m36 Tunic, opinion

[JPhilip]

Don't get me wrong fellow members, i never said that worn or abused condition items or garments were not collectable, i know they have aficionados...I like unissued items, but if they have been worn and are still in good condition, i'm also interested. My point is, i do prefer to own WWII things that are as close as possible of what they were at the end of the war...no more, no less. What's the point to buy stuff that has poor postwar repair, especially concerning a Feldbluse, which is one of the most emblematic WWII garments. A young collector should think about the future of his collection....it is more intelligent for a young collector to buy only one untouched Feldbluse per year, even if expensive, than buying three or four ones in poor condition. When you're a young collector, you can't have quality and quantity (unless you won the Lotto)....choose quality first....and when you'll get older, you'll see that finally you have both within your collection...just my two euro cents...
thanks

[Jakke]

I understand you fully Philip.
I'm not really an impulsive buyer, but I do know what you mean. Sure I have bought items on impuls, but I think we all have done that once or more.
The thing is that my "common sense" (or how to call it) always kicks in when I think of spending money on an item. For example, there are helmet covers that sell for more than thousand dollars, while my "common sense" says it's actually a 65 year old piece of cloth... I guess you know what I mean.
I just can't justify myself to buy a tunic for that large amount of money, even if I could. We all work hard for our money and we all decide for ourselves what we spend it on, but I often get dubious feelings about it.
Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of heart for this hobby, but sometimes I think I'm going crazy.
I hope you understand what I'm talking about. I wish I could express myself better in the English language .

A bit back on topic: when corresponding with the seller, he keeps referring to the feldbluse as a feldbluse m36. Is he trying to increase the value by doing that, or are m34 feldbluses generally more valuable?

Jakke

[JPhilip]

M34 Feldblusen are quite rare my friend....M35 are not uncommon....but M36 are everywhere...you just need money and basic knowledge to buy one.
My only advice on this, would be to think twice before buying this M34 Feldbluse. I know, it's a scarce field tunic....but do you need a rare garment in very poor condition or a more common one in decent shape ?
do you need it as a "Specimen" or do you want it to dress up a mannequin or a bust (with fieldgear etc...) ?

I've been a young collector you know (i'm not so old...), and i had the luck to meet older collectors who gave me some good advices & tips for the future....one of their advice was :
Don't be in hurry to build your collection....learn first....touch/smell/feel the genuine stuff when you can....and buy after only....

Concerning the seller...every collector who doesn't know a lot about german Feldblusen call M36 the ones with dark green collar.
prewar Feldblusen are :

M33 : no inner lining, Feldgrau collar, no hook holes on the front.
M34 : no inner lining, dark Feldgrau collar, hook holes on the front
M35 : no inner lining, dark green collar
M36 : inner lining, dark green collar

the one that shows in this thread is a M34 upgraded to M35 status by the addition of the square made of cloth sewn at the back, on the interior of the Feldbluse.
the photo below shows it (red circle).....this is not a repair but an upgrade...

[Dimas]

I have one in more better condition, all buttons are present, some rips and small moth holes, but practically unissued, the eagle looks re-applied, not for 650, but much better in condition

[Jakke]

First of all, thank you for your help.
What I'm trying to do is to get together a nice early war Heer impression of a german infantry soldier in may 1940 in Belgium. Just the standard so to speak. A nice m36 would suffice, but as alot of collectors, any rare items you come across are welcome bonusses.

The ultimate goal would be to have some mannequins of the soldiers that fought in the area where I live. It's nearly impossible to find tunics or uniforms of specific units you are looking for, so a basic tunic can be of more use if you know what I mean. I know that worn and abused tunics don't really show the portret of how it was represented in the war, so they don't necesseraly need to be put on mannequin, but can be displayed on their own without the fieldgear etc. In that view, the "have been there" look, I find more attractive.

I've had the luck of getting some neat (german and other) equipment, through and with the help of my grandfather, who saved some "left behinds" from the war. This stuff is the holy grail for me, as it is actual stuff that was literally used in the closest possible way of my relatives.
In that perspective, any other gear or tunics that i collect by buying them, don't ever come close to the value that these things have to me.
(I will post some of these items in the near future.)

I know some "older" collecters that give me the possibility to check out some small "stocks" of stuff that they obtained, and where items are priced lower than you find with internet or market dealers. I'm very thankfull to them, and without this help I don't think collecting would be that fun anymore. For a young collector it is a bit harder to get into that little world, as most of the dealers care more about profits (which makes absolute sense, I know), than about the stuff they sell or the people they sell too. I think it's great to know that there are still people that care more about the hobby than the profits. A shame that more and more the second group is becoming bigger and bigger.
(or am viewing the situation totally wrong, and am I the only one struck by this?)

Thx,

Jakke