Here is a Thread you Need to Read

[Matt M]

http://daggers.infopop.net/2/OpenTop...85&m=713108832

Matt

[panzerzacker]

The paranoia is kicking in...get back all of you, you're all fakers! That's the sad truth of what money can do. I'll say it again, this hobby is dying.


ZaCK

[Elvis]

I've heard bad things about that fella before this.

[Tom M]

The paranoia is kicking in...get back all of you, you're all fakers! That's the sad truth of what money can do. I'll say it again, this hobby is dying.


ZaCK

That's not very encouraging . It's only just begining.......

[kennethc]

You should even more worry, if not a single faker interested in this hobby...

Ken

The paranoia is kicking in...get back all of you, you're all fakers! That's the sad truth of what money can do. I'll say it again, this hobby is dying.


ZaCK

[Theodor]

Well, why surprised, I am very much sure that all those forums are carefully followed by fakers, who look for ideas or listen to comments about what is wrong in their older fake works. But this is not a subject to worry, scumbags have always existed and will always exist, they will never make the perfect copy and will never fool the experienced collecotrs /and thus even the beginner colletors, who can always ask for opinion the more experienced/.

[panzerzacker]

That's not very encouraging . It's only just begining.......

I don't mean to say the glass is half empty, nor do I try to be a pesimist for no reason. Hear me out. Reguardless of what anyone says, the fakes are getting good. Not only are the fakes getting better, but prices are getting higher and more fakers are being recruited. Now add in the idea that with hollywood making movies and the history channel, more collectors are being hurried into a hobby with only a set number of items (helping to further the role of the faker). So now you have a finite number of items, a growing number of collectors, the Euro killing American market, and the constant development of better and better fakes. I agree there'll always be a way to tell, but this newer generation is cut dry. They want to buy it and get it of there, not take time to find the right piece. Then, sadly, you have all the older collectors starting to die off in the next 30+ years, re-introducing their collections to the market for astronomical prices...and as the prices go up the fakers make more, and better. Eventually we're going to see this hobby full of junk, with noone to tell you whether it's good or bad, and noone to trust either. The only reputable sources will be what's left of us "older collectors", me being one of the youngest of the spectrum, and the originals we're guarunteed to have.

Then in a kind of ironic twist, younger collectors will be coming to us, asking to hear our stories (though alot of us won't have many) and then casually saying "Hey, can I buy that stuff from ya?"

Provenance won't come from veterans or their stories anymore, but from us and our widows. Noone will need to know wear patterns of 60 year old paint, but rather 100 year old paint. As item condition and provenance become more and more important, items with that quality will become more and more desirable and more and more scarce until the only good items are in the wealthiest collections and everyone else is lost in the almost unending sea of fakes.

So, in so many words, for the modest collectors, it's dying.



I didn't mean to hijack your thread but am willing to hear anyone who thinks different. Open up a post in Die Kneipe if you're interested.

ZaCK

[mario]

would someone give us a hint about his id? so we don't get burned in the future.

[darryl-P]

would someone give us a hint about his id? so we don't get burned in the future.

Mario,

Just check out the links provided in the GD helmet forum thread...it's all there, including this guy's website where he sells his "wares".

[Jean-Loup]

When I see pictures of colletions on this forum, and when I see dealers lists, there are way to many camo helmets around... You could think every second german soldier had a camo helmet. I am not saying they are all bad of course, but some guys must have collections of fakes without knowing it.
JL

[CurtD]

would someone give us a hint about his id? so we don't get burned in the future.

His Ebay ID is steelhelmet (100% positive feedback -- so much for Ebay feedback).

His website is http://www.germanhelmetcollectors.com/

[Joe Martin]

Thanks Matt. I just made a note of this in the dealers forum I moderate.

I agree about the camos... I wouldn't be surprised if there are more faked camos than fakes SS lids.... They are just too easy to do...

[mario]

thank you guys for the web address. but i am shocked! are they all fabrications? how can you tell the difference? guys like me with little knowledge and experience are really exposed to this kind of fakery. i am glad matt started this thread.

[Chris Chalupa]

Good detective work on that fellows part. Some of them look nice, some of them suck. The faker even went to the trouble of putting paint spatters on the WWI helmet, like I have seen on so many that sat in a garage that was repainted in the fifties. I was wondering when someone would get around to that detail of forgery.

[Jean-Loup]

Here is my opinion about camo helmets, scientificaly speaking. There are ways to tell a helmet is 100% fake, but there is know way to tell one is 100% good. (of course experience and 'the stories' can make us 99% sure; but you never know, maybe we are in the matrix!)
JL