12-31-2016, 04:07 PM
I thought 2015 would be a year that would take some beating but 2016 has blown it completely out of the water.
I thought the 45 researched awards I posted in 2015 would be the high water mark but 2016 has seen 135 Researched Soviet Medals and 30 Researched Soviet Orders - That's getting close to one every other day. A trend I don't see slowing in 2017 as prices continue to fall.
There are so many researched awards that I won't even try to post links to them all but they can be see in these two sections;
Researched Medals
Researched Orders
Every major battle seems to be covered and almost every conceivable role - Balloonist, Folk Singer, T-34 Driver, Pilot, Cook, Machinegunner, Desk Jockey, ICBM Tester, etc....
As seems to be the yearly echo - there is a backlog (and it's bigger than ever). 2017 will continue to showcase the exploits of participants in the Great Patriotic War but will also probably also uncover the labour exploits of those who served the state during the Cold War. I don't want to speak too soon but there might just be a group to a worker on the Vostok-1 programme coming out of the woodwork soon.
My favourite researched award of 2016 is the one that inspired me to destroy the myth of the "All-Woman" Regiment.
As I also enjoy spreading my interests, I've also been working on post-Soviet awards. The Russian Federation has had a new wave of ministerial awards and I challenged myself to complete the Ministry Of Defence Medals set. I didn't get them all but I don't think falling only 7 short of the complete set is too big of a failure considering how many fakes are out there. There's always 2017 to complete the task.
At least 35 Russian Federation Ministry Of Defence Medals added in 2016.
Over 3/4 of the RF MOD Badges posted were added in 2016 too.
My favourite of them all has to be Demining Palmyra as I have not seen another real example for sale although I have seen hundreds of fake ones sell - often for silly money.
Russian Federation awards may be the most discussed and reported of all the post-Soviet awards but I do like the more obscure ones.
2016 has seen a bumper harvest of Armenian awards and also all but one of the awards of the Republic Of Karakalpakstan - which wasn't even on the map before.
(There's even been three KKASSR Titles posted as well as 22 UzSSR Titles)
I like to get even more obscure though, going where no-one has been before or even completely missing from the map (like Karakalpakstan) and 2016 has been the very best year for the awards of "Unrecognised States".
Nagorno-Karabakh - Now with research!
South Ossetia - and not just KGB.
Lots of awards from the Donetsk People's Republic.
Lugansk People's Republic is a bit trickier to collect.
Although my favourite of the year is this Abkhaz Order Of Leon #12 (More from Abkhazia in 2017).
There have, of course, been additions almost completely over the board. New or at least newly obtained or posted items that have often never been seen anywhere online before. This feat will be repeated in 2017.
Since my greatest achievements of have been completely off topic I'll leave them where they belong - elsewhere. I can say however that what is posted here is only the very tip of the iceberg. "The stories I could tell".
I know 2016 has been a rather double edged sword for many enthusiasts too. Research is now very accessible with more resources than ever and the continuing fall in prices makes collecting more appealing. However, those who "invested" during the booms times have found the reality of the market a very difficult pill to swallow. It has been nice to see not only more people get into Soviet awards but plenty returning after a long absence.
Mentioning people getting into and returning - the forum has seen new highs in the amount of users using it, hits, new items being posted and there have been even more sections created (around 50 in 2016 alone - if they don't strike you at once, good, they're supposed to blend in).
The research service I've been offering has been taking some serious interest - over 500 requests to date. Considerably more hits than misses too. This service will be expanding later in 2017. There are a few pieces outstanding and some people I need to get back to and I'll be on to that very soon. Mainly good news.
When it comes to the forum, research and collecting - a very good year indeed. Let us all continue to build on that in 2017.
It's a positive distraction from more negative things at least.
I thought the 45 researched awards I posted in 2015 would be the high water mark but 2016 has seen 135 Researched Soviet Medals and 30 Researched Soviet Orders - That's getting close to one every other day. A trend I don't see slowing in 2017 as prices continue to fall.
There are so many researched awards that I won't even try to post links to them all but they can be see in these two sections;
Researched Medals
Researched Orders
Every major battle seems to be covered and almost every conceivable role - Balloonist, Folk Singer, T-34 Driver, Pilot, Cook, Machinegunner, Desk Jockey, ICBM Tester, etc....
As seems to be the yearly echo - there is a backlog (and it's bigger than ever). 2017 will continue to showcase the exploits of participants in the Great Patriotic War but will also probably also uncover the labour exploits of those who served the state during the Cold War. I don't want to speak too soon but there might just be a group to a worker on the Vostok-1 programme coming out of the woodwork soon.
My favourite researched award of 2016 is the one that inspired me to destroy the myth of the "All-Woman" Regiment.
As I also enjoy spreading my interests, I've also been working on post-Soviet awards. The Russian Federation has had a new wave of ministerial awards and I challenged myself to complete the Ministry Of Defence Medals set. I didn't get them all but I don't think falling only 7 short of the complete set is too big of a failure considering how many fakes are out there. There's always 2017 to complete the task.
At least 35 Russian Federation Ministry Of Defence Medals added in 2016.
Over 3/4 of the RF MOD Badges posted were added in 2016 too.
My favourite of them all has to be Demining Palmyra as I have not seen another real example for sale although I have seen hundreds of fake ones sell - often for silly money.
Russian Federation awards may be the most discussed and reported of all the post-Soviet awards but I do like the more obscure ones.
2016 has seen a bumper harvest of Armenian awards and also all but one of the awards of the Republic Of Karakalpakstan - which wasn't even on the map before.
(There's even been three KKASSR Titles posted as well as 22 UzSSR Titles)
I like to get even more obscure though, going where no-one has been before or even completely missing from the map (like Karakalpakstan) and 2016 has been the very best year for the awards of "Unrecognised States".
Nagorno-Karabakh - Now with research!
South Ossetia - and not just KGB.
Lots of awards from the Donetsk People's Republic.
Lugansk People's Republic is a bit trickier to collect.
Although my favourite of the year is this Abkhaz Order Of Leon #12 (More from Abkhazia in 2017).
There have, of course, been additions almost completely over the board. New or at least newly obtained or posted items that have often never been seen anywhere online before. This feat will be repeated in 2017.
Since my greatest achievements of have been completely off topic I'll leave them where they belong - elsewhere. I can say however that what is posted here is only the very tip of the iceberg. "The stories I could tell".
I know 2016 has been a rather double edged sword for many enthusiasts too. Research is now very accessible with more resources than ever and the continuing fall in prices makes collecting more appealing. However, those who "invested" during the booms times have found the reality of the market a very difficult pill to swallow. It has been nice to see not only more people get into Soviet awards but plenty returning after a long absence.
Mentioning people getting into and returning - the forum has seen new highs in the amount of users using it, hits, new items being posted and there have been even more sections created (around 50 in 2016 alone - if they don't strike you at once, good, they're supposed to blend in).
The research service I've been offering has been taking some serious interest - over 500 requests to date. Considerably more hits than misses too. This service will be expanding later in 2017. There are a few pieces outstanding and some people I need to get back to and I'll be on to that very soon. Mainly good news.
When it comes to the forum, research and collecting - a very good year indeed. Let us all continue to build on that in 2017.
It's a positive distraction from more negative things at least.
"Signed with his own rubber stamp"
