How do I begin with tinnies??

[William Eledge]

I would appreciate any advice on how a beginning collector should begin to learn about tinnies. Is there a suggested book or price guide?? Any webistes that give hints on what to look for?? or watch out for?? (yes I realize THIS forum is a source!!) Any recommended dealers sites that specialize in tinnies? Thanks, Bill

[burgerhaus]

My friend you probably couldn,t have picked a better time to start. A dealer is really not necessary as there are oddles of them right on the e-stand at very reasonable prices. I might suggest also you try to find a specific orginization or theme that interests you and go from there. There are so many diferent ones out there your head will spin and your wallet will empty. Just my advice. Have a nice weekend. Robert

[Curt Steinbach]

Hi Bill - Although some people seem to not think much of the Tieste catalogue it still seems to be the best reference out there until someone comes up with something better. The prices often have to be taken with a grain of salt but one can hardly argue with the amount of info presented. In the newest edition there are over 12000 tinnies pictured. The catalogue has now expanded to 2 volumes and is pricey when one takes into consideration the postage as well but you could try to find used copies of even the older editions to start with.

You would also be advised to try and specialize because otherwise it can drive you crazy (I can vouch for that!). You could go after HJ, SA, flight, WHW, KdF etc. etc. and you would likely never complete those collections.

You can find tinnies anywhere from about $2 to hundreds of dollars. You should definitely familiarize yourself first as much as possible with prices by looking at various websites (almost every militaria site has some) and here on e-Stand because some people charge ridiculous prices for very common items just because they are Third Reich related. Right here is likely to be a good source.

Here is the Tieste website and the catalogue in question is item BZ1011 with other WHW specialized catalogues also available. Again, try to find them locally in the US new or used first so you can to save on postage.

http://www.tieste.de/literatur--.html

He also sells tinnies which you can see on his site.

Good luck

Curt

[William Eledge]

Thank you!!

[Military]

Start either with an interest on an organisation or collect by a certain design, perhaps if you are interested in monuments, certain personality figures, etc. There're thousands of tinnies and it would be very helpful to specialise and narrow down your collection.

Good luck!

Mil

[TRC]

I collect tinnies that I personally find attractive and/or unusual, without much regard to theme or organization.
If they are NS, I am potentially interested.
I don't look at them as an investment, but I do consider whether I am likely to at least get my $$ back should I decide to sell, same goes with any collectible.
Price is always a factor, and its hard to gauge between what is a good deal or not.
Even for experienced collectors, tinnies can be hard to price.
You just got to jump in and get your feet wet, and grow with experience.
Dealer sites can indeed be a good source to get an idea of ballpark values for some of the more common tinnies - Be advised, a dealer will generally be looking to get 50% to 200% more than an individual selling the very same item.

[Wood]

I also collect tinnies, and I use as my guide, the formula... "If I hav't got it, I want it"
BUT the price has to be right though.
Pete