Post Reply - Club Honesty Policy and Forum Rules

I need to take this opportunity to further expand upon the honesty policy, and discussion of reproduction/fake parts. This has been a quest of mine for some time. I believe the club should take a slightly firmer stance, although I admit the Carbine Club has no way to substantially enforce it. The best thing is to fully document reproductions, and encourage marking of reproduction items as such. My main issue is with tolerance of restoration of Carbines with fake parts and modifications made "for his own collection." At some point, an innocent widow will end up introducing the personally modified Carbine to other collectors at face value, which will appear to be original, if the parts are not marked appropriately. We are probably too far down this road already, but I make every effort to stem the tide.

In 2010, I did a lecture on the subject at the annual meeting of The American Thompson Association, and our association adopted a Reproduction Item Standard into our bylaws, which includes marking of new reproduction items.

A pdf download link to the Thompson Reproduction Item lecture is included below:

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/TATA/2010/Repro%20Lecture%202010.pdf

Here is the text of the reproduction item policy we adopted for The American Thompson Association:

The American Thompson Association (TATA) Reproduction Thompson Item Standard

The American Thompson Association is a group of collectors dedicated to preserving the history, collecting, and promoting the safe operation of legal Thompson Submachine Guns. The club has a responsibility to future collectors, and recognizes that many artifacts and accessories associated with the Thompson are reproduced, or have been reproduced in the past. As a result, TATA assumes a stewardship role for future collectors, who, upon encountering reproduction items now and in the future, may not be able to reasonably determine their originality. This can have the effect of reducing collector value of original specimens, as well as present unintended (or intended) ethical issues among the Thompson collector community.
The American Thompson Association adopts a standard consisting of marking any new Thompson Submachine Gun reproduction items with a name or other distinguishable identifying mark that indicate the manufacturing entity, and at least the year of manufacture. The marking should be easily visible, and made in a manner that the item can be readily identifiable as a reproduction, such as die stamping in metal, firmly stamped wood markings, readily accessible publisher marks inside the front page of a paper item, permanently painted markings on canvas material, or other reasonable and permanent marking method. (An example for stock markings is to mark such items under the buttplate, and on top of the grip, as these are already standard methods, and will not detract cosmetically from their presentation on a Thompson.)

TATA members must comply to the standard, and any reproduction item made by a member after notification of the adoption of the new standard in the club newsletter should be marked according to the TATA reproduction marking standard. (Failure to do so could effect membership status)

Method of Introduction for Acceptance:

Items may be presented to the TATA Board by members or non-members (via live sample, or high resolution (300dpi or better) photo or scan that details the product effectively) for inclusion on an online list that details them for public access. (This list currently resides in a pinned post at the top of the Thompson board at Machinegunboards.com) Items are presented to the TATA Board via e-mail to the TATA President or Vice President, who will convene the board online via e-mail or telephone within 60 days of receipt of a request for inclusion. A list consisting of 3 categories of Thompson reproduction items will be maintained:

A. New reproduction Thompson items that conform to TATA marking standard, to include known manufacturer information.
B. Existing reproduction items that conform to TATA marking standard, to include known manufacturer information.
C. Reproduction Thompson items that do not conform to TATA marking standard, to include known manufacturer information.

At a later time to be determined, once greater experience has been gained with managing a marking standard, TATA will present their standard to the NRA as a potential best practice. The standard may also be introduced to other NRA affiliated collector organizations who might want to adopt a similar standard. (End of standard)


Thanks!

David Albert