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Civil war stuff is flat to dead. WWII movies will never add more new collectors than the entire baby-boomer generation who grew up in the shadow of WWII, playing with their father's war trophies, hearing the war stories, and emersed in pop culture full of WWII TV shows and movies. The baby-boomers exert a huge influence on all aspects of American society...WWII militaria being one of them. This is all just my opinion, of course. I think in the next 10 to 15 to 20 years there will be way more supply than demand. Quality will always sell. Always. High end M1's and Garands and whatever will always sell. But run of the mill militaria...dime a dozen M1's...the 40,000 rack grade M1's the CMP sold...I think it will all be down in the future.

 

As for the helmet in the OP....looks legit to me. $4700? Not for me. But I think somebody got a nice, rare WWII camo M1.

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sorry to stray off into the civil war topic but I wouldnt say civil war stuff is dead. I have been collecting civil war since I was about 8 years old and im 28 now. Every show i go to has a great turnout and stuff is being sold. I feel like it definitely has slowed down a little, but its far from dead.

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I will give my input here since everyone has. I am closer to the newer generation then the older and I have seen the absolute stupidity of my generation which occurs in every single one but is more prevalent in mine. For example I was on a app called Let Go its a local version of eBay. This one listing for a M1 literally said this.

Old Painted Bucket with cloth inside. I think it was my great grandfathers or whatever he just sat around when I went to see him he was as boring as rocks. Will only take a trade for a pack of mango Juul pods. It was a 1st division m1 helmet with painted insignia and a hood rubber liner. Needless to say some collector got him his mango pods as I was to late to take the pleasure in driving down to circle k and getting him some. But this is just an example of what I think is more to come. Its sad and the hobby is dying but as more and more "old buckets" start appearing I think us collectors that care will be able to have a field day. Collectors are dumping now for top dollar prices but in 15 years it might only be worth 1/3 of what someone paid for it.

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Or it might go through the roof with the 100 year anniversary of the start of ww2 in 20 years. And German helmets.. Even though they have been faked etc.... Are still selling for big bucks. Personally, Im not going to sweat it. I picked up my collections because I want to. Not because Im going to retire on the proceeds. Some of you on here prob could.. My collections are small.

The future will tell for sure. Pretty hard to predict the future. Its just a guess afterall.

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sorry to stray off into the civil war topic but I wouldnt say civil war stuff is dead. I have been collecting civil war since I was about 8 years old and im 28 now. Every show i go to has a great turnout and stuff is being sold. I feel like it definitely has slowed down a little, but its far from dead.

 

Yes, of course . My bad. What I meant is that prices are down or flat. Dead was a wrong choice of words. Yes, of course people will always collect Civil War, as they will WWII. But it certainly is not as hot as it has been in the past.

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Cap Camouflage Pattern I

I'm 18, I'm interested in WWII helmet, but I'm interested in a dozen other things. I won't buy a WWII M1 u til prices come down or everything else goes up.

 

Why would I spend $200 for a plain M1 with no name, no insignia, that probably has never left the US, when for the same price I could get an ACH worn in Afghanistan straight from the vet and an Iraqi helmet that still has sand falling out?

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Captain Woody

I'm 18, I'm interested in WWII helmet, but I'm interested in a dozen other things. I won't buy a WWII M1 u til prices come down or everything else goes up.

 

Why would I spend $200 for a plain M1 with no name, no insignia, that probably has never left the US, when for the same price I could get an ACH worn in Afghanistan straight from the vet and an Iraqi helmet that still has sand falling out?

Purely conjecture on my part, but original M1s weren't nearly as durable as kevlar lids so a significantly smaller percentage of them as a whole stood the test of time. Again, purely a guess, but I feel like down the road there will be FAR more kevlar helmets for collectors as they simply aren't as vulnerable to rust, weathering, etc and can't (as far as I'm aware) be used as a type of scrap material which is where A LOT of M1s ended up, among several other fates. Every component of M1s can literally weather away to nothing as the steel can rust away and all the other components were manufactured with organic materials (cotton, resin, etc). The popularity of the conflicts where kevlar helmets were standard issue as far as collectibility is anyone's guess as these conflicts aren't (currently) as romanticized or represented in pop culture.

As a collector, I definitely wouldn't mind a huge dip in prices, and some others have already commented on that and they seem more informed on the hobby than me

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Cap Camouflage Pattern I

There were 22,363,015 M1 helmets made between 1941 and 1945. I dont know how many PASGTs, ACHs, or LWHs were made, but I doubt the number comes close.

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Everybody has opinions, and time will tell. A couple of quick perspectives:

 

If you think Civil War stuff is strong, you should talk to some CW collectors - I suspect they have a very different opinion. The ones I talk to at shows refer to it as *dead*, due to the same two factors: Fakes, and collectors dying off.

 

On the prospects of churning out movies to sustain interest, that only works to a point. I would bet that the majority of folks going to see a new WWII movie are those already interested, as opposed to newbies thinking *ok, what is all this WWII stuff about*. Will some younger folks get hooked, and start collecting? Sure. At the same rate collectors are exiting? Not even close.

 

Most fellow collectors I talk to collect because they have / had a family member who served. I suspect continued interest - acknowledging a rapidly-decelerating generational collecting interest. But, it won’t likely be WWII. Think about it as a bunch of Gaussian (bell) curves with their tails overlapping. Interest by conflict starts, peaks, and declines - agitated by size of conflict, and some other factors, like views on the war, etc. Sixteen million Americans served in WWII. So, its peak was taller and longer-lasting, with an overall wider spread, I would suppose. The way I see it, we are sliding down the tail of the dinosaur like Fred Flintstone. :)

 

yes you are correct. me, a 50 plus year collector have and still now today fight with myself to sell off the collection. and like most always buyers try to get it from you for nothing or give you the "can you do better shipped". sometimes I will others I wont. I really don't think the hobby is dead-- there are still new collectors showing up and even if the old are dying out, many of us are still left. I LOOK AT IT THIS WAY---------I HAVE ALOT OF NICE STUFF AND IF I CANT SELL IT NOW, WHEN IM GONE MY KIDS WILL GET IT AND DO WHAT THEY WANT WITH IT.

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Since retirement this year I have slowly been thinning out my collection. Mainly to people I know as opposed to the larger market, ebay etc. I am trying to do it in a measured fashion so I can still control prices. I collected for enjoyment and not looking to make money. It will take me years to liquidate though. So far so good.

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yes you are correct. me, a 50 plus year collector have and still now today fight with myself to sell off the collection. and like most always buyers try to get it from you for nothing or give you the "can you do better shipped". sometimes I will others I wont. I really don't think the hobby is dead-- there are still new collectors showing up and even if the old are dying out, many of us are still left. I LOOK AT IT THIS WAY---------I HAVE ALOT OF NICE STUFF AND IF I CANT SELL IT NOW, WHEN IM GONE MY KIDS WILL GET IT AND DO WHAT THEY WANT WITH IT. anything that I have to sell will go up on this forum first. if it doesn't go then I have other avenues to take.

 

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Purely conjecture on my part, but original M1s weren't nearly as durable as kevlar lids so a significantly smaller percentage of them as a whole stood the test of time. Again, purely a guess, but I feel like down the road there will be FAR more kevlar helmets for collectors as they simply aren't as vulnerable to rust, weathering, etc and can't (as far as I'm aware) be used as a type of scrap material which is where A LOT of M1s ended up, among several other fates. Every component of M1s can literally weather away to nothing as the steel can rust away and all the other components were manufactured with organic materials (cotton, resin, etc). The popularity of the conflicts where kevlar helmets were standard issue as far as collectibility is anyone's guess as these conflicts aren't (currently) as romanticized or represented in pop culture.

As a collector, I definitely wouldn't mind a huge dip in prices, and some others have already commented on that and they seem more informed on the hobby than me

 

The problem with this is that yes, indeed the kevlar itself will last nigh forever. However, finding complete unmessed with helmets is the same problem M1 helmet collectors face. Many times these helmets were brought home, stripped, turned in to CIF, and then reissued out, just like the M1. Finding a patched helmet from the invasion of Iraq is a rarity and centerpiece for any modern collector because of their scarcity. It is a lot easier to find a named special operations helmet than it is to find any of those. The surviving ones guys kept as souvenirs and bought a new one as a replacement, and subsequently either sold them or lost control of them or passed away.

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As an owner of a PASGT that I wore in Desert Shield/Storm I can say the shell may last, but three years at Fort Bragg jumping out of airplanes, six months in the sand box, and another two years of training (again at Fort Bragg), the webbing is deteriorating because of the sweat, the washers are all corroded, and I have to be careful with it not to have it deteriorate any more. Like a lot of folks, I bought a replacement and turned it in so I could keep mine which took me awhile to get to fit right with the brain blotter and rabbit ears.

Another thing, on the new ACHs and LWH, I'd thought I wouldn't collect them, but over the past several years have acquired one combat worn ACH, one LWH, and one Warrior helmet. I also have multiple PASGTs that I have picked up in complete condition, one rigged, as mine is, for jumping. I don't know if those will be the new area, but there is definitely an interest there. Being close to military bases helps in picking them up (Fort Bragg, Camp Lejeune, Cherry Point, not to mention the National Guard that has deployed multiple times). So far they have been relatively inexpensive (most I've paid is $90 for the combat worn ACH and generally $35-45 for the complete PASGTs), so as long as they stay at those prices, I'll pick them up. Helmet collecting will have to change with the times, and the times are now for the PASGTs and ACHs.

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My first take is that I would pass on this one....... Not for me. Just my gut feeling in the first 10 seconds of studying it. I'll study it more just to be sure but maybe convince me this is the real deal....? Open to being educated always..... Could be...? Maybe...? Wear pattern is my first concern, but not my only one..... I could be wrong but my radar and 50 years of collecting helmets says keep moving on....... For $200 maybe, I'd take a chance maybe and get it under the loop, some real good magnification........ But I am not buying helmets right now, I am full up on storage. Just my 02 cents, which my not be worth 02 cents to anyone but me and I respect your opinion if you disagree...... Some super close details of exterior paint and margins, wear, would go a long way to convince me, lots of pics for sure. If you bought it, post them up. Convince me. Right now I am in the not convinced column. Regards, Chris

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We were talking about this lid at the Bay State show on Sunday. The scuttlebutt is that it came out of a yard sale in Springfield, the picker asked about militaria and it made its way out of the house.

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Cap Camouflage Pattern I

A tons M1s were scrapped, many PASGTs were thrown away. A lot of M1s were given to the Laotians, Cambodians, Vietnamese, never to return and a lot PASGTs were given to the Iraqis and Afghans, I doubt they will be coming back. Countless M1s were goofed up in the battle of the backyard, countless more ACHs are being spray painted and covered in velcro by airsofters. Many people shot M1s to see if they'd stop a bullet, and many did the same to kevlars, and uploaded the video to youtube. I bet a lot more M1s were destroyed than kevlars, but a lot more were made, how many of each are left is anyone's guess.

 

Regardless of how many exist, my point is for the price of a basic plain M1 I can get high end kevlars

 

post-153751-0-47920900-1573103470_thumb.jpg

The PASGT on the left is complete, untouched, both named and has the modern equivalent of a laundry number, has the wearers blood type written on it, has a reflective square for night vision hand sewn on the cover. It was $28. The Iraqi helmet in the middle is painted tan for camouflage, unit marked, the suspension is missing and the inside is caked with iraqi sand, it was $21.50. The ACH on the right is named, unit marked, and was worn in Iraq in 2006. was a gift directly from the vet's duffel bag.

 

This is why I collect modern helmets. I think WWII helmets are super cool, and I love to drool over them online, but until I start finding named M1s or camo stahlhelms for these prices, I'll only have one WWII M1 in my collection.

 

 

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Those are all cool helmets no doubt. But they are'nt M1's.

You would be surprised how many times you can find cheap m1's that are ww2 some with sewn on straps

that the seller doesnt realise what they have. Maybe they have it listed as vietnam helmet. Maybe it has a vietnam or erdl cover.

You'd be surprised how many times theres a ww2 lid and liner under a vietnam or erdl cover and the seller has no clue

and they are letting it go cheap!

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We were talking about this lid at the Bay State show on Sunday. The scuttlebutt is that it came out of a yard sale in Springfield, the picker asked about militaria and it made its way out of the house.

All good, and adds to the equation for sure..... If you know the characters involved....? And I do mean characters.... Pickers are great people but they do have the gift of gab and imaginaition, at least the ones I know. They have one goal, make the most buck they can..... They know history and value when they see it but they are after top dollar always and will "massage" the story to suit the buyer, every time. Buy the helmet and not the story as they have said a thousand times over.... Not saying this one is fake, just saying I would have to have it in hand and with my good loops, my nose, and my eyes. Regards, Chris

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Those are all cool helmets no doubt. But they are'nt M1's.

You would be surprised how many times you can find cheap m1's that are ww2 some with sewn on straps

that the seller doesnt realise what they have. Maybe they have it listed as vietnam helmet. Maybe it has a vietnam or erdl cover.

You'd be surprised how many times theres a ww2 lid and liner under a vietnam or erdl cover and the seller has no clue

and they are letting it go cheap!

For sure...! Got many an M1 just like that....! Total early fixed bail lids with a Vietnam cover thrown over it to "add value", or maybe not..... Yep, 20 bucks and it is yours....! The 70's and 80's these lids were everywhere and you could get them for a song..... German lids for $50 here and there.... Paid up to $100 a few years ago for the FB M1's but they had to have everything on them..... All the parts.... And the kicker is, they could be totally legit period Vietnam lids that were just recycled without being updated at the depots. Do you take the cover off and call it a WW2 lid...? Maybe not, maybe keep it as found...?

Regards, Chris

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Cap Camouflage Pattern I

Those are all cool helmets no doubt. But they are'nt M1's.

 

This implies that they are better simply by being M1s, and for me that just isn't true. I'm far more interested in the individual history of an item than the model, I've got some later Iraqi helmets that provide no protection, helmets in name only, but they were still worn and have the names and unit markings to show it. I've seen a few decently priced WWII M1s, but none with the interesting things I'm looking for like names, unit marks, untouched sets.

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This implies that they are better simply by being M1s, and for me that just isn't true. I'm far more interested in the individual history of an item than the model, I've got some later Iraqi helmets that provide no protection, helmets in name only, but they were still worn and have the names and unit markings to show it. I've seen a few decently priced WWII M1s, but none with the interesting things I'm looking for like names, unit marks, untouched sets.

I've heard from the older collecters that back in the old days you could find M1s with interesting markings and names at the prices your finding combat used ACH and PASGT helmets. I can't see the future, but I think the prices for those helmets will eventually go up as time passes. Like another user mentioned these helmets are being trashed by people shooting them or from airsofters modifying them and painting them.

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