Hauptmann

Hi Ed, Amen to that! Glad it's off... at least for now. Dan

Hi Kevin, Needless to say I'm glad I did as recommended by Chairman Nick as otherwise this "beauty" would have been lost for all time ... unless it pops up somewhere else. Perhaps this time is was a "good" collector with some knowledge that reported it just to get it off of there. I was sorely tempted to write the seller and tell him what it was he had... but figured he'd think I was trying to get a deal or something. Who knows with people anymore. Arrrrrgh! Dan

Hi Wild Card, Very cool!!!! And having the badge with matching number and the photo showing her wearing same... fantastic!!!! Am interesting in learning more about this one. Great find!!!! And I totally agree... having the picture in a doc but especially having awards with document(s) which are shown being worn in the photo... that's just about as good as it gets! Dan

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I have! Dan

Hi all, Hoping this is the appropriate place for this. If not the powers that be can move it. But wanted to share it with you and hopefully it'll give ya'll a chuckle. I know I was just about rolling on the floor. Found this last night and could barely believe my eyes. It's got to be about the worst I've ever seen: http://cgi.ebay.com/WW2-Luftwaffe-Ribbon-B...1QQcmdZViewItem

Hi all, I'm going to try this again. Seems there was a glitch in the system as originally on post #4 I'd posted the link to the auction, etc., only to discover it missing later. I'd assumed it had been deleted by someone in admin but Nick says he checked the logs and that's not the case. So we'll give it another try. Here's the link to the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ex-YUGOSLAVIA-Collecti...1QQcmdZViewItem Still no bids... not surprising with that kind of a price. Anyhow be very interesting to see if it actually sells and for what kind of price. Dan

Hi all, Here's my latest addition to my documents collection: Christian (Zulus) was kind enough to help me out with this one and gave me a better idea of what it is. Here's the info he gave me on it: "That's an ID-card from an metallurgical factory named "TIPROSTAL", Order of the Red Banner of Labour, bla, bla - might be located at Rostov: ".... rostal". It's a very nice and very late - 1989 - ID-card. Seems to be a non-Russian: Valentin Lukich MARKIN, what makes it even more interesting." Anyhow I think it's a very nice and very interesting ID document/booklet and I'm happy I could add it to the collection. Couldn't have done it without you Christian... many thanks! Oh, Christian says to say his Russian is not that good and he doesn't have his dictionary with him so he's hoping some of the native speakers and other members who are good with Russian will jump in and help out on this one. Dan

Hi Jeff, Didn't even think of that. Mucho thanks for the suggestion. I'll have to give him a nudge. And many thanks for the compliment! Dan

Hi Chuck, Great pic! Generally we tend to see pics of military operations, training, etc., so it's nice to find something like this for a change. And in my mind it definitely goes along with the performing arts. Thanks so much for sharing this one! Dan

Hi Grant, Many thanks my friend! To be honest I was never really big on the Civil Defense medals but as I'd never had a DDR bar I figured you've got to start somewhere. And the more I look at it the more I love it. Kinda grows on you! But I sure hope over time I can add a few more bars to my collection. I guess it's like cases... you get hooked on them! Hey, if you happen to run into a gold Civil Defense for a good price, to match these and finish off the set... please give me a nudge. Thanks again! Dan

Hi Christian, Slight correction... the starting is indeed $1,500 but no bids and the "But It Now" price is $2,200. Agree... a ton for minis. But again if this is like the state produced Hungarian cased awards they are "extremely" rare with only a couple of one and one of the other known. But to me, one could purchase all the mini's and then put together or have a case made for much cheaper than these are running. But again they would not be an "officially state produced set"... if this is the case for these. Thanks, Dan

Hi Gordon, Will do! Your wish is my command! See... I should have been a Genie but so far I haven't seen the position in the job listings. I do try though. Many thanks! Dan

And last but not least the case exterior: Especially due to the red color of the case and it's general look this reminded me strongly of the ultra rare state produced cased Hungarian Order and Badge sets we've seen on the Hungarian forum: Post #79: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=11559&st=60 Posts #154 & 155: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=11559&st=140 Posts #390 thru #396: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=11559&st=380 In any case it's a beautiful miniature set but way out of my league. Dan

Hi all, Just saw these while browsing Ebay and felt they might be of interest. Checked with Christian and he asked if I'd post the pics. So without further ado: Case interior: Closeups:

Hi all, One more for the pile... an early Bester Badge: Dan

Hi all, Yet another new addition... my first DDR medal bar: So now I need a gold Civil Defense medal to finish off this set. I'm so happy to finally have a DDR medal bar!!!! Nothing fancy but gotta start somewhere. Dan

Hi Vic, You need to get with our newest friend that you got the above worked out with and grab some of his stuff. The ones above and the Orders of Cirillus and Methodium were at super prices as advised!!!! As soon as you can you should really consider them. And of course depending on if that Labor 3rd is in the package... you'll be well on your way! Dan

Hi Gordon, Excellent thread! And great pics as well! There is so much still to be learned about DDR and Warsaw Pact collecting but I think we're making great strides here. Looking forward to more great info on these. Thanks so much for sharing all this Dan

So glad you managed to get this one! A great first purchase. Keep up the good work and before long you'll have a slew of them. Dan

Hi Grant, Another fine addition to the collection. Hope you can find the 1st class and finish the set soon. I love those navies but so far don't have any. Been tempted a few times but they went too high for my tastes. I know some will pop up at a good price sooner or later. Keep up the great work! You'll be needing that wing pretty soon! Dan

Hi Tony, Hey... all donations gleefully accepted! Seriously though, I'd love one along with an Enfield as well. And I'd have to look them up but there's a couple of revolvers known to have been used by Sherlock Holmes and my illustrious ancestor Dr. Watson that I'd dearly love to have some day. I've got a couple of articles on them down in the bunker... will have to dig them out. Many thanks for the compliment to the collection. As I say there's still a few I'd love to add. Funny thing is when I got the Nambu they had the Nagant as well as (I think) an Enfield... but it's been so long could have been a Webley. The Nagant was like $200 as was the Nagant as I recall. Who knew we'd get hit with a flood of those as this was quite a bit before the wall fell. The Brit pistol was also about $200... just couldn't do them all at the time so chose the Soviet piece as again back then Soviet items were near impossible to come by. Had I known then what I know now I'd have grabbed the Brit revolver and gone after one of the cheap Nagants complete with holster and accessories a few years later. Sigh. Hoping by next year I'll be able to hit the gun show with a vengeance and make up for lost time picking up several items I'd like (and several I don't even know about yet! ). Many thanks, Dan

Hi Darrell, Beautiful... simply beautiful! And I love your scans. You'll have to give some pointers on how you do them in order to get so many details including the waffenamts to show up so clearly. I know my doing scans is a definite improvement over my early digital photos but I realize I still have a ways to go to reach the level you've reached with these. Terrific work! Dan