quote:
Originally posted by Craig Gottlieb:
I know this post will be quite unpopular, but who cares . . . As founder of GDC, I can tell you without reservation that in the beginning, GDC was loaded with individuals who had decades of experience in the field of edged weapons. Not years of experience looking at pictures, and building a nice collection, but actual experience owning millions of dollars in militaria over their career. These people came here to pass the torch to new collectors, and offered to teach what they knew. One by one, most ceased posting due to a rather destructive group dynamic that placed popularity and posting-numbers above actual knowledge. Not to say that there are not people left here who know their subject well, but it is not the same.
Tom Johnson mused to me the other day in Kassel about this very subject. He was amazed that people like Houston and Ron - truly the last of the old-guard who post regularly, even bother. My hat is indeed off to them for their perseverance, and they have my utmost respect. It's truly become a case of the blind leading the blind (or in fairness, the people with thick bifocals leading the blind!), and I think at some level, people know it. If you don't believe me, look at threads that devote pages and pages analyzing damascus daggers that ANY visitor to a show in Europe will spot immediately as a reproduction.
My one bit of advice to new collectors is to attend every show you can, and figure out some way to get to know old-timers, before it's too late. Buy and sell as MUCH material as you can, because only through ownership and risk will you learn. This is where the true knowledge lies.
And your 10 years of experience allows you to judge?. Are you comparing yourself to Tom Johnson?. There is risk, but you do not need risk to learn. That is a sales pitch and the "old guard" is accessible by standard means, they do not need a keyboard or the founder of packaged software to guide them.
