Prices/Value Discussion.

[Henry Sakaida]

I have observed that a well known dealer on the East coast now has 4 HSUs and two HSLs for sale...what a change from last year when his cupboards were bare! And currently there is a HSU on ebay from Denmark (looks very very dubious with a bad gold spray paint job on the suspension).

I think it won't be long before the outrageous prices start getting a bit more realistic due to the tough economic times. Russia, which was awash in petro dollars, is now suffering economically in our bad global economy.

Jewelry shops all over are suffering, and so are coin and stamp dealers. It will be interesting to see what the prices will be at this same time next year.

[Kirchgoens]

Unlike oil and gas, which will still be around in some quantity for years to come, the supply of Soviet stuff is dwindling (and I've seen it decrease at the source significantly in just the past 12 months). It's always possible that the prices will not grow as fast during this current crisis, but I doubt they'll drop for most of the stuff within the grasp of us mortals. Maybe the price of an HSU or republic-level ORB or Bogdan or OG1 or elusive Tractor Lenin will drop a few thousand dollars, but that still leaves them many thousands more than any of us normal people here can afford. In Russia in particular, there is such a wide gap between the haves and have nots that I doubt the big-spending collectors will be all that inhibited.

With the exception of some who got in early enough to get that high-end stuff, regular dudes will never own and never be able to afford the top and rarest awards. We common folk will have to limit our highest delights to things like the OG2 or OPW1 or OLG2, and focus more on the awards given to real workers and soldiers like BMs, ORSs, OG3s, BoHs, CSMs, etc. That's just fine with me: the highest named military awards often went to generals or well-placed staff officers, but my heart and greatest fascination is with soldiers at company-grade rank and below. There is great honor in service where the trigger gets pulled, the lanyard yanked, the truck driven, and the wire spliced.

[Henry Sakaida]

Yes, I have to agree with you! It will come down some, but the good old days of HSUs for $2500 is gone. I've always appreciated the heroics and sacrifices of the NCOs and enlisted men over high ranked officers who used men as cannon fodder.

[Katze Felix]

The high prices have kept a lot of collectors away from Soviet material. It has
seemed that the major dealers have been up-ing the prices almost monthly.The "big" one that I need is almost out of reach - I need a Nevsky to finish off the high end awards that I can attain in my theme. These were under 1000usd in the 90's and now I have read that I would be super lucky to possibly find one without award booklet for maybe 3000 usd! My concern is that if I wait much longer that the next time I try to obtain one they will be going for 5 to 10 grand on the low end.
KF

[slava1stclass]

Originally Posted by Henry Sakaida

Yes, I have to agree with you! It will come down some, but the good old days of HSUs for $2500 is gone. I've always appreciated the heroics and sacrifices of the NCOs and enlisted men over high ranked officers who used men as cannon fodder.

Henry,

$800.00 for a HSU in the good old days (1991/1992) was not uncommon at all.

Regards,

slava1stclass

[Auke]

I have been watching the Lenins on eBay, and their prices have dropped considerably the last couple of months; they used to sell for around 3000 USD a couple of months ago, but (even) on eBay they are now selling for much less. A Lenin with booklet sold for 2100 USD six days ago, and a nice Lenin in the 10xxxx range sold for 1950 USD three days ago.

[Sanzotta]

I think prices have definitely stabilized for the present and I think the two big auctions coming up are going to be a big indicator of where things are in the hobby. I doubt you are going to see the big dealers dropping prices anytime soon however, even if the prices on Ebay have been lower recently.

It is to the point where I started collecting WW2 German stuff since it is more reasonable, even for higher end items, something I would not have imagined saying 5 years ago.

[Eryk]

There's a definite downward trend in prices as revealed in both auctions' realized results and in what simply didn't sell.

One of the well known retailers recently lowered the price on an award about 30%; I know because I was jazzed to see something I actually owned going for a frankly ridiculous price. Going there today - opps! It's on sale! (Though of course there's no history on the site to show that!) Seems the real world agrees - it was ridiculous!

Shouldn't be a surprise, given the economic news of late. Prices rise. Prices fall. The way of the world.

[kingsnorth]

Morning Gents.
I attended a medal auction in Nottingham (England) yesterday and was particularly interested to see if there was any slow down in interest in
medals since the Credit crunch/recession .
Well over 90% of the lots were British but there were a few Soviet items but not of any great value or interest. Most were anniversary and campaign medals but there was a nice Order of Glory 3rd class group that I went for but was outbid on.
It was an interesting day and as far as I could see every lot was sold despite the snow that certainly deterred a lot of people from attending. Every lot sold near or above top estimate and do not think they were placed artificially low to encourage people to attend. The Soviet lots generated a fair amount of interest and all sold well.
What I find so encouraging is the fact that the prices were high at an auction house I had never heard of 4 months ago and one that did not have an internet bidding facility.
From what I could see and talking to people there I have come to the conclusion that buying/collecting medals has been a wise investment because the interest and money is still there.

Cheers
Keith

[ANZAC]

Originally Posted by kingsnorth

Morning Gents.
I attended a medal auction in Nottingham (England) yesterday and was particularly interested to see if there was any slow down in interest in
medals since the Credit crunch/recession .
Well over 90% of the lots were British but there were a few Soviet items but not of any great value or interest. Most were anniversary and campaign medals but there was a nice Order of Glory 3rd class group that I went for but was outbid on.
It was an interesting day and as far as I could see every lot was sold despite the snow that certainly deterred a lot of people from attending. Every lot sold near or above top estimate and do not think they were placed artificially low to encourage people to attend. The Soviet lots generated a fair amount of interest and all sold well.
What I find so encouraging is the fact that the prices were high at an auction house I had never heard of 4 months ago and one that did not have an internet bidding facility.
From what I could see and talking to people there I have come to the conclusion that buying/collecting medals has been a wise investment because the interest and money is still there.

Cheers
Keith

Interesting comments Keith. Certainly the interest is still there but I don't believe the money is. The New York auction recently showed that there was only one buyer who had the bank roll to buy the high end and even the low end awards. You can see the drop markedly on ebay as far as prices go.

Average Joe just hasn't got the money anymore to spend and collecting seems to be a luxury that few can afford. There are some great deals around but no one has the money to pick them up

Thats just my take on it.

Brendan