11-15-2008, 02:23 PM
Hello Enzo,
Thank you for adding to this thread. The collection is an amazing one, but I still feel there are major issues with the "Brezhnev" uniforms.
First, not in any way to doubt the owner, but unless he bought them from Brezhnev himself, its kind of difficult to accept any statements of his as evidence. We are left with no real trail of ownership, and thus have to look at the physical aspects of the uniform.
First, the HSU wearing copies are not in dispute; no one is claiming they should be real. However, Brezhnev seems to always have worn his on a bar of 3 or 4, not individual. On could say he took them off the uniform for another uniform (but why? as the leader you would think he would have a limitless supply of 4 star bars) an then they were replaced with singles. Tough to accept, but possible.
Second are the ribbon bars. They simply do not match what we have seen Brezhnev wearing in actual photos. I have yet to see / hear a likely resolution to do this. This is a major issue; showing an actual photo of Brezhnev in uniform with such a ribbon make up would be a great step forward; the photos that have been shown seem to point to the ribbons not matching.
As to the quality of the Marshals uniform, I am unaware of quality differences that would have been apparent between a uniform made in 1982 and 1988...so I am not sure how the collector could distinguish...if i am missing some obvious differences, please let me know. Again, no one is claiming the uniforms are fake, but rather possibly un-issued, with Brezhnev-like ribbon bars being added.
Each person must decide how comfortable they are with any uniform. I do not think I would be comfortable with these without some resolution of these issues. However, others might be and that is why collecting (and collections) vary.
DougD
Thank you for adding to this thread. The collection is an amazing one, but I still feel there are major issues with the "Brezhnev" uniforms.
First, not in any way to doubt the owner, but unless he bought them from Brezhnev himself, its kind of difficult to accept any statements of his as evidence. We are left with no real trail of ownership, and thus have to look at the physical aspects of the uniform.
First, the HSU wearing copies are not in dispute; no one is claiming they should be real. However, Brezhnev seems to always have worn his on a bar of 3 or 4, not individual. On could say he took them off the uniform for another uniform (but why? as the leader you would think he would have a limitless supply of 4 star bars) an then they were replaced with singles. Tough to accept, but possible.
Second are the ribbon bars. They simply do not match what we have seen Brezhnev wearing in actual photos. I have yet to see / hear a likely resolution to do this. This is a major issue; showing an actual photo of Brezhnev in uniform with such a ribbon make up would be a great step forward; the photos that have been shown seem to point to the ribbons not matching.
As to the quality of the Marshals uniform, I am unaware of quality differences that would have been apparent between a uniform made in 1982 and 1988...so I am not sure how the collector could distinguish...if i am missing some obvious differences, please let me know. Again, no one is claiming the uniforms are fake, but rather possibly un-issued, with Brezhnev-like ribbon bars being added.
Each person must decide how comfortable they are with any uniform. I do not think I would be comfortable with these without some resolution of these issues. However, others might be and that is why collecting (and collections) vary.
DougD
