First of all I spend way too much time reading and contributing to to the forums I belong to. Back in the late 60's a friend of mine's father (Vet) owned a DD M35 that was removed from a grave marker in France (he still has the helmet). One day my friend and I were playing Army, so for the sake of realism I removed the helmet from the basement fireplace mantlepiece and put it on. We ran up and down the block playing army (neighborhood had a large Jewish population) having the time of our lives. My friends father came home from work, and upon seeing me with his helmet on wore my friends behind out for permitting me to wear the helmet and banned me from entering the house when he was not at home. The begining of an obssesion with German helmets. Not until over thirty years later did I start collecting (two years ago), and I did not become a forum member until maybe a year ago. Why? With this thread I've included photo's of my entire helmet collection. What I hav'nt showed is photo's of all the helmets that I have bought. Originally I assumed that any helmet I saw on someones website that looked like the German helmets on "Combat" were the "real deal". Not! It was'nt until I purchased a DD SS M40 for $950.00 and submitted pics of it to a well known dealer, just to have him tell me that I bought a piece of crap with a chinstrap, did I get involved with the forums. I was hurt and pissed, but life goes on. I'm writing this to let some of our newer members who get so bent out of shape upon finding out that thier camo'd DD SS M35 helmet that was owned by Himmler that they paid $1200.00 for is a fake just to chill!!! It seems that they submit pics of thier helmets for approval only. Though I feel that our experts are not always right, I do feel that there is enough input that you can make a decision upon weather or not to sink $1000.00 into the M16 worn by Hitler during WW1. Collecting WWII artifacts is a hobby that is growing by the day. Presently, over 1000 WWII vets die each day, so the ability too obtain battlefield collectables from the source is diminishing. The market value of these items is soaring, and so is the number of fakes. I find one of the hardest thing to do with collecting is to be patient. There is a finite number of original German helmets out there so it is assumed that unless you jump on an assumed original you may never have that chance again. Wrong. My advice is to buy only from someone you know or trust, or from a reputable dealer. Be patient. Have access or buy a decent digital camera. Make sure that the helmet in question has a good inspection/return policy so that you may post what you have bought or intend to buy on the forum, and be prepared to hear not what you wanted to hear! Pic 1: Heer DD EF M35
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Good advice. -
Pic 2:Heer SD Q M40Originally posted by mech91Comment
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Pic 3: Luft. Q M40Originally posted by mech91Comment
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Pic 4: Undecaled M42Originally posted by mech91Comment
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Pic 5: Unapplied decalsOriginally posted by mech91Comment
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Making a Collection 100% Better with 10% the cost
That's a very good cornerstone collection. Now, dress it up a little. Here's a link to my collection. About the same size.
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ad.php?t=59962
Hey, have you ever thought of turning that no decal M42 into a camo job?
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I'd also have to add that every purchase is up to the buyer! These forums
offer the best advice you can get but they're not infallible. If you show the
pictures and get a 50/50 response(or 100%), buy the helmet only to find out its junk,
in the end you have the final decision with your money! Don't blame anyone else
for the decision you made by purchasing the helmet!!!Comment
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