Prices/Value Discussion.

[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.