Will the "hobby" die?

[Bob Hritz]

Edgar is correct. The better informed the collector, the healthier the hobby becomes. Patience is the key and spending your time learning before reaching in your pocked to buy something of which you are unsure.

STUDY and you will be successufl. it is harder for some, without the advantage of hands-on examination of originals, but the more you learn the less you get burned.

Don't worry, we will all make mistakes (I still do). It is part of the cost of collecting and many times we learn far more from our mistakes, with time to examine them and learn what to look for on originals.

Bob hritz

[Darrell]

........There will always be people who know what is good and they will always be the leaders of the hobby. The others will plug along, remaining clueless and awaiting the next messiah who will 'bless' their collectibles.

Those who collect COA's will fade by the wayside when their Guru passes away and the guarantees can be used for toilet paper.
Bob Hritz

I agree with most of what you say Bob ... however, regarding COA's ... I bet some of the "Leaders" (that know everything) who had Rounders in their collections maybe happy they had a COA after the events of a few months ago

Moral of the story ... What's real today can be a fake tomorrow and vice versa. No one knows everything. I'll take the piece of paper any day if it's offered by someone who honors it ....

[rkdek]

Edgar,

This same question comes up every now and then.

Will the staggering prices kill our hobby our will it be the (near) perfect fakes?

I think it will never die. There will always be afficionados.

Another aspect I discussed with some collectors is the following: the items we collect bear the swastika symbol which makes it difficult to put in a showcase in your living room. The reactions -at least here in Europe- would be anything but positive! This caused me to quit the hobby totally twice already and when you finally think that was that, you get sucked back in. Once interested in this period, always interested. Other collectors experienced the same addiction!

[rfleming32]

Maybe we can get a quantitative anser to the question from the moderator. Has the membership on this forum grown or decreased over the years? Have the number of posts increased or decreased over the years. That should be an indication. I think the answer will be growth.

The only thing I think is dying is the supply of original good quality badges continually driving prices up. Simple supply and demand. Only exception is in a recession when discretionary income no longer exists for a lot of people.

[Ken S]

Lay off the herb

It must be some good stuff, I want some

[Bob Hritz]

Hello Darrell,

99% of the dealers do not watch or pay attention to forums. I doubt many, if anyone, has had money refunded over a rounder because of these forums. The debate is just that: at debate, and it is never over, in the mind of all collectors and dealers. A guarantee does not mean that a forum can make something fake that is not, or original that is not. It is just our opinions, and nothing more. Even on the rounder debate, there are those who imnterrpret the paint data differently than others. Read the threads and see the arguement still continues, in some minds.

Bob Hritz

[Edgar Estrada]

Edgar,

Another aspect I discussed with some collectors is the following: the items we collect bear the swastika symbol which makes it difficult to put in a showcase in your living room. The reactions -at least here in Europe- would be anything but positive! !

Yes! that is true even in America (I mean the continent, not the USA). The swastika is a very negative symbol (murderer, racist, etc, etc NAZI). I think just people who really know why all the German awards of the time have the Nazy symbol can undestand that it do not mean to be a Nazi. Even the Iron Cross is seen with bad eyes for some people. When I lived in Holland I put a small Iron Cross (a clip I bought in the German Air Force Museum in Berlin), on my hat and everybody wanted to "kill" me. Here in Malaysia the Swastika can be seen in a lot of temples as a Hindu and Budist symbol, however when European come to my house and see the Iron Cross in my coat of arms they get on guard! Some of them even mad! Then I tried to explain to them the history of that cross! I think one of my first posts here was about the Iron Cross roots and how it was usurped by the nazis. Yes, I know it will be hard to put these item in our living rooms. So, I think I will have them in my room.

Regards

Edgar

[Edgar Estrada]

I agree with most of what you say Bob ... however, regarding COA's ... I bet some of the "Leaders" (that know everything) who had Rounders in their collections maybe happy they had a COA after the events of a few months ago

Moral of the story ... What's real today can be a fake tomorrow and vice versa. No one knows everything. I'll take the piece of paper any day if it's offered by someone who honors it ....

What is COA?

Thanks

Edgar

[Daggerob]

What is COA?

Thanks

Edgar

Certificate
Of
Authenticity

[VonStigler1]

It must be some good stuff, I want some

[Ian Lim]

The internet age has helped this hobby tremendously, in fact it is safer and more fun these days to collect because of the internet and forums like these.

Collectors from all over the world can share knowledge and once a fake comes into the market , all it takes is for one collector to spot it and alert the rest, that particular fake is kaput.

It is more fun , safer to collect than ever ...this hobby will last a thousand years...

[Robert T.]

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[Luftm40]

well....I don't think you would have found a "rounder" in the collection of anyone who had really studied the RK ON THEIR OWN AND INDEPENDENTLY. Rounders were considered real by some primarily because one of the so called "gurus" in the field said they were....