Which Item is the must have for an SS collector?

[Walkwolf]

What ? No SS helmet in this poll.........? ?

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Prehaps that was the aim of the thread? if so, I apologise.

In any case, it's all a pointless exercise.

Just buy the items that interest you regardless of their perceived importance or value to anyone else.

I buy what interests me and share it here, because when I was young, there was no means to examine such items other than with great effort and expense. Perhaps this kaleidoscope causes unhappiness in others, but my goal is to share material that interests me, and some others.

However, the drift of these things indicates to me, at least, that the seven deadly sins operate more than the imperative to search for knowledge and to acquire the means to become a successful collector over a period of years.

I for one am not in any way persuaded by the millenarian hypothesis that the impending world collapse will sweep away the market, as if such even remotely concerns me. I expected the world collapse when the oil crisis struck in 1973 and I have prepared for it ever since. That epoch saw the price of Nazi regalia shoot through the roof.

I have devoted my life to the study of German history, of which these items are a vital part. I have been in Germany and watched people attend exhibits on their history and know that such interest is more powerful than when I was a young man. German history is a wonderful subject that comprises far more than foetid woolens and "sculls" or "pipes."

The public displays of jealousy do no honor to those who make them. If one aspires to collect this material, need friends, allies, and a network. There is no quicker way to alienate people than tossing intellectual stink bombs (I do not mean you, Ben, as you have carte blanche from me to question all things I write...) By contrast, one can follow a different path of being an attention seeker by casting everything into doubt, kicking sand in the eyes of perceived weaklings and general bullying. You can be certain and I and others will then not answer your question when you pose it.


....or to engage in the after-me-the-deluge thingy as concerns this. While I cannot easily imagine that this material will climb in price forever, it is not an issue of the price at all that compels me to collect, nor did it in the year 1966. In this connection, I think persons who have been undone by the world depression project in a Freudian sense their own misfortune on to the common weal, when, in fact, some people are doing fine. I cannot say that I am, really, but what is fine?

If any thing, globalization and the rise of the digital space has intensified the presence of the second world war for a new generation, and there remain many persons with such taste and the means to satisfy it, despite the world depression. There are more young people here interested than such old farts as myself and a handful of others.

Other parts of the world are growing in riches, and persons there have an interest in this story and the ownership of its material culture.

Also, this kind of circular argument that the end is near is found on the maroon website, and we are more interested in the analysis of actual items and their characteristics. The millenarian thing is an old saw, a canard, and lacks creativity.

I am all for being contrary when it is warranted, but the class warfare thing is too endemic in much of society and poorly fits with our goals here.

[Carfin LEWYS]

Hi,

Bravo Friedrich-Berthold I completly agree with you.

Having said that, a beautifull original visor cap would make my success.

Best regards from Alsace , France.
Carfin.

[ObKrieger]

You have all made very good points, although I have to say that it's no fun being poor with a collecting bug like this.

Time will make up for whatever it is that I have not had the chance to own yet. When I get the money and power of persuasion, Doug's snow camo EF SS M42 will hopefully find its way into my collection.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Hi,

Bravo Friedrich-Berthold I completly agree with you.

Having said that, a beautifull original visor cap would make my success.

Best regards from Alsace , France.
Carfin.

Thank you. May all your dreams come true to the benefit of us all. Best regards from a peculiar corner of the world too far from Alsace, and its wonders. I have many happy memories of my visits there. your, FB

[Friedrich-Berthold]

You have all made very good points, although I have to say that it's no fun being poor with a collecting bug like this.

Time will make up for whatever it is that I have not had the chance to own yet. When I get the money and power of persuasion, Doug's snow camo EF SS M42 will hopefully find its way into my collection.

Time is our master, and with such time you will acquire the means to own these things, if that is your goal. None of it happens in an afternoon. I spend some time advising the younger cohort, and their impatience is typical of this odd time in human development.

When I was young, I saw grand collections, and I embarked on the assembly of a collection with years and decades in mind. The pace in the past was much slower, the torture of choice far less, and the pressure from this visual shooting gallery was also far less.

I understand the temptation and frustration that goes with all of this, but the world will become prosperous again and already is for others. In any case, I have a cap and tunic fetish. The edged weapons never interested me as much, though they are nice; the helmets are too prone to fakes; the cap badges belong on caps; I never much cared for loose insignia. I like insignia on tunics. There is something very compelling about the sight of an original black tunic.

[DrCMH]

Speaking from personal experience, a must have is the references available to make informed decisions.



Regards,

CMH

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Speaking from personal experience, a must have is the references available to make informed decisions.



Regards,

CMH

Dear Friend, books are your best friend, even without a machine to read them as in a science fiction film. yours, FB

[DrCMH]

Now that is a collection I could spend a lifetime gathering and yet another getting lost in its content. Your library is a testament to your depth of knowledge.

CMH

[reneblacky]

What ? No SS helmet in this poll.........? ?

I agree
Combat items are much preferred from my end