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Hello from California!


Nick_M
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Hi all. My name's Nick and I'm a casual collector of mainly ground troop equipment from WWI onwards. I'm especially interested in armored fighting vehicles. I've always had a fascination for military stuff. Grew up with G.I. Joes and played all kinds of war video games. I'd watch Band of Brothers every time it popped up on the History Channel. But I'm older now with more disposable income so now I spend a lot of time and money on real life equipment. I try not to get political about my collecting. While I doubt an discussions on this forum will turn "political", I'm really only interested in the history of these pieces and the experiences of individuals who served. I joined the forum to share and learn about some of the more obscure piece in my collection. Even seemingly common uniforms and equipment are poorly documented online. For now I'll just share an overview of my collection. I plan on aggressively expanding as long as I have the income to do so. Thanks for reading!

 

My modest lid collection:

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Army/USMC body armor from 1945 to the present day:

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A poor picture of my uniforms. Dating from WWII through to Vietnam:

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My favorite AFV, the M4 Sherman:

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Daytonian777

Welcome Nick!

That is a nice collection so far! I can sympathize about the poor documentation of common (or was at one point) equipment. I personally love collecting entrenching tools, but if you venture outside of collecting U.S. examples, the information can be very sparse at times. Best wishes to you here on USMF! ?

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Hi!

I'm new too. After seeing what you have I don't know if I can still name myself „collector”. The helmet with the Mitchel camo cover and a big 37 looks awesome.
Best

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8 hours ago, Daytonian777 said:

Welcome Nick!

That is a nice collection so far! I can sympathize about the poor documentation of common (or was at one point) equipment. I personally love collecting entrenching tools, but if you venture outside of collecting U.S. examples, the information can be very sparse at times. Best wishes to you here on USMF! ?

Thank you. Half the fun of collecting for me is the history. It can be frustrating when a piece you have great interest in has no trace on info anywhere. 

4 hours ago, Tylbor said:

Hi!

I'm new too. After seeing what you have I don't know if I can still name myself „collector”. The helmet with the Mitchel camo cover and a big 37 looks awesome.
Best

Thanks! I think that you're a collector as long as you have passion for it, regardless of the size of your collection. And the helmet cover is definitely an uncommon find these days. It was a post-Vietnam War training. You can find more info here: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/5792-found-this-vietnam-era-camo-cover-with-large-numbers/

 

3 hours ago, mdk0911 said:

Welcome Nick - have fun and enjoy the forum as their are very knowledgeable people here!

Thank you. I hope that maybe I'll be able to contribute to a meaningful discussion as well. 

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Old Crow 1986

Welcome and looks like your "...modest..." collection is anything but.  You'll like the apolitical, informed, atmosphere here.  Opinions are respected, the give and take is collegial and the language is family friendly.  Thanks or sharing the pictures and see you around!

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Hello and welcome from the other side of the country - NY - upstate to be more specific. Nice collection. Is body armor hard to find. I don't see much around here.

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1 hour ago, Old Crow 1986 said:

Welcome and looks like your "...modest..." collection is anything but.  You'll like the apolitical, informed, atmosphere here.  Opinions are respected, the give and take is collegial and the language is family friendly.  Thanks or sharing the pictures and see you around!

Thanks for the warm welcome! I guess I meant "modest" in the sense that it was relatively small scale. A lot of collectors stockpile examples of the same piece of equipment which is something I have no problem with. But for me, I'd like to document the "evolution" of American body armor. So there might be a few esoteric pieces thrown in but I'm still on the lookout for real "must-have" pieces. For example a Brodie helmet. 

1 hour ago, sundance said:

Hello and welcome from the other side of the country - NY - upstate to be more specific. Nice collection. Is body armor hard to find. I don't see much around here.

I'm not sure what NY laws are but the general consensus for the US seems to be Kevlar and ballistic plates are legal as long as you're not a felon. My collection primarily comes from eBay, as that's where I find the best deals. Some of the most common body armor you'll find are old PASGT vests. M69 vests are pretty common but fairly expensive. More modern vests seem fairly common but get sold rather quickly. I'm only interested in complete sets and those are hard to come by. Some of my early examples are pretty rare and cost me too much. M1952As pop up from time to time but the M1955s are usually sold within a week of listing, regardless of price. I still need to get my hands on a decent 3rd pattern example so I've always got my eyes peeled. 

Here's an eBay tip: set alerts for the specific pieces you're looking for. That's how I've been able to snag so many of my pieces and fair(-ish) prices. 

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12 hours ago, Backtheattack said:

Hello Nick, great items! Welcome to the forum!

Thanks! Nice to meet an enthusiast from outside the US. 

9 hours ago, manayunkman said:

Welcome Nick.

Looks like you are ready no matter your politics.?

 

Thanks! I definitely plenty of pieces for discussion, that's for sure. 

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Backtheattack

Nick, you`re welcome. Started in 1988 when meeting the first US soldiers from Military Police Units and the well-known Oktoberfest, and Old Glory waves still over my ground.

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