1st Pattern Heer Pith tropical helmet opinions

[sismithin]

Hi Folks
Its about time I joined and made my first post so here we go…
I've been collecting for many years, had a break for a few years and now I'm back and trying to make up for the lost years especially now I have a bit more disposable income - I'm 28 by the way
Anyway here is a nice 1st pattern pith helmet I'm thinking of buying - what are peoples thoughts. There is no makers mark on the eagle shield but I'm not sure if thy are 'good' or not. I don't have a pith yet and this will likely be my first and only one - so I'm by no means an expert so appreciate any opinions on this £400 / $500 spend.


Many Thanks

Si

[Tim O'Keefe]

Hi Si,

Welcome to the WAF. The helmet is a very nice used original been there piece. Price is pretty high for a tropenhelm as these are not popular with most collectors and they usually fetch much lower than $500us.

Is it on a dealers site perhaps ?

[jacquesf]

Agree nice, but priced high even for a dealer. J

[sismithin]

Thanks for the replies. I've done a bit of research around them as I'm not that familiar with them and everywhere I look that are all around £400/$500+ I've noticed they have increased inprice significantly over a short period.
Still I don't really want to pay over the odds even from a dealer. I'm torn...
Do the shields look good?

[sismithin]

I've also noticed there is a large selection here I have been looking at - http://ww2germanmilitaria.com/Helmets2.asp
They all seem to be upwards of $500 also - even with the terrible £ exchange rate these are comparable in price.

[Tim O'Keefe]

I've also noticed there is a large selection here I have been looking at - http://ww2germanmilitaria.com/Helmets2.asp
They all seem to be upwards of $500 also - even with the terrible £ exchange rate these are comparable in price.

Yes shields are good as is the helmet, except about $200us over priced.

Would not by from this dealer. Full of frauds and fakes & very high prices on the original items.The first tropenhelm i just looked at on that site is listed as a 1st pattern cloth helmet but it is actually an unissued 2nd pattern felt helmet for $560us You can get these for less than half that price on the e-stand.

http://ww2germanmilitaria.com/galler...f=C-HAD-HEL-14

Here is a thread on these guys when they tried to sell a LW General tropenhelm with a gold eagle (no such thing, fantasy piece) its a real minefield site

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=829931

!st patten sun faded tropenhelms = AFRIKA, unissued 2nd patterns = depoy queens

[sismithin]

Yes Tim well noted I did notice there were a few 'unusual' items on the site. Never appealed to me to buy anything from this site anyway so will avoid for sure.

I have been looking for a while and can't seem to get a 1st pattern heer anywhere in the uk for less than £400, part of me is thinking it's the UK market rising generally. I spent a fortune a few years ago on a nice complete army gas mask set matching marked and compete (£65) haha now I can't get one for less than £200, that's more than inflation - piths appear to be the same now