Patches, anyone?

[Tal Inbar]

Are these patches relics from Soviet time, or someone is still make them?

[desantnik]

Your pictured badges are "Soviet". As you know, the "Soviet time" often bled into the post-Soviet Russian time. These badges are Soviet, but continued to be worn into the early, mid-90's and could probably fetch a couple of dollars a piece. They probably aren't OFFICIALLY produced anymore, but maybe someone still is making them for tourists and western collectors. I have seen "fakes" that are embroidered and not plasticized - mostly the airborne patch. Some embroidered ones, however are "real" Soviet-era ones. Confused yet? The second category of embroidered ones I have in mind were made by soldiers approaching the end of their military service (dembely). They would make their base uniform more ornate than the original to wear back home.

[ibaya]

Don't forget the special honor guards and troops assigned to Hero Cities and capitals, the Kremlin, etc. Their uniforms were often of higher-calibre officer-quality material and cut, and items armpatches, shoulder marks and hats featured extras such as additional piping. I suspect troops such as the ones who guarded Lenin's Tombs had embroidered armpatches and shoulder marks, instead of the usual stamped-rubber versions.

[olivyaya]

Originally Posted by ibaya

Don't forget the special honor guards and troops assigned to Hero Cities and capitals, the Kremlin, etc. Their uniforms were often of higher-calibre officer-quality material and cut, and items armpatches, shoulder marks and hats featured extras such as additional piping. I suspect troops such as the ones who guarded Lenin's Tombs had embroidered armpatches and shoulder marks, instead of the usual stamped-rubber versions.

No the Mausolee guards did wear the standard patches
http://sites.estvideo.net/cold-war/m...e/mausolee.htm

[ibaya]

I vaguely remember seeing a sideways view of the Mausoleum guards standing at attention, and they looked embroidered to me, with gold piping around the edges. The quality is similar to these items images taken from a well-known Soviet memoriabilia vendor's website ...

[olivyaya]

Originally Posted by ibaya

I vaguely remember seeing a sideways view of the Mausoleum guards standing at attention, and they looked embroidered to me, with gold piping around the edges. The quality is similar to these items images taken from a well-known Soviet memoriabilia vendor's website ...

I am the one who shot the film from which the pics were extracted...and it is also my uniform... the patches are not embroidered !