Border Guard Airborne Patches Comparison

[pastfinder]

I thought this might be handy for folks to get a comparison of a used, unissued, and contemporary next to each other. I try to tell people I find the modern patches to be easy to spot because the detail is "too good." Here you can see this quite easily. Although it doesn't show up in the photos, the green on the contemporary patch is noticeably darker than the issued and unissued patches.

EDIT: I now have a version up with scans instead of photographs of the patches in question. I hope this is useful for folks.

[OKP]

You an consider the contemporary as a fake made in Ukraine....

[Commissar]

I wouldnt doubt it if the contemporary is a fake, most probable, but of all things to fake, why on earth patches? Sounds ridiculous.

[Tretov]

Originally Posted by Commissar

I wouldnt doubt it if the contemporary is a fake, most probable, but of all things to fake, why on earth patches? Sounds ridiculous.

They have the knowledge, they have the tools, they have the materials, they have the time, they have the market (new collectors, eBay s*ckers, collectors who finally find the rare missing piece, re-enactors, movie... you name it) ... -> "RARE SOVIET BORDERGUARD PARA PATCH NO RESERVE".

Keep selling them at 9.95 USD each with production costs less than 20 cents each. Good money. Not so ridiculous to me.

[pastfinder]

Originally Posted by Tretov

They have the knowledge, they have the tools, they have the materials, they have the time, they have the market (new collectors, eBay s*ckers, collectors who finally find the rare missing piece, re-enactors, movie... you name it) ... -> "RARE SOVIET BORDERGUARD PARA PATCH NO RESERVE".

Keep selling them at 9.95 USD each with production costs less than 20 cents each. Good money. Not so ridiculous to me.

Ding Ding. I thought this photo would be handy because the contemporary stands out like a sore thumb in comparison to real patches. Granted, I'm at a point in my collecting where I am seeking out the uncommon and rare patches that ebay doesn't seem to carry any more, but that most dealers of Soviet militaria don't have either. Perhaps a flight to Russia might be in order...

[Commissar]

Hmm, I suppose thats correct, why they would fake them though is beyond me, I would have assumed there would be hundreds of thousands if not millions of patches from the old Soviet Union left in Ukraine.

[Nota Bene]

Originally Posted by Commissar

Hmm, I suppose thats correct, why they would fake them though is beyond me, I would have assumed there would be hundreds of thousands if not millions of patches from the old Soviet Union left in Ukraine.

Not any more, they don't. A lot of patches on the market today are repros made for tourists and collectors.

Alexei

[pastfinder]

Originally Posted by Commissar

Hmm, I suppose thats correct, why they would fake them though is beyond me, I would have assumed there would be hundreds of thousands if not millions of patches from the old Soviet Union left in Ukraine.

Someone in another forum thread noted that with patches, especially stuff like the U.N. Observers patches, there could only have been so many produced, and factor in use, there are even fewer authentic patches that survive today. I was very fortunate to buy parts of two collections that make up the bulk of my Soviet naval patches and a few of my other patches.

The toughest thing about publishing information on spotting fakes from the real patches is that the sellers of fakes sooner or later catch on. The one ebay seller who seems to only peddle in fake patches got wise and stopped posting CLEAR images of his patches. Now his images are slightly fuzzy to hide the near flawless detail. I hope the photo I posted (I need to scan them all side by side) demonstrates my point about detail being "too good" on the fakes. Nonetheless, the fakes are starting to themselves revert to poorer quality, making collecting even tougher. Now it boils down to looking at the dyes themselves and comparing the patch color, thread count, you name it.

[Commissar]

Wow, thats pretty intense, I wouldnt have ever guessed there would be so much put into simple patch work.
Seriously mad stuff.

[pastfinder]

Originally Posted by Commissar

Wow, thats pretty intense, I wouldnt have ever guessed there would be so much put into simple patch work.
Seriously mad stuff.

:) I've gone back and pulled a couple fakes out of my collection. Granted, I know there is still one that is fake, but it is a fake of a real patch that did exist. It's a corn flower blue (KGB Blue) Band/Musicians patch. I'd like to find the embroidered version too, but right now the plastic one would do just fine.