Militaria store (WWII), Boom or Bust?

I'm a WWII fan, I've done some research around slexchange and with the Find item in game. I haven't come across one store which sells WWII objects (clothes and small things ) EXCLUSIVELY. I thought this would be a good market niche to invest in because there's no stores, and I've only met one other guy which sells WWII gear (I've spoke to him and he's willing to do business!)

I've met a few people who wanted to buy my German-esque Uniform, and a couple of my group members have notified me about even more purchases of our uniform.

We currently have two stores located at the Matrix Mall, and we are selling / planning to sell apparel.

All of our clothes up for sale are based off German uniforms from World war 2, and we have gained a small demand for the uniforms, but how long that will ast for we don't know

So the question is, if we expand our range away from JUST german uniforms and expand out into say, British and American, russian and japanese uniforms and objects. Could this be a potential pioneering business niche? Or will it be a failure?


Whats the demand for World war 2 clothes, have you ever had one of your friends say 'Hm I wish I lookd like 'that guy' from world war 2'

Seems like an interesting idea, heck, I'd love to see a place expand into more than just WWII uniforms. I've been on a M*A*S*H kick, and I'd love to see some Korean era uniforms!

Maybe If I do expand from a small sole trader business to a bigger business, I could create a whole host of uniforms, IF THERE is a demand for it.

Right now I'm going to focus on a certain era, and if we gain customers, we could get suggestions and improvement ideas, and who knows, maybe The Aumacht apparel store will be the number one militaria distributor in SL.

AFAIK, we're the only store that comes up if you search 'WWII' in the Find places, Try it

A pic of our current merchandise, just to get an IDEA on what we're selling (currently, due to change):
http://img342.imageshack.us/img342/6205/militaria5tx.jpg

Store front:
http://img342.imageshack.us/img342/8561/beoww1qd.jpg

Lets hope There's a nice pool of demand for a brighter future

There's definitely a demand for historical recreations in SL, but I'm not sure quite how large it is. WW2-era equipment is a fairly good bet I'd say, though if you could produce some 19th century uniforms I'd be very happy.... I'd certainly say it was worth a try.

Remember that you will have to be really anal about detail to satisfy collectors.

You might also think about getting together with people who make other recreations in a similar period - weapons are the obvious choice, but there's also things like field radios, ration kits, vehicles, tents, cigarettes and so on. If you can put together a one-stop shop for a particular period that'll improve sales for all concerned.

You also have to remember that anything with a swastika is strictly verbotten!

Sadly that leaves out half the possible equipment you can make and pretty much all of (my favorite), war time propoganda posters.

I'm definitely in your potential customer base for WW2 German (and other) uniforms/gear/miscellany. I've spent time looking around SL, trying to find such stuff, but really no luck...so hearing that someone is interested in exploring this niche is exciting news for me.

I hope you go forward with it!

Nah, no swastikas involved. I've been clever and bent realism a bit, just so they don't break rules or make people upset.

Closest 'bad' thing there is, is an iron cross.

Swastika's are not allwoed in-game? I could have sowrn I've seen one, maybe illegal or opposite of what the swastika is.

People really need to face their demons a little and let nazi symbology be used freely. This censorship of things already long past really is pointless.

If you're selling WWII items, I'd only buy them if they look authentic, along with all the medals, patches and symbology that comes with it. The lack of them will lower their value.

I'm also looking for Eva Braun period clothing and a Kim Jong Il avatar, complete with hair attachment and typical clothing.

Maybe you can have some 'gray market' items instead of a typical shop.

I'm a WW2 fan too! I've got loads of German stuff, but there is a definate lack of decent allied gear :0(

Would love to buy some well made British uniforms, tanks, planes etc. You so need to make a spitfire!

I will look you up in world when I log in next!

And i would have to agree with an earlier comment, detail for me is everything )

Good luck with the business venture

For the purposes of historically-accurate re-creations, I totally agree. The swastika shouldn't be something that everyone is afraid to even LOOK at; it is a symbol of Very Bad Past Things, yes, but surely we're adult enough to realize that having the symbol about for historical purposes isn't the same as promoting Nazi ideology? Surely...but probably not.

The unfortunate thing about allowing the swastika to be used for historical purposes in SL is, of course, the hate-mongers (and in every large population, there always ARE some) or even just those malcontents who like to get a rise out of people will crawl out of their cesspools to parade that symbol about just because they can, possibly bringing grief with them.

That said, while I would really love to see accurate German uniforms created, swastikas and all, I completely understand why LL doesn't allow that symbol to be publically displayed. That'd open yet another huge can of worms for them as they try to determine the intent of the players who use the symbol in any way; you just know it wouldn't always be a black-and-white thing.

Edited to add: And you just know that there would be a TON of screaming about it from all directions. x_x

The use of that symbology is not a thing of the past.

I tried a tunic with a swastika on it a few weeks ago and it turned alot of heads around waterhead, so for reputation and business sake, I decided not to display swastiska

Although maybe swastika tunics can be made for select customers if they want

In general, I like my male avi to wear uniforms. I would be interested in Allied uniforms of any nationality. And don't forget boots! Both regular and dress uniforms would be of interest to me.

Possibly raises all kinds of issues regarding the law too. IE.... in Germany it's still illegal to display the swastika, and (I could be wrong....and Im sure someone will know) but i think theyre banned from games too..... so that would be problematic and an interesting conundrum for German players of SL..and where the law applies...
Just another point.

"Kim Jong Il avatar, complete with hair attachment and typical clothing."

LOL!

I may be wrong about this (after all, I've been known to be wrong before, you can ask either of my ex wives or any number of former girlfriends for details and lengthy exposition on the subject), why would an EK be considered a "bad thing"? The Iron Cross design itself isn't a uniquely Third Reich-era award--it goes back to to the Pussians' fight against the tyrant Bonaparte, circa 1813-1815.

At the level of detail that is possible, can the little tiny hackenkruez on a WWII-era iron cross even be made visible? I would imagine that all you really can represent is the basic shape of the EK, and as it is a combat valor award anyway, it doesn't seem it would be offensive. Heck it's the shape of the emblem that the Germans put on their vehicles and aircraft at present, so there obviously isn't any legal problem in Europe about the classic iron cross outline.

For that matter, how much detail is actually possible on the uniform? Unless you are doing a political outfit, I'm pretty sure it doesn't involve armbands or other bits that would have large visible swastikas. Yes, your basic Heer and Luftwaffe uniforms have the little hackenkruez on the cap, breast and arm eagles, and on the branch of service helmet decal (if the helmet is earlier war and has the decal showing) but those are so small, would the little swastikas even show up on a Second Life avatar's uniform?

On the big equipment, it seems like the armor and soft skin vehicles just have the standard straight military/nonpolitical black cross--or am I misremembering? Aircraft are supposed to have the swasticka on the tail, but would leaving that off be be one authenticty adjustment you could make?

Anyway, I'll look forward to coming and visiting your emporium. And I would vote that if you have the chance to expand into Japanese, Italian and Allied uniforms and gear, that would be a lot of fun. Especially if you could do some nice WAAC outfits (having always been a sucker for a dame in uniform)

And when you're ready to REALLY go out on a limb, I would second Ordinal M's request for 19th century (maybe even Great War) uniforms and gear.

I don't think any insignia's are bad personally, I could wear a shirt covered in insignias of all kinds. But I won't

Anyway lads, here's a short plug for an ALLIED uniform (US)

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/9241/usinfantry6hu.jpg

/invalid_link.html

This is in the context of recreating memorablia from WWII. Not current anti-semitist groups. Similarly, the swastika when used in the context of Buddhism is not an issue.

That's all pretty cool, Simon. Keep up the good work.

Perhaps I'm a little more of a fan of an earlier era, but I wouldn't mind seeing some Civil War era uniforms in SL, both Union and Confederate. Course, that might just be the crazy old cowboy in me talking.

Agreed. But it will never go away, and the hurt it causes will never go away, through censorship.

Only by letting people use and re-use it until the meaning is depleted will it become harmless. The censorship (ironically), props it up as an icon of hate and maintains it's power indefinitely.