Soviet Era Globes Are Bountiful for Collectors

Any of us old enough to remember the glory days of the Soviet Union remember looking at the globes of that time and feeling a chill as we looked at the massive USSR stretching across nearly all of the top of the Eastern Hemisphere.

When the Soviet Union finally collapsed at the beginning of the 1990s, the world became a much freer place, and millions of Soviet Era globes suddenly became both useless and collectable all at once. The USSR was a thing of the past, and new globes were needed to reflect the independence of states like Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and East Germany.

As classrooms and households all over the world began updating their globes and casting away the obsolete Soviet Era globes, a new, bountiful supply of collectibles flooded the market.

To this day, Soviet Era globes are abundant. The tremendous supply means that these globes have little value for antique globe collectors, but this supply does present a great opportunity for beginning globe collectors. For less than $20, a collector can venture into antique globe collecting by picking up an old classroom globe on eBay, at a garage sale, or at a flea market.

If you are looking for a Soviet Era globe for your collection, keep a few points in mind when making your selection.

1) Find a globe in good condition. Many classroom globes face heavy use. Inspect your globe carefully to make sure that it is free from significant damage.

2) Find a globe that accentuates the USSR. Different globe manufacturers use different color schemes. Ideally, you want a globe that shows the USSR in a bright color.

3) Find a globe with a lot of labels. Many names of cities, bodies of water, etc. were different under the Soviets. You will want to see as many of the differences as possible.

4) Find a globe with a nice stand. Many classroom globes from the mid- to late-1900s have cheap stands. You will probably have to settle for a globe with a dented steel stand, but you might get lucky and find an attractive stand in good condition.

With a little searching, you should be able to locate a nice Soviet Era globe for your collection. Do not buy one of these globes as an investment, because--due to supply--decades are likely to pass before the globe will become valuable. If you buy a Soviet Era globe, buy strictly for your own enjoyment. Decades from now, it is going to be interesting to study those Soviet Era globes and look back on those days when the world was just one political misstep away from a global nuclear war.

Reverse-Painted Globes: Beautiful Chinese Art Globes

The artists in China make some incredible reverse-painted globes. To make a reverse-painted globe, the artist takes a crystal ball and hollows it out to form a void in the shape of perfect sphere within the crystal ball. The artist then uses long, curved paintbrushes to reach through a small hole in the bottom of the crystal ball to paint the inside. After hours of painstaking artistry, a fascinating piece emerges that looks like a hand-painted globe encased in perfectly seamless crystal.

These globes come in two basic styles. The most common type is modeled after scholastic globes. The more rare type is modeled after the Earth’s natural appearance.

Dry-Erase Globes Test Geography Knowledge

Dry-erase globes are excellent tools for teaching geography to children, and they can make for an unusual piece in your globe collection.

As you probably guessed, dry-erase globes come unlabeled, are coated with the same material found on dry-erase boards (white boards), and will accept temporary markings from dry-erase markers. Markings can be cleared with regular dry erasers.

Dry-erase globes come in two main types: 1) black and white, 2) blue and green. The black and white dry-erase globes feature only outlines of borders and other major geographical features. A black and white dry-erase globe would be good for manual coloring and labeling. A blue and green dry-erase globe would be good for manual labeling only. Generally, dry-erase globes come with the necessary markers.

Not only would a dry-erase globe be an excellent tool for preparing for a geography exam, it could be a useful tool in testing and refreshing your general knowledge of the world.

Hugg-a-Planet Earth Pillow for the Littlest Globe Collectors

Peace Toys offers a collection of planet pillows for children. These spherical pillows are made of colorful printed fabric and are suitable for children as young as one.

The most popular model is the Hugg-a-Planet Earth pillow. The pillow is about 12” in diameter and includes a lot of detail. Most of the smallest countries are visible and most major cities are labeled. These pillows come in various sizes, colors, and designs such as the Moon, Mars, etc.

The Hugg-a-Planet is clearly a toy and would seem out of place in a lot of globe collections, but it is a fun diversion for young children. The Hugg-a-Planet might be just enough to keep a curious child from playing with all of those rare, expensive, and fragile globes in your main collection.

EarthBall Glows to Show Us Earth at Night

The EarthBall is an inflatable vinyl world globe. Although, the EarthBall is basically a beach ball, the globe is unique in that it is formed from satellite images of Earth and is treated with glow-in-the-dark, photo-luminescent ink.

When the EarthBall is exposed to light for a couple of minutes, the cities of Earth will glow in the dark to represent the appearance of Earth from space at night.

Since this globe is inflatable, it may not really belong in a real globe collection; however, it would be an interesting novelty for anyone interested in satellite imagery. EarthBalls sell for around $15.

Waterford Crystal Globe: An Earthly Spectacle

Waterford Crystal produces a beautiful interpretation of Earth in traditional Waterford style. This is a beautiful 4 ½” crystal piece that rests on a mahogany base. The landmasses are faceted. The smooth crystal ocean is divided by several etched latitude and longitude lines. When placed in direct sunlight, the many facets of the globe have a prism effect and create random rainbows in the vicinity. The Waterford Crystal globes normally sell for around $110-$140.

Swarovski Globe: Tiny and Elegant

Swarovski makes a small faceted crystal globe that sits on a gold- or silver-plated stand (part of the Crystal Memories Collection). The globe itself is about the size of a marble, but the etching is very detailed. The Swarovski Crystal Globe is one of the finer small globes available and normally costs around $35 to $45.

Scrimshaw Globes: The Classic Earth in a Classic Medium

Nothing lends its form better to scrimshaw than the Earth. True scrimshaw globes are etched into ivory; however, true raw elephant ivory is very difficult--and normally illegal--to purchase in today’s market. To get around this substantial obstacle, scrimshaw artists often use substitute materials for their works.

Watermark Studios has produced some amazingly detailed scrimshaw globes by etching phenolic balls and accenting the lines with India ink. The globes are the size of cue balls and have a nice heavy feel. The material probably would not fool anyone who is familiar with true ivory; however, the quality of the engraving more than makes up for that minor weakness. Each of Watermark Studios’ scrimshaw globes is numbered and demonstrates fine craftsmanship.

Kurt Sperry of FineArtScrimshaw is a prominent scrimshaw artist who has made some remarkable scrimshaw globes from antique ivory billiard balls. Kurt Sperry’s scrimshaw globes have excellent detail, attractive colors, and show brilliant artistic taste. Kurt Sperry’s scrimshaw globes are truly spectacular works of art.

Betts’s Portable Globe: Old World Innovation

Invented by John Betts, the Betts’s Portable Globe (a.k.a. Betts Patent Portable Globe) is a collapsible globe that operates somewhat like an umbrella. The Betts’s Globe is a printed fabric sphere stretched over a wire frame with a rod running through the poles. The operator expands and collapses the globe using a locking cylindrical brace located at the South Pole. When not in use, the globe folds down to a convenient, portable size and shape; however, the true value of the Betts’s Portable Globe is found in its uniqueness. The Betts’s Portable Globe is a truly unusual piece that demonstrates the charming innovation of the mid-19th Century.

Foreign Language Globes: Globes with Local Flavor Are Rare

One of the most disappointing moments for a globe collector is when he finds an interesting globe in an exotic foreign country and then realizes that the globe is labeled in English.

It is perplexing that foreign manufacturers and artists very commonly produce globes for domestic distribution with English labels. Certainly, the manufacturers and artists are hoping to appeal to tourists, but who on Earth goes to a foreign country and buys a globe for household reference?

I know from experience that packing a bulky globe into a suitcase or looking for a local shipping center in a third-world country are frustrating tasks. If a tourist is going to the trouble to purchase a globe in a foreign country, he has a very good reason. Chances are that anyone buying a globe in a foreign country is a diehard globe collector.

Globe collectors are always looking for something unusual, and English labeling strikes a major blow to a globe’s uniqueness. Which would you rather have in your collection: a globe from Thailand with English labels, or a globe from Thailand with Thai labels? For a collector, the answer is obvious.

To all of the globe manufacturers and artists of the world, if we want a globe for desk reference, we’ll head to Wal-Mart with $10 and buy one. When we buy a globe overseas, we want something that captures the essence of the country and its culture. I beg you, please produce unusual globes with local flavor. If you do, I promise you that globe collectors will snatch up your globes and pay any reasonable price for the privilege.

The Most Bizarre Globe Ever: The Land Globe 250x Raised Relief

The most bizarre globe ever created is the Land Globe 250x. This 18” laser-formed globe takes things to the extreme. It displays the Earth’s topographical features 250 times their normal proportions. The purpose is make Earth’s many mountains and canyons easy to identify.

The Land Globe 250x costs around $1,000. The globe is truly bizarre and would make an excellent conversation piece or educational tool.

Lundberg WorldSphere: The Most Beautiful Earth on Earth

The Lundberg WorldSphere is one of the most beautiful globe designs of all time. The WorldSphere is made of hand-blown glass, so no two WorldSpheres are alike.

The oceans are a deep cobalt blue, the clouds are a milky white, and realistic earth tones of green and brown form the land. On most pieces the geographic features are very well-defined. The best pieces look just like a small versions of Earth.

WorldSpheres come in sizes as small as 2 ½” and as large as 6”.

Solar Powered Spinning Globe: Solar Technology Brings Fascinating Realism Down to Earth

I have seen the most technologically advanced globe ever made. The globe is encased in a liquid-filled acrylic sphere. Even though this is a powered, spinning globe, there are no cords, sockets, plugs, battery compartments, or anything that would take away from this globe’s realistic appearance.

With a built-n photoreceptor, this perpetual motion globe uses ambient room light (natural and artificial) and the Earth’s magnetic field to power the internal spinning mechanism. When there is a lot of light in the room, the globe spins twice per minute. When the light is dim, the globe slows accordingly. When there is no light, the globe stops.

This approximately 6” solar powered spinning globe comes with an acrylic display stand; however, the globe will continue to spin with or without the stand.

There are at least two versions of this globe. Hammacher Schlemmer & Company, Inc. sells a political version with most of the standard labels. 1-World Globes sells and a satellite version with no labels. I find the satellite version to be far more stylish and attractive, but the choice is yours. Both versions sell for about $500.

Ostrich Egg Decoupage Globes: A Taste of Colonial Africa

African art and ostrich eggs come together to create beautiful and interesting globes. These ostrich egg globes have a hand-painted appearance; however, they are actually decoupage art, meaning that the artwork is on paper which has been glued to the surface of the egg and then varnished.

Decoupage art was very popular in France in the 17th and 18th Century, and the method lends itself well to this application. The ostrich egg decoupage globes have a nice antique look. The artwork, which includes uniquely African scenes and old-style cartography, is evocative of early colonial Africa.

Chalk Markable Globes

For educational purposes, teachers can use chalk markable globes. These globes are normally black or green and made out of common chalkboard material, which means that they can be marked with chalk, erased, and reused.

Since these chalk markable globes are for educational purposes, most of them are unlabeled. Some of these globes have outlines of the continents and/or country borders. Others have nothing but latitude and longitude lines. Some of these globes are totally blank.

Enamel Globes: Expensive but Amazing

In the enamel factories on Northeastern China, they make a beautiful globe covered with inlaid enamel. From a distance, this globe looks like a typical gem globe; however, upon further inspection, the countries of the globe are formed from lovely shades of enamel with brass borders. These globes cost hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars, but they are the products of amazing craftsmanship have an elegant look.

Enough with the Semi-Precious Gemstone Globes Already

My first encounter with the semi-precious gemstone globe was at an airport in the early 90s, well before the Internet boom. I was an in a globe store when an excited globe collector walked in armed with a photograph of a gem globe. He quickly showed the photograph to the store clerk and asked where he could find one of these amazing globes.

It was shortly after that I began seeing gem globes popping up in jewelry stores. When they first came out, they cost thousands of dollars, and every globe collector and obscenely wealthy executive had to have one. It was a couple of years later when these gem globes started showing up in department stores for a few hundred dollars. A couple of years after that, I started seeing these globes at Sam’s and Costco for a couple hundred dollars. Within just a few years, these gem globes had gone from exotic luxury items to common office/household showpieces.

I finally realized that the gemstone globe phenomenon had permanently lost its luster in the late 90s when I was globe shopping in a depressed area of the Mid-East and found miniature gem globes on sale at a cheesy tourist gift shop. There they were, dozens of the globes in all sorts of color-schemes like blue, black, red, yellow, green, and turquoise. Sandwiched between snow globes and commemorative plates were these once sought after treasures now available to anyone to use as a paperweight.

The reality is that I actually like gem globes. They are interesting and can sometimes look nice on the right stand and in the right setting. What I don’t understand is why retailers are still promoting these gem globes so heavily. Every time I try to search for a globe on the Web, at least a third of my results is littered with gem globe offers. Is there really still a demand for these? Don’t we all already have one or a few? Is there anyone left who has been sitting around for the last ten years saying, “Man, one of these days, I am going to make one of those gem globes mine.”?

What I am saying to the globe manufactures is, “Enough with the gem globes already. If we want more gem globes, we’ll find more. Just take a breather and come up with something new and exciting for the globe collectors. There has to be something fresh out there. Please make it and sell it to us.”

By the way, I am aware that this Web site constantly has gem globe advertisements on it. Sadly, I have almost no control over that. The gem globe companies probably just insist on advertising here because the audience is globe collectors. Maybe once the gem globe makers read this article, they’ll stop advertising here so much.

Google Earth: The Best Virtual Globe

Google Earth is amazing software that allows people to view composite satellite images of Earth. The interface is fairly easy to use and lets the user fly around a virtual Earth as if in a hovering spacecraft.

With Google Earth, the user can zoom in on almost any area on the planet to a point where major geographic and city features are clearly visible. In some areas, Google Earth allows the user to zoom in to a point where cars are visible. In selected cities, like New York and Washington DC, the user can view 3-D elevations of major buildings and fly down virtual city streets.

Since Google Earth involves massive amounts of image transfers, you will need a broadband connection to run the software. The good news is that Google Earth is absolutely free. You can download Google Earth here.

Under the Sea: The Bathymetric Globe

Some of the Earth’s most interesting canyons and mountains are hidden beneath thousands of feet of water. The Ocean Floor Globe shows these features at a greatly exaggerated 150x magnification.

This 18” globe is created with lasers to form a perfect sub-surface relief on a globe where the landmasses are represented as smooth terrain. The magnified relief approach of this particular design allows viewers to more easily identify the world’s undersea features.

The Ocean Floor Globe costs around $1,200. The globe is not particularly attractive, but it does provide a fascinating look at what lies beneath.

Dymaxion Map Fold-Up Globe: A Cute Novelty

The Dymaxion Map Fold-Up Globe is a flat map when unfolded that can be folded into a three-dimensional globe (icosahedron). These globes are very inexpensive and nice to have in your collection as a novelty.