Quote:
Originally Posted by fairlie63
That's some collection Mark, no wonder you've been able to publish two volumes on it!
Keith
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Thanks Keith
I have to admit, not all is as neat as it seems
On top of the cabinet are a pile of headdress items with their insignia in situ (e.g. band helmets, bonnets, Tam O'Shanters and of course KFF's with 'horse feathers' (or 'Roo feathers'
and so forth.
Then there's the biscuit tins full of repro stuff that Arthur and I have each acquired over the years
We might be some of the few people who have collections of Repro items... because the orange section at the back of each book attempts to catalogue those too. Most are obvious repros (cheap and cheerful gap fillers and plaque items etc) and so, not very likely to cause collectors to be mislead. We only devote a small amount of space to those items... just a representative smattering really. However, some specimens really are works of 'evil genius' and take (me) some time and a good magnifying glass to confidently rule 'in' or 'out'. It is in identifying those competently and deliberately misleading items that we think new collectors need to be made aware of.
Finally, the reference collection not only includes the traditional 3 R's (i.e. 'Rogues, Repros and Regimental Shop items')... we've also extended that to include "Rejected pattern items" as well. Insignia which fall into that 4th category include all types of 'trial strikes'... such as the first pattern of the 'Deakin Uni Regiment' (@ CB 300 and CB 300R) and many more recent items, such as the 6th Av hat badge with red enamel instead of black enamel and different sizes of the 1st CDO, SOER and SOLS insignia and so on. The closer we get to the Army's OEM supply chain... the more of those we find and record.
The upshot is, that instead of monitoring the 3 R's, we are now tracking 4R's
So the 'RRRR' collection could really do with another 5 to 10 drawers I think.
In the end, I guess that like all collectors, its the thrill of the hunt that I find addictive... and the chance to 'talk shop' with other people who have outstanding (and far better) collections of their own.
Keith, I'm sure that you have a Reference Collection for your work as well?
Regards
Mark