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How did you start?


Greg

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That would be a good choice , I've done both ,headgear has always been one of my favourite items and looks really good on display. It is is a good idea to have a secondary collection too as sometimes things don't turn up and you want something to keep you going until you get your next main item.

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Reece, just a suggestion but you might want to think about collecting the 'history/development' of German helmets. This would allow you to also collect post-WWII German helmets. The East German (DDR) NVA helmet is still rather cheap and there are about 3 design progressions for it, plus various helmet netting and covers all available for under £50. The immediate post-war helmets were identical to the war ones and also available for slightly less. Romania also used the exact same design and you can find these (often faked as German) easily too.

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Reece, just a suggestion but you might want to think about collecting the 'history/development' of German helmets. This would allow you to also collect post-WWII German helmets. The East German (DDR) NVA helmet is still rather cheap and there are about 3 design progressions for it, plus various helmet netting and covers all available for under £50. The immediate post-war helmets were identical to the war ones and also available for slightly less. Romania also used the exact same design and you can find these (often faked as German) easily too.

 

 

Yeah greg i think i will start off with post ww2 helemets just as a starting point and spend more as i go along

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DDR NVA helmets are easy to find on army surplus sites, etc. You'll find them are Army Navy stores around as well. Same for post-war DDR badges. The facinating thing with East Germany was when the wall came down the entire Army and government essentially stopped, flooded the world with the surplus for an entire national army. I remember the mid-90s as a time you could get an entire NVA airborne outfit with full kit, dress and jump for about £100.

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Reese, don't buy postwar or east German crap don't waste your money.As Kenny said helmets and medals is a good start.I know its how i started over 20 years ago in the Bunker.

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Reece,

German helmets can come damned expensive, particulary WWII models, even those without decals. German medals can be quite reasonable, but do beware of Third Reich fakes, many of them are just too good to tell from the original, particularly those that are die-struck just like the original.

Why not get to know something about Imperial German medals, (I love them) ? If you buy a group of three, with an Iron Cross, you have something with solid investment potential, and they can be damned interesting and tell a story. Usually you can find an Iron Cross group, together with a Hindenburg cross, and a German 1914-18 state service medal for about a hundred quid or less. A few years back you could have found dozens around the £70 mark, that's how well they are holding their value.

OR, you can find good genuine 1914-18 groups with a common, but genuine, Third Reich medal stuck on the end, gives the service life of a veteran of the First War.

Just a thought, hope it helps.

P.S. Do yourself a favour and forget about SS and other 'Glamour' units for a while. If I had all the money inexperienced collectors have spent on repro SS, I could buy a small island ! :D

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Bet your confused now Reece :D

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Newlyns right about SS helmets most you see are fake, we had one last year and got £4000 for it ,it was a real one they are very scarce. German helmets are very expensive too and heavily faked ,I used to have 8 including SS and Paratrooper ,they went up in price so much I could not justify having so much money tied up in them so now I only have one army one left which fits in with my panzer collection.

If it's WW2 you are most interested in I would suggest you aim for one nice German helmet eventually and get one of each of the major powers such as US ,Japanese, British, Italian etc.This would make a nice collection,represent WW2 and go up in value.The guys are right to warn you about fake medals but don't forget all our items have a lifetime guarantee.

I'm not slagging off DDR items which do have a place in collections however I strongly believe DDR stuff will be readily available for a long time to come where as WW1 and WW2 will not.If you don't have much money to spend you are better to invest it wisely.

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Kenny, I think you know only too well my opinion of DDR items.

Apart from the fact that they are products of a very nasty regime, the designs are pretty repetitive, (Looks like they were designed by the same guy, or team ). I dislike anodised finishes, cheap and nasty.

And yes, there must be warehouses full of it, just can't see the investment potential.

The only thing I find interesting about the situation was when the wall came tumbling down. The DDR air force Migs joined the West German Luftwaffe for a while, intriguing but I wonder how long they stayed in service alongside the American Phantoms etc. ?

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And Kenny, why are my postings stuck at '47' ? I should be at least a Grossfeldmarshall mit swords diamonds and kitchen sink by now ?

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I need to visit the Doc's I am agreeing with Newlyn and Steve  again. If you buy then buy quality. DDR stuff is not quality. It's mass produced ugly crap with no intrinsic value whatsoever.  

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Kenny, I think you know only too well my opinion of DDR items.

Apart from the fact that they are products of a very nasty regime, the designs are pretty repetitive, (Looks like they were designed by the same guy, or team ). I dislike anodised finishes, cheap and nasty.

And yes, there must be warehouses full of it, just can't see the investment potential.

The only thing I find interesting about the situation was when the wall came tumbling down. The DDR air force Migs joined the West German Luftwaffe for a while, intriguing but I wonder how long they stayed in service alongside the American Phantoms etc. ?

 

Recently I dug out of storage a DDR NVA officers travel bag set I picked up 10 years ago for $10 surplus. It was a nice attache case and garment bag set back then. However the rubberized canvas already has begun to break down and I had to toss the stuff out because it essentially had melted at room temperature :lol:

 

Still, some NVA stuff in interesting. I've been in/on several NVA vehicles and they still run if properly cared for and are quite impressive to operate.

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Looks like DDR items are getting a bashing. We had a chap in the shop last year he told me that he had bought Eric Honikers Soldbuch or whatever the DDR version is.He said he was talking to another DDR collector who told him he also had Honikers Soldbuch ,they both compared and both were the exact same ,he later found a third person who also had one.  All three the exact same so they are even faking DDR items now, nothing is sacred.In saying that we have a really nice early DDR helmet in the shop ,early one possibly late 40's .We've had it for ages but never seem to get round to adding it to the site. If anyone wants to see it,I'll add it that will give me incentive.

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I was under the impression the DDR was using surplus WWII Wehrmacht helmets through till the mid-50s when they got some Russina helmets and later went to their own style in the 60s or 70s. Support troops (engineer, fire brigade, etc) certainly were using Wehrmacht items or helmets made of WWII Wehrmacht machinery through the 50s. The difference between a WWII Wehrmacht and late 1940s DDR helmet should be near next to nothing correct?

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Not sure Greg, it's not my period at all, haven't looked at it in ages.I would have thought maybe 50's good heavy liner in it compared to the more modern ones.I don't think it's dated.It is the DDR style not M35 type, I will prioritise adding it to the site when I get a spare moment to do the updates 

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First: I suggest we move the helmet conversations to the helmet forum. Kenny if you get a photo of it and can post I'll take a look I don't think there is chance I can pop down to the shop. I have lots of DDR images in books and probably can help date in, especially with liner details.  

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Sounds good Greg, will post helmet on helmet forum , hope to get some updates done tomorrow or Saturday.

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  • 4 weeks later...
kenny andrew said:
Bet your confused now Reece :D

 

 

Yea but yea that British helmet i got is great hopefully after the iron cross i get i will save for another helmet 

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Excellent Reece, glad you like it ,that one was out my own personal collection.

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Excellent Reece, glad you like it ,that one was out my own personal collection.

 

yeah :D. Well after the iron cross im gonna start to save alot of money to hopefully get a german helemt may take along time to save but im defentley going to save every penny

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  • 2 months later...

Always had an interest in collecting and was close to joining up when I left school after my highers, luckily enough I was decent at footy and had a contract till I was about 20. Back to school, the curriculum never covered WWII and I liked to listen to the guys I ran around with grandfathers talking about experiences etc, mainly my grandfathers own. I'm far better at history now that I ever was at school.

Prices were to steep and in my early 20's I started to find bits and bobs in car boot sales, charity shops of all places and people giving me items. Managed to get a start on the old TR stuff, then found the Bunker. Also had a friend in Germany who sent me lots of items once every two months or so in exchange for tartan biscuit tins etc (no joke), he, God rest his soul is now dead. 

Still have a few decent bits left in a backpack at my parents. Had to sell a few pieces to make the mortgage for a few months when my ex took everything we owned before the house was sold (still not sold) that really stings. Going on a Euro-tour for a few months next year, so hope to pick up a few items when touring, aiming high: St. Petersburg. Don't have the spare cash to throw around at the moment due to studying and working p/t (even though I am going away for a bit), but will return to collecting at some point.

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