next item is a sub category of WWII that I like to collect, toys from the era or just prior.  This was some sort of U.S. homefront flier that acted as an invitation for children to go to an event where the U.S. military was showcasing vehicles and weapons to the public.  These were very common back then to drum up support and sell war bonds.

The booklet is a pocket guide to U.S. servicemen stationed in New Guinea during 1944.  The book covers local culture, dos and donts, what to do if you have DNA exchanges with the women, and several phrases to help you get around.

The wallet is unfortunately water damaged but bears the star of the Imperial Japanese Army.  The contents were sparse, a few water damaged bills and a photo of a person and a child in front of what I assume was a shrine of sorts.  See for yourself.

The last item in this collection is an original Japanese military sake cup.  These cups at this time were ornately decorated with war and patriotic imagery.  I particularly like this one because it depicts the flag of Manchukuo, a total puppet state of Japan.  The underside of the cup looks like a Japanese military helmet which is really neat.  Unfortunately it has some minor damage.  Regardless, a nice addition to my WWII Japanese sake cup collection.


Our final item on the list is a lamp that was made out of a U.S. World War II training bomb.  These bombs are not really expensive since they were made is MASSIVE quantities and are everywhere.  I have never seen one as a lamp though so I had to get it.  I suspect the lamp parts are modern but it fits the part on my shelf.

What is funny about this item is I bought it from a friend of mine who every time he sets up I end up getting something from him.  At the end of the show I did not see anything I wanted and told him this is the first time he didn't "get me for my money."  As I am walking away to my car I spot this lamp at the bottom of a case at his table.  As evident by the lamp being in my apartment you know what happened....