Hi Battler, Its not meant as an across-the-border statement, meaning that we are all fools and half of each collection is reproduction, but more that there are still plenty of items being sold today, and accepted by the collector as being Genuine, when they in fact cant be, and in some cases where they are just plain fantasy. You only have to log in to any OK-ish forum, and read every week threads pertaining to So-Called big-wig and trusted dealers/Sellers, showing a fake that they have somehow missed and are selling as Genuine.it is fairly disheartening to realize that more than half of what we collect today could be fake.
I am talking about the Old boys that were peddling TR items before the days of the internet. So if they, with their 50 odd years of Expertise, are still doing it now in 2011, (for whatever reason, on purpose, or just a honest mistake) so what have they been selling since 1960 then? what have they built their reputation up on? ALL, 100% Honest and Genuine items? many collectors trust these Dealers blind, and have so filled their collections since they started with Fantasy and Fake items.
Now lets not forget that many of these older Dealers turned into Militaria-Reference book Authors over the years, and have filled their Catalogs and reference books with fakes and Repros, (for whatever reason, on purpose to make money with stockpiles of cr4p they bought in the 70`s or maybe just an honest mistake)This has happened since the First TR reference book was written, and is still going on today. (Hüskens 2010 Catalog has more than it`s fare of Fantasy and fake items in to mention but one book)
My take on this (the comment that half of the collections are fake) is simple. Collectors-Greed, plain and simple. It has always been that way, that the collector, who pretends to have no affiliations with National Socialism, and who pretends to be a "historian" firstly, and who says that he collects these items out of an interest in the TR period, is talking through his Bum hole, and in fact knows very little about History at all, and does not want to either.
The internet has excelled this Greedy collector, and allowed the Repro market to flourish because there is Profit to be made, there is no need to leave your Chair anymore and meet any other collectors fact to face, you can buy stuff from one site, or Auction platform, do a quick Google-search, become an Expert, (or at least portray that image of yourself) and then resell it and make money. These Experts spread the filth of misinterpreted information and assumption by drumming it into the heads of others that they Really know their stuff, they can post on Forums, give thumbs up, compare images and talk you to death, Without even understanding the fundamentals, the basics..... in Short, Not bothering to actually research anything to the fullest extent, because very few actually care about the history behind the item, they care what others on Forums tell them, they care what is written in an outdated reference book that was written by someone else who also did not give a monkeys, and who copied his Information from a like-minded filth-spreader.
We have talked about this over the years since the internet Forums started, and right up until today, i can show you Good, scare items being Slagged off by so called Big Shots, being given the thumbs down for all kinds of stupid reasons that reveal straight away, that the poster is, in fact, not an Expert, but someone who also knows little about History, and more about how to Compare images.
There was a post on WAF a short time ago, about this Forum, and how "small" it was compared to them... well i ask, what would you prefer, a small community of like-minded collectors posting useful information and discussions, or 25,000 Monkeys all screaming at once because there aint enough bananas to go around, and half of the bananas have been trampled because most of the Monkeys thought they were Oranges?
Its Forums like this one, that are the Only way forward, and will, in time help to organize Information and share it to those who are actually looking for it, and who can accept that after reading words of wisdom, that a few of their items must be bad. The collector that specializes in one area, and tries to learn as much about that as possible, is the one who is less likely to get burned in time.