Collecting Strategy - How to collect?

[redstar_co]

Started collecting just about 3 or so month ago. Made several nice purchases. Chased several nice pieces buying left and right trying to get all Type 1 Var 1 and now, after realizing that I will never get to the point that I have them all..... fire is coming down.

After talking to a well known collector, it became clear that collecting (just like everything else) has to have a strategy and a goal.
In my case, I decided to slow down. Use the knowledge I gather and focus on collecting as much as I can of everything that has to do with my grandfather and his division/Army he went through war.

If you feel comfrtable, could you share your own strategy or aproach towards collecting.
I think this information will help all new collectors like myself in the future.
Thanks

[Ed Maier]

redstar,

This is a great topic and its one that a lot of collectors over look. Strategies and focus of collections tend to change over the years. I know that this has been true in my case as with most collectors that I know, regardless of forum. The best advise I ever recieved in collecting was three lessons: 1) buy the rarest piece that was within my budget (i.e. if you have $100, buy one medal for $100 rather then four $25 medals, as rare items are always more desireable.): 2) Do not buy something in poor condition because crap is always crap; and 3) buy what makes you happy as you are the only person that needs to be happy with your collection. If you like it, the value is not important.

As far as my personal strategy evolved, I started with Third Reich medals. The fakes, lack of personality in un-named, un-numbered awards, and other reasons, pushed my in other directions, but this is what started my collecting addiction.

When I began collection Soviet awards, I would buy anything that I could find. Most items were single awards, and I didn't worry about type and variation as these really had not been defined at this time. As I became more familar with Soviet awards, I started to collect groups with the picture of the person in the book. This added "personality" to the awards that was lacking in German awards and was something that I personally desired as a historian. With the availabilty of archival research, I have continued to collect complete groups, but will take a group without the photo if it has a good story and is not redundent in my collection.

That being said, I am a sucker for Nevsky groups. I have 12 now and will probably add more even though my collecting focus has turned in a new direction to US, W.W.II. killed in action Purple Hearts. I guess the Soviet bug will never leave me. Every time I swear that I am not going to buy another Soviet group as I'm contint with my collection, another case full of Orders appear on my walls.

Just have fun and everything will be OK. Ask questions, read, study and do not be afraid to make a mistake. If anyone says they have not made a mistake, they are lying.

Take care,
Ed Maier

[otlichnik]

My strategy, like that of most collectors, has changed over time. I have basically changed my "inventory" about three times now.

However, I always had a few underlying principles.

1) Tunic or hat is better than medal. That is obviously a very personal opinion and one which is different from the majority of the group. But for me, it did not matter what I had to spend, $50, $200, $1500, when choosing between an order or medal for that price and a uniform I almost always chose the uniform. I still have many lesser medals and orders but they are not my focus and I won't pass up a uniform for them.

2) History is everything. I did not collect other militaria before I collected Soviet militaria. I began collecting Soviet militaria out of an interest in the Soviet military which I studied for many years. Therefore the more history the item had the better. So I a more interested in say a $20 medal with document identifying the unit of the awardee than a $200 medal without any "personality". Named uniform over unknown.

3) Somethings are just cool. They may not fit my "strategy of the day" but they are too cool to miss. It is strictly for this reason that I own a set of WWII Soviet "rabbit ears" trench binoculars and tripod. I don't collect field gear or optics but to me these are just too cool to pass up.

My first strategy was - "buy everything I could find and afford". This was in the 1988-1993 period. There was not much around, no Ebay, no collectors group, few resources. My collection consisted of 1970s-80s era hats, uniforms, badges and medals.

Eventually I learned a very important lesson. Most collectors will reach the point where they have "discovered Atlantis" or "hit paydirt". That is where it is no longer a question of actively looking for Soviet militaria but where you discovered that a huge range of stuff is available. If you have discovered this forum then you are already there! Check out the websites of the members and search a few famous online auctions and you will discover more stuff for sale than you can ever hope to afford - or store. Once a collector reaches this point you MUST have a strategy. You now have fewer resources than the opportunities out there and have to focus and specialize and plan.

My next strategy was to take a concept Ed talks about above and try to buy the best and rarest that I can afford of the stuff that interests me - basically uniforms. In this period, say 1993-1997, my collection consisted of a bit rarer uniforms from the modern (1970s-80s) period - generals, KGB, naval infantry, etc. and some earlier stuff, mainly M1955 officer parade uniforms. I had a bit more money and much better sources than in my first strategy period.

Eventually, as I started to actually work for a living and get a bit more money I found that I was actually breaking Ed's rule about quality. I could now afford better uniforms than I had in my collection, and I knew where to find them. I started to get some WWII uniforms - officers and even a few generals - NKVD stuff, etc.

Finally, I reached the strategy I am at now. I have little space but lots of stuff, much of it is not what I would buy today. So I will only keep, and continue to buy, absolute top quality items - in terms of either rarity, history, or (still) coolness factor. I am down to about 10 uniforms (not including what is in my "for sale" pile when I break it out of storage), only one is under general rank and none are later than 1945. Almost half are named and that is all I will look for in the future. I also keep unit standards, original marked battle maps, genuine state seuciryt IDs and other rare stuff.

I love my collection and think I have a good strategy. I even have some focusses within this strategy since I can't afford all the stuff I want - I try to lean towards Engineering uniforms and M40 uniforms for example.

However, there is also a big problem with my current strategy. I now get very few items, as they are all very expensive. I have no fun searching as I get almost everything from one source and the stuff "finds me".

So I had to do something else as well. I actually do three something elses to stay happy.

1) Research. I try to do in depth research on units and individuals related to my collection. This takes up much more time than actually handling my collection itself does. It fills some evenings more productively than drooling yet again over my existing collection. Besides, my wife will have me committed if I spend much more time staring at old uniforms.

2) I also collect something unrelated - ancient and medieval maceheads.

3) Finally, I have a small militaria side collection. I collect enamled orders, medals and badges from East European countries. Here I collect whatever catches my fancy. I spend little so as not to drain my real savings. I also intentionally break Ed's rule about buying the best you can afford. In fact I often buy the cheapest specifically so as not to drain my savings. One reason I chose east european stuff is you can get many nice looking items for cheap - say the $20 range. This side hobby gves me the pleasure of knowing that when I go to a militaria show or check out stores or flea markets when I travel I have the chance of finding something. I usually have the stuff for sale when I have a table at a militaria show - it fills space and raises a tiny bit of money. Maybe one day I will use some of this stuff to introduce my children to collecting.

I hope these ramblings have been of some use in examining ones own strategy.

Shawn

[Dave]

When I first started collecting, at the ripe old age of 11, my strategy was to buy everything that I could find. Like Shawn mentions above, that was back in the day before the internet, eBay, and the other convieniences we have now (whoa- like the 80's!) Seriously, the vast majority of what I owned was gleaned from thrift stores and yard sales, as I didn't know about collector clubs or even the big shows that went on.

Later, I 'matured' my collecting focus to Third Reich items, and even as I started travelling to Russia, that was my main collecting interest.

At that time (1991/2), Soviet awards were hard to find in the US, and I started bringing some medals back with me to the States. Back then, my thought was 'a medal is a medal', and honestly, I don't think I could have told you the difference between a Defense of Stalingrad and a Defense of Leningrad! I do remember buying my first awards- an October Revolution, a Red Banner and a Red Banner of Labor.

Shortly thereafter, the internet caught on in my household (in about 1994) which opened up a whole new world of collectors and stuff to buy.

With the advent of eBay in 1995, I started buying Soviet awards that I thought 'looked cool'. So, as you can probably guess, I started a large accumulation of Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, Labor Glory, etc. I quickly realized the value of the documents with the awards, so it then became a process of buying those same awards with their order books.

I can't remember when I bought my first group, but I believe it was about a year later, when I bought several decent groups from a major auction house here in the US.

Those groups are the ones that I first researched when it came out that awards could be researched (which was about in 1995/6, as I remember) and from there, I discovered a whole NEW world of collecting.

At that point, my strategy shifted from the 'pretty' awards to buying combat awards and award groups. Eventually I stopped buying single awards, and just concentrated on groups.

As I got a real job and began to make decent money, my focus shifted into buying more and more expensive groups. My first HSU came along in 1998, and from there that became my concentration, along with combat-valor groups. Pretty much whatever would research out the best with the most 'fantastic' citations.

Over the past year, however, my focus has again shifted. I am now concentrating mainly on 'personality' groups... i.e. groups that have a large amount of photos, documentation, etc, along with the awards. Looking around my office, the vast majority of my groups are valued at under $500, but I really like them, as each and every one of them tells the story of one man's (or one woman's) career through the Soviet system.

These groups break the first two of Ed's rules as 1) I could afford to buy a lot nicer groups, but don't and 2) a lot of these groups are pretty 'beat', but that's the way that veteran wore them (and I have the photos to prove it!) I do follow Ed's third rule though... They make me happy! (Which is the most important rule, in my book!)

Luckily, the way I changed my focus has allowed me to make the collection self-sustaining- in other words, I was able to purchase enough 'high-end' groups to pay for the multitude of smaller groups I now own. (This makes my wife VERY happy!)

Anyway, the point of my ramblings is this: buy whatever makes you happy, and make that your focus. If it's uniforms, great! If it's HSU groups, great! In my opinion, the whole reason for collecting is to get that fullfilment of being able to look at something and say "that's really neat, and I have the honor of being one it's caretakers."

Always remember: "If ya ain't havin fun, ya ain't doin somethin right!"

Hope this helped a little!

--Dave

[redstar_co]

Wow.
Trust me when I say, learning this information from you guys is like a discovering a new page in my jurney of collecting.
Great, Great Info!!
See. None of this is written anywhere in the book.

I am probably repeating myself, but......
I am almost confident that some portion of a new collectors that just starting and have no strategy are or will drop off from the hobby.

Soviet Orders and uniforms are not cheap.
The desire to get your hands of yet another beautifull piece is high.
After the first flame is down, new collector will eventually stop buying and start asking him or herself: "Ok, now what?"

And from my personal experience, if there is no answer, you are in trouble.

A lot of you probably went through this before, so I am also wondering how you had to deal with it.
Thanks again.

[Ed Maier]

Red Star,

I do not quite understand what you are shooting at with your question, but if I understand it correctly, you want to know what to do when the collecting flame dies out?

If this is true, I think the above stories give you the answer. If you love "collecting" your interests will ebb and flow to various stages to keep the flame alive. None of us appear to still be collecting the items that started us down this path. OUr tasts have grown, evolved and matured to meet changes in our life. The one thing that remains is that we still love collection.

While the three lessons I wrote about earlier are not hard and fast (Dave, I'm aiming this at you ;-) they will help you decide what to do. The first two are just methods to help make choices about various times within the same genre. The third, is the Holy Grail. Collect what makes you and only you happy. To hell what other people think. There are many Soviet awards that are affordible for anyone. You do not have to compete with those that collect high end Orders to have a great collection.

Keep collecting and if you get tired of collecting (as we all do at one time or another) just call anopther collector and listen to the story of their latest find. That usually gets the juices flowing again.

Good luck,
Ed Maier

[redstar_co]

You know Ed.

You caught that in the beginning of my posts there was a sence of confution.

I think I am getting my focus set once again..

I still think that the replys that I got and that still coming, has to be part of collecting 101

Helps me a lot ..!!

[Ed_Haynes]

I'm not sure what I can add? Much wisdom in the earlier postings!

First of all, accept that when starting out, everyone is a magpie, you'll get what you can, when you can, at prices you can (mostly) afford. It is probably good that the novice is kept financially out of the higher altitudes, for there lurks danger.

The best advice I ever got when I was starting out (ca. 1965) was, in the first few years, to set aside 80% of your collecting budget for reference materials, books, subscriptions, and so on. (I must admit to having a problem with that advice: even after all these years I do not know what the term "collecting budget" means!) Every year, shift 5% of your "budget" from books to medals, but never let the "reference" category drop below 15% (even as your budget grows).

The second best advice was, once you have "been at it" for a couple of years and have some knowledge, experience, and scars, keep in mind that the common stuff will always be around, but the "once in a lifetime" item probably is just that and will accelerate in price (and way out of your reach) faster than the common material. Go for one $2000 item (even if that is your whole annual medal budget!) rather than twenty $50 items.

At about the same time, you'll need to find a focus, for, like it or not, you can't buy everything. But bear in mind (a) that your focus is likely to change over time and (b) that you'll always have a "magpie" tendancy (that, after all, is part of the fun in all this). Checking off boxes in a checklist may be OK at the beginning, but it needs to be replaced by something more sophisticated. Many have alluded to this process.

Personally, I have never sold any medals from my collection, but I have traded a few. In each and every case, it was agonizing, but I rationalised that my interests had shifted, so "I don't need that". Can we be honest: we don't collect things we "need", we collect things we want! Never have I ever traded an item away that I didn't come later to regret that and, in some cases, I have bought them back, feeling like a dunce.

Research, research, research and knowledge, knowledge, knowledge is what sets us and the real joy of what we do apart from someone who collects hubcaps. (Not to denigrate their knowledge, but . . . .) Never forget that this is not about an investment, but about fun and history.

And keep in mind the sobering thought that "your" medals are not yours, you are just the custodian for a few years or decades. The "owner" is the person to whom they were originally awarded. Your right to them is not your receipt for your purchase. but is rather the effort and attention you put into bringing that chunk of metal back to life and, by extension, bringing the original recipient back to life. These are not just pretty pieces of artwork (though many are), they represent a real person, their achievements, their sacrifices, their gallantry, and often their death. Drink a mental toast to them and their medals from time to time.

Just my two kopeks worth,

Ed Haynes

[redstar_co]

Thanks Ed.
Your thought on "your" medals are not yours" adds an interesting shadow on this as well.
And I have to accept this theory because frankly I dont know if I have what it takes to earn a 2st Suvorov

[new world]

Great discussion!

Just to add to the topic, I recently learned that awards from other countries can be researched as well, just like we research Soviet ones.

For example, British medals have serial number that can be traced to the archives.

Similarly, some of WWII period German items can be researched too - badges, daggers - pretty much anyhthing that bears serial number.

Best,

William