Did Anybody Win this ebay Auction? - (Lieutenant Colonel Christopher P. Gehler DCU)

I tried to bid on this auction but got outbid. Hopefully the lucky winner is a member here. If so I offer my sincerest congratulations.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DESERT-CAMO-COMBAT-PATTERN-US-ARMY-for-COMMANDER-OFFICER-IRAQ-AFGHANISTAN-LRGE-/300764007115?pt=Vintage_Men_s_Clothing&hash=item4606ee8acb#ht_7641wt_1165

DCU is named to LTC Christopher P. Gehler (USMA '84). In OIF Colonel Gehler commanded 1st Battalion (Attack), 82nd Aviation Regiment (1-82 AVN). He had also made a combat jump in Panama in 1989.

I was watching that one, but am tapped out so didn't bid. RARE piece!!!!

I missed that one, would have put in a big had I caught it. Probably would not go that much but who knows what heat of the moment can bring. Would be a nice addition to a DCU collection.

The seller started it at $9.95 and then dropped it down to $5.00 the other day and that's when the fun started.

Sadly I bidded on it and was overbid...it was a realy interesting jacket and IDed. I think the best bidder is not someone from this forum, but well from USMF.

For the information, he was awarded the "Master parachutist badge - one combat jump" (it's write in his Bio'), but the parachutist badge sewn on his jacket is "Master parachutist badge - 5 combat jumps". The stars are slightly different on both 1 and 5 combat jump(s). On his jacket, the star is biggest and more yellow, so this is the 5 combat jumps' star. Probably a mistake, but that makes this jacket interesting from a collector of insignia point of view.

Another DCU like this just sold but for $5.00!!! Same as this one but a lot cheaper. Pants are even labeled with his name. Now that was a score!


Here is the auction link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/130750601508?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I agree, nice score!

Rats I thought I added this -> I got this set! Another forum member got the first one but I will let them, if they want to, tell us about it. I like my price better! Has to be one of my best scores DCU wise. Plenty of web references to Gehler as well so I am pretty happy with it!

I was the high bidder on the original auction. It brought more that I really wanted to spend but that said; it is a very nice badged DCU. These chances don't come along that often. They usually don't come with this kind of pedigree. I will post pics once it arrives.

My friends, Clete is the one that killed it. He got the top and trousers at "he stole it" prices. Well done my friend!

Some pics of the Lieutenant Colonel Christopher P. Gehler DCU as promised. The DCU is a size Large-Long by Unicor, Manchester, Kentucky on their 1997 contract. Standard garment with no modifications except for the black velcro squares one each upper arm for glint or IR taps. All of the insignia is US made in desert pattern. No signs that any of the insignia had been moved or replaced. This would include the color US flag, which appears to have always been sewn below the 82nd Airborne SSI. Indicates (at least to me) that he had already earned the right to wear the combat patch at the time this top was badged. Hopefully, Zeked will post pics of his set here as well.










Closer view to show the Master Army Aviator and Master Parachutist Badge with Combat Jump Star.



Final pic to show closer view of the right side sleeve with patches. Thanks for looking!

Very nice! If it is researchable, it would be cool to see his background here.

Ha... I bid on the first set. I took it pretty high, but decided it simply wasn't worth spending the money right now. I'll just invest that $80 (factoring in shipping) into something else I come across. You know, like investing it into that perfect, unissued M80/03 Iraqi helmet for $15 from a local antique store the other day... Having said that, that's certainly an awesome jacket, so I'm not belittling anyone's high bid in any way!

Besides, I think the DCU market is a bit over-inflated for some things... Nice Vietnam era jackets, after surviving over 40 years of neglect and being thrown away, don't sell for too much more than a comparatively nice DCU set. This is all relative, of course, considering the Vietnam items have had nearly 50 years of value appreciation, whereas DCUs from OEF/OIF are at most about 10 years old, still found in surplus stores, garage sales, and thrift shops, but are still fetching 25-50% of what a "comparable" Vietnam jungle jacket sells for. It just seems like there is no gestation period for OIF/OEF items, which kind of makes the market a bit questionable (opens things up for forgery, puts into question what fair market prices actually are, etc.). Many collectors are pro-actively trying to learn from the lessons of prior collecting genres, attempting to snatch up "rare" items and paying through the nose for them since they'll be "difficult to locate" in the future. Now remember, I sell DCUs from time to time (in fact, I've sold several jackets to forum members)... so you know I'm giving an honest opinion if I'm willing to criticize a market I have a vested interest in!

Just an interesting tidbit... the jacket that sold for $68 was actually listed very poorly initially. However, it seems some other "collector" gave the seller an inside scoop and told them to re-list the auction in a different category and with a different title. If that person is here on this forum, please don't do this in the future. If you feel the seller made a mistake, bid on the item, win it yourself, and sell it for a profit. Otherwise, you are very possibly "cutting the throats" of other forum members who invest the time to find these poorly listed auctions.

Now, don't hate on me for making that statement! I'm also a seller of antiques/collectibles (in fact, it's currently my sole source of income!). When I list something poorly and don't make what I should on an item, that is my responsibility for not researching the item properly. If sellers don't take the time to find out what they have, I'm sure not going to take the time to inform them. However, if someone comes up to me and says "what do I have?", I'm more than happy to educate them. However, if it's just sitting on their table at a flea market for 10% of the market value, I'm gonna snatch that item up and net me some profit. There's no excuse for not knowing what most things are worth with the internet all around us.

For the record, the jackets referenced in this thread are so easily researchable it's almost ridiculous. There are several very good resources available for this officer. I'm not going to point them out here, since I value the privacy of veterans. However, to those interested, there is even a book where this guy describes the night they invaded Iraq (and likely was wearing one of these jackets while doing so!).

Longbranch wrote:Just an interesting tidbit... the jacket that sold for $68 was actually listed very poorly initially. However, it seems some other "collector" gave the seller an inside scoop and told them to re-list the auction in a different category and with a different title. If that person is here on this forum, please don't do this in the future. If you feel the seller made a mistake, bid on the item, win it yourself, and sell it for a profit. Otherwise, you are very possibly "cutting the throats" of other forum members who invest the time to find these poorly listed auctions.

For the record I was the second highest bidder but when I saw in the description that someone had tipped off the seller the cringe factor went up a notch because I knew that the bidding would go right through the roof.

Longbranch wrote:Ha... I bid on the first set. I took it pretty high, but decided it simply wasn't worth spending the money right now. I'll just invest that $80 (factoring in shipping) into something else I come across. You know, like investing it into that perfect, unissued M80/03 Iraqi helmet for $15 from a local antique store the other day... Having said that, that's certainly an awesome jacket, so I'm not belittling anyone's high bid in any way!

Besides, I think the DCU market is a bit over-inflated for some things... Nice Vietnam era jackets, after surviving over 40 years of neglect and being thrown away, don't sell for too much more than a comparatively nice DCU set. This is all relative, of course, considering the Vietnam items have had nearly 50 years of value appreciation, whereas DCUs from OEF/OIF are at most about 10 years old, still found in surplus stores, garage sales, and thrift shops, but are still fetching 25-50% of what a "comparable" Vietnam jungle jacket sells for. It just seems like there is no gestation period for OIF/OEF items, which kind of makes the market a bit questionable (opens things up for forgery, puts into question what fair market prices actually are, etc.). Many collectors are pro-actively trying to learn from the lessons of prior collecting genres, attempting to snatch up "rare" items and paying through the nose for them since they'll be "difficult to locate" in the future. Now remember, I sell DCUs from time to time (in fact, I've sold several jackets to forum members)... so you know I'm giving an honest opinion if I'm willing to criticize a market I have a vested interest in!

Just an interesting tidbit... the jacket that sold for $68 was actually listed very poorly initially. However, it seems some other "collector" gave the seller an inside scoop and told them to re-list the auction in a different category and with a different title. If that person is here on this forum, please don't do this in the future. If you feel the seller made a mistake, bid on the item, win it yourself, and sell it for a profit. Otherwise, you are very possibly "cutting the throats" of other forum members who invest the time to find these poorly listed auctions.

Now, don't hate on me for making that statement! I'm also a seller of antiques/collectibles (in fact, it's currently my sole source of income!). When I list something poorly and don't make what I should on an item, that is my responsibility for not researching the item properly. If sellers don't take the time to find out what they have, I'm sure not going to take the time to inform them. However, if someone comes up to me and says "what do I have?", I'm more than happy to educate them. However, if it's just sitting on their table at a flea market for 10% of the market value, I'm gonna snatch that item up and net me some profit. There's no excuse for not knowing what most things are worth with the internet all around us.

I think the big point you are missing is scope and size of the two wars. In VN there were millions and millions who served in-country and millions more around the planet. The military is OIF/OEF is just tiny in comparison. For the collector is is hard to make a comparison when the sheer number of soldiers in each war is so different. Even after 45 years there are more VN uniforms then O2 uniforms. The number of DCU's made is substantially less then the four pockets used in VN.

I think the topic is worthy of a lively debate and discussion but perhaps it needs a thread of it's own. The top Kriegs got was just killer in my opinion and reading your post kind of knocks it a bit I think (just my opinion) and kind of dampens the thread abit. This DCU is one of the best ones I have seen in a long time and the fact you can find so much information on the colonel even makes it better. I got one like this (no velcro) and I will keep mine no matter what I collect, it is just a great DCU. Thanks Clete

Zeked wrote:

I think the big point you are missing is scope and size of the two wars. In VN there were millions and millions who served in-country and millions more around the planet. The military is OIF/OEF is just tiny in comparison. For the collector is is hard to make a comparison when the sheer number of soldiers in each war is so different. Even after 45 years there are more VN uniforms then O2 uniforms. The number of DCU's made is substantially less then the four pockets used in VN.

I think the topic is worthy of a lively debate and discussion but perhaps it needs a thread of it's own. The top Kriegs got was just killer in my opinion and reading your post kind of knocks it a bit I think (just my opinion) and kind of dampens the thread abit. This DCU is one of the best ones I have seen in a long time and the fact you can find so much information on the colonel even makes it better. I got one like this (no velcro) and I will keep mine no matter what I collect, it is just a great DCU. Thanks Clete

I appreciate your differing opinion. However, do be aware that the reported numbers of American service men/women deployed to Southeast Asia for the Vietnam war versus the Middle East for OIF/OEF aren't hugely dissimilar. I think you'd be surprised about how comparable the numbers are. Simply put, there have been millions of Americans deployed to Southeast Asia, and there have been millions deployed throughout the Middle East. This isn't even including those who have been deployed 2, 3, or 4 times. According to the numbers reported, there isn't a terribly huge difference in the "sheer number of soldiers" deployed for each war. Both wars were fairly massive in terms of troop presence throughout the wars (considering the fairly concentrated geographic focus for each conflict).

Please, show me where I can go to purchase duffel bags full of Vietnam era 4-pocket jungle jackets. Please note... I am comparing the 4-pocket jungle jacket and DCU because these are generally the most "desirable" uniforms from both of these wars. Finding uniforms in fairly large quantity can still be done for OIF/OEF DCUs, if you know where to look. I have only purchased 1 original "in-country" used Vietnam war jungle jacket straight out of the woodwork in 5 years of "collecting". In about a year, I have accumulated about 70-80 DCUs. Believe me... DCUs are much easier to find...

I also doubt that there are more Vietnam era, in-country used jungle jackets in existence than there are in-country used OIF/OEF DCUs. There was so much from the Vietnam war that was simply thrown away throughout the last 4 decades. Now, is it worth arguing a point that realistically can never be proven with absolute certainty? Not really...

Do you have some insight on production numbers for DCU uniforms compared to the 4-pocket jungle jackets/trousers used in Vietnam? Considering that contracts for DCUs were awarded for nearly 15 years, whereas the jungle jackets/trousers were given contracts for less than 10, I find the claim that there were substantially fewer DCUs produced surprising. Especially when you consider how U.S. made DCUs have been used by several other countries, along with the U.S. itself, yet you can still find unissued DCUs complete with tags all over the place. I think we can agree that there were LOTS of each made.

In the end, I think you took me too seriously. I wasn't saying the jackets displayed in this thread aren't awesome. They are! I'm saying they are already bringing in fairly large sums of money at a time when you can still find these things in the wild for $2-$5 fully patched up, combat badges, desirable units, etc. I also find this tendency to be odd, considering how close their realized prices are to jackets from another "famous" conflict, despite the nearly 40 years for the latter to appreciate in value.

So for those out there who look at the jackets pictured above and drool, but frown at the thought of spending that much money, don't worry! There's still LOTS of awesome stuff out there if you look!

Moderators, feel free to delete my posts from this thread if they are believed to be non-productive. Also, feel free to throw them into a new thread if you feel it's worthy of further discussion.

In 2004 when the 814th and 822nd MP Companies came back after parcticipating in the Invasion of Iraq, they were required to turn in their DCU's because there wasn't enough in the system for Active Units being deployed. How true that is, I don't know, but that was the official story.