The Ruptured Duck

The Ruptured Duck, LLC is a family owned and operated on-line mail order business.  We deal in all types of World War II memorabilia. Everything we sell is guaranteed for life to be original and produced in the period before the end of WWII. We have over six decades of buying, selling, appraising, consulting and collecting the souvenirs from that very important period of American history.  
     
Committed to procuring the finest memorabilia from around the world, the Ruptured Duck, LLC is the #1 trusted online source of original WWII memorabilia. Authenticated and selected by respected WWII historian, Bill Shea, all items sold on the Ruptured Duck, LLC are backed with lifetime guarantees. For questions, feel free to contact us at 
(978) 928-4495. 

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Bill Shea

Bill Shea, world-renowned militaria expert and owner of the Ruptured Duck, has been a regular fixture within the militaria collecting community for the past six plus decades.  From the time he picked up his first souvenir, a German visor cap eagle in 1959, to the present day, he has made World War II collectibles an integral part of his life.  He has attended, displayed and conducted business at militaria and gun shows across the country. 

 In addition to contributing  to over forty reference books on WWII Collectibles, he has co-authored an acclaimed reference book entitled "The Collector’s Guide to the Distinctive Cloth Headgear of the Allgemeine and Waffen-SS". Hundreds of items Bill has owned appear in these well known books.  Bill has also become an acclaimed writer, venturing into his four volume series entitled THE STORIES BEHIND THE TREASURES OF WORLD WAR II, "The Making of a Collectorholic".
   
After graduating from college in 1967, Bill received his Masters Degree in Education and taught secondary school history and English for several years.  He then worked for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Employment Security.  Throughout this time, he also ran a successful business called the Ruptured Duck which specializes in authentic WWII German articles.
     

After taking an early retirement in 1994 from the Commonwealth, he continued to pursue and build the Ruptured Duck into one of the largest online militaria companies in the United States. Bill was a Trustee for The Museum of World War II in Natick Massachusetts for many years until it's recent closing, is on the Board of Directors for The World War II Foundation in South Kingston, Rhode Island and actively consults for The Collings Foundation and American Heritage Museum in Stow, Massachusetts. He also consults for the major auction house called Poulin’s Antiques and Auctions. He has prepared over 8,000 written appraisals and has testified in a court of law pertaining to the originality and value of WWII German collectibles.

Besides his extensive militaria collection, he is very interested in vintage, classic vehicles and Hollywood memorabilia. His collection includes a pristine, fully restored 1958 Corvette, and three motorcycles that once belonged to the “King of Cool”, Steve McQueen. He also has perfect tributes to both the 1968 Mustang fastback and Dodge Charger RT from the iconic Bullitt movie. Bill also has 3 1/2 DeLoreans. One has been transformed into a screen accurate “Back to the Future” time machine. Another is the “hero car” screen used DeLorean “time machine” from Part III of this trilogy. More recently, he added Marty's Truck and Dr. Brown's 1949 Packard. These vehicles are used for enjoyment and also in charitable events to promote The Michael J. Fox Foundation and Parkinson’s disease awareness. In addition to that, Bill and his son Patrick raise funding to perpetuate the Massachusetts Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Worcester, MA which is the city he grew up in. Bill and his son Patrick have a website for these activities:  www.88mphtimemachine.com

Bill resides in Hubbardston, MA with his wife of 55+ years, Donna, and has two children, Patrick and Kellianne. They also have three grandchildren and three great grandchildren. With his passion for multiple areas of collecting, he truly meets the requirements of a “collectorholic”.