Airborne-Hunter Posted May 18, 2021 Share #1 Posted May 18, 2021 October will be my 20th anniversary in the hobby. It's proved to be an exciting endeavor, but not without its pitfalls. My first ten years were marked by mistakes and missed opportunities. I didn't find much over my first ten years, but with effort and due time I was able to build a somewhat decent collection. I focused on helmets that I found locally. In order from most recent first: first up is an M35 single decal army my dad found at the flea market a week ago. No specific history on this one. Right place, right time. My dad was looking at something on the ground and the seller set this down next to him. Thirty seconds later another militaria collector came by who would have bought it. More to follow. ABN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne-Hunter Posted May 18, 2021 Author Share #2 Posted May 18, 2021 Next up is a relatively unremarkable m42. No decal. Shows some use. I bought it from the Great Grandson off craigslist. It originally was brought back by the American soldier Walter K A R O L (b. 1908) and came out of New York. Somehow it wound up in California a couple blocks from a girl I like to visit and it came home with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will M Posted May 19, 2021 Share #3 Posted May 19, 2021 Years ago i picked up a camo WW1 german helmet and it still had the three pads in the liner! Now all I see are expertly rendered copies of german helmets, fake aged decals etc. The helmets are real but the paint and/or decals are not. One must be educated to spot the fakes. too much $ is riding on a transaction with SS helmets. Not an easy hobby without lots of previous handling of authentic helmets, but where can you do this? I leave German helmets to the experts!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will M Posted May 19, 2021 Share #4 Posted May 19, 2021 I forgot to ask, the helmet came home with you, but the girl?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne-Hunter Posted May 19, 2021 Author Share #5 Posted May 19, 2021 That last helmet came out of the woodwork in September 2020. This next helmet came out of an estate sale somewhere South of San Francisco. It was brought back by an army Nurse. A friend of a friend bought it and then didn't want it and told our mutual friend about it. In short it wound up with me in June 2019. Unfortunately, I was unable to get any other history on it, but its a nice later war reissue army. I have heard stories of Germany taking WW1 helmets out of veteran halls and refurbishing them late in the war. I presume this is one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne-Hunter Posted May 20, 2021 Author Share #6 Posted May 20, 2021 Today's post is a German M40 shell. It came out of a local flea market in Fall 2017 or so. It wasn't exactly cheap for a shell at the time, but it was early in the morning and the lighting was not the best. When I got it home I noticed that it was actually a camouflaged piece. The army decal has been covered up and the overall finish is a very dark green or black with mixes of browns. I am unsure what would require such a color scheme, it is certainly not as vibrant as a lot of Normandy style camos I have seen. but it is a nice piece none the less. If only it had the rivets and the liner... ABN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Jerry Posted May 20, 2021 Share #7 Posted May 20, 2021 nice! I love those chunky camos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne-Hunter Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share #8 Posted May 25, 2021 This is a group of stuff I picked up from the Vet's son in December 2013. Unfortunately, the guy didn't want to share his father's name. But everything as you see it is as I got it. The pith helmet is a little weak and shows significant use, but its one of the only honest used ones I have found. The helmet is an M42 without decal showing light use. All the belt buckles came with the stuff as well. I have temporarily misplaced a knife the vet brought back, but otherwise a nice honest load of stuff. In October 2017 the house this stuff came out of burned to the ground. Best ABN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne-Hunter Posted May 26, 2021 Author Share #9 Posted May 26, 2021 I picked this one up at an estate sale in October 2017. Its a standard M42 single decal luf, but it has the names of a bunch of Americans nicely painted on the outside. Unfortunately, since the last fire, I've temporarily misplaced the photo album that goes with it that included at least one photo of this very helmet in hand during the war. In any case, it'll turn up at some point. Best ABN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne-Hunter Posted May 28, 2021 Author Share #10 Posted May 28, 2021 This army was found somewhere locally by a picker I know and I wound up with it somewhere around 2017. It wasn't cheap, but its a nice honest example. The brown appears to be paint, not mud. It makes me wonder if it had a brown wash at some point. A nice example none the less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne-Hunter Posted May 29, 2021 Author Share #11 Posted May 29, 2021 This is one of those helmets where I've had it as long as I can remember, but I can't remember where it came from. It appears to be a Kriegsmarine M40 as opposed to a toned Army. It shows heavy use including extensive salts from sweat on the liner. The outside shows a lot of wear as well. Best ABN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscapturephotos Posted June 8, 2021 Share #12 Posted June 8, 2021 On 5/26/2021 at 12:26 AM, Airborne-Hunter said: I picked this one up at an estate sale in October 2017. Its a standard M42 single decal luf, but it has the names of a bunch of Americans nicely painted on the outside. Unfortunately, since the last fire, I've temporarily misplaced the photo album that goes with it that included at least one photo of this very helmet in hand during the war. In any case, it'll turn up at some point. Best ABN Wow. Just love this one. Hoping to find a GI painted helmet like this for my collection. Would love to see the period photo of it too when you find it. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fortunes Of War Posted July 24, 2021 Share #13 Posted July 24, 2021 I like that painted Luftwaffe helmet too, Jim. Nice collection to go with your Japanese Type 90's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne-Hunter Posted November 19, 2021 Author Share #14 Posted November 19, 2021 On 5/25/2021 at 11:26 PM, Airborne-Hunter said: I picked this one up at an estate sale in October 2017. Its a standard M42 single decal luf, but it has the names of a bunch of Americans nicely painted on the outside. Unfortunately, since the last fire, I've temporarily misplaced the photo album that goes with it that included at least one photo of this very helmet in hand during the war. In any case, it'll turn up at some point. Best ABN It's been a few months and I've neglected this topic. There's definitely more to post, but thats for another day. In the interim, I was able to locate the photograph of this helmet as well as the rest of the photos from this man. The back of the picture reads: "This is the "Jerry" helmet I painted and gave to Betty. It isn't a good picture, but you can get the idea." Best ABN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Kibler Posted November 19, 2021 Share #15 Posted November 19, 2021 SPECTACULAR!!!!! Well done and great collection! If I were to post the helmets I've had.... It would be 50 pages! Started collecting in the early 1970's.... as a kid. You have done well. Thanks for sharing! Here are some I've had... (though gone now) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fortunes Of War Posted November 19, 2021 Share #16 Posted November 19, 2021 Hard to compete with that Tom! I love the tan camo with G.I. signatures...and all of the rest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TsrorsT Posted March 17, 2022 Share #17 Posted March 17, 2022 Stunning stuff guys, always inspirational to see the absolutely mind blowing pieces that end up in the more seasoned collections! can't wait to see more updates 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Kibler Posted March 18, 2022 Share #18 Posted March 18, 2022 Here’s a few more photos… All gone now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne-Hunter Posted June 4, 2023 Author Share #19 Posted June 4, 2023 I've been absent a long time, but now I'm back. 2022 was a great year for helmets. First up, my most recent find: An M42 SD Luft that my dad pulled out of an estate sale in March 2023. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne-Hunter Posted June 4, 2023 Author Share #20 Posted June 4, 2023 A friend of mine referred me to a guy who bought this at a garage sale years ago. Nice unusual lot number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne-Hunter Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share #21 Posted June 5, 2023 These were found out by the curb during a local trash bulk pick up day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themick Posted June 5, 2023 Share #22 Posted June 5, 2023 Note to self: Check out bulk trash pick-up days... Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmd62 Posted June 5, 2023 Share #23 Posted June 5, 2023 Wow, Congrats!! Dumpster diving here I go Seriously, you never know what you can find, it's always fun to see/hear these stories. Not militaria related, but yesterday my wife and I were in an antique shop. I was looking for militaria and she was looking at old books. I didn't find anything, but she bought a fat old cookbook for $9. The book also had lots of old handwritten recipes shoved in it which my wife loved. My eyes went to a pretty old looking jewelry company envelope among the papers. I opened it up and wow, a ring! For $9 we scored a 14k gold ring with a one karat diamond. Crazy! I'd still take a helmet or two by the trash cans.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne-Hunter Posted June 6, 2023 Author Share #24 Posted June 6, 2023 January 2022 - This one was pulled direct from a barn and the rest is history. Slight multi-tone sawdust camouflage M40. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preppy Picker Posted June 6, 2023 Share #25 Posted June 6, 2023 Airborne you’ve got some nice helmets and it looks to me you know what you doing. I hope you still have them all because prices are going through the roof! I just started collecting in 2018 but I have had previous experience. I’ve managed to find a few German helmets and kept 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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