Exporting Of Items.

[DougD]

I have been dealing in higher end soviet items for about 6 years and have been over there 3 times in the past 5 years. I deal with people who know how to get stuff out, so I NEVER carry stuff out on my omy person, not even order copies. The hassle is just too much. I was with a friend this past year and he got stopped in every airport we went into simply because he has a copy Lenin and a copy Kutz2 in his bag. They lit up the machines and the guys know what to look for. We were able to convince each inspector that they were fake, and he got them out. However, he could have gotten them over here for a few bucks more. There are no great bargains (the prices in Kiev and Moscow were just as high as over here, and they had lots of copies) over there, so prices are not going to be a factor in most cases. The only reason to do it is if you see something over there that you can't get here. I have done that with high end uniforms and flags but I can't see doing it unless you collect maybe 1920's repubic awards or something. In that case, like with high end uniforms and such, you need to know who to ask as they won't openly display the stuff.

I have to wait about 2 months for my uniforms to come over, but they pretty much always do. Only once was a load lost, on land, leaving Ukraine.

DougD