Beginners collection

[Reaper1386]

My collection after about 8 months

[jmcm]

great start!

[ENGLISH BOB]

I agree,great start and nicely displayed

Good luck with your collecting,

Best

Bob

[longislandercjv]

As Joe says, you've made a good start!
Too many new collectors do not want to start with basic pieces
and opt for the higher medals or Elite unit items.
Without the expertise and experience, this often leads to disaster!
Starting out with basic (I.e., common) items gives you a good opportunity
to inspect the way they are made and how a 70+ year old item has withstood the effects of time!

Best of luck with your collecting!

[Normandy]

Very nice start!
Use the knowledge of the membership here when your not cretin about an item,
it may help save you big $$.
Good luck collecting!

[Aiceman]

As Joe says, you've made a good start!
Too many new collectors do not want to start with basic pieces
and opt for the higher medals or Elite unit items.
Without the expertise and experience, this often leads to disaster!
Starting out with basic (I.e., common) items gives you a good opportunity
to inspect the way they are made and how a 70+ year old item has withstood the effects of time!

Best of luck with your collecting!

Every word is true.

Happy collecting Reaper, good start.

[urza1]

Very nice!

If i can throw an hint, collect what you like, litterally. You can t go wrong.

[Lewis Bunker]

Good start!

Goodluck and happy collecting!

[verner]

keep it up one day that wall will be filled.

[Jean-Claude]

Hi Reaper,

Congratulations, you are off to a very good start judging from your picture and what memories that bring back of when I started back in the early 70's! (crappy polaroid scan attached) I didnt know about dealers back then so everything was local veteran pick-ups and you winded up with a lot of crappy items and things didnt get much better with early mail order items when I did find a few dealers...Today with internet sources and forums like WAF things are very different

In additon to what other members have stated here, there is one small piece of advice I would like to share based on my own experience: MAKE NO COMPROMISES! In my "youthful enthousiam" to add more and more stuff to my collection I wasnt as discriminating as I should have been (badges with missing hardware or damaged finish, missing ribbons etc. etc. etc.) because quantity was more important than quality. That eventually comes back to bite you in the ass later!

Good collecting & have fun!

JC

[Reaper1386]

Thank you all for the encouragement , I've been tempted to jump in head first a few times on some high dollar items and I've read quite a few horror stories on some items being fake or "touched up" . Also realized how much a dealers prices can be inflated after seeing a few items on here . So it seems like slow and easy is the way to go. Thank you guys again

[Sevrin]

Great

Off to a good start for sure! Slow & steady is right; very smart.

And the guys on here are the best as far as helping & knowledge; I wouldn't be collecting again if not for their wisdom.

Good luck & good hunting!

[Guripa250]

Good start !!!

You have a happy collection !!!
RS

[coloradocowboy]

Great start!

[B-24 Liberator]

Words of wisdom

I can only echo what the others have said. But perhaps the best advice came from Jean Claude, who cautioned against "settling" for less than perfect pieces, rather than Savingoing and buying a solid example. I did the very same thing. It is tempting to fill up the cabinet, but better to have a solid collection than a "settle" collection.


And don't forget to have FUN!