Soviet NOTA BENE closed!

[Gerd Becker]

Gentlemen,

i don?t know, if you already noticed, but Alexei Merezhko closed his business. He informed me in an email and its also noted on his website.

I really hope, he won?t be completely gone from the hobby, as i appreciate his advice and his character very much.

Damn, what a shock in the morning hours...

I guess, that is the kiss of death for collecting for some of us. I probably have to stop soon too with these prices, we have to pay now.

Gerd

[DutchBoy]

Please tell me you're kidding!!!???

[Gerd Becker]

Nope. Check his website. I assume, he stops because of his new authentification-service. I mean, thats, what we all wanted, but not, that he doesn?t sell anymore. He probably only wants to avoid, that people say, he authentificates everything, he sells. He is more independent this way.

[Riley1965]

This is truly a sad, sad day...

Doc

[Ed_Haynes]

This may well end my Soviet collecting.

Edited May 30, 2007 by Ed_Haynes

[Alfred]

I will miss his wonderful soviet groups and his great customer service !

Andreas

[Bryan]

Luckily I bought medals from him 1 day before it closed. I wonder what he is going to do with the medals in his inventory?

Very sad news for us!

[slava1stclass]

To all:

It appears to be a classic case of survival of the fittest. Looks like NYC's "big boys" are the ones who'll be left standing in the end.

Regards,

slava1stclass

[Ed_Haynes]

Perhaps, "slava", perhaps. But then wouldn't you expect the "fittest" to survive??

So far, we are just guessing. Maybe Alexei will let us know, but he doesn't frequent this forum, alas.

The end result, I think we can agree, is worse than tragic . . . .

[Guest Darrell]

Is he leaving this BUSINESS? Or just closing his online shop? These websites are becoming more expensive to run by the day. His wasn't the easiest to negotiate nor was it updated very often. I'm wondering if he jus got tired up updating it and will stick to enquiries via email?

Gerd, did he mention anything like this?

[DutchBoy]

I bought almost all my Soviet and Mongolian pieces from him over the years. With all due respect to the other "big" dealers of soviet and Mongolian awards, Alexei was the best. I had bad experiences with all those others...some minor, others not so minor. It ranged from pieces not as described or overpriced, to just plain arrogance and extreme rudeness...None of that with Alexei!

As Ed just posted, this may well end my collecting days in Soviet items...

Edited May 30, 2007 by DutchBoy

[order_of_victory]

Indeed a very sad day, its death nel for the small collector

I would of never been able to afford my Order of Glorry 2nd Class if it was not for Nota Bene

Order of Victory

Edited May 30, 2007 by order_of_victory

[Ferdinand]

Oh no, this is terrible news... I bought about 90% of my Soviet awards via Alexei. His awards were affordable, his service was fast and he was a real gentleman...

[Guest Rick Research]

Alexei has always been in the Top Tier in my books. I may have dropped off the Soviet-acquiring radar these last 6 years (returned to Imperial German) but whenever new collectors asked me where to go with absolute confidence, he was always on my list for referrals. And you people know how short my Good Dealer Lists are.

[Riley1965]

99% of my Soviet collection is from Alexei. He's the one person that I'd always recommend. I consider him to be my friend. Hopefully we'll find out what's going on. Until then...

Doc

[slava1stclass]

Perhaps, "slava", perhaps. But then wouldn't you expect the "fittest" to survive??

So far, we are just guessing. Maybe Alexei will let us know, but he doesn't frequent this forum, alas.

The end result, I think we can agree, is worse than tragic . . . .

Ed,

While I certainly agree this is not a good thing for the collecting community at large, it may very well have come down to economics. All of us have noted this development with concern over the last few years. When I speak of economics, however, I refer not just to the explosive pricing of late but also to the more basic issue of supply/item availabilty. Even the "big boy" dealers don't have the stock they did just a few years back.

Regards,

slava1stclass

[Christophe]

Gentlemen,

i don?t know, if you already noticed, but Alexei Merezhko closed his business. He informed me in an email and its also noted on his website.

I really hope, he won?t be completely gone from the hobby, as i appreciate his advice and his character very much.

Damn, what a shock in the morning hours...

I guess, that is the kiss of death for collecting for some of us. I probably have to stop soon too with these prices, we have to pay now.

Gerd

Hi Gerd,

It's sad... I thought it could have been a hackers intrusion...

Ch.

[Ed_Haynes]

Hi Gerd,

It's sad... I thought it could have been a hackers intrusion...

Ch.

No, no such luck. Drinking heavily in memory of the Good Days of Soviet collecting . . . .

[Christophe]

It's very very sad, as Alexei was not only a gentleman (you all said this already), but also one of the rare dealers with "modest" prices, good items, and someone you could 100% trust in!!!

I feel sorry about this... If this is confirmed by him; a page has been turned... Sad, sad!!!!

Ch.

Edited May 30, 2007 by Christophe

[Bob]

This thread makes it sound like Alexei died. I hope that is not the case!

Nevertheless, more than sad that his service will stop

[Christian Zulus]

Gentlemen,

Alexei has only closed his website, which doesn't mean, that he is out of business .

Some weeks ago - I tried to motivate him to participate at GMIC (he is already member) - he told me, that he is rather busy with other activities.

For example Paul doesn't have a special dealer's website (the "official" PMD-website is also closed) at all, but offers frequently highly interesting items (Christophe is always faster than me ) at the "other" Soviet forum.

Sasa shows almost nothing at his dealer's website http://www.paretski.com/index.html , but you can phone him at his mobile and visit him in Berlin (he is one of the big international dealers for Soviet items).

From the economist viewpoint we are now confrontated with following situation: Almost no supply from the RF AND an increasing demand of that items inside the RF.

If some items get some miles outside the RF - like the Helsinki-Auction -, that's great luck for us, I think.

Gentlemen, we have to accept, that the Soviet Awards are THEIR national heritage and the upper middle-class in Russia has now the money (and the specific interst) to buy them. RF isn't anymore "Ghana + intercontinental nuclear rockets" .

I think, that Alexei, Paul and all the others will still offer highly interesting items & groups at the specific platforms in the www. At least we have Igor, as the "big dealer", who offers documented groups - look at the lower ranked items - http://www.collectrussia.com/showcat.htm?cat=Doc.%20Awards and some other items at really fair prices.

Well, the process which takes it's toll, can anyone read about in the writings of Marx, Engels & Lenin - that's capitalism.

Best regards

Christian

Edited May 30, 2007 by Christian Zulus

[Guest Darrell]

Gentlemen,

Alexei has only closed his website, which doesn't mean, that he is out of business .

Best regards

Christian

Thanks Christian. I'd like to know what correspondence was sent to Gerd. Like I said above, everyone is writing his obituary, when I think he's simply closing his website.

[Guest Darrell]

Well, maybe it is true. Sent the below email and got this reply:

++++++++++++++++

Hi Darrell,

Closed for good. Well actually, the selling business is closed, but I

will be opening an authentication service.

If you have any last moment requests please let me know.

Best regards,

Alexei

Darrell wrote:

> Alexei,

> You closing your on-line store only? Or are you leaving the business

> altogether?

>

> I'm a little shocked by this development.

>

> Regards,

> Darrell

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[Ed_Haynes]

Actually, there is some good news: He will be continuing in the Mongolian ODM trade!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You gotta salvage what you can?

[Christian Zulus]

Gentlemen,

well, I think the providing of a serious authentication service + some trading with Soviet items doesn't seem a contradiction to me.

Maybe Alexei might also focus on YU-Awards : You still get them in rather large numbers and at rather reasonable prices AND there is a growing demand in the collectors community for these items .

Best regards

Christian