Aged Repros Website

[stonemint]

This UK site is selling these low-quality repros with artificial ageing.
A lot of these are being re-sold on Ebay as originals:

WarHats German Hats & Headwear from the Luftwaffe, Kreigsmarine, Heer and Waffen SS - WarHats.com Military Headwear from many conflicts

[Friedrich-Berthold]

This is extremely repugnant.

- - ------- - -

It is a violation of universal harmony. Pfui.

Today one can surely render a well made reproduction, closer to the prototype.

The enclosure from the firm does not look like the original much at all.

There exists far better, at a smaller price, I think.

I do not spend much time looking at reproductions, in fact.

I take your point that there are those who can only collect something other than a fifteen thousand dollar cap.

This is a very valid point, but the cost of this item is too high versus its character to an original.

[octavian]

oh wow. i checked their site. man those things are damn expensive for a repo. 350 pounds??? damn. I could see how a re-enacting club may want those, but these could cause the unsuspecting much grief .

[bigmacglenn]

Thanks for the Heads-Up...
cheers, Glenn

[sandgroper]

Just my humble opinion but I have no idea why people buy reproductions intentionally, they are never going to be period and have no history to them. I'd rather buy the very worst, moth bitten damaged piece that was original than the best quality repro out there, you might not have the prettiest piece but you'd have a genuine piece of history.

[Larboard]

Thx Ade, this is good info to know!

A bit more about these folks... they seem to try to appeal to "genuine collectors of repros"... Unfortunately what really happens to the caps is of course a different business ;-(

I cringe at their tern "reproine", a new term and not one really likely to catch on... I like the part of their schpiel where they winge about the owner of a museum not letting them have info about the caps they want to reproduce, it's heartbreaking...

Rommels Peaked Cap

Reproine - Erwin Rommels Schirmmutzen & British Anti-Gas Goggles:


This is what we call a 'reproine' - A combination of Reproduction & Genuine parts, to produce Rommel's Peaked Cap.

The Schirmmutzen hat is reproduction but made in Germany by the EREL owned company. We are the Worldwide dealers for aged EREL caps produced in Germany.

It is a super German Generals cap, made of top quality material and in the same method and materials as the originals. In aged condition it is difficult to tell does not date from WW2.

We have made up this cap to look exactly like Erwin Rommel's 'The Desert Fox' and defender of Normandy. It is a Generals cap with gold braid, top quality materials and gold chinstrap, all suitably aged. Leather liner, vulkanfibre peak and celluloid head liner are some of the outstanding features.

The eagle and wreath are early war silver (alloy). These are original WW2 Eagle and Wreath and will stand up to any test of originality!

In addition we have added genuine British WWII gas Goggles Mark II as used by Rommel and seen on many WW2 period pictures of him in Africa whilst commanding the Deutsches Afrikakorps - DAK.

Rommel was a highly decorated officer in World War I and was awarded the Pour le Mérite for his exploits on the Italian front. In World War II, he further distinguished himself as the commander of the 7th Panzer Division during the 1940 invasion of France. His leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign established him as one of the most able commanders of the war, and earned him the appellation of the Desert Fox. He is regarded as one of the most skilled commanders of desert warfare in the conflict. He later commanded the German forces opposing the Allied cross-channel invasion in Normandy.

Lets face it you will never own one of Rommel's caps, apparently all his items are still held by his family. There is one hat in a museum in America but doubt has been passed over its originality (we contacted the museum to determine its make up etc. and they did not want to pass any information onto us!). You will struggle to get any genuine WWII Generals Generals cap. So the next best thing is our Reproine made up of genuine and reproduction parts.

Please Email us if you want a similar one made to your specification!

Rommels Peaked Cap with British Anti-Gas Goggles Genunine eagle & Wreath - WarHats.com Military Headwear from many conflicts

[Blitzvogel]

Just my humble opinion but I have no idea why people buy reproductions intentionally, they are never going to be period and have no history to them. I'd rather buy the very worst, moth bitten damaged piece that was original than the best quality repro out there, you might not have the prettiest piece but you'd have a genuine piece of history.

Re-enactors buy reproductions. I also know quite few people who collect reproductions for display purposes. They just like the way the gear looks. Sometimes they are inspired to collect repro due to movies and games where Nazis appear as villain characters, who are often quite well written.

[John Brandon]

I think I have seen the KM cap on e bay a few times in the past

[Watchdog]

This firm has been around for quite some time and seem to be as honest as one would hope in their approach to business. They make absolutely clear that these are repro. The problem is with the rogue trader who sells these on as original. Then again, as most of us have echoed at sometime "know your subject and what you are buying!"

Personally, I am not a headgear collector and if I am honest I must say that I would struggle to tell a good repro from the real thing.

That said, I can see that, for instance a medal / award collector may want some display "dressing" to support his collection and may choose a high quality repro (these seem worthy of that description to me) for such purpose instead of investing in an extremely expensive original only to use as a"background" display medium just as re-enactors may want these rather than cheap and nasty copies (I shudder to think anyone would use original gear).
Equally, some people collect reproduction antique furniture or arms and armour. That is not to my taste but I don't criticise those who enjoy collecting coke bottles or beer mats either.
I am sure that to a collector of originals some of these might be hideous fakes but that premise is surely only valid in the context of comparison with originals?

As I say, I believe these items serve a purpose and there is certainly a market for them. It is just that there exist many possibilities for less than honest subsequent use. With that in mind and taking into account the need for any serious collector to "know his onions" maybe a discrete tell tale sign that would make misuse impractical or financially non-viable could be included in maybe the underside of the peak and sweatband perhaps?

By the way, I don't hear of too many people getting all out of shape over reproduction Greco-Roman gear the originals of which are much more rare and expensive

Just my thoughts rather than a fiercely defended position

Regards

Mark

[HARRY THE MOLE]

This firm we originally known as 'Fallshirmjager.biz:' before changing their name to the current one used. I can appreciate that some collectors can only afford reproductions of the real thing. After all, when you see the prices that an SS cap costs, it is hardly surprising they go down this route. But some of these so-called 'aged' caps look as though they should come with a 'hazardous substance' warning attached...