Military insignia collecting

I would like to collect wing badges worn by WW1 pilots. Do any members of this FORUM have a similar interest in collecting, trading and sharing ideas? Are there any known "experts" in the field that might help a novice collector? MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I am NOT an expert, but I DO know that there are excellent repo wings out. I have a beautiful set of Dallas wings that I bought for under $50. They were sold as repo's, but I have seen ones just like them go for hundreds (several hundreds)on eBay. The ID of these wings is that a row of stars is slightly wavy. Meyers is again manufacturing some of their WW1 wings-also beautiful, but hard (for me, anyway) to tell from original (probably made from original dies). I also have a repo metal half/wing complete with a stamped WW1 date! Where does a repo stop and a downright FAKE start? It is not an area for the novice collector.
Al kinds of US collar insignia are available as repo. I have seen enlisted aero disks (these are usually pin back), 0fficer 'wing and prop' devices, 'signal flag, wing and globe' insignia and 'signal flag and silver wing', all repo'd.
This doesn't even cover RFC items, of which there is a multitude of repo's; RFC hat badges, buttons, wings, etc. I believe Gaunt is remanufacturing such items using original dies and stamping them with the Gaunt name!
German repo's--tons of them.

Be very cautious,
Steve

Steve is right, if you are going to start collecting insignia CAVEAT EMPTOR is the rule. Several years ago, while attending a convention in Washington, DC for the American Society of Military Insignia Collectors, I met two very nice gentlemen who were very helpful. Their names were Duncan Campbell and Cliff Pressley. I took several notes but cannot find them now so I do not know their addresses; however, I believe Campbell lived in Maryland.

I'd say only buy from sources that you feel are completely reliable and established. Eventually after handling lots of items you get to be able to tell real from fake even though you might not be able to actually describe the difference.
Regards, John.

[stevedrew]

Ray,
I have two genuine articles and two nice modern reproductions. I have an original set of RFC pilot wings, and a set of AFC pilot wings. I purchased both from a very reputable store that deals in war memorabilia, coins and stamps etc.
I have every confidence in their expertise, and "Paddy", their war memorabilia expert, is quite knowledgeable, and showed me the reference books he uses to establish the "genuine article". The two replicas are both also of AFC pilot wings, available cheaply at the Australian War Memorial.
VBR
Steve Drew

I would suggest collecting only well made reproductions. For an example, Third Reich era German stuff on the market is estimated to be 90-95 % fake, not even taking into account the legitimately marked and sold reproductions. There is an excellent website for 3rd Reich collecting, with some buying advice regarding spotting fakes and general collecting that is useful to other eras:www.wehrmachtawards.com

[Ginger.]

When I started collecting British WW2 Airborne stuff 30 years ago,it was cheap and 100% authentic because no one wanted it.Thankfully now it's priceless!!!Even then German stuff was top price and could be a bit dodgy.I would not like to think I was starting now,as a lot of stuff is repro but sold as genuine.
Beware the magic words RARE and ORIGINAL!!!

Take a look at http://wwiiwings.homestead.com/main.html Although the site is dedicated to WWII wings, you will find some very useful reference material under the Resource section. Good luck with your collecting.