Todays Surplus Is Tomorrows Collectable

[m1ashooter]

As a kid and oh what a great era to be a kid, WW2 surplus and later VN surplus was found in every flea market cheap. I wish I now had the ERDL's and OD jungle fatigues I wore out camping and working.

 

This brings us to day. I just picked up an DCU pattern vest for a few bucks and the cost of shipping. Uncle Sam seems to be purging the warehouses of DCU pattern gear. I believe the next release will be ACU colored gear.

 

I'm thinking now is the time to load up on the gear. What are your thoughts?

[dave nh]

I think BDU will be the forgoten gear for a while,i myself have been picking any realy good ones for awhile.Think they might come into thier own latter on.Like you said we have all burned up our share of them and never thought twice about them,but least from what ive seen they seen to be getting less commen to see at the fleas and places.And the ACU's never really grew on me i have a few sets and their ok but just dont look right lol.

 

 

David

[Mercenary25]

Well, anything related to OEF and OIF and gear used/worn in theater is already very collectible. There are some collectors like me who focus 100% on OEF/OIF.

 

I find it highly doubtful that BDU's would hold value that well unless it belonged in a grouping or SOF related. Won't be popular, going in the path of VN era OG-107 utility uniform.

[Sabrejet]

Not easy to predict future collecting trends. I doubt if in 1960 some entrepreneur stashed away a bunch of WW2 helmets thinking that in 50 or so years time he could make a killing with them! What might dictate future trends is cost, availability and market forces in certain fields. For example...the once seemingly bottomless pit of good and affordable WW2 is no longer bottomless! Prices have risen dramatically in my 25 + year collecting lifetime. Stuff that was once both plentiful and relatively cheap, sadly no longer is! This has the effect of causing many collectors to focus elsewhere instead. VN war gear provides a perfect example of this. It's still readily available and relatively inexpensive (as once was WW2 gear) so provides an alternative for the collector. This, in turn, drives up prices as demand begins to outstrip supply. So what happens next? BDUs / ALICE gear....DCUs...ACUs...and so it goes. Buy now whilst stocks last! Just my take on it!

[Third Herd]

Now days it is hard to tell if an item is government issue or made for Air Soft etc. I just got a woodland camo Molle II vest with pouches and some have an NSN and contract markings while some only have a part number, but same maker. I am used to having the GI manuals on stuff and the newer equipment doesn't have any. In the 1970's I started seeing fake field gear made of lighter weight material and cheap hardware, but marked similar to GI issue equipment. I would like to pick up some of the newer stuff, but I don't want to buy stuff that isn't real.

[Manchu Warrior]

I have to polity disagree with some of what has been said, and this is why. Not so long ago I picked up a couple of BDU uniform tops at an estate sale. The uniforms belonged to a Major who was a 1st Cav veteran of Desert Storm. I kept one and sold the other one on ebay to a gentleman in Belgium for $68.00. There is also a thread somewhere on the forum on what one of the forum members was getting for nicely badged BDU tops. Look it up and it may surprise you. And not to get to deep. But I recently purchased this BDU uniform at an auction. The soldier was a SFC and was in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne. I know this because his Class A uniform sold for close to $80.00 at the auction and I purchased his white tagged BDU uniform for $2.00 about five minutes earlier. And I will fill closets with nicely badged BDUs simply because they already command a nice price to the right people.

[BOLO]

common uniforms & gear today will be around for a very long time, it could take 50 years until it becomes scarce and by that time you will be too old to care about it

 

I wouldnt waste my time on stock piling current gear in hopes it will be valuable in 30 - 50 plus years

[dave nh]

We thought that to about the WW 2 items in the 1980s aslo Bolo. lol :pinch:

And aslo we all collect what we like and care about not to worried about cost in the future ,if that was the case id be collecting money.Insted of wasting moy money on old smelly surplus lol.

 

David

[squirrely]

common uniforms & gear today will be around for a very long time, it could take 50 years until it becomes scarce and by that time you will be too old to care about it

 

I wouldnt waste my time on stock piling current gear in hopes it will be valuable in 30 - 50 plus years

 

This summs it up nicely - if you're collecting anything purely with the goal of flipping it for cash, then you're not anywhere near the same as the guy who buys the stuff because of its' innate value to you. I've been putting more and more time into DCUs not because they will eventually rise in value, but specifically because after a recent deployment I view each patched set of DCUs represents a year or more of some Soldier's life. It's not surplus that I'm looking for; the pieces I buy represent a particular rotation, a specific group of people, and a precise setting that cannot be understood unless you were there. Buying the jacket gives only a glimpse.

 

Point being, even if DCUs never rise above $10 a top, I would continue to buy them. I'm sure for other individuals BDUs and ALICE gear have the same effect, but this is likely a smaller group - and this is also likely why BDUs in general will likely increase in value at a slower rate than the "wartime" uniforms. I won't even get into those units that wore BDUs downrange...

[JimM]

Interesting post Guys, but I grew up in the 50's and all your "letter" designations lose me.

Would someone please post some pics and date ranges to educate me in the differences

in all the groups that are mentioned above:ERDL, DCU, ACU, OEF, OIF, BDU, OG-107, etc.

I'm sure I have examples of some of these but just don't know the differences. Thanks,

JimM

[Manchu Warrior]

Interesting post Guys, but I grew up in the 50's and all your "letter" designations lose me.

Would someone please post some pics and date ranges to educate me in the differences

in all the groups that are mentioned above:ERDL, DCU, ACU, OEF, OIF, BDU, OG-107, etc.

I'm sure I have examples of some of these but just don't know the differences. Thanks,

JimM

Do a search on the forum and I am positive you will find everything that you need.

[Mercenary25]

ODS or DS: Operation Desert Storm

OEF: Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan)

OIF: Operation Iraqi Freedom

 

Uniforms

OG-107: OD green utility uniform from Cold War era thur to 80's

Jungle Jackets: OD green Fatigues worn in Vietnam War

ERDL: Camo version of Jungle Jackets

RDF: Rapid Deployment Forces: Pre-BDU woodland uniform from 70's-80's

BDU: Battle Dress Uniforms (Woodland pattern uniforms from 80's to 00's)

DBDU: Desert Battle Dress Uniform (Six color desert uniform or known as chocolate chip, worn in the Desert Storm)

DCU: Desert Combat Uniform (three color desert uniform from early OEF and OIF)

CCU: Close Combat Uniform (One of experimental cut of uniforms in three color desert)

CU: Combat Uniform (Another experiemental uniform cut in three color desert)

ACU: Army Combat Uniform (current digital uniform for Army)

MARPAT: USMC digital uniform

ACU-D: Army Combat Uniform-Delta (experimental ACU with added colors)

Multicam: Uniform US. Army is wearing in Afghanistan right now.

 

If you search those designations on this forum, you would be able to see a lot of pictures. Hope it helps.

[Manchu Warrior]

This summs it up nicely - if you're collecting anything purely with the goal of flipping it for cash, then you're not anywhere near the same as the guy who buys the stuff because of its' innate value to you. I've been putting more and more time into DCUs not because they will eventually rise in value, but specifically because after a recent deployment I view each patched set of DCUs represents a year or more of some Soldier's life. It's not surplus that I'm looking for; the pieces I buy represent a particular rotation, a specific group of people, and a precise setting that cannot be understood unless you were there. Buying the jacket gives only a glimpse.

 

Point being, even if DCUs never rise above $10 a top, I would continue to buy them. I'm sure for other individuals BDUs and ALICE gear have the same effect, but this is likely a smaller group - and this is also likely why BDUs in general will likely increase in value at a slower rate than the "wartime" uniforms. I won't even get into those units that wore BDUs downrange...

If I was doing to simply collect I would keep everything. And honestly I have already tried that and I cannot afford it nor do I have the room. So yes there are things that I do buy that I know I am going to sell at a profit. But usually it just offsets what I spend on items I want to keep. And yes I do buy nicely patched BDUs on the cheap in hopes that they will go up in value, and they actually already have gone up. But honestly I am already keeping more than I know I am going to sell. I also have a trunk full of East German stuff, to include 20 plus visors or so, that I paid next to nothing for that I hope I can sell at a profit one day. But in the end I have always been much better at buying items then I have been at selling them.

[JimM]

ODS or DS: Operation Desert Storm

OEF: Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan)

OIF: Operation Iraqi Freedom

 

Uniforms

OG-107: OD green utility uniform from Cold War era thur to 80's

Jungle Jackets: OD green Fatigues worn in Vietnam War

ERDL: Camo version of Jungle Jackets

RDF: Rapid Deployment Forces: Pre-BDU woodland uniform from 70's-80's

BDU: Battle Dress Uniforms (Woodland pattern uniforms from 80's to 00's)

DBDU: Desert Battle Dress Uniform (Six color desert uniform or known as chocolate chip, worn in the Desert Storm)

DCU: Desert Combat Uniform (three color desert uniform from early OEF and OIF)

CCU: Close Combat Uniform (One of experimental cut of uniforms in three color desert)

CU: Combat Uniform (Another experiemental uniform cut in three color desert)

ACU: Army Combat Uniform (current digital uniform for Army)

MARPAT: USMC digital uniform

ACU-D: Army Combat Uniform-Delta (experimental ACU with added colors)

Multicam: Uniform US. Army is wearing in Afghanistan right now. \

 

 

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Thanks Mercenary25 this is very helpful. So then Woodland pattern was actually not worn in Viet Nam ? A little later ?

JimM

[agate hunter]

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Thanks Mercenary25 this is very helpful. So then Woodland pattern was actually not worn in Viet Nam ? A little later ?

JimM

 

woodland pattern, or the BDU, was not worn in vietnam. production on BDUs started in the early 1980s or so. the ERDL jacket was the camo worn in vietnam.

 

here is an ERDL jungle jacket. colors are similar to those on the BDU, but the cut of the jacket is different.

[Nkomo]

Some of us have been collecting DCU's, BDU's, and gear from DS/OEF/OIF for years now. I am slightly ahead of the curve on this one.

[316th FS 324th FG]

Move along, nothing to see here, no need to go after this worthless surplus, these are not the droids you are looking for...

[Nkomo]

Move along, nothing to see here, no need to go after this worthless surplus, these are not the droids you are looking for...

:thumbsup:

[dave nh]

lol :bravo:

[FNGRyan]

I get the newly issued gear and such not to make money, but to use such as when I go out backpacking frequently in the mountains or this summer when we're going down the backcountry of the grand canyon for a week.

its hard nowadays to find good quality "civilian" gear without having to spend a lot of cash

Ryan

[mndoss]

I personally don't collect OIF/OEF and other current militaria because it simply isn't in my realm of interest as far as collecting, just like many others out there I focus on WWII. I will, however, save one of my sets of desert and green MARPAT cammies (especially one of my rattier deserts that I took on my MEU and OEF deployments) as momentoes of my own military service, as well as any other gear I have depending on space. Needless to say I'll be saving my dress uniforms and I've got my rank insignia I've had through the years. I do this mainly to pass onto my family when I go. That's probably the only current stuff I'll have though. Now if those out there want to start stocking up on surplus while it's cheap I say if you've got the money go for it, though I agree with those that mentioned it might take it awhile for it appreciate in value, maybe decades. It's all up to what interests you.

[savage21]

I buy alot of older stuff and maybe KEY WORD maybe pic up new if its cheap enough and I have money to burn. (aint often lol) I soometimes buy stuff to flip it but IDK it just depends on the time and the place.\

Also I buy stuff from Korean War because My Grand Father on my dads side was a tank driver during the Korean war.

[M60 Driver]

I have been in the surplus business for over 30 years now and as we surpies say, you can't buy too high but you can buy too soon. I can't believe the prices I am finally getting for the Nam era stuff that had been languishing in my warehouse for years, And just in time for retirement too. The Nam era items are being bought both by collectors and by the small dedicated re-enactors including the airsoft mil-sim folks. It is all a bit hard for me to digest sometimes, but the younger crowd, for better or for worse and lacking a Pete Seeger, has none of the political baggage that my own generation carries around relative to the Vietnam war.

[GoldenCross]

This sure is an intriguing thread! I always wondered if there ever is a "too early". I suppose when you get a moment like now, when ACU's are the new kid on the collectible block, you need to make that decision. I'm sure without a doubt, there will be value to them some day, but it will be under a very different definition than we have today.

 

Like it was mentioned above, there is an entire market for recreational/civilian military wear now that didn't exist when WW2 gear was readily available. Paintball, airsoft, and Call of Duty has inspired companies to make near exact remakes out of cheaper materials and low quality production (As I'm sure you all know). Just go to a surplus store and see all how much of it is actually military surplus and how much is civilian made remakes. That junk will cloud the collectible market in 50 years when people are really looking for ODS/OIF/OEF stuff. I feel bad for those who want to preserve that era. The same thing is happening now with WW2 reenactors and repro gear. Will there be a way to distinguish it all down the road?

 

I think that would be a point for the "collect it now" team. If it's collected, labeled, and preserved now, it will be separated from the junk ahead of time. And of course, it will always be cheaper now, than later on.

[Brig]

Well, anything related to OEF and OIF and gear used/worn in theater is already very collectible. There are some collectors like me who focus 100% on OEF/OIF.

I have to agree...I get 1 to 2 messages a month asking if I have anything used in country I'd wish to part with...even when I was in country still using it!