Collecting on a Budget

[gwb123]

Korean Made Patches...

 

We've had troops stationed in Korea since the end of World War II, and they are still there today. Technically peace has never been declared, and if you talk to anyone who was stationed there in the 50's, 60's or 70's it might as well have been a war zone for some of the things that happened.

 

Aside from patches associated with the Korean or Vietnam Wars, Korean made patches are often relatively inexpensive. Some are hand embroidered, many more were made by hand guided sewing machines. Since the 1980's the manufacturing techniques are more like US or Taiwan styles, but they still can be funky and unique in their own way.

 

One problem that collectors might run into is that often Korean made patches are mistaken for Vietnamese made patches, which can tremendously drive up pricing and bidding.

[gwb123]

Peace Keeping missions....

 

This one from eBay

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...atchlink:top:en

[gwb123]

Mugs, steins, plates...

 

Personally, I don't collect anything that breaks. But I am sure there are others out there who do not have cats who tend to knock things off of shelves like I do. What is nice is they usually feature full color insignia, and often have designs that were never made into unit patches.

 

I'm a bit stymied on this one as the first ones I found on eBay were all $20 or higher. But then I changed my search terms and found more in the $10 or less range.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/U-S-Air-Force-Mug-...=item20c2534008

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/379th-Air-Expediti...=item41531441a2

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-U-S-Army-6...=item256c5b0515

 

If you live anywhere near a base or an area with military retirees, thrift shops and Goodwill stores are great places to hunt for these. Often when people PCS or retire they get rid of these.

[gwb123]

Medevac patches...

 

OK... if you are talking Vietnam or Korean War Medevac patches you will pay a premium price. (And you need to be cautious of reproductions!)

 

But there are a lot of them out there from other time periods. Life saving missions are run both during peace and war, and some of them can be rather harrowing.

 

Plus the designs can be pretty cool.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/C-Co-2-149-AVN-ALA...=item5ae34213bc

[gwb123]

United States Coast Guard...

 

If there was ever an under appreciated field of militaria collecting, this is it. (And yes, I understand they are under Homeland Security during peacetime.)

 

Running down drug smugglers, rescues on land and sea, disaster relief and deployments to warzones... these folks work hard for their pay.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-DIFFERENT-PATCHE...=item53eb6fc3b6

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USCGC-MAUI-Iraq-Pe...=item4cf2a49baf

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ONE-COAST-GUARD-PA...=item256c48fd01

[gwb123]

Arctic, Antartic and Operation Deep Freeze patches...

 

How much cooler than cool? Downright cold even...

 

While these may be civilian and scientific explorations, they are often supported by military personnel.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coast-Guard-AVDET-...=item27c32f6d61

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coast-Guard-AVDET-...=item27c32f937d

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OPERATION-DEEP-FRE...=item5d23093b70

[67Rally]

Collecting USN uniforms, rates, DMs, etc. from WWII is in the budget-minded realm of collecting. Although there are some spendy items, one can build a nice collection on little coin.

[Camp_Kearny]

Collecting USN uniforms, rates, DMs, etc. from WWII is in the budget-minded realm of collecting. Although there are some spendy items, one can build a nice collection on little coin.

 

 

I would agree that even from WWII, US Navy is fairly inexpensive as long as you stay away from Sub, Aviation, and Corpsman items. I've even seen some fairly reasonably priced Seabee stuff at shows from WWII. I found my WWII PO2 uniform in a pile of garbage being thrown out outside of a house here in North Park. Can't get more budget conscious than that.

 

One thing I collect that is fairly reasonably priced is uniforms, emphera, and photos from training camps here in California from WWI and WWII. Some Camp Fremont items can command high prices, but Camp Roberts and Desert Training Center items are quite reasonable. An area that interests me but I have not moved into because I lack the room to even display what I have is Cold War militaria. I think it would be interesting showing the progression of uniforms, equipment, and insignia of the US Soldier from the 1950s through the 1980s in say Germany or Korea. I think you could build a very interesting collection for not huge amounts of money.

 

Ian

[pennsylvaniaboy]

Two areas that I think are really undervalued are Real Photo Post Cards (RPPC). Yes there are specialized collectors who will pay premium prices for images of African-American soldiers, MP's or helmet pictures but there are quantities of other RPPC's out there that are priced reasonably, are great educational tools, and relatively unique. I horse-traded some medals for a huge stack of cards which I still pull out and study when I am looking to broaden my knowledge.

 

Another great area, already mentioned, are national guard pieces. Again, specialized collectors have driven prices in some areas through the roof but lots of this material passes through antique co-ops and malls at low prices because the general public does not think they are true military. In Pa., we saw the discovery and "release" (I was always told they were liberated from a storage unit at Ft. Indiantown Gap but who really knows) of tons of state medals from WW1 and the Mexican Border campaign. Every dealer in the Harrisburg area had a stack of them and they are all over the Internet. They are beautiful, priced pretty well, and a good place to start a collection.

[Slufstuff]

Interesting topic. I think the Desert Storm and WOT suggestions are spot on. I live near Ft. Jackson. Even though it is a training base, lots of GI's choose to retire here. I regularly see them at local flea markets selling off their old uniforms and issue gear. A couple of years ago I had the fortune of meeting a retired army infantryman who collected patches during his multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He was selling all his duplicates. Very nice original patches. I bought about 30 from him, and looking back I wish I had just bought the whole lot. He had over 200 for sale that day. Anyway, it would have been a golden opportunity for a new collector to put together the base for a great collection.

 

Air Force patches are also an under valued option. I see lots on ebay fairly regularly that sell for very reasonable money. For example, last year I picked up a 12 patch lot from the USAF Aggressor program at Nellis, for a total of about $2.00 per patch. Any new collector should be able to thrive in this field for very little money.

[ustpatcher1a]

taking notes of comments here.

[texman1985]

I will admit, I tend to be a collector on a budget, I bought books and other items. At the same time, I do tend to save up and buy nice items as I do prefer a quality collection on a theme over a quantity cellection with everything. I do scour ebay for sleeper items and amazed on some of the prices that I have paid for decent pieces.

[aussieboy]

My primary interest is US knives/bayonets. I basically try to save up money for my "wishlist". I generally don't get too concerned about the high price if I really want something.

 

However, I also try to get shoulder patches and DUIs of US units involved in the first wave of the Normandy landings.

 

If the prices are too high, I find repros can still make my display look good.

 

The airborne patches are an example. We don't get many of original WW2 Airborne patches over here in Oz, so repros are ok with me.

[Jason29307]

Great read as I am new to collecting militaria myself. Though this thread is pretty old, I just wanted to say thanks. I am starting with reading reference books first and then start assembling pre Vietnam army of navy things to see what catches me first. Also, some great things to collect are war time letters and actual gi taken photos. Make a scrap book.

Another thing I collect are the Spanish Civil War propaganda posters. Of all the 4 or 5 political parties. That is some of the boldest, colorful artwork I have seen. Also,wartime poetry written by a Gi to his sweetheart home. I really love finding those gems in stacks of letters.

Thanks again

[Skysoldier80]

My suggestions for US Militaria are as follows:

 

1) Korean Era items seem to go for less than WWII and Vietnam

2) Theater Made Modern Conflict Patches and Skill Badges including the Theater Made cosmetic patches (like the funny ones)

3) Ammo Cans

4) Small Arms Cartridges

5) 1980s-1990s US Army Anything (BDUs, Dress uniforms, TA50, etc)

6) WWII Coast Guard and Navy Items

7) Iraq and Afghanistan Items (I have bought things from the Bazaars that are legit ranging from Martini Henry Rifles, Soviet Era Helmets, and even named Colonial Medals).

 

These are just a few things that my young boy collects and he is definitely a budget collector.

[Bugme]

I collect helmets which are often viewed as high end and out of reach for entry level budget minded collectors. However, that really is not the case. I started with a handful of cheaper helmets(back then $5.00 now in the $30.00-$40.00 range). Back then it was surplus WWII and Korean era. Today it is late Vietnam to Granada/Panama era. Point is, still available on a budget and helmets are still cool even the cheap ones.

 

I bought a bunch cheap and sold them for a few bucks more. My "high end collection", as some call it, occurred as a result of finding cheap, selling for more, trading up, and an extreme amount of patience. I think I enjoyed my cheap finds as much as the expensive ones. I still have my first Vietnam era Chaplains helmet that I got for a whopping $20.00... and it is still a favorite of mine.

[Skysoldier80]

I just thought of another item although it is not US; WWII Italian. There is a whole gambit of stuff that is reasonable. My 10yr old’s first two items he actually bought with his birthday money and allowance was a nice tunic and a helmet.

[kammo-man]

I have always collected on a budget.

Some years you have more........some years the complete opposite and have way less.

Sell a few pieces to get something better .....its a time tested formula that works every time.

Trade some stuff for something you want.

As time changes so does your focus.

Just stay focused and try not to turn your collection into an episode of Hoarders.

[BILL THE PATCH]

When I started collecting I had no money, but I had a mortgage, 4 kids, and bills up the ying yang. That's 25 years ago. In 1999 someone told me about eBay. So I decided to sell off multiples of patches I had to make extra money, and Bam! I was doing pretty well even building up my collection and adding a little money back into household fund. I started garage saleing , flea markets etc etc. My point is if your a kid in college and wants to collect military try eBay. Start small. I'm no rocket scientist and I did it. and if I go back through my eBay account for the last 20 years I know I made of 30.000, I did sell a Harley motorcycle once that made a large chunk of cash. I know there are a lot of eBay nay Sayers. But it worked for me and I didn't have a pot to piss in.

 

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

 

[Doctorofwar]

Somethings that I have collected on a budget are items of field gear/LBE/web gear items. There was so much of it produced, and it can be found almost anywhere- often being sold for cheap as surplus. Piecing together complete sets of LBE or finding various versions of single items can provide a lot of enjoyment for not a lot of $. We all know there are rare and expensive items out there, but with many items sold in bins at surplus stores, every once in awhile there is a real gem buried in the pile if you educate yourself and know what to look for.

[Mr.Jerry]

Great advice all around!