A million bucks when new, $50,000 buys you, a civilian, a T-72. It ain't Grandpappy's antique war wagon. The T-72 is Russia's main battle tank, the heavyweight, 45 tons of bad news with a five-inch gun.

"Is" as in current, front-line equipment. "Is" as in 5,000 serving Russia right now. "Is" as in NATO and company train crews how to scrap with and blow T-72s up, as they're the favored ride of the baddie country with money enough for the good stuff.

The Czech, Slovakian, Hungarian, and Polish militaries, left awash in surplus Red Star machinery after the Iron Curtain was torn down, are clearing out their stocks of Soviet-era tanks to make way for NATO replacements. If you've got the cash, and another $20k or so to ship it to the US, you qualify to buy.