Man.. What's that Smell????

[Wesley's Dad]

Why, it's a turd!

http://cgi.ebay.com/WW2-RUSSIAN-SOVI...QQcmdZViewItem<O></O>

If you have ever handled a circa 1960-1990+ postwar Soviet medics bag, you should recognize these contents. If not, then trust that all the 1943r dates on the contents in this kit are all bogus. The plastic handled knife is an obvious indicator as is the chain and rubber turniquet. Also, the shoulder bag is of postwar proportions being wider in width that a wartime bag and having a wider closure buckle on the center/front

This guy kills me... This is a mid-60's -1970's vintage bag with 21st century stamps

[FlagRodini]

This Mr DoubleDecker fellow is quite a gem among gems. Isn't he?

[DougD]

Doubledecker stamps

Hey Mike,

I have had guys send me images of uniforms they have bought from DDA on e-bay and asking me if they were ok, etc. I even will have a few to sell from a collector for him.

As I explained to these clients, things are not what they appear with DDA....what they will do is take a tunic or pullover and add a cap and pants to make a set...the cap and the pants being postwar, but having 1940 or 1942 stamps, etc.

They don't seem always to make outright fakes (their M1935 Marshal is an outright fake in my opinion as are a couple of the other uniforms), but take a real item and mix it in with items with fake stamps for a " WWII set".

I recently got photos of a guys collection, all built from buying from DDA online; EVERY item (hats, tunics, pants!) had a stamp! I told him that in my almost 10 years collecting I had not seen that many "WWII" stamps as he had in his 5 uniform collection! The stamps were bright, often an odd white, with just the right date to make everything legit. I told him that I would list the items on my list, but would have to explain i thought that many of the items were postwar with bad stamps, added to make complete "WWII" setups.

DougD
sovietgenerals.com

[Wesley's Dad]

Smell that Smell

Doug,

I think I'll not give him that much credit. I agree with what you are saying about mixing the good with the bad, but feel the "real" usually stops with one or two of the minor accoutrements of the ensemble. In my opinion most all of his Gymnastiorka are highly suspect as well. If they are real, they are crafted from stripped items to always be the rarest of the rare... but I give that one a big "IF". The dirty Vaseline weather jobs on the hats and Gyms

The one I really feel sorry for is the gentleman that bought the "M38 experimental para helmet". Well over a grand for that "floater"... ouch.

[Kozlov]

However what does it say about the market when 559 of his feedback on ebay is positive, except just one negative comment about a copy being sold when described as original...

Quite obviously most of the stuff he sells is questionable - the thing is is that if just half of it was real people would be fighting hard for it.... which probably says why he has so little neg's - people who know their stuff don't buy that rubbish.

And thats how I handle stuff on ebay - nobody even slightly interested in a NKVD general's uniform for $50 probably means others have spotted someting about it I haven't...

I wonder if our friend ever surfaces here?

[Wesley's Dad]

However what does it say about the market when 559 of his feedback on ebay is positive, except just one negative comment about a copy being sold when described as original...

Koslov,

I think it says the the hobby is full of neophyte collectors who are loose with their money... but then again, that is nothing really new. You are also correct about the good stuff getting battled over. I sure helped bid up several lots of M35 rank devices to low earth orbit this past year. To my chagrin, I didn't come away with any of them. .

Not sure if this seller frequents the forum or not... I've never seen anyone rush to his defense here.

[Kozlov]

What I always fail to understand is why anyone with no depth of knowledge would seek to buy high end items in the first place?

I don't play in the US$1000's game, but if I did I'd make damned sure what I was getting was real and do some really hard research before going out blowing stacks of cash...

Hell, I've been annoyed enough with getting scammed on very low end stuff, let alone something I'd blown thousands on!

[Bill D.]

I saw the title of this thread and thought that it was another post on the annoying tendency of Soviet uniforms to preserve not only history but body odor as well.

[Wesley's Dad]

And you raise another good point...

Agreed on all points... However, there is a dilemma here. Particularly with the 1935-1945 period, there is little in the way of useful reference and WW2 Soviet militaria is a counterfeiters paradise because of that fact and more.

70+ years as a closed society have set the stage for few people (even in the former Soviet Union) to fully appreciate what all this stuff is. Add to that the fact that much of the postwar material is nearly, if not identical. Not to mention a decade and a half or so to practice your "art" on German Militaria. You can see the scope of the problem.

It's a big probllem I think because the "standards" or "yard sticks" for comparison are still being developed yet all the while, the price of German militaria has driven more and more people into this genre. It is no where nearly as well understood as much of the German material is now and the prices are achieving parity. If anyone here has moved to Soviet material because of less risk of getting burned, you may be in for a surprise.

After many years in this genre almost exclusively, I am reminded time and time again that I am still a neophyte. It's a lot of fun, but it is hard and getting harder.

Now with regard to that expensive para helmet, I suspect all the buyer had to go on was the few, marginally useful photos in the Clawson book. Not much considering the money involved, but enough to warrant much caution.

If he had looked close, he would have seen that the type of helmet the sellar was offering it as did not match the liner details of the one in the book. The liner matched another experimental shown on the next page or so, but that one had a different shell. The helmet also had a postwar chinstrap. Furhter still was the nice thick winter overpaint that did a hell of a job hiding the rivets which looked hand peened to me, not machine fixed, which suggests the helmet was a cobble job.

[Viktor]

I saw the title of this thread and thought that it was another post on the annoying tendency of Soviet uniforms to preserve not only history but body odor as well.

Da!... it is the free gift of "Progressive" Collecting.