When did the medals change?

[RVT]

I found my old miniature medal rack from 1988.  Somewhere along the line one fell off of it and I decided to replace it with my newly earned Yaeger - and when I added it on, I noticed the new miniature medal is significantly larger than the other three.  Its also on a visibly longer ribbon that doesn't match military decorations - though as you can see the older style CAP medal did conform to those specifications.  So when did this change take place?

Its also brighter, but I attribute that to probably tarnish on the older ones, though the two US Army medals seem to have held up just fine over time.  And I do know this order is incorre

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

My only conjecture:

Possibly your 1988 Yeager came from a different manufacturer?

Also, I would say that your Army medals look better probably because they were manufactured to a higher standard.

[manfredvonrichthofen]

This is exactly the kind of junk that I am talking about. VG doesn't know what their doing. They half ass everything they do. If I were you I would call and complain about their lack of attention to detail. The medals are still supposed to be the same size, there is one regulation size, they were made that way so that they could match correctly with military awards.

I hate VG.

[manfredvonrichthofen]

My only conjecture:

Possibly your 1988 Yeager came from a different manufacturer?

Also, I would say that your Army medals look better probably because they were manufactured to a higher standard.

His Yeager came from VG, the others all match as they should. VG just can't do their job right.

[RVT]

His Yeager came from VG, the others all match as they should. VG just can't do their job right.

The 1980's era medals are the right size and on the right length drape, they are just tarnished through age.  Problem is if I ever wear this set I will feel compelled to wear the membership & Jaegers out of order so the bottom row is even.

I assume many of you have military and CAP medals both on mess dress - are yours like this too?

[manfredvonrichthofen]

His Yeager came from VG, the others all match as they should. VG just can't do their job right.

The 1980's era medals are the right size and on the right length drape, they are just tarnished through age.  Problem is if I ever wear this set I will feel compelled to wear the membership & Jaegers out of order so the bottom row is even.

I assume many of you have military and CAP medals both on mess dress - are yours like this too?

I have not ordered any because I have seen this exact issue on other members mess dress. Literally the only thing keeping me from getting a pair of mess dress is VG. I have some old minis from WIWAC, they are also tarnished, and I only have two of them, also the ribbon is not clean enough to wear.

If anyone knows where you can get this sort of stuff other than VG please PM us so we know.

[manfredvonrichthofen]

I can tell you this though, if you are careful about it you can take the retention bar off of the back of the medal and take up the excess length on the medal and refold the ribbon inside of the link on the medallion and make it the same length, also make sure you take up the excess from the back side of the ribbon.

I have had to re-do many dangling medals while I was in the Army. I used to have to make full racks from sheet medal cardboard and a hot glue gun. It isn't fun but you can make the best looking rack in the world if you know how to do it. However if you don't know what you are doing, you can really mess it up. But you shouldn't have any problem just taking up the slack. The medallion doesn't look tooooo bad compared to the Army awards, so if you have all current VG awards, it won't look tooooooooooooo bad. I still think the medallion is just a bit too big. Plus the link is too big.

[Persona non grata]

I have mini medals from 4 years ago that are longer in length than the new ones I purchased from VG.  i am not about to buy all new medals so I wear my highest four which are the same length.  Thanks VG :clap:

[Pylon]

Can't blame it all on Vanguard.  CAP has never seen it fit to create any sort of standards for our uniforms, insignia, medals, etc.  There are no known specifications for size, thread colors, or anything really.  So if one batch of medals is different from the next, they're all correct -- because CAP has set no standards.

[RVT]

I have mini medals from 4 years ago that are longer in length than the new ones I purchased from VG.  i am not about to buy all new medals so I wear my highest four which are the same length.  Thanks VG

If I ever get my full medal set made up I'm actually covered as it turns out.  I have 20 total, 6 of which are actual US military.  According to 39-1 table 5-5 these are to be arranged in rows of 6,7 & 7 with 6 being on the top.  So it won't matter if they don't match.

[RVT]

I have mini medals from 4 years ago that are longer in length than the new ones I purchased from VG.  i am not about to buy all new medals so I wear my highest four which are the same length.  Thanks VG

It gets better.  Vanguard doesn't even carry homeland security or counterdrug medals.  Since there are two medals for cadet competitions I doubt the lack of a corresponding medal is intentional, but Vanguard doesn't carry them and there is no other allowed source.

39-3 only shows the full size medals that only the top three decorations have (makes sense as there is nothing to wear them on).  I suppose its possible no medal was ever designed for these.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

Can't blame it all on Vanguard.  CAP has never seen it fit to create any sort of standards for our uniforms, insignia, medals, etc.  There are no known specifications for size, thread colors, or anything really.  So if one batch of medals is different from the next, they're all correct -- because CAP has set no standards.

I think that's it in a nutshell.

The military decorations look good, and uniform, because they are made to "mil-spec" standard.  One could look at decorations being worn by the average Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine or Coastie and chances are they would be very close to one another in shape, size and quality.

CAP apparently hasn't seen fit to tell whatever manufacturer, Vanguard or whoever, "make it like this, not one centimetre longer or shorter, and it must be mil-spec."

[flyboy53]

Can't blame it all on Vanguard.  CAP has never seen it fit to create any sort of standards for our uniforms, insignia, medals, etc.  There are no known specifications for size, thread colors, or anything really.  So if one batch of medals is different from the next, they're all correct -- because CAP has set no standards.

I think that's it in a nutshell.

The military decorations look good, and uniform, because they are made to "mil-spec" standard.  One could look at decorations being worn by the average Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine or Coastie and chances are they would be very close to one another in shape, size and quality.

CAP apparently hasn't seen fit to tell whatever manufacturer, Vanguard or whoever, "make it like this, not one centimetre longer or shorter, and it must be mil-spec."

Agree.

Look at your ribbon bar, if you look closely, you might notice that the ribbons are not all the same length because of different manufacturers. Sure some of the minature medals have changed over the years, but Vanguard is the latest standard. The new Yeager, by the way, looks that much more out of place because your ARCOM doesn't seem to sit level on the bar.

Just a suggestion, however, you can correct the length of the Yeager by opening the back of the slide, trimming about a quarter inch of the ribbon with some shape scissors and then re-assembling it. Otherwise, the new one is cool-looking.

[jimmydeanno]

So, let me get this straight. 

You have a set of 25 year old CAP medals that look like poo.  They're tarnished, dirty, and distorted.  You order a replacement for the one that fell off.  It's shiny and new, and you can actually read what it says on it.  Yet, somehow it is the new medals manufacturer that is at fault because your old medals look like poo?

[manfredvonrichthofen]

So, let me get this straight. 

You have a set of 25 year old CAP medals that look like poo.  They're tarnished, dirty, and distorted.  You order a replacement for the one that fell off.  It's shiny and new, and you can actually read what it says on it.  Yet, somehow it is the new medals manufacturer that is at fault because your old medals look like poo?

No, that is not the problem, his old medals look better than his new one because they are the right size. They actually fit in with his Army medals, and look good because they are the right size. It is the manufacturers fault that it doesn't match the size and shape of the rest of his medals. The medallion  is too big, and the banner it hangs on is too big. That is the problem.

[James Shaw]

I think an easy way to "address this" would be to do some measuring of the minis. A CAPTalk poster can do some measurement of the minis they order to check on the consistency of the drape. Share that with other members and send the info to Vanguard. It could be a costly experiment depending on the number if minis you are authorized or need. Give them some data to back it up. I havent had a need to order anything new in a few years. I did get the achievement mini when it first came out, but thats the only one.

I have measured both full size SMV's and both minis and they are the same size. They were ordered about a year apart. There is some light scratching on the planchet of one of the SMV's (full size), but you really cant tell unless you look at  it closely. They are all from Vanguard.