$20 membership fee

gijoe · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 2

I got a kick out of Alton's post, but I think it went over the heads of some readers. Take another close look. Laughing

Combat Relics · Joined: 14 Jul 2007 Posts: 149

Man I don't know why but I missed the humor (Having us under assault for days) On WAF and GD.Com etc. Might have had something to do with it.

I apologized to Alton and revised my posting. It flew right over my thick noggin!
Charles

SAE77 · Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 4

Here's a small observation. On those other forums I notice that no one had anything bad to say about Bob Treend untill he asked for a membershp fee. Then they started calling him names and throwing insults around. Funny how some people think your a great guy as long as they can get something from you for nothing, but you're a SOB when you ask them to pay. Just something I noticed.

This is a geat hobby. Too bad it's full of collectors.

The Thicket · Joined: 17 Jul 2007 Posts: 86 Location: Right Here.

SAE77- Yea thats is really odd, yet some of these alleged collectors will pay BIG money to dealers who sell junk. Yet odd again how these same dealers are the sponsers of both sights noted.
Even more so strange is that nothing bad is ever said about them on either gd or waf, yet if someone has anything they can prove about said sponsers, its removed faster than paint drying on a hot summer day in New Mexico.

Both sights seem to have a thing about fabricating rumors about anyone who dare get in the way of noted sponsers. Ever note; how these threads are never removed?

Anyone think that's just a wee bit strange?

Combat Relics · Joined: 14 Jul 2007 Posts: 149

I saw ALL the other Forum pages about Bob's fees for his site.

My perspective...
While ebay has spoiled buyers, and given them the idea that the world is their free oyster.

Manions/Mohawk/Steffen/AAGI/DG/shotgun news/military trader and many more individual sellers over the years have charged for supplying catalogs/newsletters/leads/content/access...

whatever ya wanna call it, Collectors paid for it. It wasn't usually free. An individual investing a hundred bucks into a newsletter and stamps for his own stuff to be advertised often charged each receiving collector, a few dollars to cover expenses. Bob T spent over 20$ THOUSAND and it is not to advertise his items but to provide a service to all.

All auctions, have hit both buyers and sellers with exorbitant auction sales commission fees and inflated shipping on top of catalog fees too.
and thousands of collectors paid the price for many years, to get a chance at things this way.

They paid to be mailed a printed thing that often had almost no real descriptions, no quality photos, and could arrive in 2 days or two weeks after it was mailed. Often every good deal was gone when it hit the doorstep of the collector.

Now for about 5 cents a day, they can have multiple instant huge color photos and access to the items the instant they are posted. Somehow that seems better than paying $20 for 12 issues of DG that arrive emptied of deals and 5 days late.

I think this site is an excellent value. I can find things to buy and never have to burn $4 gas or waste a day travelling. I see, I email, I pay, and the item appears at my door in a few days...

What have these buyers got to bitch about? One guy got so mad when he was asked to remove his expensive fake item, that he removed all his listed items, and went on WAF and claimed that 90% of the items on this site are fakes. Anyone with a brain can see we have great original stuff here.

Obviously many collector's dreams are considered a right, instead of the reward from the accomplishment of a goal.

They want, they want, they want...but they do not want to pay, or put out any serious effort to get what they want.

They will learn how to do without, if they will not sacrifice their years, their dollars and make the effort as we older guys did for decades.

It is not our responsibility that prices of these important historical artifacts have performed well and are expensive. We just got lucky, and our 'stupid crazy hobby' won the lotto.

So these whining pups need to grow up a bit. I hope when they think it over they get hip to what they rejected and insulted as a resource, ... over 20 bucks a year!

So let em go every other route. They can cause their problems elsewhere and give those sellers all their guff.

gabby1 · Joined: 20 Jul 2007 Posts: 6

I'm not a big forum guy but I do look now and then and post something. I saw all the posts about what was said over at WA and GD forums about this site and took a look for myself. That guy Dennis Johnson was really nasty. It looks like in his last post he is trying to call B.T. a Nazi but does not have the guts to come right out and say it. What a weenie!

His name rang and bell and I thought I remembered it from some where. I took a look at my emails and what do you know??? A couple of months ago he answered an ad I had put on this site. Rolling Eyes

torino · Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Posts: 10

I am a long time "customer" of Mr. Tweed back to his GD magazine days. I miss that magazine a great deal and those days of more gentlemanly collectors even more. It seems everyone with a keyboard has become an expert of sorts and has no fear nor restraint in typing before engaging brain. Civility has suffered. I try to never type anything I wouldn't say in person and with my mama and preacher in attendence. It works well for me.

I paid the 3 year membership fee and was happy to do so. I appreciate the basic premise of the site which is bringing together sellers and buyers and greatly appreciate the supervision in attempting to cull the reproductions and junk.

I am thankful and appreciative of someone willing to first undertake a site such as this and then to run it. I am satisfied this is not a profit filled endeavor and Mr. Tweed has spent money he will never recoup. That is another reason I spent the fifty bucks-to show my support in a small way.

One of the great things I like on here is the simple listing of an item for sale rather than a "moderator" showing an item, getting his buddies and or worshipers to pump it up and then reluctantly offering the item for sale because of the numerous inquiries. Yeah right. Moderators of sites who simply use the position as a shill for their business sales get under my skin. Are they there to assist in the sharing of information or merely as another outlet for their sales? I guess you know my opinion. I don't look at the other forums any longer but for the for sale area on German Daggers and I have never been a member of WAF . I do vist the forum of the Hitlerjugend site as it hasn't been taken over by shills selling their wares and thus far is an information sharing site. the topics of course are limited mostly to HJ and I dound found everyone civil, thankfully civil.

To Mr. Tweed, a great big sincere THANKS for you dedication to our hobby over so many years and a thank you on behalf of my family and I for your countless hours in building, spending your money and and maintaining this site. I haven't sold anything here as I collect primarily but I would list here if I did. I have obtained several nice items from sellers here and have found all but one (there is always one) to be cordial, polite and helpful. To the rude seller typist your reply says much more about you than it does my son and I. I willl always remember your very rude comment in answering my son, a beginning collector but more importantly so will he and his several friends bitten by the collecting bug.

Jasper · Joined: 24 Aug 2007 Posts: 6

I'm sure everyone appreciates torino's comments. I would like to suggest that he and others read their posts after they post them. They could edit out the mistakes. Bob mentioned that this forum program does not like quote marks and to use a double apostorphe, not sure how you spell that, instead. Also, I think that out of respect we could at least spell his name right.

comt005 · Joined: 26 Aug 2007 Posts: 4

I finally got around to looking the WA forum to see the comments about the membership charge. Wow! Some of those guys really get uspet over $20. I would hate to think what they would say if it were $30.!!!

I liked the way Bob T. didn't pull any puches about telling them what he thought. I know from experience what it must have taken to build this site and I don't doubt for a minute that he spend a load of cash on it.

The complainers all seem to have some ax to grind about being asked to support the site. The idea of paying $20 and the thought that Bob T. might make a few $$$ off it seem to really upset them. Are they're forgetting that every time they buy from a dealer he is making a lot more that $20 off them? $20 is all Bob T. ever gets.

Personally, I think it is much easier on the nerves just to join up and pay the fee and then get on with collecting. I've bought a few pieces here and will probably buy some more and the $20 is no big deal. I hope the site will continue to get bigger.

What do you think? Answers are welcome.

Treue Fest · Joined: 31 Jul 2008 Posts: 4

I've been a member over at WA forum for years under a different name. And I've been a member of this site for over a year. I've also been watching the big debate about the membership fee. It's still going on in both places. The WA members are batting it back and forth almost every day and 90% is negative and stupid.

I've decided I can't stand it any more so I'm going to jump in and say my piece. With all the back and forth not one person on these forums really gets it!!! Am I the only one who can see what's really happening? This isn't about a lousy $20 fee, it's about the ''status quo''. This site has broken the mold and the big wigs in the hobby can't stand it. They see a site like this as a threat to their profits and they will do anything they can to distroy it. I'm sure they're behind most of the slander and grabage that's being spewed out. They feel threatened. No one would make this big a deal out of $20., especially if they don't really ''have'' to pay it.

The last thing the dealers want; and that includes the people behind WA and their ''e-stand'', is a place where we can all buy and sell and do it without it costing us very much. $20. a year is peanuts. A dealer doesn't make a profit when two collectors buy and sell between themselves. And the e-stand doesn't make any money when collectors are selling their militaria over here. And if you don't think the e-stand is a profit making business, just take the fee they charge and multiply it by the number of members and you'll be shocked at how much money they take in.

Any time someone rocks the boat; comes up with a new idea or has a better way, there are always people who don't like it. In our hobby, or in any other for that matter, the pie is only so big. If someone decides they want a piece of that pie, he has to take it from another. And the bigger the piece he takes the harder the others work to get it back.

On WA someone said, in response to Bob's post, that he must be ''feeling the heat or else he wouldn't be here''. I think they must be feeling the heat or it wouldn't be such a big deal to them.

'' Pay no attention to what the cynics say... Remember, a statue has never been set up in honor of a cynic! ''

The Thicket · Joined: 17 Jul 2007 Posts: 86 Location: Right Here.

TF, very valid point!

Saddly there are a lot of weasels in the hobby now - more than ever before, examples are seen daily, of back stabbing, throat cutting malicious behavior displayed on countless threads, on most forums.
As in if your not in a clique your trashed. So that aids the pie cutting down to the base truth of the matter

alfalfa · Joined: 12 Jul 2007 Posts: 10

Welcome to the forum Fest. Well said!

Hillbilly Bill · Joined: 09 Jul 2008 Posts: 13

Howdy Folks,

I just noticed there are 106 pages of relics for sale here right now.
There is something interesting for everyone here.
I looked over a batch of those free sites too.
Didn't really see much of interest at all.
I got 2 very nice helmets here this month.
Condition, price, and originality was better than anywhere else I looked.

Bill Hill

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