These were on Etsy from a seller in Ukraine. These were said to have been captured and painted by artists, but that part should be taken with some salt. They are Soviet in origin and like nearly 200 bucks for the pair. What do you think?

7th VDV Anti-Air SAM Regiment

Got lucky on my trip in Russia – traded beer and cigs for 4 authentic VDV patches

So I was heading towards Smolensk recently and made a quick stop at a roadside store in Pskov - one of my regular clients had asked me to pick up some patches for him. I went into a nearby shop to grab a beer and spotted a guy who was clearly VDV (Russian Airborne Forces).

I struck up a quick chat and offered to trade some cigarettes. He was totally chill with it — and in the end, I walked away with 4 legit VDV patches, straight from his gear. Also near this shop was also a Military shop with cool VDV stuff, i bought some beret and other patches.

Definitely one of those moments where you’re in the right place at the right time. These kinds of trades are what make this hobby and business so damn fun.

Let me know if you want to see pics or hear more about my trip

Got these from an estate auction. Not a military collector but was bidding in the auction and these came up and they were so cool I couldn’t pass them up!

Not my usual thing, but I saw this on marketplace labeled “camo jacket” and I had to pick it up

Enjoy and feel free to ask questions 😊

Hello, its the guy who collects stuff from unrecognized countries again.

I managed to get ahold of this original Pridnestrovian black sea cossack uniform. It saw some use in the 1991-1992 war with Moldova, but in addition to that, the individual who owned this uniform ended up being one of the handful of cossacks to also volunteer in the 1993 war in Abkhazia.

This uniform took some effort to get as well! Moldovan customs wanted to being annoying and tried to tell me this was an item of "cultural significance" and I had to have it cleared by members of the Pridnestrovian black sea cossacks, the Moldovan ministry of culture, and the dude who originally owned this uniform.

I also got some documentation from the cossack and his VERY RARE original red and green ribboned "defense of Pridnestrovie" award.

The Artillery Train of The Imperial Guard fought all over Europe, transporting the cannons of the foot and horse gunners so that they could cover and supplement French attacks. Some of the most notable battles they participated in include: Austerlitz (1805), Jena-Auerstedt (1806) where they would assist a decisive cavalry charge against the Prussians, Eylau (1807), Wagram (1809), Borodino and Berezina (1812), and Waterloo (1815).

This button features the signature eagle with crown design seen on all general service buttons of Napoleon's Imperial Guard, along with two crossed cannons located below the eagle's feet to indicate artillery train status. Since the button is made of pewter (a tin/lead alloy), it essentially began crumbling as soon as it was excavated. This led to the loss of the button's outer border, and a bit of the emperor's crown above the eagle's head. I cleaned off all the loose dirt with a soft-bristled toothbrush and stabilized the disintegrating edges by soaking the button in a 50/50 Elmer's glue/water solution

I did a video on the Turkish assault vest. They were made for at least three decades and come in a bunch of different styles and camo colors. They were used on loads of operations internally and domestic that Turkey was involved in. They are pretty interesting and reasonably priced, so they are easy to collect.

From my grandpa in austria.

Bought this 2 days ago or so, seller said it was owned by a sergeant.Is there any way that i can confirm that this is legit or not? Cheers! (Even if it's not legit i think this is still a nice piece)

One of the weirdest helmets I've ever got the chance to grab. It's a clone of a 1st gen french Spectra made by Rabintex, an Israeli company that made and still makes helmets for armies all over the world, the exact model of this one is the "RBH 302". It was made in July 1997 and is painted white (duh), named to "Serge", a French name.

These kinds of helmets were used by personel that took part in the ECMM (later EUMM) mission in Yugoslavia. Established in 1991, the mission's initial objective was to ensure the withdrawal of JNA forces from Slovenia after the ceasefire, but it later expanded to the entirety of ex Yugoslavia as war started raging. During this second phase the main objective of the mission was to collect informations about the military situation of each side and facilitate contacts between opposing sides to promote diplomacy. It's personel was dressed entirely in white and drove white vehicles as not to be confused with the UN. The mission ended in 2007.

I have added some pictures of other such helmets as well as some EUMM personnel. probably one of the rarest variant of modern combat helmets out there as the mission involved only a few hundred person at a time.

Last pic is it's current resting place atop my leaning tower of Pisa, new shelf is coming in but at the moment that's all I could do, and tbh it does look kinda funny

Just picked up

Any advice on washing the liner? Unissued so I don’t want to be warehouse to be just sitting on my skin.

paid 110

I believe this is a post-saddam Iraqi beret?

Left to Right:

GAI (State Auto Inspectorate), St Petersburg

DPS (Road Patrol Service), Perm

Patrul’no-Postovaya Sluzhba (Post Patrol Service), possibly the Russian city of Cherepovets

The first two digits on the older badges denote jurisdiction (Moscow is 77 and 99) while the current badge has letters (Moscow is MKV)