online retailer: uk militaria

edwin

edwin

Active member
Dear all,

I started collecting pickelhaubes only a few years ago and, therefore, I am not that experienced in this field. Recently, I noticed that uk militaria offers from time to time interesting and affordable pickelhaubes. Especially the latter is quite important to me because I am not in a posistion to buy very expensive (and high quality) helmets. Does anyone of you has ever purchased something from uk militaria and are the pickelhaubes they offer original?

Kind regards,

Edwin
 
Edwin,

Welcome to the forum! I did not know of this dealer. I looked on his site or what I think is his site. I looked at one helmet and only one–all I can say is not for me.
 
Hey Edwin,
I agree with Joe, of the two Pickelhaubes that are complete, they both have the same reproduction liner, and I can not tell from the photos if any of the parts are original, some parts may be. The best helmet he had to offer is sold, and that was the damaged one.
Best
Gus
PS Welcome to the forum, I think you have made a very good start.
 
Hi Edwin

Personally I would not recommend this site for the novice collector. The dealer in question is well known among the UK collecting fraternity and has been the subject of discussion on various forums. If anyone has anything good to say about him, I haven't found it yet. Not that I am implying in any way that he is dishonest; far from it! I don't doubt that he is a perfectly genuine, principled chap who has just been extraordinarily unfortunate in his choice of stock, the poor lamb.

Best wishes,

S.
 
Scratch said:
I don't doubt that he is a perfectly genuine, principled chap who has just been extraordinarily unfortunate in his choice of stock, the poor lamb.//
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That was most gracious and gentle. This seller has been discussed on almost all militaria forums.
 
KAGGR 1870 has linked in this subforum to a really excellent series of papers he's written on pickelhaubes of the 1870 war. They are in French, but you can probably work out the captions to the photos. At the end of one paper he gives some tips which I've taken the liberty of translating here:

"Some basic principles for buying well:

* The chance of getting a real bargain is always less than the chance of being ripped off: don’t jump unthinkingly at opportunities;

* Where there is one doubt, there are no doubts.... leave it alone;

* Never become a captive buyer dependent on a dealer who “knows his stuff” ( this is like the addict’s dependence on his dealer);

* Never believe the spoken word (often just slipped into your ear “but hey, this is between you and me, nobody else knows about it”): it’s probably such a lie that the seller would never dare put it in writing!

* Never, never give in to the enticements “absolute sleeper”, “very rare”, “this is an area I know about”: only ever trust yourself, and your own ability to say no;

* When buying any headdress, start off on the assumption that the piece has been concocted from bits; prove to yourself that in fact it is correct (or not).

Never allow your hand to be forced by a seller, and do not be afraid not to buy something. Experience has shown that nothing is really rare, and that frustration and disappointment will often come back to bite you the day after a purchase."

How true! We've all been there, allowing ourselves to believe a piece is what we want it to be, rather than what it really is.

Personally I do not believe there is an easy way to buy pickelhaubes, or any other high-end military collectable, cheaply. If you don't know your subject, be sure to rectify that omission asap. But study cannot really compensate for experience, which is often bought painfully. Sadly, this is unavoidable at some stage. The rewards will come later, when you know enough to spot a good buy.

Good luck!

S.
 
joerookery said:
We've all been there, allowing ourselves to believe a piece is what we want it to be, rather than what it really is.
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Amen brother.
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But sometimes when a portrait of Bismark comes on the market, you just have to jump on it:)
 
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