Ed_Haynes

And a closeup on his awards.

The familiar image of Marshal G. Demid (cf. Battushig p. 22), but an original.

Another no-medals photo (sorry), but a very interesting uniform shot.

And the reverse of this postcard. Translation, anyone? (Actually, we have a friend in UB who can manage this, and he is younger than 80!)

Another photo, no medals, but interesting.

Another stalwart chap, much earlier. Interesting for both medal and uniform.

The more familiar, later, image.

Some recently acquired photos from UB. Tsendenbal, before he was promoted to marshal.

And, no, for some odd reason, Jan and I neglected to get a photo of the two of us together. Just got to go back then?

When I went there, just a few days later, the Zhukov statue was undergoing clean-up and restoration under the direction of one of Mongolia's most famous modern artists.

Regarding the Central Lenin Museum, a place that was on the pilgrimage list for all Young Pioneers in the olden days. Jan forgot to mention that it is a billiard parlor today. (Well, the one in Moscow is empty-empty!)

A nicer and older Sukhbaatar, facing what used to be the Institute of Marxism and Leninism and is now the Mongolian Institute of Management (both, of course, having "diamond badges"). How things have changed, but not as abruptly or in as unhealthy a fashion as in the former USSR.

Face-to-face, newly repainted in a nice pink.

A few extra images, not directly medal-related perhaps and not up to Jan's professional quality. Sukhbaatar in Sukhbaatar Square.

It is my understanding that an English language edition is coming "soon".

I just returned to Delhi, and after recovering from Aeroflot, shall post some more photos. Being there with Jan was great and many tales to tell! The great sadness was that the masoleum of Sukhbaatar and Choibalsan has been removed - rather secretely - to make way for a new facade for the parliament (is that symbolic or what?). Much talk about removing Sukhbaatar's statue from the square of the same name. More relevant for us is the plan to create new awards "soon". All linked up with getting a new coat of arms which will feature prominently in the designs. No one likes the new stylised chunky horse thing. There is a hope that He Who Knows All About Mongolian Awards will be serving as a consultant to theresident in this process. More to come . . . .

Photos don't seem to work for me.

Part of the problem may be that most of the clues have had to do with the sculptor and not with the monument or its meaning. OK, that was one third of the question, but we seem to have few art historians among us.

There are several booklets (for Mongolians). Shall be posting some soon.

Are you limiting this to online stuff? There is a good bit of discussion here on books and other normal reference materials. Unless you can read the Russian on the Mondovor site, you will need to actually read books to get good information. And I'm not sure that seeking trans-national equivalents will work very well. The comparative psychology and philosophy of various awards is just too different, reflecting different political and social systems. And isn't that part of the interest?!?

For those who are type collectors and for those for whom medal collecting is a matter of "tee hee, I have one and you don't", collecting in any field is no more than a matter of assembling the budget to allow the filling the blanks as in a stamp album, so that once you "finish" Mongolia you can move, alphabetically, on to Montenegro. For them, the "hype" passes quickly. If you have an interest in more "research" facets of phaleristics, though, there is always more to do. But, then, you move into areas of groups, documents, research on the development of the system of awards, and research on individual awards (when that becomes possible). I'd see that as a matter of maturation in a field rather than an end to the "hype". That being said, we do have one fine basic reference book and more information is coming together both in normal published forms and on the web. This forum has added substantial new information and, when the contributing members have a chance to draw some loose ends together, I think we may anticipate more. The early phases of this forum have been a mixed picture of getting some basic data together and showing off possessions. Maybe the processes of evolution now come into play? There are, to be sure, only perhaps 100-200 serious Mongolia collectors worldwide (mainly in the former USSR). And this population has to feed on a very small base of awards. When you compare the small numbers of Mongolian awards to the massive numbers of the corresponding Soviet awards the situation becomes clear. Many of these are type collectors, while others seem to be not much more than investors, seeking to anticipate the peak to what they cynically see as a "hyped bubble" and derive no more than a profit. Many of the items going south from Ulanbaatar seem to fall into that category. Supplies are finite and the current situation in UB reflects that. Major deluges of awards have flowed from State sources in the aftermath of Dr. Battushig's book and in the awareness that someone might actually want to buy these things, hitherto deemed essentially worthless. This has resulted in large numers of awards -- for example type 1 herder badges -- coming into the market, almost literally by the kilo, invoking supply and demand rules, and then disappearing. Yes, it is all very fluid and dynamic. How similar are some of these processes to what happened with Soviet awards in the 1990s? The major difference, of course, is that for Mongolia a good reference book preceeded the availability of specimens in large numbers. It has been very interesting to watch and the coming stabilization will be even more interesting, I think. Quite a ride and, as the wise old man said, "What a long, strange, trip its been". Just my two (thousand?) tugriks worth, Ed

Wait until fall. Right now, things are unclear.

Thanks to One of Our Own, , I was able to get a copy of the blue (Mongolian) book here in UB. Looks very good and seems to have been a major source for Battushig. Now, just to read the bloody thing . . . .

Thanks, Igor!

Police badges in wear. Nice badges. Nice police.