WAF has gotten a bum reputation over the years due in part to their arrogant claims that certain militaria (helmets) did not exist (they had never seen them). When they were repeatedly proven wrong, they got mad at the messengers and found excuses to ban them. Not holding any grudges, just saying what happened.
In line with what ottodog8 said, during 20th century collecting if you had told someone back then that you wanted a specific exotic camo in fantastic condition, maybe even named/unit marked, they would likely have said "Good Luck! If by some miracle you do find such a rare helmet, it will probably have unquestioned vet provenance." Rare helmets like that were not floating around. They had either been in vets hands since the war OR had been collected up decades ago and were locked away in established collections. When they did change hands, it was usually with a phone call - most of us never knew about it.
But now in the 21st century if you tell someone you want a specific exotic camo in fantastic condition maybe with name/unit marks, a dealer will tell you, "I've got my 'pickers' looking for them and will give you a call fairly soon when they "find" them." Forum members/friends will probably tell you, "A couple of my buddies each have that exact pattern! If they decide to sell, I'll call you. BTW:, do you really HAVE to have that 3 color Normandy hand painted with texture and ghosted wire ?? Have you thought about some other exotic camo patterns like, ghosted net, tiger stripe, disruptive, painted snow camo, red cross, SS dot pattern, copy of water pattern camo cover, desert turtle, snow turtle, ??? etc, etc....."
You read my critique on that last Normandy. You like it. Fine. Tell me why you think it's original and why you think I'm wrong.
when he started prognosticating about the "Son of the German veteran himself"). I was certain that unquestioned vet provenance was only moments away.
