Auctions everywhere! NETTE, Ward Kimball, Maurer and more through the end of the year!
Is this an advertisement? No. Is this just me wondering why all these great collections are getting blown out in one weekend? Yes.....
Yes, I have seen quite a few folks cashing in their American Flyer Presidents Specials in the last month or so.... What's going on here? Is it just coincidence or is this some reflection of the economy?
I know there are no shortages of bidders in these auctions so standard gauge as a hobby must be alive and well. Still, it seems like quite a few trains are changing hands (this is purely outside of the shows as well) and they aren't going cheap. Any thoughts?
M
2 comments:
the new supply is coming from, well, dead guys. A quick look at the TCA demographics suggests there will be a lot more of them coming up. The Kimball auction had some pretty eyeraising prices but there were a few deals to be had. One interesting thing that stuck me was my friend who bought a fair amount and said he was the underbidder on a quite a few lots (of the early american trains). That suggests to me that while prices are very high, the actual number of people willing and able to pay them is pretty thin.
I have been watching the auctions. I think the scary thing about them is that there are many items that weren't real or were partially real from one owner and after 3 or 4 owners (including Ward Kimball), the item ceased to be a well done restore/repro and actually became real (like the good fairy making Pinocchio real)! A TON of the stuff going out isn't real. The better auctioners are the one's that do a best effort in highliting the gotchas.
M
Post a Comment