Commissar of the Red Army Lev Mekhlis

[Jeffrey Meffert]

but rather the absence of capital creates a vacume which sucks in soviet militaria.

[Synthesis]

Actually it is not a suprise that it's in such good shape; a guy like this would not have been in real combat, but just sitting around yelling at real officers. However, there is one diamond on the right collar tab that has been damaged.

Well, yeah....but several decades is still a long time...that coat was taken care of.

[DougD]

True, it was. There are 3 general sources of this kind of item; museums, family, and theatre/film studio stock. Museums tended to keep things in very good shape, though they are notorious for splitting up items that should be together and mis-matching other items. Families run the gamut; from horrible treatment to near museum quality treatment. Theatre/film studios tend to be the worst, with many items (though not always) suffering from neglect and poor storage. DD

[DougD]

Here is the Mehklis tunic (i added the hat and belt for the photo)...has a makers tag from Samarkand!

Note the same unique rank sleeve and collar insignia as the overcoat. Wish i could have kept this set together, would have looked great to have the coat over the tunic!

DougD

[ekclete]

What a GREAT tunic Doug. That one would be a great one to have in the collection. Congratulations to the new owner on a great tunic. Thanks Clete