Visiting And Shopping Inside And Outside The Former Soviet Union.

[makedon]

Greece is probably one of the safest countries in Europe.
You don't need a weapon-just a good mood.
Get in touch with me and maybe I can show you around for some medals' places!
makedon

[Nack]

I've sorta lost touch with the Soviet collecting sphere as of late due to a confluence of circumstances (Nota Bene quit the business, I sucked up all of the Soviet stuff for sale at the shows around me, and DougD hasn't had much as of late either). While engrossed in a particularly horrible research project at work here today, I wandered off into some of the internet's Soviet-material stands to poke around. What I found was that most of the e-shops I know of were essentially boarded up or had virtually no items in stock. Even that New Jersey guy has about nothing on his shelves, and he always had a ton of stuff, including some super-high-end wares. So where did everything go? Are collectors hoarding everything? Are prices in Russia/the weak dollar keeping everything in Russia? What's the deal?

[slava1stclass]

Originally Posted by Nack

Even that New Jersey guy has about nothing on his shelves, and he always had a ton of stuff, including some super-high-end wares. So where did everything go? Are collectors hoarding everything? Are prices in Russia/the weak dollar keeping everything in Russia? What's the deal?

Nack,

1) Supply line of old (early to late '90s) from East to West has evaporated. New money in the East is keeping things in region. No financial incentive to move things "za granitsu" as was the case a few years back. Additionally, greater Russian governmental scrutiny/interest in this area has had a chilling effect.

2) Dealers in the West are unwilling to pay the prices Western collectors are asking for their items. Occasional high-end items do show up, but usually under consignment.

3) Western collectors with choice holdings in their collection see no need to liquidate given current market environment and future outlook.

Regards,

slava1stclass

[DougD]

nack,

actually, i have had in large amounts of stuff, really nice stuff, i just don't update my site,and I don't just post stuff on forums either (at least not much).

items sell so quickly that it just is not worth it to update the site (quite frankly I do not really need it, but hope to update it this summer)...i have had in quite a few Marshals, some superb wartime generals caps, etc, all in the past 30 days. I sold a superb 1935 'Flagman' tunic today (pre 1940 admiral), and have been crazy busy the last few weekends working on this stuff.

so, i can't speak for others ( and i just deal in cloth), but i have not dried up; i just stay undercover.

dougd

[Nack]

Ah-ha. I guess I've just been out of the loop on that...

[Henry Sakaida]

Please share with us, your worst hotel horror stories when you have traveled to Russia, China, Mongolia, or the former republics of the USSR.

My buddy Justin Taylan and I went to Khalkin Gol in Mongolia last year. It is literally at the ends of the earth! We stayed at the museum there, which also doubled as a hotel. The first three nights were OK.

Typical Soviet military metal bed with springs, and a few wooden slats under a thin worn mattress. There is a toilet in the building...very old and it didn't flush, only good for #1. The floor was wet due to a leaking toilet bowl.

If you had to take a load off your feet, you went outside to the outhouse. At night, you needed a flash light, and you had to be very careful not to fall in!
The fumes were enough to jolt you awake!

In the kitchen, there was a large primitive cement block stove. You cooked your own meals there. There was ample wood supply...someone had torn down a painted wooden fence to use as firewood. Must have been lead based paint! Black smoke and toxic, yet hotel guests were cooking their meals using these firewood!!!

No indoor plumbing. If you wanted water, you had to take one of the many large 5g plastic jugs and walk to the town well about 200 yards away! Imagine lugging a full 5g container full of water back to the hotel.

Now for the nightmare. At nights, the outside of the window sill, there would be billions of mosquitoes, moths, and gnats. The first three nights were OK, but on the forth night, all the beetle larvae must have started to hatch.
Around midnight, we started to hear things dropping on the floor. We had a high ceiling, typical of the Soviet style of architecture. When I turned out the light, we were shocked, but there were hundreds of black beetles on the ceiling. The thuds on the wooden floor were these beetles dropping down and hitting the floor!!!

We tried to ignore them, but we found small beetles crawling up our legs under the sheets, and on our faces!!! I put on mosquito netting over my head, but they were still crawling underneath the sheets. We got up many times to brush them off, but it was a losing battle. Justin got bit by something...he had a big red welt on his thigh.

Finally out of desperation, Justin suggested that I fill a 5g bucket with water, and put it in the corner of the room, and hang my keychain flashlight over it to attract the buggers. We turned into bed, still getting up ocassionally to brush them out. After an hour or so, we were so exhausted, we fell asleep. In the morning, we checked the plastic bucket and it was full of dead black beetles! Our 2 guides also suffered the same fate. I have to give the museum hotel a -5 star rating. I attached a photo of a Soviet BT tank in front of the museum.

We left in the morning. I dare anyone to top this hotel from hell!

[Christophe]

Hi to All,

I can imagine some of you have already visited Cuba.

By chance, would you know where to find medals in La Havana or other places in Cuba ?

I'm interested in flea markets, dealers' adresses, etc... Do you have good address to recommand ?

I'm also interested in informations on any good or interesting historical places to visit : museums, exhibitions, sites..

I will be there beginning of October. In advance, many thanks.

Cheers.

Ch.

[Esteban_cool]

As far as I know, with a bit of luck you can find some cuban medals, badges and discarded FAR uniforms/headgear at flea markets now that some of the reforms are taking place, but unfortunately I´ve got no addresses to share with you. About soviet awards, I had one of my relatives look for them when they went there, but didn´t found any. You can find good quality cigars, rum and Che Guevara merchandising by the thousands for little cash, but awards and militaria are very scarce. Remember that markets are still not so that open, so a dealer may be the most difficult thing to find.

Hope you enjoy your trip to Cuba! Cubans are very friendly and will be willing to help you in any way (at least in my personal experience). If you have any problems with their spanish just let me know.

[kingsnorth]

I went to Cuba 2 years ago with the intention of looking for medals etc but didn't see anything worth buying.There were a few indoor markets about but most goods for sale could only be described as tourist junk.Like most people all over there are good and bad but most were friendly.

[Christophe]

Back from Cuba !

I have not seen any medal, even in the Museum of the Revolution...

And the Cuban people are very friendly !!

All in all : a very good trip !!

Ch.