As a collector of highly personalized militaria, I don't understand that people just accept this kind of BS provenance for this type of exotic and expensive pieces.
I often have my doubts when something simple as an EKII is in document grouping, but their seem to be people that believe everything that is told on an internet forum.
Also I have noticed that many militaria collectors can't think outside of the box, they don't seem to understand that if a professional paint restorer can repair/restore a painting in such a way that you can't see it with the naked eye, that dishonest people with the same skills have an easy time faking a camo helmet.
If they can produce good quality fake Rolex watches, they surely can produce high quality 3R militaria objects.
And I also look forward to episode three on this scam!
Merci Peter.
Well the older generation will use whatever they can to tag onto a debate, or to just outright authenticate or dismiss. You will read posts from them saying that the early fakes were crude, and thus easy to spot - (therefore making an elaborate fake genuine, simply because of their opinion of production at that specific time) But then later on, on other debates you`ll find the same people tagging along saying the exact opposite, that early fakes were the best, because period dies were still around as well as workers with the period manufacturing experience etc..
It seems that the older generation of collectors who discuss on fora, will use anything they feel fits their opinion or the desired outcome of the debate.
Only last week did I see a few threads on WAF were outright fakes were given the "It is a no brainer original" by dealers! and older collectors. No debate, no discussion, no other opinions taken into consideration, just a few condescending lines. And when you get three or more "dealers and names" tagging onto these kinds of threads in this manner, what hope could there be of any rational discussion?
It is done to intimidate from the get-go, and to make sure that anyone who is thinking about posting something contradictory to the narrative, knows right away that they are outnumbered 0-3, and stand no hope in hell of "debating". Not to mention the fact that these kinds always, after posting their "No brainer original" run away, never to return to the thread.
There are many examples of this, where even after they have all been proved wrong, not a single one will come back to the original topic and say they were wrong. The opposite, they will blindly continue selling the same rubbish as genuine, offering no explanation, entering into no debate.
I think these older collectors realize that they have spent the better part of their 30-60 years collecting, doing nothing to further their knowledge, simply making money, and have relied solely on their name and pats on the shoulder from likeminded dealers to get them where they are. If I was wrong about this, then surely, we would see them discussing, sharing the factual tidbits they had accumulated over the last 50 years, and be open to discussion and corrections. No, unfortunately all we get from these people are: THESE ARE ORIGINAL!
Many don`t like what I do, and I understand why, but when I declare something to be genuine or fake, I can stand behind my claim and support it with either historically documented evidence, or a detailed examination or both. I would never just run away from a topic, even if I saw that I was wrong. The way I see it, is that I have my name to protect, and the research that I do too. So far, the way most of these buffoons challenge me is to insult, or to just simply proclaim that I am wrong!
But it doesn`t bother me, I know they can`t do anything else, just like Ailsby, "Proclaim that this or that is attributed to Albert Bormann" and then pxxs off into the sunset, never to be heard from again. The more negative they get, the more positive and thorough I will get. That inevitably will end up naming and shaming them, as the same names pop up again and again, all tied to negative debates or outright scams. That is certainly not my main objective, but it is inevitable, and all their own fault.
Sooner or later the chickens come home to roost.