Allgemeine SS caps

[paul s.]

Gentlemen
We have had this discussion numerous times.I agree that there will always be booms and busts,as there are with all commodities in this market.However,there is generally an upward trend on everything in this world.While as a collector I am equally troubled by the unaffordability factor,there is an aspect of this that is heartening.As a long term collector,I have seen the stigma that collecting this material has had attached to it.It has long limited the number of collectors in the world.While I wholeheartedly agree that this is not the forum discuss the politics,I believe that the increased prices also reflect recognition of the rarity of the great material as well as recognition of the significance in world history that the events of the Third Reich and it's aftermath have played.
I will echo prior sentiments that if baseball jerseys or similar collectibles can command the premiums that they have,certainly items of this incredible significance should not only follow suit but well exceed items of lesser universal significance.
I feel your collective pain and lament that getting new items for our collections will be expensive and difficult.But I celebrate the fact that many others have come to realize the huge historical significance that we have recognized for years.
All that being said,Brother Hiritz,if you are able to find an extra, inexpensive SS generals visor,please don't forget your old friends
Best Regards
Paul

[Dan P]

I don't think there's a stagnation in black NCO caps sales by any means, it's just that the one's currently being offered are not in great condition or have insignia issues but are still priced high. If the price were lowered a bit on these they would most likely sell quickly. The sellers are probably just waiting for the market to catch up.

On the other hand, A-SS NCO caps in great condition (box or no box ) with no issues sell quickly even if priced very high.

[Bob Hritz]

Dan,

Does this mean the prices are not crashing, as predicted by so many doom and gloomers, on other threads?????

So I guess it is time to give up on $5000 Waffen-SS officer hats?????

Bob Hritz

[Antiquefrog]

I agree with Ben VK.

This discussion has been ongoing for years on this forum, with ever higher prices along the way.

The SS EM visor is sort of the entry point to SS cap collecting; like climbing a tree, you have to reach the first branch, no matter how high.

Supply and demand have created these current 6-7K prices; they are not inflated.

The SS connotes the sinister, and the evil - no other branch does so.

[BrianK]

It's simple - the internet has drawn people with big money into TR collecting. Once in they are drawn to what dealers say is the best investment - SS stuff. SS daggers & visor caps are common enough to create a market & a demand. So that to "prove" that you are the biggest err "colectior", you need to accumulate an impressive number of expensive items. Price is no obect, so the most well-heeled will accumulate a dozen or so SS visor caps or daggers or the like. In fact the higher the price, the more satifaction the buyer gets out of buying & displaying an item. The "Theory of Conspicuous Consumption" has been well known in Economics for about 100 years. That little "Buy IT Now" button on millions of computer websites just makes it all that much easier

[BenVK]

Everybody has their own reason for collecting these things. My first SS black NCO visor cost me £1,200 and at the time, I couldn't afford it at all but I had it in my hands and within 2 minutes, my credit card came out. The black stuff really does captivate you in way nothing else does. Don't ask me to explain it.
Now I'm a bit older and wiser maybe (doubtful) the facination isn't so great and the head rules the heart a little bit more. Will the prices go down? never. As mentioned, dealers in TR items don't do that really do they? It's that perceived element of if they drop the price considerably, it must be fake or at least questionable isn't it, which is very bad for business.
I've asked on more than one occasion whether the price is negotionable only to receive a very blunt no. Ah well, I guess that's why I hardly ever buy from dealers. Their arrogance or maybe it's just good business sence really pisses me off.

[Koguryo9]

Brian is right, often the satisfaction coming out of buying something at a very high price is very high. And dealers know that. If you spend say $2000 on a SS visor you probably will ask yourself: Did I just buy a fake one? Unfortunately this is the reality today.

[Antiquefrog]

This sort of suggests that uninformed buyers are driving the market.

I doubt it.

Fakes sell all the time, of course, but such only propels longer-term interest in the real thing. Not many walk away once bitten if the interest is there. I crapped out early, but have now assembled a decent collection of visors and uniforms.

It is the everyday collector that establishes pricing; most try to educate themselves, I would guess, to some extent.

There may be 3,000 SS EM caps out there (no doubt), but I'm betting there are far many more potential collectors.