Have collecting goals become unrealistic?

As someone who has been a “collector” for decades, I’ve seen and even owned some pretty rare pieces. I know collectors who have also managed to find the respective “Holy Grails” of helmets, badges, daggers, rifles, swords, and other sought-after items. I can say it often takes patience, perseverance, and no shortage of “good people skills.” Unfortunately, we collectors may have no lack of perseverance. We’ll continue to seek out items, and at times are practically willing to go to the ends of the Earth to find that item to “fill a hole” in the collection.

Patience is often in short supply, however. As collectors, we all often want it yesterday and even then that’s not soon enough. Likewise, I’ll be the first to say that sometimes the people skills go by the wayside in an effort to find an item. We’re too focused on seeking out that elusive treasure to always say “please,” and “thank you.” That’s a problem we need to work on.

Yet, one of the biggest problems — especially today when everything seemingly can be found online, and the current crop of reality TV makes us believe the impossible is out there simply waiting to be found — is that collecting goals have become “unrealistic” to put it bluntly. As a collector/researcher of rare sun/pith helmets, I’ve had a few eager collectors ask me if it is possible to find a Zulu War British sun helmet, preferably one used at Rorke’s Drift.

To suggest that’s a tall order is putting it mildly. Not being into sports memorabilia, I can only assume it is like asking for a football helmet worn by the winning team of the first Super Bowl (which I didn’t actually bother to look up). In fact, there are probably more of those football helmets “out there” than there are sun helmets that we can attribute to being used in the Zulu War. Simply put, such a rare military item is something we shouldn’t expect to see even in the National Army Museum in London – so the odds of owning one are beyond astronomical.

A similar thing happened after HBO’s Band of Brothers was released in the fall of 2001. Suddenly, collectors thought a 101st Airborne Division helmet and uniform from a member of Easy Company was just waiting to be purchased from a dealer’s website.

Once again, “rare” doesn’t begin to describe such items, but collectors believed they could be readily found.

What I find increasingly odd, however, is that those seeking such items often seem not to be deterred in the least when they’re informed of the potential rarity. I was asked recently about another type of tropical headgear — one I’ve also sought for years. The response from this seemingly experienced collector was, “Well, there must be one out there.”

That’s entirely possible, and I’ll admit over the years I’ve found several helmets I honestly didn’t think I’d ever see in the flesh, let alone own. In one case, I took the course of action of posting online that I was seeking it and made it clear I’d pay top dollar for one. Lady luck was smiling, and it is now sitting in one of my display cases.

Anther point to note is that when these “Holy Grails” have shown up I’ve had to actually come up with the cash to buy them. And that is the other problem with unrealistic goals and elusive treasures; these same collectors often have equally impractical expectations as to what such items will cost. Were a real, attributable sun helmet from Rorke’s Drift to be offered for sale, it would likely be tens of thousands of dollars.

That point was reinforced a few years ago when a World War II German first pattern Fallschirmjägergewehr 42 (“paratrooper rifle 42” or FG-42) automatic rifle was sold at auction for $330,000 plus fees! No doubt there were plenty of “German paratrooper collectors” who wanted it, but only a handful likely also had pockets deep enough to pay for it.

That brings me to the other important consideration. Items are only worth what someone is willing to pay, but those especially sought-after pieces will attract those willing to pay a lot. There is now a constant complaint amongst collectors that the prices have gotten too high — but anyone who collects is at least partially responsible. What those who complain are really saying is that they don’t have enough money to pay for those things they’d like to buy. That’s really true of all collectibles, and no doubt there are those dropping big dollars on cars, baseball cards, and Star Wars toys who all bemoan the same points.

No doubt there are those collectors who wish they could find a Ferrari 250 GTO, a Topps Mickey Mantle #311, or a prototype Boba Fett action figure. Now maybe I’m being unfair, as those items can fetch hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. But the point is that while rarity doesn’t always make some items more valuable, in many cases the rarer an item is the more expensive it is going to be.

And sorry to say, the prices aren’t too high — not as long as people keep paying. That’s true of a Ferrari, just as it is true of the FG-42, and the same is true of everything else in the world of militaria. Any of us that have been doing this for a while are bound to say, “I remember when that cost…” but no doubt baseball card collectors and others utter the same thing.

Finally, it is probably good to seek out those impossible-to-find items, but we need to remember not to get obsessive about it. If you can’t find it with a Google/Bing/Dogpile search online, one wasn’t for sale at Show Of Shows last year, and you’ve never seen one presented on a collectible forum by anyone, chances are it could still be out there.

Just don’t expect it to show up tomorrow.

And remember, if you do find it, don’t expect it to be cheap. You might get lucky, but when a Holy Grail is dug up, it’s going to be very expensive.