Avers Series

[Mark Signa]

Found Averc 6 on e-Bay - starting price - $125 - costly!!
Mark

Originally Posted by Kim

So I guess that I’m the fist member of this forum to get a AVERS 6… Now that I have a copy I can write the review I asked for.

AVERS 6
Author: V.D. Krivtsov (ed.)

The bad things with this book are, as I see it:

• It’s all in Russian. This might come as a surprise to the authors, but Russian is not a language widely spread (like for example Swedish… ;) ).
  
  I miss photos of the documents that came with the order/medal. Now there are some photos, but mostly of the rarer type of “paper” (Ushakov medal, cavalier of the order of Glory etc.) This is not really bad because few collectors will ever see the rare documents live. But there is great variation when it comes to documents not just in medal-hard ware. Perhaps a AVERS 7 will deal with documents only? Or …
  
  Hidden serialnumbers. There are probably reasons to hide the number, protect the seller, owner etc.. But when you write a book I think you have to show information, not hide it. This is only done with high-end stuff, so I will never suffer from this lack of hidden information.

Now to the good sides of this book:

•  The photos are very good and plentiful. Quality is much better than “Orders of the Soviet republics” or “Medals of the USSR” (good books, but terrible photo quality).
   Medals and orders are shown with all(?) known variations.
   The Republican orders are all shown.
   Market prices on all variations. This is standard AVERS, but these prices are REALITY, or as close an avers book has ever come. A bit low, but to my knowledge very close to what you will have to pay. Although I would like to see a partisan medal document book for 7-12usd.
   Photos of fakes/copies. Perhaps it could have been more, but you always want more… :)

The one main thing I can’t judge is the text, as my Russian is close to non-existent. Perhaps someone of the forums Russian speakers could give a comment?

Now to the reason for writing a review: is it anything to spend money on? I say: Yes. It’s no McDaniel but has lots of images that is missing from the “Comprehensive guide”.

/Kim

[Kim]

125usd is too much. But it's worth 70-80usd.

/Kim

[Nota Bene]

Guys,

It's a shame that they had to cover the S/Ns, they are a very valuable reference for identifying fakes. I guess it's still usefull as an additional reference.

Alexei

[Taz]

Originally Posted by Kim

125usd is too much. But it's worth 70-80usd.

/Kim

Kim,
Do you mind me asking where you Ordered your Book.
Could you please PM the Link?

Eddie.

[Kim]

Taz:

I "ordered" my book from a friend in St Petersburg. So I don't have a russian militaria book shop address to give.

Perhaps it's possible to get this book from the publisher? They are on the web so... Has anyone tried? I can't post an address becuse they are delears. But if you don't know who I'm writing about just PM me.

/Kim

[scook17]

Does anyone know if number six includes all the material found in book five? I've just ordered number six from the US, so if it does I'll have a number five reference I no longer need.

Does Avers #6 have all colour photos?

Kind Regards,
Shane Cook.

[Kim]

Shane

The Nr 6 is more of an updated Russian McDaniel book. Lots of colour photos of lots awards, including Republic ones. It has no czarist stuff, badges etc.

Nr 5 is still a great reference for a quick ID of items.

/Kim

[Nota Bene]

Guys,

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think Avers-6 is not very usefull for those who don't read Russian.

Alexei

[scook17]

Well, I've ordered it now, so I'll post some more info when it arrives. Shame it doesn't have colour photos of the badges mind, that would have been nice. I notice you can 'order' individual colour photos of the badges (Avers #5), but how much they cost, is anyone's guess. Avers #2 does have some nice colour plates in it though, and I was a little surprised to see Avers #5 has only black and white images (see thread http://www.soviet-awards.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=3496). Sounds like I'll be keeping my Avers #5 book.

As for it being in Cyrillic, I'm probably one of the few guys on this forum who is lucky enough to have a Russian wife, who in turn does a great job of translating, this and that, for me when I need her to. I collect Russian awards because I think they are physically more interesting than most awards around the world, interesting designs and colours, and because the Soviet era is part of my wife's history. With the fall of the Soviet union, most people seems happy to embrace the west and anything from the communist era was frowned upon and often discarded as of little value. The revolution and following Soviet era did a huge amount of good for the average soviet citizen, in comparision with thier life under the Zhar (Stalin's purges excluded) or for many Russians, life today.

I have many more Cyrillic reference books than English ones, and having a Russian wife certainly helps with this hobby :) Anyone interesting in joining the club can PM me and I'm sure she'd be happy to introduce you to some of her friends :)

Kind Regards,
Shane Cook.

Originally Posted by Nota Bene

Guys,

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think Avers-6 is not very usefull for those who don't read Russian.

Alexei

[Chuck In Oregon]

Avers 6 does have a lot of Russian text, along with its fine photos, but it's not that hard to extract things like variant, years, price and so forth. I, too, think it was mostly an attempt to jump up into the McDaniels league, at which it fails, IMHO. It has some really good Red Banner items, some illustrative, but not comprehensive, award documents, and some gramotas. Again, the gramotas are merely illustrative, something to fill a few pages without tieing them together. About my second or third time through I found myself asking "Why is this in here?"

However, I also collect Soviet badges and I was very disappointed to find that A-6 does nothing in that area. I ordered my copy on faith, in the blind and without ever having seen one. I accept that it may (or may not) be an occasionally useful reference book for orders and medals, but all in all A-6 was a disappointment to me. For those of us here who collect, it is a moderately interesting read or gee-whiz book. However, if I had known of its limited scope I might have saved my money. They were trading on their name when they dreamed this book up. I would have preferred an updated color version of A-5, with variants, and continue to rely on McDaniels for orders and medals. I can't say there is nothing new in A-6, but I think it's way overpriced and offers little new to anyone who reads this forum.

That's my two cents.

Chuck In Oregon
Currently, Chuck In Tbilisi ... for 38 more days!