Reasons to (continue)to collect Luftwaffe!

[hi-revr]

[QUOTE=RamJet
I don't believe anyone can get a real complete collection in this field, including all uniform variations, personal equipment and weapons, shoulder boards and collar tabs and so on.

I haven't even the place to show this collection when it should be finished one day. But if so, I could start with a Fallschirmjäger mannequin (much too expensive!), Beamte rank boards (if something is left over by Paul and Gary ) or else.

You never can really get finished with a Luftwaffe collection and most of us couldn't afford such a goal, too ...[/QUOTE]

In my opinion nobody will ever have the complete collection of rank insignia. I'll explain after a little qualification. My focus has been Luft officer tabs and boards for 4 or 5 years now. Gary and Paul were a big help in getting me started. I consider Paul a friend. I have made an effort to chart via excel what ranks exist for sure and what we "the few serious luft insignia collectors" think existed.
Here are a few details, many of which are not set in stone................

Keep in mind this is officer ranks only(Lt-Col). I can come up with 242 different sets of collar tabs alone. Some evidenced by examples that appear original but not backed by documentaion. Some documented as possible but no examples known to exist. When you throw in all the admin branches possible in shoulder boards you would be over 300 ranks easy. Where it gets difficult is all the reserve and musician officer sets, not only regular service but there are several admin sets of tabs in abnormal colors and I believe admin reserve tabs. Paul has an admin tab in blue or medical. As far as I know there is no documentation for this but most of us agree they are legit tabs. Place your bets on any or all of us compined ever coming up with that set complete.

7 or 8 years ago I would have said Garth Thompson had the best (known) collection. He got out of it and Gary ended up with much of his top shelf stuff, now he clearly has the most complete collection I know of.

[PaulR]

You are right... there are so many tabs and shoulder board combinations that I think that it will take a lifetime to find them all. Thanks to Garth, I have some one of a kind items.

I know that Gary has a focus on the officer rankings and has many of the higher General rankings, which I will never aquire. I think that Gary does not collect the enlisted side(unless he has recently started).

While I want them all, my focus and love was on the Beamte and the obscure. In collecting, I have found so many things that are not in the books. In the Sonderfuhrer alone, I have wine red, dark green, light green, blue, and yellow.

I feel that if Gary and I combined collections, we would have about 98% of everything out there.

Something that I have noticed about us few that collect LW tabs is that we are not really that competative(well, maybe a little- GaryB.... where are those black admin and sonderfuhrer tabs you said you were going to gift to me? LOL ). Unlike other clicke's I have seen, we seem to stick together and help one another out. I can honestly say that I have a lot of great friends I have met while indulging in this hobby. This is one of the biggest attributes to our circle that keeps me coming back. There is not that sense of backstabbing or drama I have noticed in other areas.

[RamJet]

Something that I have noticed about us few that collect LW tabs is that we are not really that competative. Unlike other clicke's I have seen, we seem to stick together and help one another out. I can honestly say that I have a lot of great friends I have met while indulging in this hobby. This is one of the biggest attributes to our circle that keeps me coming back. There is not that sense of backstabbing or drama I have noticed in other areas.

I agree completely! I have learned a lot from You and Gary to keep my small tabs and boards collection going!

[JasonA]

Good words, Paul.

I started in another area on this forum which really turned me off to that branch of collecting. I found the Luftwaffe guys to be much more helpful and welcoming. There are always bad apples, but it's also about the company we keep. I've met and reached out to a lot of collectors, not just Luftwaffe. You keep in touch with those that add something of value in some way, even if it's just another nice guy who is passionate about their collecting. Doesn't have to be Luftwaffe. Some of the people I correspond with most are not Luft collectors at all.

The competitiveness in this hobby really stumps me, because there are so many aspects of TR history to collect. A couple below have mentioned the sheer complexity and volume of officer tab collecting alone. And that's Luftwaffe only! Think of all the variations, branches, sub-groups and organizations, components, accoutrements, etc., that one would could focus on. It's virtually limitless.

It's in every collector's best interests to nurture, foster, and welcome other collectors, and elevate the community in all regards. Shelving all the positive reasons for doing so, at the very least collectors will need a healthy population to sell their collections to when they're done. That, of course, is the last and most selfish reason for doing so. Any other behavior is short-sighted at best.

J-