helmet prices

[Franz1944]

It demand i believe, i mean compare collectors who collect just German to Just American or British. There # of German collectors probably greater or = to American, British/Commenwealth, Russian, Japenese combined.

Look at ALL the forums most collectoers are interested in German stuff they comment on German related threads, reason why varies greatly.... Style, icon, investment, historical value.

Minority comment are on other threads.

Also note this forum and others, that Western Allies are one forum and not seperated by country. Like how German is bigest and it own fourm, with every section dedicated to it.

There is also manufacturing stuff but that different story.

Kinda bad to pay twice as much or sume cases many times more on German stuff, then on American stuff. but that life

cricketchris i know what you mean, the demand is like SS helmets

[Adrian]

I often wonder this myself. Can anyone make a case to a non helmet collector (such as myself ) to justify why a German helmet is so darned expensive? (And I don't subscribe to the iconic shape catwalk theory either )
I have just the one German lid and would like a few more but I can't afford to collect them because I believe they are over priced for what they are. Take a chinstrap for example, to replace a chinstrap your talking about $100 - $150? Why? For a thin strip of leather and a buckle? I can't see how the price can be justified. There are many other symbols of the vanquished regime which are more reasonably priced, the Eisernes Kreuz for example, everyone knows an EK when they see one yet for every helmet, you could buy six or seven EK2s!
Even the most bog standard helmet is going to use up a significant chunk of your collecting budget let alone a high end double decal SS or para. Why are single decal Luftwaffe lids so expensive? Is a single decal Luft lid really worth $600, $700, $800? Not particularly desirable to the helmet connoisseur but still overpriced in the grand scheme of things.
Unfortunately if collectors keep paying the prices, they will remain expensive.

My thoughts as an outsider.

[Glenn66]

But Adrian, German helmets are just so damned cool to look at!



I love my little coal-bucket collection and don't think I would get that same feeling from a lineup of British teacup saucers.

[don_kihotis7]

The issue has been covered pretty much in the previous posts.
I will just agree that the reasons are
a) much nicer looking therefore more desirable which means higher demand
and
b) piles of German lids were destroyed after the war making them more rare. Their number is much smaller than the allied ones. Especially the SS or Fallschirmjager helmets.

[don_kihotis7]

Because DougB owns half of the surviving helmets, which drives the prices us for the rest of us. Doug has the supply, and we have the demand........just messing with ya, Doug

And this is a 3rd reason as well

[Adrian]

But Adrian, German helmets are just so damned cool to look at!

I can't argue with that Glenn but does the 'cool' factor justify the price?

I just had a quick look on Bill Shea's site out of interest, the cheapest Luftwaffe single decal is priced at $530 and yet there is another priced at $1395.
Granted, the more expensive one is in better condition so a more expensive price can be justified to a certain extent but this helmet has an extra piece of steel attached to the ventilation hole, it is still plugged up for want of a better term. Is this really worth an extra $800? An anomaly yes but is the price justified?

Just to be clear, I'm not making any criticism of Bill Shea, I'm just using this as an example to illustrate my point and to encourage discussion of the topic.

[Masonk]

In my opinion, the US market dictated the value of German lids. Immediately post war, German helmets fetched a premium compared to those of other nations. Reason being, Americans, even those who did not serve, wanted one as trophy of Germany's defeat. The M1 was readily available in the US as most GI's bright their's home.

Many U S collectors can attest to the fact that the M 1 was considered surplus, and not collectible for the reason I mention above. Therefore, those who did buy them could obtain them for cheap. Prices continued to rise exponentially on German lids, whereas US lids didn't see a real spike in value until recent years.

US lids are selling for the price of German lids from years ago, and because of that stall in value, may never be equal in value, however are increasing similar to German lids. There is a caveat, as already mentioned, as the more rarer M1 are selling for big money (a M1C sold for $18k at the SOS this year).

Anothe factor is unauthentic lids, which are abundant with German lids, therefore, you pay a premium for an un-messed with lid. You're however now seeing the trend with the M1 so collectors are paying more and setting the value higher and higher every day.

[MD Helmets]

LOL. RonR owns most of them actually!

OK, I don't know him, but we'll throw him in there with you, LOL

[bowlin7178]

I just haft to say, just look at it, a german helmet really is a piece of art, a truely iconic symbol, and unlike the M1, there are so many varieties, models,decals, and paint jobs, you can collect a lifetime and not complete a collection, it's the thrill of the hunt. Craig

[ObKrieger]

Well, people are obsessive by nature and the stahlhelm is a very easy thing to get obsessed over. I know that a lot of us here are, inclding Doug, Frank, myself, etc.

Unfortunately our obsessions are a lot more expensive. I think most collectors develop the obsession first, then look up the prices. Adrian, if the average EKII cost $500, would you still buy them?

Anyway there is a difference between explaining why we like them so much and why the prices are so high. The price will always be controlled by demand. Some guy is willing to pay $800 for a helmet, he has the money, a dealer who has the helmet knows he can get that $800 from him, and voila...

I say we go on a collector's strike so that prices drop, and so that I can finally afford them.