Opinions on 13th Battalion (Royal Highlanders of Canada) WW1 Brodie

Removed, as I no longer own the piece. I was misinformed and silly to buy something without first researching.

Every time I read these, "What am I buying and please educate me if this is good" e-mails, my opinion is the same - take some time to educate yourself. You are not going to learn everything overnight so instead of posting forum adds about how you want to buy everything FWW Highland, you should instead be spending time to invest in some good references, then read the books, and learn about what you are buying. Once you are armed with some basic knowledge, you then won't have to post endless questions about details that you should know about before your dip into your wallet. A $30.00 book is an investment that can potentially save you hundreds of dollars, why you ask, because militaria collecting is a game of knowledge and knowledge is king.

Edstorey,

I appreciate your insight and you're right. I do need to get some reference books, and a few are on the way. I am just getting into WWI Collection and I guess WWII collecting as well. A few months ago, I only focused on the Victorian Era. I was no expert before, and I'm still not, but I'm more knowledgeable in militaria in that period than later periods like WWI and II. I saw this helmet and it was one of the things on my list that I was looking for. For this time only, I thought I would take a chance, because for all I know it could've been sold an hour after I looked at it, and I actually have had that happen a few times. I will buy more reference books and try to get more knowledgeable about these later periods, but that takes time, and I haven't had a lot of extra time lately so it will take time, time I will invest, but it will take a long time before I cease asking to what you may be a 'silly' question. I may be a slight annoyance but I am slowly getting more knowledgeable but it will take time. I will be able to answer many of my own questions soon, but I was still hoping to get some help from my fellow collectors and forum members no matter how basic my question may be, it's on me if it's a fake because I didn't do the appropriate research myself, but it looks authentic to me and from a good dealer. I would appreciate some opinions so I don't end up with a garbage fake in my collection. I will take your advice and buy a few reference books today and try to answer my own questions from now on, but these basic questions are not because I'm too lazy to answer myself, or that I don't care, it's because of lack of time to sit down and read these things and conduct research, arguably you should not buy things if you do not have time to research them, but with militaria, some rare items don't come up many more times if ever. I will now take same serious time to read some reference books and become more knowledgeable, again, thank you for your insight.

Helmet is good ..... but is it worth the money? I believe his prices are all in US dollars as well. Add another 25% ... then shipping. Is a WWI helmet worth $1000 ? I guess you'll need to answer that for yourself. My advice to you is take a deep breath ... slow down.... these things are out there and can be found for less. Patience is a one of the best qualities you can have in collecting. Sure you get beat to things sometimes but it will save you heart ache in the long run. When you make a wants list think big .... will you want a complete uniform at some point ? Buy the pieces as they come up ... don't impulse buy. Many guys who start collecting WWI have this idea what order the items need to come up .... helmet first, then tunic, then webbing then caps, paperwork etc... If paperwork crosses your path first at  reasonable price get that. I had an extra PHG hood once and offered it to a beginning collector .... he turned it down because he wanted a P08 belt first..... Look on ebay for a P08 belt ... try to find a PHG anywhere!

Good luck,

Ypres

Ypres,

You're also right, I need to slow down and take my time, it'll in the long run save me time and money. I just really wanted to get a WWI-II Canadian Scottish Div/regiment/unit marked helmet and this being Royal Highlanders and a nice design was perfect for me. This will be my last "blind" sale and I will take some serious time and commitment to learn more about these so I don't ask silly questions, nor waste money on overpriced items or fakes. I don't buy my uniform display pieces in any particular order, just what comes up, I just wanted this helmet for now. But as I said before I will take some serious time to research these for now on, and thank you for your insight.

Best regards,

-Jamie

I think as "collectors" we have all made impulse buys at one time or another..The trick is not to make it a habit..One person may consider the price too much but really it depends on what the person buying it thinks is a good deal..One may pay "too much" for one item and find another component of similar subject matter for a steal..one often balances out the other at the end of the day ive found..some people will spend more on a monthly car payment..at the end of the month they have an overpriced car that has no value 5yrs from now..what they dont have is a good investment with historical merit,like a flashed 13th batt helmet complete with liner..i can understand why you wanted it,good score

Chuck,

Thank you for your message. As you know I collect Scottish and Canadian Scottish uniforms and headgear and although it was an impulse buy, it was what I collect, and I do not consider it overpriced (for me) considering I spent a lot more on my rare King's Own Scottish Borderers WWI helmet. Some people who do not collect specifically Scottish WWI-WWII helmet or don't collect helmets at all may see this as overpriced but for me it was perfect. These WWI Scottish/Canadian Scottish helmets don't come up often and every other Canadian Scottish helmet that was previously listed was sold and I though to myself "only a matter of time before this one sells." And I don't really have many WWI Canadian things and this being Canadian Scottish was a bonus for me. It's rough condition but that's from it being well used and I like that about it. Some questions may be "silly" to some collectors but we have to remember we're all at different stages both at collecting and in life, right now I don't have a lot of time to sit down and read a stack of reference books, I will, but it will take time. Some people may not like some of my ad postings or "silly questions" but they always have an option to not reply and move on. Even expert collectors can ask for help with authenticity of some items sometimes. Thank you everyone for your help and insight on this nice helmet.