They are now reproducing BGS General uniforms in China:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/High-End-Qua...item4d060137cd
http://www.ebay.com/itm/High-End-Qua...item4d060137cd
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NEC SOLI CEDIT -
Pretty much if there is a buck to be made they will reproduce it...........
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How many of those do they think they'll be selling??Comment
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Very odd!! Well, I'm glad to be aware of this. Up until now collecting BGS stuff has been very safe because there are no reproductions. Non-BGS stuff mislabeled BGS is the biggest problem. Dang, I stay away from 3rd Reich and Vietnam collecting partly because of all the fakes out there. I don't want to see this happen to BGS/BW.
I only took a quick look at the pics. They're good enough to fool me if I didn't know to be careful.
SteveComment
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Obviously for the BGS re-enactors........... so they can walk patrols along the DDR border crossing.
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I'm just waiting for them to reproduce splittertarn.Comment
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Like all BGS Generals didOriginally posted by Huntzman View PostObviously for the BGS re-enactors........... so they can walk patrols along the DDR border crossing.
SteveComment
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There are so many BGS/BW Fakes out there. You know the German Company with the "S".Originally posted by Collectinsteve View PostComment
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Anyone who has visited China in recent years knows how much excess capacity they have for making low margin, high volume products, and how export-oriented their entire economy has been. It's not so much that they think there is a lot of money to be made in faking BGS general uniforms, it's that they desperately need to be making SOMETHING, ANYTHING to keep a bunch of people employed and to generate enough cash flow to stay in business!
The first few factories that branched into this niche market may have made some money, but the late-comers will be lucky to make their investment back when it's all said and done. The reenactor market just doesn't scale and turn over like normal consumer products. The Chinese factory only makes a couple of bucks for each iPhone they produce (with Apple pocketing the bulk of the profit), but can continue to live off of that meager margin for as long as the Apple contract is in effect, and enough gullible consumers "upgrading" their phones every other year. This model simply wouldn't work with BGS general uniforms.
I don't believe there is a single piece of Chinese-made repro out there that was designed to fool collectors (unlike some of the materials coming out of Eastern Europe). Dedicated fakery works on a relatively low volume, high margin model, operates mostly in the dark, and isn't much of a large scale employment generator; it's the diametric opposite of what the Chinese are after. Most Chinese repros are nothing more than glorified Halloween costumes in search of masses of party goers who may or may not exist. When the party goers fail to show up in required numbers, the whole enterprise comes crashing down.
Just look at what happened to pirschen/Ant-Z.
For those who love to bash "Chinese junk" for sport, remember that 60 years ago, the Japanese were exporting "junk" too, as did the Koreans and Taiwanese a few decades later. Being the "junk factory for the world" is one way to quickly build up an export-based economy. It's not a position people strive to hold on to necessarily, and it's not where they will stay for long, if they can help it.
The era of mass-produced Chinese repros will come to an end one day. If no one else picks up where the Chinese leave off, then the traditional "high quality" cottage industry will once again dominate the market, and reenactors can wax nostalgic about how inexpensive their hobby once was, while collectors complain even more desperately about how much harder it has become to detect the fakes.
Gene TComment
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From the same people who are currently making high end fake WWII Gendarmerie and Schutzpolizei tunics. You will also see these advertised on ebay.Comment
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Best thing that can happen is to not patronize them at all....leave them with worthless inventory . They knock off what they think they can make money on ANYTHING they believe there is a demand for. Many items are made through use of slave labor.Comment
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The sad thing to me is that this has become the new way of the hobby. As long as there is a market, there will be someone to exploit it. I have been collecting police patches for thirty years now and I have watched the hobby change so much.
In the beginning, fake patches were scarce, there was no market for them. The new breed of collector is what I call raccoon's, because they like shiny sh**. It doesn't matter if it is real or not, as long as it looks good. Instant gratification.
There is a legitimate market for reproductions, as long as they are able to be marked as such. I think of a WWII medal collector who might want to display them on a uniform. He may not have an interest in uniforms, so rather than invest money in an area he is not interested in, he uses a nice reproduction tunic.
Unfortunately it is a very slippery slope. As long as their is $$ to be made, then we will see greed triumph.
Just my humble $.02Comment
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Heh... well, I was thinking about the service uniforms. For camouflage I can think of the obvious Sumpftarn M43 and the more recent parka, with exposed buttons and no arm pocket. The BDU stuff is not what I would call "fake" because it makes no attempts to look like the original pieces. The hat and parka do try. And of course TacGear, Sturm, Kohler, and tons of other companies have stuff in Flecktarn. But that is the norm for all current "modern" militaries, so I don't even think of that. Just like I don't think of breathingOriginally posted by uscob View Post
Are there other things from Sturm, or other companies, that try to look like BGS and BW items from the past? Moleskin trousers, anything else?
I agree with Gene that when the Chinese companies figure out there is demand for their supply they will stop making the stuff. I'm just surprised by some of their experiments like with this BGS uniform.
SteveComment
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