Why are SS items so much more expensive than Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, etc.

[Killroy]

I think that when the war ended no one in there right mind wanted to be connected to the SS, I would bet that the bonfires around Germany after the war were full of SS items and pictures of Hitler. Of course, you know that everyone in Germany was in the Resistance.

I agree with OP they were killing many outright for being associated with the SS. I would not want to be wearing any insignia talking to the Ruskies!

[Badto666]

I wish I also lived in the 60´s and 70´s so I could buy SS militaria for much less money then today But I´m only 29 years and did not begin to collect 3rd reich militaria until 2 years ago. My dream is to some day own a SS tunic of some kind or a deacent black allgemein SS visor. Some day I will own any of them but at the meantime I have to stick up with the cheaper stuff that I can afford I also collect TR awards too so I have to compensate

[ErichK]

[QUOTE=Walkwolf;152035]This kind of thievery was quite frequent in the 'rear echelon' who would
ravage combat mens packs of souvenirs and personal items.


One of the reasons for being known as "REMF's"

[ErichK]

I think that if one were to focus on something in particular, with enough time and perseverance, you would have what you desire. I started collecting about 7 years ago and started with nothing and very little money. I've a decent visor collection now, missing only a few minor piping colors, and my 1st SS officer is on it's way here.
Never say never - or it will be so.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

I wish I also lived in the 60´s and 70´s so I could buy SS militaria for much less money then today But I´m only 29 years and did not begin to collect 3rd reich militaria until 2 years ago. My dream is to some day own a SS tunic of some kind or a deacent black allgemein SS visor. Some day I will own any of them but at the meantime I have to stick up with the cheaper stuff that I can afford I also collect TR awards too so I have to compensate

Surely I do not want to excite envy in young people. The first black SS tunic I secured cost me 275 dollars in trade in 1971, which was a great deal of money for me, really. I traded the thing away ten years later to a well known publisher. I then bought it back from him in 1998 at a considerably higher price, in fact. It is all like Charles Foster Kane's Rosebud. I regret that like so much else, all these things are suffocated in price tags and globalized envy and longing, but that is a measure of the human condition. The key in all of this is to avoid catastrophic mistakes with scarce funds and stay out of the hands of the real crooks who prey on beginners. The second piece, which is by no means easy, is to see a lot of real stuff in person and also be able to examine it on a protracted basis. The final piece is to learn the history of the SS in detail, and depth, and go beyond the superficial literature in English, which is not very useful.

[operaman]

As with most things in life of a collector,less means more money.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

As with most things in life of a collector,less means more money.

How true. I could have invested in shares or real estate, when I think of it. Maybe that would have been more useful or less fraught with problems.
Through the SS material I learned the history of the 19th and 20th centuries as well as gained a fair career.
sapere aude.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

In strict historical terms as well as other criteria, the regalia from the other services is just as nice and just as significant as history.
I happen to have always wanted the black uniform, not the least because of the challenge of getting it as a project of decades. Normal human obsessions and compulsions, with all the tragedy, waste, and idiocy connected.

[operaman]

Wow nice collection.I think the SS is more interesting than the other services because the evil associated with it.for example the SS records are open to the public in Germany and on line ( I think) where as the other services are closed to all but the family's .Maybe the powers to be did not think the SS was an legitimate organization I don't know.I do know I would give my left arm for a chained SS dagger

[locloc08]

F-B's "foetid woolens" are always a pleasure to see. Especially his black caps with leather chinstraps. I'm just glad that remarkable pieces are allowed to be shared here for appreciation and learning without the nonsense you get elsewhere when such an attempt is made. My apologies to F-B for borrowing his style of appropriating esoteric old pictures to underscore a point, but the scene below resembles what new collectors like myself quickly come to discover about much of the online militaria world, unfortunately. This place is much better!