Iraqi Rank shoulder slides

[achern]

I'm wondering what conclusions we can draw from these comparisons, though.

My examples have no solid provenance as a reference point, so they're not very useful in that aspect.

[achern]

Some more Field Marshal epaulettes, this time of quite good quality workmanship:

And another set:

[Paul R]

These remind me of the TRIDENT examples. Still, high quality. It is a good filler.

[achern]

Paul, the Trident examples (I bought a set for reference) are actually stiffer, neater, and much more accurate in the embroidery than these epaulettes I just posted. They are a different shade of green and are half an inch taller too.

In fact, I would say that Trident overdid it in terms of quality. The accuracy of the embroidery is way better than any Iraqi embroidery I have yet seen, except the "German-made" ranks.

I would go as far as saying that Saddam ought to have bought his ranks slides from Trident

However, the biggest difference in the slides I just posted is that the entire inside of the slide is covered in cloth, whereas all the others, including Trident's, left the stiffener exposed. I haven't seen any other examples like these.

[Paul R]

I have never seen the cloth on both sides either, and I have about 100 sets of bring backs.

I do agree that the quality of the Trident reprodutions far exceed that of the originals. I would love to see an honest to god original Saddam rank bring back to use as a visual reference.

[NavyFCO]

I know this is an ancient thread, but I've had this shoulder board since 2005, when it was given to me by one of my enlisted Marines. He had gotten it from a friend of his who was killed in action in Iraq in early 2004 (his buddy sent him quite a few "war trophies" while he was over there around late 2003/early 2004.) I was just labeling my collection and wanted to get a proper label for it...and lo and behold...it's a Field Marshal rank! What do you guys think of it? Unfortunately, I don't know anything more than what you see here. I had it pinned to a bulletin board in my office for quite some time (thus the pinhole!) and never even considered the importance of it until today. Could it be a real one?

Dave

[Paul R]

I like it a lot.

[Paul R]

Here are mine. I think that they have a great shot as well. No provenance, so not provable either way. They match no known fake styles out as of yet. Also, Saddam was a much larger person(frame) than most Iraqis. This set are much longer than the other ranks than I have in the collection, which makes sense.

The only think that sucks about this hobby is that Iraqi tailors were cranking these out to sell to us tourists as soon as 2003.

For this reason, all we can do is compare to known post war techniques. I am sure that I turn away from many legit items, as many were made by the same exact people who were making them before the war.

The only reason that I pause a little with your single there is that it is much shorter than I would expect. Either way, I would love to add it to my collection.

[achern]

Paul those FM slides look really familiar!

[Paul R]

They should! :-) Thank you.

[ed.s.84]

I know, I too am late, but thought I would show mine as well. If anyone wants any other pics, let me know.

[Paul R]

Very attractive set of Brigadier boards. 

[ed.s.84]

Thanks. They were a rare find. Kind of an impulse buy.

[Paul R]

What did they charge you for them?

[ed.s.84]

Got them on eBay with two other pairs, non-Iraqi, for $185.00

[pride]

On 13/03/2009 at 12:03, Paul R said:

 

 

I will stay away from Trident, as I want the real pre 2003 items.

 

Paul

 

Trident is a total scam.

As some of you know i've been collecting Cuban militaria since 2005. He wrote to me a few days ago on ebay asking very detailed questions about uniforms: type of internal labels, number of pockets and other details. Then, perhaps absently, wrote something he shouldn't have. Answering a specific question here is what he wrote. Today it's clear enough that he sells cunterfait ranks and uniforms.

 

[100yardsovertherim]

On 01/06/2021 at 09:22, pride said:

 

Trident is a total scam.

As some of you know i've been collecting Cuban militaria since 2005. He wrote to me a few days ago on ebay asking very detailed questions about uniforms: type of internal labels, number of pockets and other details. Then, perhaps absently, wrote something he shouldn't have. Answering a specific question here is what he wrote. Today it's clear enough that he sells cunterfait ranks and uniforms.

 

Indeed.  They do have original pieces but have a lot of (being very charitable) questionable items.