How safe is it to show your collection nowadays ?

[Wijtman01]

wat is er precies gestolen bij willem jongens

[Al P]

I only have a few items in my little bunker at any given time, and they get changed out when I change my displays/ riker mounts. If I had the space I would display it all, but since I don't, I feel it is better off sitting in a much more secure location than in a box or drawer.

Al

[Ostfries]

crime does pay,

unbelievable... but unfortunately its not. nothing surprises me anymore but I was a little "wow'd" that the SOBs used chainsaws. it was a very thought out BALLZY plan. not a master mind plan but of course with the right amount of guts was easy to pull off. they pretty much just blitzkrieg'd the store. as stated most of this stuff will never surface. oh, they will get busted down the road doing something else illegal. you can only chance fate so many times but the chances of this one going sour is probably minimul. I hope His personal collection was not touched. I think thats in another area. He has one of the best overall collections Ive ever seen. (in pics of course) good luck Willem. my thoughts are with you. Glenn

thanks for the link Ade. I never saw that one.

More unbelievable is that here in Holland grime does pay, in the slight event that they get caught the punishment is a laugh so the perpetrators don’t give a damn, they live from “job” to “job” and unfortunately you probably never see something of the loot again.

[Anthony N]

most people know that a large militaria collection is going to be worth a lot of money these days. It's really just like parking your top of the range mercedes outside your house, it probably won't get stolen but again you never now, it's a valuable item that a car thief would like to have.
Ant.

[TK]

Been robbed.... I think almost every collector's nightmare !!

If they were wellknown or profi's, they would have taken the rare personally collection of this dealer instead the bunch of ( rather "common"-) militaria wich he's offering for sale in his store. My MHO
So he's lucky in this way !?
I hope he's insured well enough to ease this terrible pain.

Unless every item is pictured, it's very difficult to trace these items.

We are living in a cruel world and everything worth a nice penny isn't save anymore.

I always showed my collection with pride and never kept it for myself. Nowadays I sold almost my entire collection but if not , I would show it again.

[Ostfries]

clever,

If they were wellknown or profi's, they would have taken the rare personally collection of this dealer instead the bunch of ( rather "common"-) militaria wich he's offering for sale in his store. My MHO .....

As working for the Dutch law enforcement you should know that criminals, especially the professionals, use to calculate the risks, taking someone’s personal collection would have taken to much risk and the high end items would turn un-saleable for them. No these guys where clever by just taking the average items, they can even dispose most of these items one by one on the internet unfortunately without someone noticing these as stolen.

[Scott A. Hess]

I prefer version number 2, I've been saying this for years, been working on a site, but too much "life" keeps happening to finish it. Bottom line, theft is always a problem, just insure the collection to the hilt, there are good insureres out there, if there is a fire, stolen at least you will be covered, not that you wont miss the loss, but, well, its life. Buy good doors, get all the security you can muster up, but knowing well enough, if someone wants the stuff bad enough, they will find a way, hence, back to the insurance.

[TK]

, taking someone’s personal collection would have taken to much risk and the high end items would turn un-saleable for them. .

Depents of the purpose of the items.

Yes you're stating right about the selling chance of these items. We all hope this burglar will be solved and so the help of us collectors is needed to keep our eyes wide open on forums/auction sites etc.

Asap pics of the stolen merchandise are needed.

[Ostfries]

money,

Depents of the purpose of the items. ......

To make money.

[Petr]

I reckon to be in a peace is just a matter of safety.Therefore I got good alarm gear,outside of my hause two large dogs are running and inside a room with uniforms one deadly poisonous snake is crawling.It works quite well .
Have a good night.
Best Petr.

[jambobbyb]

Evening guys i know a lot of people who are aware i collect i dont name prices but im sure some of them must have an idea of how much some of this stuff is worth, So in case of a break in i keep a tin with some impressive looking fake bits and bobs hidden but not very well and a good quality wall safe very poorly attached to a plasterboard wall filled with a two half house bricks and a load of bolts. The good stuffs.......Hey that would be telling but i guarantee you any rat boys who come a calling would have to pull the house down to find it.

[Lloyd I.]

What about the collector here in the states who was killed over his items? It was on this forum that I first heard about it. If I remember right they shot him and took it all. My last show in Nashville they broke into cars to get to the things people had stowed overnight since security was inside.

Considering a helmet can be worth more than a hand made mortise and tenon Arts & Crafts table from the 1920s it makes sense that criminals would catch on and lurk about. We are talking 5 to 6 times in value and it's stamped steel. Crooks are crooks.

I hate it sometimes but my philosophy is aim center mass and double tap when the day comes. Outside of that, I cant take any of this with me and if Im living in fear over it maybe I should just go back to sailing and vintage Chris Crafts....just not outside of US waters because geez, pirates lurk there.

[bnz. 42]

Get insurance and sleep well

[Matthew S.]

This is a very interesting point to bring up. Concerning being called a Nazi over the hobby, I think everyone who is in this field will have that happen sooner or later. As a result, I generally don't tell people about it until I have known them for a bit and they have gotten to know me enough to relize I don't dress up and goose-step around the coffee table at night. I have also found that mentioning the enormous monetary value and investment potential of these objects helps... a lot.

Concerning security, I suppose it really depends on where you live. I live in Virginia and have never worried about the security of my collection because... to put it in a blunt way... I live in a state that does not particularly frown on an individual's right to self-defense. I imagine it is pretty well-known that those who collect militaria are often gun owners. In Virginia, there are few better ways to ruin your day than by attempting to rob the home of someone you know owns a gun.

[schirmmutze]

Well,let me tell you how things are going here in Holland....
When I see a person stealing my collectibles and I hit him on the nose,I am the one who goes to jail

I give you one example,

I'm in the militairy for 13 years now,one day I visted my mom and dad,I just came from work,still in uniform.

We were drinking coffee and at that moment a guy stole my moms' bike in the backyard.

I went after the thief,but wasn't able to catch him.

I went to the police,together with my mom to tell what happened,I was still in uniform at that moment....

I told the police officer that I went after the thief......guess what he told to me.... " you are not allowed to go after a thief sir,just defend your country,and we will catch thieves" and after that he asked me if I had " touched" the thief,after I told him I didn't he said : "oh that's good"

Here in Holland it''s better to be the criminal then the victim....