Stuff I've learned......
I posted this quite a while ago.....but I recently found a copy of it so I've refreshed it. Sadly, it's far too long for Newbies to bother with but it's aimed at them.....I'm sorry it's not on Ticky Tock, Insta, Mytube, available in Emojis...it's written...in words.....I'm old! Most (old) folk I talk to have confessed to committing many of the sins (?) in this:-
If you're interested but wanna find the Fast-Forward button...it's ALL about the people...and not the "stuff"!
Here's all the stuff I’ve learned (or had to deal with) since then…I started to write them down and then realised that there was quite a bit….under a number of broad headings.
So, here goes…..please remember they’re just my thoughts so I guess young folk would throw in an “IMHO” here and there……or simply an emoji…..whatever that is….
FAIRS / SHOWS
• Go to them!...even if you’ve only got the entrance fee to spend…meet REAL people, dealers etc…talk to them, pick-up and look at REAL stuff, build relationships, get contact details…often you’ll hear “I’m not going…’got no cash”…it’s not always about buying…it’s about people. When you’ve been collecting for years you’ll spend a lot of time kissing frogs…but frogs can be fun!
• Find a good bag to take to shows / Fairs…and put a magnifying glass, torch, a tape measure, a pen and paper (phone nowadays I guess) in it
• Carry a photo/photos of what you’ve got to prevent you from accidentally doubling-up – this is easy nowadays with camera phones…….calling your wife and asking her to look through your collection whilst you stand in front of the dealer can wear a bit thin!
• Don’t “think about it for a while”…the next collector WILL buy it!
• Be prepared to leave a Fair empty handed
• Think about how you got there and how you’ll get home…that Tank wheel may be cheap and will look cool with your other stuff…but you ain’t gonna get it in the back of that VW Jetta
• Everyone in the line/queue in front of you DOESN’T collect what you do…they’re not all gonna find the good stuff before you…..….mainly cos the good stuff all changed hands during Show set-up amongst the dealers tho it MIGHT re-appear……at three times the price
• …but get there early just in case
• Don’t go straight to the Coffee and Bacon Roll concession when you get in…you’ve survived this long without food/drink….you can go another hour
COLLECTING / DISPLAYING
• Lighting can make AND destroy a collection…especially sunlight
• Build a catalogue of EVERYTHING you have and keep it up to date…this can range from a simple spreadsheet to a sophisticated detailed record with many photographs per piece…you WILL want to remember where and when you bought something, who from and for how much….and you can easily include “current market value” which you can revise periodically (for Insurance)…and include a space/column for where stuff is…you’ll be surprised how many times you open the same crate!
• Ensure that your Catalogue/records includes “current market value”…..I smile every time I read that line about “my greatest fear is that my wife finds out what I REALLY paid etc etc”…but in most cases that’s when you’re dead…..leave them something to help…even if it’s just a dealers name
• Do not stick adhesive labels on anything!
• Attics and basements LOOK great for a collection…but unless you can control the environment think again
• To clean or not to clean?...it’s really your call…..some folk can’t resist seeing what’s underneath and others can’t believe anyone would want to remove all that original stuff (usually dirt and dust!)…….and never ever use the “P” word (Patina)…..folk used to say “that looks great”…”oh, and an original finish too”…..”the rust makes it look really cool”…..”and you can see the sweat marks too”…..now all you get is “great patina”……
• 100 years of dirt and dust doesn’t take long to build up in a workshop or attic for 2 years
• Buy the item…not the story…you can research the story afterwards
• Get as much info about everything you buy…”where did YOU get it from?”…”do you have any photos of your grandfather wearing it?”….”did it come with anything else?”…’all good questions to ask
• Accept that some non-collectors simply want to dispose of stuff…..you may just have to buy that Respirator bag, a fake army belt, a straw hat and that cigarette tin to get that medal
• Before you find the display space, find out where your electricity cables run, where you water pipes are, what the walls are made of, what weight the floor can support, what can be seen from outside (with the light on!)
• White Chip-Board / Melamine LOOKS great and shows pieces off a treat….but it’s heavy and it doesn’t mix well with even heavier collections or thin walls!...and five well spread out pieces look great….but what will 100 pieces piled high on top of each other look like….unless you know when you’re gonna stop collecting plan for growth!
• Don’t waste time regretting not buying stuff….you DIDN’T buy it…it’s gone…..move on and enjoy what you have / get…..and that piece may just hit the market again….but at a very different price!
• Avoid “Compensatory Purchases”…these are the things you buy because you didn’t get the thing you actually wanted…most of the time these CPs are always in the “I-only-bought-that-because…” category
• Museums and shops close down and collectors eventually dispose of their collections (well, actually the surviving relatives do)……things DO become available….just try not to look like one of the vultures in “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” (that one may just be a little too old….)
• A whole wall of TR stuff may look cool (it’s often fake by the way )….but it ain’t so cool when your girlfriend or boyfriend want you to meet their Jewish parents
• Remember EVERYONE who knows what’s in your collection COULD tell 20 others…..and “a fine collection of medals” can eventually be heard as “thousands of bucks worth just waiting to be grabbed”
• Go to IKEA….they have loads of stuff there that’s crying out for a row of helmets, badges, medals, canteens, side caps etc….just look past the plastic cacti, the selections of kitchen knives, the inexplicable collection of sea shells [whilst respecting their collector of course], the bizarre knotted rope, the brightly coloured jelly moulds etc…and their stuff often comes with great lighting options, glass doors etc etc….yes, yes yes it can be soul destroying but there’s loads of inspirational ideas just waiting for you behind those big blue and yellow doors….just do not go on a Sunday!
• Stuff smells……yep, unless it’s metal there’ll be the Eau de’Musty, damp, army forever about your room/house…..and women (not sexist) don’t usually like that smell!
• Once you’ve selected a display medium (light boxes? Shelves? Compositors cabinets? Glass cubes? Manequins?) buy more NOW……shelf bracket styles do actually go out of fashion…..manufacturers go out of business…..you WILL need more in a couple of years time
• Wander around the shops….not MIlitaria shops (they’re often sh!t at displaying kit)….normal shops…see how they display stuff..they’re experts in display…and the staff have often studied it at College….feed off them……
• Moths….they’re b@st@rds!!!!
• Next time you’re in the Mall and you see an “Everything must go – Closing Down” notice…go in and see if they’re selling the fittings too….ask them
• Make sure your insurance covers what you have…or at least make sure you know what the impact of having hundreds of bucks worth of kit in your place means to your insurance cover
• Keep stuff safe…look at your locks…your alarm…your doors…people WILL get to know that you’ve got stuff of value in there
• Trade-up…you’ll almost certainly always find a better example of something you’ve already got…you may want to let that first piece go and improve the quality of your collection…..or do what some folk do and keep both!!!
• Find and stick with good non-display storage mediums…..you WILL end up with bits that you can’t display but still want to keep…if you don’t accept this point now in a few years’ time you’ll have a variety of shoe boxes, plastic crates & black bin bags full of stuff……choose a box (or whatever) model and buy a few NOW…and don’t forget to cross-reference your catalogue to tell you where everything is…there’s something really quite satisfying when you go straight to “Box 13” to recover that particular piece rather than throwing stuff all over the place for 2 days!
PRICES
• Pay a fair price…win:win IS the best approach for the long term. Ripping someone off (and perhaps boasting about it) probably means that guy/gal will never deal with you again
• If you’re trying to persuade an Ebay seller to offer a Buy It Now price….offer them a fair price too
• If you can (and ONLY if you can) pay for quality….but remember, food heating, mortgage, family savings, car…. in fact, virtually everything else should take priority
• Unless you’re planning to be a dealer, don’t buy stuff as an investment…..prices go up as well as down..and certain groups come into vogue and then drift out
WHAT TO COLLECT
• Specialise……it’s nice to have a mix but when you’ve decided to focus on medals from the Rourke’s Drift campaign that Sherman Tank wheel ain’t really gonna fit in! (actually most of us struggle to actually specialise……so buy what you like….but be prepared to look back in 20 years and regret!)
• Don’t avoid buying “rough” early on….if it’s rare but rough in your early days and you can afford it BUY IT…firstly you may never see another and you certainly can’t afford a mint example – secure a lower grade version now and trade up later
• EVERYTHING is collectable…after years and years it never ceases to amaze me what some folk specialise in (by the way, you find that out by meeting / talking to other folk!)…and they often have useful snippets for you….and respect their topic…you may collect TR lids….but Polish ID papers are interesting too…as are Machine Gunner cap badges, ENSA Shoulder Titles, Tank muzzle brakes, Napoleonic buttons, Viking axes and even British Civil Defence helmets!
• There IS someone who collects what you do……find out who they are...meet them
• There WILL be a collector in your field who isn’t a member of Forums, isn’t on Facebook (or chooses not to join in the often moronic exchanges)…but he has EVERYTHING……try to find them and see their collection…it’ll take you years and years…but it’s sooooooooo worth it
• Some stuff was used several times..by several different countries…in different conflicts….the British Mk6 helmet was trialled in the Falkands campaign….and used in the Balkans, and the Gulf..but it was also used by Dutch Marines, the Irish and by Ukrainians fighting the Russians….and don’t get me started on the PASGTs!!
• If it’s “mint / unissued” it was never used for the purpose it was designed/made for…..if it’s a “relic” it’ll lack all those beautiful things cloth attachments, paint, badges/marks etc…but it certainly will have stories to tell
SUPPORT
• Research, research, research!...but be prepared to lose-out to folk who haven’t
• Listen and learn…some advice I got 40 years ago is laughable…other stuff proved invaluable…but I learned from both (I learned that the guy who gave me bad advice was a To$$er and haven’t trusted him since…it’s ALL learning!)
• Buy / read books….they’re odd looking things with writing in and pictures and lots of flappy bits that are fixed down the left side!
• Watch a lot of TV…..(or probably YouTube nowadays)….period Newsreels, documentaries etc often reveal something you never knew…and don’t be subject-selfish….a documentary about steam trains may not just be Porn for the Puffers……it’ll indefinitely include wartime clips etc
FORUMS & GROUPS
• Join them!...but be prepared to come across loads of Zepplinplatz-wannabe’s who’ve never left their computer keyboards, live with their mum and have a mate who claims to have an SS helmet even though it’s just a badged-up post war Fire Helmet
• Be polite and respectful…it ALWAYS helps
• Ignore the “One-Word-W@nkers”......they usually know nothing, are usually jealous, have no interpersonal skills and often have no collection…..they add no value and simply get in the way
• Don’t accept “Fake!” as a reply…challenge why…..you want to learn
• Remember, just because someone’s been there years doesn’t make them an expert in your particular field…..it sometimes simply means they’ve not been outside and have been eating cat food and watching Neighbours on TV for years
• YOU may be THE expert……..if you’ve chosen to specialise you may just know more than anyone else….geddit?
• ….and knowing more than everyone else kinda makes you THAT guy
• Photographs are essential….but invest a bit of thought before you take/post them….a camouflaged item may “look cool” on a camo net or sitting atop other camo cloth…but you’re trying to DISPLAY it, not hide it….IT is THE item of interest…don’t put something that was often designed to be hidden in front of stuff which was scientifically designed to hide stuff!!!!...it’s not hard….”sterilise” the item so it’s THE subject matter…and not the dog, aunt Mary’s vases, that dreadful gingham table-cloth etc.
• Remember “T.A.A.D”……There’s ALWAYS A Dick in the Forums….they often fail to understand humour, or respect you, or aren’t bright enough to pick up clever little nuances…or simply don’t actually read what you’ve written…ignore them….and if you can’t ignore them there’s nothing to gain by taking them on in public…they won’t get that either!..at the very most PM them…or simply leave ‘em alone….
• Don’t start a new Thread every time you post…you won’t be the first to have something to say about a particular item…spend a few minutes searching for an existing thread and bolt yours onto it…ideally everything everyone wants to know about RAF Side Caps will be in ONE place….imagine a book (see previous description) with stuff all over the place…and if this is too hard for you make sure the Thread title is helpful….”Look what I’ve got here” ISN’T helpful and will be lost in days (if not hours!!)
• Apologise if you think someone’s misunderstood you (in a bad way)…this is particularly relevant to us arrogant English-speakers who assume that EVERYONE else should speak “our” language and do so as well as us! (it’s estimated that only about 20% of the worlds population speak “our” language….so applying Paretos principle there’s 4 times as much info out there that we don’t see….or should that be “ignore” and shout la la la la la la
• Be prepared to GIVE too…..there are those who believe knowledge should be guarded - why?...share stuff….don’t go to your grave having become THE expert on USMC Canteen webbing covers only to let all that information be lost…there are true stories about books being 99% finished….but never finished…and then simply thrown away by surviving relatives…all that research and information lost…..
…and finally understand the difference between “your” and “you’re”…I HATE THAT!!!!!
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