Price rises for artifacts

[BrodieBartfast]

Speaking for the younger generation of collectors, many of us want to collect, but simply can’t due to the astronomical price rises. If what Kilian predicts does happen, I think it would be less of a death and more of a renaissance for the hobby. If prices crash, many younger collectors who were unable to afford things before will seize the opportunity, and we may see a huge uptick in interest. That being the most optimistic of several outcomes.

Of course, that would likely only start the cycle all over again, and we’d be in the same position five or six decades from now, but it’s better than a sudden collapse which would see hoards of military artifacts end up in the trash.

B.B.

[Neil Hever]

Well put. I had been advising a family with a 14 year old who wanted to start collecting and was astounded by the prices even for something simple. I think they dropped out of field due to the cost. NH

[Kilian]

That boy can start collecting if he wants, but my advice would be to stay away from German WW2, SS and Nazi party stuff. Apart from the inflated prices, it is a minefield full of fakes, which I would not recommend to a beginner.
But there is plenty of other WW2 US, British or Canadian stuff, though also not always cheap.

What he could also consider is pick one or a couple of post-WW2 conflicts. There have been plenty of those as well: Korea, Indochina, Vietnam, the Cold War, Lebanon, the Gulf Wars, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Ukraine, to name just a few.