Hauptmann

Yeah, it's kinda like the old George Carlin joke about the worst Doctor. In this case... somewhere out there is the world's worst fake... and the worst thing is that someone is about to go buy it! Dan

Hi Christophe, I know... still trying to come up with a good one. And been a heavy week at work and home so haven't had as much time to think about it as I would have liked. Give me just a bit longer and if I can't come up with something I'll be happy to pass it along as I don't want to hold things up much longer. Thanks, Dan

Hi all, Saw this on Ebay and felt I'd pass it along: http://cgi.ebay.com/COLLECTIBLE-CHINESE-PO...1QQcmdZViewItem From the description: You are bidding on chinese collectible political medal . It is about Chinese Communist Party , It stands for Chinese history ,Do you like Chinese culture ,if you like it , Don't lost the chance to get it .We have lots of kinds medals and badges , please look at my pictures . Welcome to contact us. we will very happy to serve for you . Diameter : 4.5 cm Material: copper But sure looks like a copy of an OGPW to me: Go figure! Dan

Hi Paul, Many thanks! That should definitely fill the gap till I'm able to get up enough and get a brocade for it. Dan

Hi Jim, Many thanks for that! Definitely new info and not covered in Henry's book. So did she get the OGPW 1st as well as the HSU or just the HSU? Dan

Thanks Scott! This was a special one... been wanting one for a long time. But I'm sure there will be another one before too long with your name on it. Sure wish one of us could have grabbed that Navy... but again there are more fish in the sea and I know sooner or later we'll nab another one. That's the nice thing about all this... there's always something bigger and better. One just hopes it comes along when our wallets are full! Dan

Hi Paul, Kinda figured but wanted to make sure. Dan

Hi Paul, Many thanks on that! I'll really have to be on the lookout for one as I'd love to present this one in all it's glory. I take it then that at other times they'd wear the standard brown officers belt? Those I have so I'm in good shape there. Dan

Things are coming along nicely Grant. Now for the Banner I. Hoping you'll find one soon... will be keeping an eye out as well and alert you if I find one. I sure am beginning to get hooked on those Kampfgruppe Bester badges. I still only have the one but definitely will be keeping an eye out for more of those as well. Well done! Keep up the good work my friend!!!! Dan

Hi Gents, Many thanks for the warm welcome. Sorry I've been so quiet... but the last few days have been a bit "nuts" shall we say. I wholeheartedly agree with Christian that not only the Heroines book but the Heroes as well are both fantastic and well worth adding to ones reference library. I will say though that I had to look elsewhere for a few tidbits... such as her maiden name. But the books have great photos, terrific stories of heroism and are just a must have for anyone intro'd in Soviet awards or history. Now, on to a question... methinks I'm going to need a bit more time as since it's considered an important question I'm going to have to come up with something good. Let me ponder just a bit longer and I'll do my best to come up with something appropriate. Thanks! Dan

Hi Paul, Many thanks my friend! I was praying I could manage this one and luckily I got it within my budget range this time around. I absolutely love the colors of the waffenfarbe and cuff title on these but it's the first I've been able to get. I'll eventually need the pants and the peaked cap for it. Do you happen to know if they wore a brocade dress belt and if so which one? I'm not aware of a special one. How about dress cords? Dagger? All for parades and ceremonies of course... just had no idea if they did or not. Also do you know if they had the special double breasted ceremonial uniform tunic for parties and such? Also what color shirt and tie would be used with these? None of my refs (not many to begin with!) cover ZV uniforms so I'm just kinda lost in this area. But this is one I'd definitely like to display on one of my torsos till I can get a full sized manaquin down the road. I have yet to get any of the brocade belts but figure I need to get one/some before too much longer. Same with the dress daggers. Hopefully before too long things will work out where I can manage some. I love a fully dressed out uniform. Again many thanks for your compliment. Sure hope you manage to get one soon as they are "nice"! Hoping you and your family have had a terrific Easter holiday by the way! Dan

Hi Paul, Did you still need closeups? I noticed you'd checked out the link I left... I'm afraid this one and the ones there are the only pics I have at the moment as I just won it today. Assuming it'll be in sometime this week. Can do more at that point if needed. Dan

Hi all, My latest addition and so far my favorite DDR uniform: Here's the link to my full post with more detailed pics (from the seller): http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1704...t=0#entry165469 Dan

So guess I'm going to have to start keeping an eye out for more ZV goodies to add to this corner of the collection. Dan

My latest addition... fresh off Ebay! Sellers pics:

And if figured since I had the medal bar I might as well get the uniform to go with it...

Flag of the DDR Civil Defense from 1979 to 1990 (prior to that they used the Police flag) (graphic from FOTW: Flags of the World website). Hi all, Well, didn't intend for it to happen but seems now I'll have to keep my eye out for Civil Defense items. First I managed to get this bar:

Hi Laurence, Great collection and very nicely displayed... simple but definitely a pleasure to look at! Would love some shots of the cased awards visible at the bottom of the first pic. Also what is the document in the frame to the left in the first photo? Also are those grass stains on the tunic... or green paint? If grass stains it's possible they could be removed with something like Oxyclean... something that will remove organic stains. Thanks for sharing! Dan

Okay, here's the answers to this one: Mariia Vasilievna Oktiabrskaia (before marriage - Garagulia). Born in the Crimea on March, 8th of 1905. She died in Smolensk on March 15, 1944. Guards Sr. Sergeant. She married a Soviet Army Officer, Ilia Oktiabrskii (they changed their names when they were married in 1925 to honor the October Revolution) who was later killed in the fighting in Kiev in 1941. She was not told till 1943. When she heard the news she was furious and wanted revenge. She sold all her possessions and offered to pay for a tank on the condition that she could be the driver. She requested this in a letter to Stalin and he granted her request. The tank was named Fighting Girlfriend which was painted on the tank. She was eventually wounded on January 17, 1944, when, against the orders of the tank commander she refused to remain in the safety of the tank when an anti-tank gunner damaged the tread and she jumped out to help in the repairs. A shell exploded nearby and she was hit in the head by a piece of shrapnel. She was evacuated to Smolensk where she remained in a coma for nearly two months when she died on March 15, 1944. She was named as a Hero of the Soviet Union on August 2, 1944. Dan

Hi Bob, Yeah, it's a jungle for sure. Back when I got these no one really knew much, except probably for the Rick twins. And mostly folks like me would get them to dress up a uniform. I mean after years of watching all the movies and TV series on WWII we all "knew" that every German soldier from a Field Marshal to a Private had a knights cross and all the iron crosses and anything else you could think of and they just had to have a huge "Where Eagles Dare" ribbon bar to match! Then, twenty to twenty-five years later I get on GMIC and "grow up" and learn just how much BS all that was re: ribbon bars. Of course I'd long ago learned the falsity of the other theory and that most of them had perhaps one or two awards or a bit more had they seen combat. I originally did the best photos of these that I could and showed them to Rick (Research) on the side as to be honest if they turned out to be bad I would have been terribly embarrassed. Thankfully I got most of these for dirt. I don't think I ever paid more than like $7 or thereabouts for the longest one. Many were just given to me over the years. Funny thing was that due to their condition Rick thought perhaps they'd all come from one source at one time. But they were literally from all over the country and at all different times. And the ultimate shame is that even if I wanted to sell them off, I could put them on Ebay and get tons for them. But I won't because then they just get spread back out there and other newbie collectors will get taken for a ride. I figure I've got dirt in them and so I just keep them in the collection and hopefully they'll just get passed down with the knowledge of which are good and which are not. I plan to do proper scans of each bar at some point, hopefully in the near future. But that's going to be very time consuming so I have to get a block of a couple of days where I have nothing else to do and then I'll jump in. Then hopefully if one or both of the Rick's have time they can pop on now and then and give opinions on each and why each is good or bad, what is bad about them, etc. I just finally figured that if, by doing this it will benefit even one other collector then it's worth it. So keep your eyes peeled as before too long you can come back and see good closeups and know which are which. Thanks again and I hope you and your's are having a great holiday weekend. Dan

Hi Gordon, That's a beautiful tunic!!!! Great display! Just out of curiosity, are these like exceptionally rare? Would love to have one eventually but want to know if it's within the ability of mere mortals to obtain or just something that comes up once in a blue moon. Mucho thanks and may you and Charles continue to find tons and tons of really great goodies as long as you're both over there... and beyond! Dan

Hi Charles, She's safe and sound and says to say hi to her daddy! She appreciates getting the extra press too! Dan

Hi Roeland, Wow! Sorry you had to go through all that. It's amazing how strange some folks can be. Get uptight for no reason at all. Could you post his info so others can avoid him in future? Sounds as if he's not the type of seller any of us would like to deal with. Many thanks! Dan

Many thanks my friend!!!! Again when I noticed I was shocked. I knew I'd gone over the 2,000 mark not that long ago but then blam... over 2,500! Can't wait to do the next 2,500! Dan

Hi Jacky, Actually... it's a set of pics I pulled off of Ebay. Not actually my cross... wish it was as it's is indeed a nice one. Sorry I didn't clarify on that point. Anyhow I'm just not sure on those particular ribbons. I've tried all my references on awards and can't find that one. But it definitely looks like those crowns are the same as shown in my Rosignolli reference on Italian Orders. Hopefully someone will come up with it. Dan