Quote: BTW, can someone please tell me how a Russian made lens came to acquire the name of the Greek god of the Sun--Helios??? A good trivia question for you Mr stevebrot
The same way the Taiwan made Japanese camera got the name of the Greek goddess of sunrise - Eos.
(also in Japanese it's 'asahi'. wait, oh shi....)
It's a good Soviet tradition to give sweet and pretty names to the evil masterpieces of Soviet engineering. That's how some lenses acquired the names of Greek and Roman gods - Helios, Jupiter and just pretty names - Volna (wave), Mir (world), Zenith.
About focusing ring. It can be: thick oil (leave the lens outside under the sun for some time); dust, sand inside (CLA can help); soviet assembling (it'll get better with time till loose and wobble)
Someone can make one working lens from 2 or 3 broken helioses - it's very easy. Someone can put a ring from one lens on another to get extra 20 bucks. Steve's right - they are cheap. Moreover, you should not trust ebay lens sellers from Russia. Good copies are all in good hands, other crap can be found at the local flea market for 5-10 bucks. Ebay sellers offer you the same crap as 'legendary soviet lens' for $100 and more.
in Soviet Russia lens focuses you - that was funny