Four years! Time goes by so quickly!
Since that last post, I have seen many, many collectors get out the game. Some of them passed away and others simply dumped their items while retaining a passing interest in the hobby.
I have not seen any real uptick in the number of young collectors and the show goers just keep getting older...including me!
I started collecting in 1976 and at that time, you could pick up a grab bag full of goodies for a relatively small amount of money. I can remember getting a few badges (inf assault, wound badge, iron cross) for about $25.00..helmets could be had for $25-30 dollars (a fortune!)
Flags could be had for next to nothing. SA daggers were inexpensive as well. German militaria was the bad cousin at gun shows, and only those really interested asked for these relics. There has always been a hard core, dedicated group of collectors for these items.
The graying of this hobby is well under way. I will not say that this will be the death knell of the hobby, but all such hobbies need new blood and I just don't see the younger crowd interested enough to even maintain replacement level.
Again, go to the shows...see the crowds and notice the lack of young faces. The militaria show is dying a slow, demographic related death. The younger collector (the few that there are) are not willing, nor capable on the whole, of paying the prices for relatively common items.
If you were a young collector with student loans etc, could you justify spending $1k on a relatively common SA dagger for eg.?
