How old were you when you started collecting?

**ToxicGas** · 03-17-2009, 01:57 AM

by GasMasksUK

yeah, most things are an investment, people said I was crazy when I spent £250.00 on 190 Avon S10 Respirators, until I sold every one of them for £20.00 including a filter and bag. I made a fortune, and proved my parents wrong! The cash is going towards a car, hopefully a landrover =]

That's seriously impressive! How did you get hold of such quantity?

Congrats on that, I'm very envious... I hope you kept a nice one for yourself, one of my favourite gas masks.

**Pierre N** · 03-17-2009, 03:55 AM

i have 10 years old the first time i see my first pic of german ww2 in new paper ! start a passion ! but no money

, 13 old, i buy my first book of war (august 1979 )! 16 years old , i buy my first badge ( canadian badge ) . 18years old i buy the first german medal , badge! ect ect .....

pic of my first book ( is not a great find , but for the kid

)

Pierre

**John Brandon** · 03-17-2009, 08:35 AM

Wow, that is impressive, still having the first book nearly 30 years later, are you a hoarder Pierre?. I mean have you kept everything?

I've had stuff, and sold it and wished to god I hadn't. Even did that a week ago

I keep telling myself "its only money" but I can't let the wife and kids starve........................... There's a thought

**Panzer 3** · 03-17-2009, 03:07 PM

Hi,
I to started at about 8yrs old, as i have said in text before i lived near to where they stored army serplus ie helmets, webbing
and most field stuff, so i had a ready made store. But as jmb, says Pettycoat lane Club Row were the places to go, you could by M42 field caps for less that a fiver and medals were very cheap.
I sold my first collection when i got married, as you do.
But built up this one, over the years..

**GasMasksUK** · 03-17-2009, 05:40 PM

Ebay, it was buy it now so I bought it before I even asked for permission!

**M422A1** · 03-17-2009, 06:43 PM

Hi,
New member here, joined a few weeks ago. Great site you guys have here!
I first became interested in militaria when I was about 6 years old. I was at the toy store with my parents and wanted to buy a toy army set (helmet, canteen, belt, etc.) My dad said that stuff was junk and he would get me some real stuff.
The following weekend he took me to the Army & Navy store downtown. I was amazed! All this real army surplus stuff for sale to anyone! He bought me a canteen & cover, web belt, 45ACP ammo pouch, first aid pouch and a pack.
I was the envy of all the other boys because I had REAL stuff!
The trips to the Army & Navy store became regular events for us and I slowly added more stuff to my collection.
When I was about 8 years old, a friend of the family that owned an antique shop gave me a German coin. He said it had been taken off of a dead German soldier during WWII. This got me interested in WWII German militaria. A few years later, the same man gave me a WWII German canteen, mess kit (which turned out to be French) and helmet. The helmet was an RLB helmet but at the time I didn't know. I just knew I was hooked!
I'm now 51 years old and I still collect stuff off & on. I wish I had discovered this site sooner, you guys could have saved me alot of money. The problem with being a casual collector is getting burned with fake stuff. Now you guys can help steer me in the right direction!
And I still have that German coin, canteen, mess kit and most of the U.S. Army stuff that my dad bought me on my first trip to the Army & Navy store. I am sorry to say that the RLB helmet was traded off years ago.

Best Regards,
Mike

**ToxicGas** · 03-17-2009, 08:28 PM

by GasMasksUK

Ebay, it was buy it now so I bought it before I even asked for permission!

Haha, I myself have 'forgotten' to ask permission before buying a couple of my masks, sometimes it's the only way.

I'm guessing you just listed them all back on ebay again then? I'm now considering doing similar, as I'm saving up for something new for my collection. Possibly another deact' gun.

**3mk** · 03-17-2009, 09:08 PM

ToxicGas and GasMasksUK you guys arnt the only ones who did that

**RedArmyCollector** · 03-17-2009, 09:14 PM

by M422A1

Hi,
New member here, joined a few weeks ago. Great site you guys have here!
I first became interested in militaria when I was about 6 years old. I was at the toy store with my parents and wanted to buy a toy army set (helmet, canteen, belt, etc.) My dad said that stuff was junk and he would get me some real stuff.
The following weekend he took me to the Army & Navy store downtown. I was amazed! All this real army surplus stuff for sale to anyone! He bought me a canteen & cover, web belt, 45ACP ammo pouch, first aid pouch and a pack.
I was the envy of all the other boys because I had REAL stuff!
The trips to the Army & Navy store became regular events for us and I slowly added more stuff to my collection.
When I was about 8 years old, a friend of the family that owned an antique shop gave me a German coin. He said it had been taken off of a dead German soldier during WWII. This got me interested in WWII German militaria. A few years later, the same man gave me a WWII German canteen, mess kit (which turned out to be French) and helmet. The helmet was an RLB helmet but at the time I didn't know. I just knew I was hooked!
I'm now 51 years old and I still collect stuff off & on. I wish I had discovered this site sooner, you guys could have saved me alot of money. The problem with being a casual collector is getting burned with fake stuff. Now you guys can help steer me in the right direction!
And I still have that German coin, canteen, mess kit and most of the U.S. Army stuff that my dad bought me on my first trip to the Army & Navy store. I am sorry to say that the RLB helmet was traded off years ago.

Best Regards,
Mike

Glad to have you hear Mike

infin1ty92 · 03-17-2009, 10:31 PM

I was 14 :P : bought my first helmet, which i thought was an american one from the vietnam war. Unfortunately i later found out that it was a cheap danish helmet.