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466th PFA (17th Airborne) Uniform Group


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Chris,

I hear what you're saying, I started collecting german memoribilia over 30 years ago and would try to contact US vets any way I could - many offerred their own items to me but I had no interest, at that time it was abundant and seemed to have little value. As I became more focused in my German collecting(high end Waffen SS) I started collecting painted US Helmets (camos and unit marked) because they were cheap (at the time, late 80's) and I could come home from a show with something - after accumulating over 100 or so space began to be a problem and my interests grew steadily in airborne, in the early 90's it was still fairly easy to find vets with stuff that were willing to sell at reasonable prices, since SPR and BOB airborne collecting has become crazy as most already know - from an investment standpoint I love it but from a collecting standpoint it sickens me. If you have true good vet acquired things you know how much that is offerred through ebay and at shows is pure crap at rediculous prices, I long for those days when you could get something really nice for cheap from a vet along with his story where he got it - It's nice to have nice things but for me the hunt was the funnest part, I feel sorry for new collectors to this hobby that don't know what it used to be like, fakes were easily spotted and nice collections in any area could be amassed on middle class wages with some determination and knowledge. Sorry to ramble on, I'll hop of me soapbox now.

 

Bob,

I envy your experiences. Being 33 years old, I missed the glory days of German collecting. I caught the tail end of US collecting before prices went crazy. Afterwards, I made the decision to own fewer items, but pony up for serious ones with the hope that they will be an investment when I part with them decades later. I still stumble onto nice stuff here and there, but most of the time I have to pay what it takes to get the item just like everyone else.

 

---Chris

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Hi Chris, great group, I love the photo of the vet holding the uniform. Jon

 

Jon,

Thanks for your comment. Whenever I buy an item from a veteran, I always try and get a photo of them holding the item.

 

--Chris

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