Stogieman

I doubt very much the authenticity of the Mecklenburg General's tunic. Call it a "gut reaction"...

I suspect something Bavarian, possibly a 3.kl. MVO in Gold...... I believe the EK ribbon you are seeing was simply the backing for what was once there..

Now that's...... sleazy

Hi Chris, these "rhombs" (as referred to any/all academy badges) were for various WW2 Soviet Aviation Schools, prior to 1941/2. Upon completion of pilot training, gunner, etc. you were issued the badge/document. Unfortunately, it seems the Soviets learned very quickly that the massive casualties taken by Soviet Aviation Crews/Pilots would require a massive number of badges and they were suspended. (possibly as late as 1943, I'm going from memory). The sky blue color of the enamel on the diamond was specific to Soviet Aviation and matched the piping on the tunics, pants and caps. Extremely rare and difficult to find as most went down with the aviator. Multiple different designs out there, most quite beautiful and of rather complicated construction utilizing multiple, small pieces for each badge.

A real one to compare... There is a similar badge with no "wings" below the airplane wings (Borisev), but the first one posted... is not it!

Reverse:

It just never ceases to amaze me the lengths people will go to deceive a collector...

Not my bag... has a case with Chinese iodiograms on the lid. medal appears to fit into the tray perfectly. The medal I don't know about but I can tell you the case looks quite legitimate to my eyes. Available at Time Traveler, under "This week's new buys"

There's so much water damage one has to suspect the book has already been soaked and possibly altered...

Shucks Andrei, I was saving "full disclosure" for later. Herein lies some of the pratfalls of Soviet collecting that I see... We have one person make several posts that any ORB with this shadow is bad. Then another person states that it's "a common thing". My feelings are that there's so much still undetermined that any kind of "absolute" cannot be made yet. Lots of experience out there and I respect each and every one of you with it. But what then does the novice collector do when there's such a dichotomy of opinion amongst the experienced. I cannot answer that question for myself, much less anyone else. With respects to Dave's comment about "experts". Yes, I'm having a very difficult time with that phrase these days. One person states a badge is fake. Many months later the same person profers up the exact same photos except this time the badge is "good example of what these should be"?!!? I show a badge photo from Igor Moiseyev's website to the four (4) "accepted experts" "best in the US".... do you think there was consensus? Not at all. 1 "fake", 1 "real", 1 "maybe" and 1 "how much would you pay for my real one".... experts? Hmmmm? It seems in the short time I have expressed an interest in Soviet pieces, there's been nothing but contradictory advice, guidance, etc. There also seems to be a great deal of the "everything I have is real", "everything else is not" syndrome so prevelant amongst German WW2 collectors. My feeling at this point is there's only three (3) people I would trust enough to buy from, excluding the little knick-knack pieces that cost nothing, but I enjoy nonetheless. Maybe because nobody else cares about them.... And only those three as until someone can demonstrate otherwise, they really do seem to not only have a depth of knowledge and experience that others do not, they stand behind their items and their opinions unconditionally.

Reverse:

Not my area, but rather scarce would be my (un)educated guess. Wu Pei Medal, cased

Seller's description: Order of the Red Banner, Type 2, Var 2, #63181, circa early to mid 1943. Silver gilt, enamels. Height 40 mm (measured from the top of the flag to the bottom of the wreath). Width 36.3 mm. Type 2, Variation 3, Sub-variation 1 by Durov & Strekalov classification, manufactured by the Krasnokamsk Mint in 1942. Near excellent condition, most outstanding for a Red Banner of this vintage. Enamel on the flag shows only a single area of surface chips near the edge, immediately above the center of the star. There are also tiny flakes to the edge in few other spots, almost unnoticeable to the naked eye. Enamel of the plaque, star and white background is perfectly intact. Original gilt to the wreath is fully present and is made more beautiful by silver patina. This order has not been converted to suspension, and has original full length screw post. Comes with original silver screw plate. Excellent example for the most discriminating collector. $1,085.00

The remainder of the front...

Welcome Uwe! Glad to have you join us!

Yep, pretty high grade of the St. Michael's Order... odd with the placement of the NC EK2. but everything looks right.

Reverse. I don't doubt the authenticity.... but what was stripped off the bar?? Jubilee? MVO on statute ribbon (3. kl. in gold and returned... ??) Bummer...

This is just a darn shame......

Can I get some opinions on this center?? Thanks!

Hi ed, how come that site shows no flag like the one on the T1 Deputy Badges?? Or am I just dense and missing it???

Sorry, wrong spelling, right concept! http://www.google.com/musica?aid=UZRPP7KM7...c&ct=result

Hi Ed, another very interesting group. I see that all three LS awards were made on the one document again... but I do not remember seeing them actually numbered like that before. But I have only seen the older (WW2) era LS books, not something this late. I prefer the book.... the movie was OK, but it didn't touch the book...

Fascinating.... but you have to love some of the rhetoric... "mutineers" ?? Also... Fougasse... isn't that a punk rock band?

Hi Mike! Nice to see these again and nice job on the cannon. Mess Hall?? PM me when you have a moment.... ;>) Nice 'Track!

I'd like to bring this one back up for discussion.. After studying many different photos of this style of badge and pouring through (literally) hundreds of archive photos.... I am infinitely more inclined to accept this style of badge as a possibility. I've spoken with several friends in Germany as well and have seen an additional example (Observer) that lead me to believe we may have a legit variation/new unknown maker here. Mike, hope you hung onto this. We all live, learn and progress...