What was your first item?

[bigmacglenn]

My first items were 2 Luftwaffe Rucksacks that I found in a barn in Viernheim, Germany when I was about 8 years old...and that led to a lifelong interest/obsession in WWII German memorabilia and history...My family could never quite understand it, lol...
cheers, Glenn

[Chopperman]

When I was a kid of 8 or 9 (early 1960s) I lived just
up the street from a Army / Navy surplus store.
I remember they had box after box of uniform shoulder
patches. 10 for a dollar. I also bought a ww2 helmet liner
for a buck or two. I wish I still had that stuff.

Fast forward to age 14 and I was buying daggers and
bayonets. I still have most of those.

[JPhilip]

Hello Gentlemen,

My first two german items were a M42 helmet shell and a not so nice M38 gasmask canister. I used to wear/carry them while playing the german Panzergrenadier in the garden, with a long wooden stick that was my Karabiner...a pillow for helmet liner, the right hand as chinstrap and a piece of rope as carrying strap for the canister....pffff...not easy to be a german soldier at 11 yrs old....

My first and only american item was given to me by my beloved grandmother, it is a US para brevet in silver made in Algiers or Tunis that was given to my grandfather by an american officer in Tunisia in 1943.

I still have all of them

Thanks

[FrankBooth]

My first item was my late fathers white US Navy cap with his rank insignia on it that he wore during his enlistment. He was a "snipe" or boiler technician. He served during the blockade of Cuba during the missile crisis, but was below decks in the engine room the entire time. I still have it to this day.

The first item I bought was one of the repro helmets that a company called "Krupper" used to sell out of "Military Modeler" magazine in the 70's. It was a Norwegian helmet painted DAK tan with fake decals. I sold it on Ebay in the repro section when I got into collecting original items.

My first original item was an Assman H.J. belt buckle that I bought from Keith Hagen in Vista, CA. for 40 USD. I don't have it anymore as I sold off my first collection to finance an obsession I had with buying assault rifles during the early 80's in the heyday of the Great Western shows.

[Ryan B]

My GM-30 German gas mask and Canister given to me by my grandfather when i was 9. He picked it up in the stock piles on the side of the road after the war when he was a teenager, because he said it looked cool.
Ryan

[Kerry F]

The first item I bought was one of the repro helmets that a company called "Krupper" used to sell out of "Military Modeler" magazine in the 70's. It was a Norwegian helmet painted DAK tan with fake decals. I sold it on Ebay in the repro section when I got into collecting original items.

I had one of those as well bought in the mid/late 1970's, mine had a Luft Flak unit stamp to the liner!!
The first item i picked was a pair of WWII RNZAF buttons given to me by an old lady has she cleaned a house after a relative died, must of been 1972. Still have them tucked away and something i'd save if we ever had a fire.
First thing i bought was a Luftwaffe Karl Heisler made electrically heated flight suit with plugs removed (as usual) but with a flat cloth air gunner badge sewn to the left breast. I lost it in unusual circumstances in 1990 in London, i wonder where it is now??

[sunsetIE]

10x80 Monocular for an 88 battery, my father gave it to me when I was old enough to know better than to ever drop it. I had seen it sitting in his office for years on a shelf with my m34 double decal FSP lid and one day he decided it was time. My grandfather picked it up somewhere in Northern France, or the Rhineland while fighting the Germans! For years I thought it was some sort of tank optic, untill I came upon the other forum and discovered what it truly belonged to!


PICT0140.jpgPICT0139.jpgPICT0149.jpgPICT0145.jpg

[Danmark]

A M35 ........ Norwegian reissue painted up and with repro decals - but I liked it ( at age 15 )

I must say my family STRONGLY disapproved of anything with a swaz on it and it didn't stick around long!

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

Hello nosey! LOL This rather large battleflag was my first peice(2m/3.35) I put my KM helmet on there for proportion. Leon.

[edelweiss123]

Hello nosey! LOL This rather large battleflag was my first peice(2m/3.35) I put my KM helmet on there for proportion. Leon.

I cant help myself
Fantastic way to start a collection! Talk about setting your standards high!