3 Questions

[Gary Wood]

Three Questions,

What actually got you started collecting?

What was your first item?

Do you still have it?

cheers,
Gary

[pimpf]

1. I would like to answer this question for myself but I do not know indeed !
2. He-he ... It was remains of rusty M98 cartrige I found in old trench.
3. Still keep it as a talisman.

[Guy]

What an interesting thread this could turn out to be hard, questions though.

1 Stories from my Grandparents, films, comics.

2 My grandfathers effects. Medals, machete, and housewife in which I found some SS insignia.

3 Still have the machete and medals but sold the SS cloth aged 14, stupid,


Guy.

[bnz. 42]

Three Questions,

What actually got you started collecting?

What was your first item?

Do you still have it?

cheers,
Gary

For me, the main factor was Design. Everything was so tastefully designed! Weapons, uniforms, symbols, awards, military parades, etc look so col!

When I was kid, my first item was a gas mask canister but of course, I was not collecting back then.

The first thing in my collection was an aluminum Heer belt buckle (was-there piece - brought from Russia). Still have it in my jeans


My first love

[Adrian Stevenson]

As I grew up in the 1960's there were plenty of WW2 films on TV, comics like the "Victor" which had lots of WW2 based stories inside plus a true story about a VC winner on the cover each week. I used to make model aircraft and tanks, so "Airfix" have a lot to answer for as well. Plus I used to live in a village where the British Army sold all it's surplus vehicles. What chance did I stand in not becoming interested in military things


My first item was a Mai 1936 tinnie which I was given by a school friend, who's Dad, a Free Polish soldier had brought home from WW2. I still have it. I was 15 at the time. Now 43. This really started my interest in German items and my collection grew from that day onwards. There was also perhaps a little bit of a rebelious streak in me that made me want to collect German stuff. This was the era of Punk rock etc. My first original SS item was a first pattern deathshead, which I have shown on the forum before.

I look forwards to hearing of how everyone else got started.

Cheers, Ade.

[Gary Wood]

I am not at home at the moment so cannot asses my files But i still have the first thing and will post it when i get back,

What started me was my grandfather he was a military medal winner in WW1, he joined in his elder brothers name as at the time he was only 15 and it was not until he won the MM that he coughed up as his brother joined in his name! he served in the Home guard in WW2 and dabbled in the black market as well, I guess I listen to his stories and that got me hooked Although he could never understand my interest in German items.
cheers,
Gary

[Wesley's Dad]

3-?

1) An inexplicable interest in WW2 history at a very young age to be so far removed from the time period (Born 1968). In 7th grade I was the only person in my history class that could identify the three world leaders show in the famous Yalta Conference photo.

2) First item was an Italian helmet purchased at about 10 years old at a flea market near my home. It was complete, but one of the surplus jobs with the horrible, thick OD paint over the original gray.

3) Still have it? Sort of, I took an interest to refurbish it to look like it's original WW2 configuration. I disassembled it, stripped the shell etc, and it languished unfinished. I sold just the liner leather for about 25 times more than I paid for the helmet as a kid. I still have the stripped shell.

My second item sort of interesting as well. It was a Canadian made "Tommy" helmet purchased at the same flea market some years later. I remember a huge stack of them being sold as novalties as "Sky Lab Helmets". At the time the world was waiting for the famous space station to fall from orbit and wondering just where it would land. The seller of these helmets was spoofing that notion by offering these helmets as "Tongue in Cheek" protection from falling space parts I do still have this one...

[herrgeezer]

My dad served in North Africa and Italy and brought back several items that interested me as a kid. I have some photos of him wearing a German helmet that he told me was a AK helmet. He brought it back but left it at my grandparents house after the war and it was left in the house when it sold.

He also brought back a silver wound badge and AK stamp and lots of photos. Of course as a kid I lost the wound badge, my brother has got the stamp but I still have some pictures.

I guess that jump started me into an interest. I always wanted a German helmet and my mania grew out of that. I now have 17 German helmets... and so it goes.

The design of the military items from the III Reich was such a blend of artistry and propaganda... the likes that we have never seen and will never see again.

People that have no interest in WWII are stunned when they see my collection and immediately comment about the design of the items I have on display. Words like elegant and professionalism as well as aggressive, ruthless are all words used to try and make sense of these items.

The designers of this regalia certainly knew what they were doing and the potential impact their designs would have on a willing populous. It's what draws me as well... I'm glad I didn't live in pre-war Germany. I'm better off being sucked in after the fact - where my wallet is the only real casualty.

[all1knew]

first items

Hello all,

I bought a 25 year faithful service cross at a coin show with my dad when I was 14. I was HOOKED once that baby touched my hands. I do not have the same cross anymore. I was pissed to find out it was worth much less than the $55.00 I paid for it, and it wasn't even in that great of condition.

Bill

[Paul M]

My dad was a fighter pilot in the Pacific in WW2. His stories always had my
total interest. Thats what got me interested.
But what got me collecting was a friend of mine in grade school. His dad had brought home a German M40 SD helmet and a Hitler youth knife. Every time I went over to his house, I had to see that helmet!
My first item I ever purchased was, you guessed it, an M40 SD helmet.
Here it is.
Thanks, Paul

[MartyC]

kid

My first item was a german helmet back around 1971 that I bought from "Unique Imports". It had an original liner but had been "refurbished" and a pair of those crazy water transfer decals were sent with it. I had seen it in a Military Magzine for $19.95. I still have it!!!!

I became interested in this stuff as a boy when I use to play "Army" with the other boys in the neighborhood. One of the guys had a original Luft M35 that his dad had brought back from the war. I was always the "bad guy" when we played , so I got to wear that helmet!! I was hooked from then on.......

One day I had it on and a neighbor lady saw me and said that if I liked that stuff I should go through her trash cans because she had just cleaned out her attic. In the trash I pulled out Nazi flags, HJ armbands, insignia, SS insignia from Dachau, etc. It was her husband's stuff and he didn't know she was throwing it out!!! Some of it I still have but some of it I traded for baseball cards or some other nonsense. Dumb, but hey I was like 12 years old.

Marty

[Fred Fokkelman]

I always loved the German uniforms when I watched World at War on tv in the late 70's. Besides that: my family history had a nasty background during the War and that caught my attention as well.

One day I was in the Ardennes with my wife in La Gleize and visited the museum. I was in total love with the uniforms I saw there... So my wife once bought me an Iron cross 2nd class which she found in a local newspaper and that started me off. She still regrets this gift. But, I never sell this Iron cross...

[Mark Holden]

Like Ade I grew up in the 60's same diet of Victor, Commando Comics, Airfix models. My Dad was a career soldier NW Europe both My Grandfathers were in WW1 one of them won the MC. Not sure how the German collecting think came about, I think it was trading from a school mate his Grandads(POW)luftwaffe Chevron, Drivers Badge and sound Locator badge, now sadly gone. I think livining in Vienna in the Mid 70's and visiting the Flohmarkt every Saturday really got me going, I still have my first three oieces of Insignia I bought there, a gefreiter Chevron, a Farrier Badge and a sleeve Edelweiss.

Cheers

Mark

[FLANDERN]

Three Questions,

What actually got you started collecting?

Well, living in Belgium, you'll soon be confronted with the first world war and the severe fighting in the trenches. It's also the country of the Ardennes Offensive, so, plenty of chances around you'll pick up the virus somewhere. But it actually took off when I discovered the history of my grandfather, who served in the 2nd Co of the Frw. Leg. Flandern, hence was a collaborator and it was the search for the truth and his history (also of his comrades) that kept and keeps me going on and on!

What was your first item?Do you still have it?

A German WW I helmet in very poor condition, painted in wite and which had been used to put flowers in ... it was a gift from a farmer and I don't have it anymore, I gave it to a youngster who started to collect WW I

By the way, interesting thread!

[stgeorge64]

1. My interest in military history as a whole came from the fact that both of my grandfathers fought in WWI and my father and 6 of his brothers all fought in WWII, so as I was growing up the wars were often part of the conversations. My interest in German militaria started after reading the Sven Hassel novels shortly after leaving school.

2. The first item was an EKII, although at the time I didn't realise it had a fake ribbon !

3. Yes I still have the EKII (now with a lenght of original ribbon) and I still use the fake ribbon as a bookmark!

Good thread Gary

Regards Richard.