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Big Norm · 11-01-2003, 03:40 AM

I also like FGS and have enjoyed many conversations with Ken and Joe. I remember once seeing Doug get all excited over a find at a OGCA meeting. It was a brass flashlight that could be afixed to the barrel of a Luger and had a wire that would run to a battery pack on a belt. I kept thinking that this guy who has such a big collection of rare accessories to Lugers can still get excited about finding something different and unusual.

I would bet that Doug has a bunch of rare stuff buried away that few people would even know what it is. Ken once told me that they are trying to take an inventory of Dougs stuff but that it is nearly impossible.

But I agree with the original premise of this thread by TomA. Too many guys go to gun shows and go straight to the big dealers tables without even looking at the tables of the little guys who have a mixture of five or six guns with a treasure partially hidden in the corner of their table.

Then I have seen the little sellers quiver in their boots while trying to sell a Luger. They don't have a clue about what they have and don't know if they have the gun priced too high or too low. They go to the big dealers tables and see the prices and figure that that is the price to put on their one Luger. Then the gun just sits there with nobody even looking at it. They just don't realise that sometimes the dealer doesn't know what price to put on a given Luger either. More often than not, they just pack up their Lugers and take them home without any sales. The big dealers are willing to wait for their price. The little guy doesn't want to wait.

Simpson used to hand out little booklets of Lugers that he had for sale. I kept them. I think that Simpson had a love affair with Lugers that had grip safeties. He had them so over priced that I bet that he still has them in inventory after many years. I got burned on an 1900 American Eagle when I was first starting out because I used Simpsons price books as a reference to buy from an individual. I still have that AE and its still pretty, but I paid way too much at the time.

I could also get into a very long discussion about appraising and appraisors. I am not pointing a finger at anyone in particular. But appraising a Luger can sometimes be difficult. Is there really such a thing as an expert on ALL Lugers? Emotions come into play. Is this a gun that the expert wants to buy? Is he just pricing it for conversation sake? Is he just pricing it while wasting some time and does not care what the seller gets for the gun? There are many other reasons that someone would appraise someone elses gun. Basically, it still boils down to what a buyer is willing to pay for the gun, if the seller can find that right person and how long the seller is willing to wait to find that buyer. I have guns that I wonder where my head was and I have seen guns sell for prices that made me wonder where that buyers head was at. Its a jungle out there.
Big Norm

11-01-2003, 03:40 AM	#7
Big Norm RIP Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: SE Michigan Posts: 1,864 Thanks: 1 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts	I also like FGS and have enjoyed many conversations with Ken and Joe. I remember once seeing Doug get all excited over a find at a OGCA meeting. It was a brass flashlight that could be afixed to the barrel of a Luger and had a wire that would run to a battery pack on a belt. I kept thinking that this guy who has such a big collection of rare accessories to Lugers can still get excited about finding something different and unusual. I would bet that Doug has a bunch of rare stuff buried away that few people would even know what it is. Ken once told me that they are trying to take an inventory of Dougs stuff but that it is nearly impossible. But I agree with the original premise of this thread by TomA. Too many guys go to gun shows and go straight to the big dealers tables without even looking at the tables of the little guys who have a mixture of five or six guns with a treasure partially hidden in the corner of their table. Then I have seen the little sellers quiver in their boots while trying to sell a Luger. They don't have a clue about what they have and don't know if they have the gun priced too high or too low. They go to the big dealers tables and see the prices and figure that that is the price to put on their one Luger. Then the gun just sits there with nobody even looking at it. They just don't realise that sometimes the dealer doesn't know what price to put on a given Luger either. More often than not, they just pack up their Lugers and take them home without any sales. The big dealers are willing to wait for their price. The little guy doesn't want to wait. Simpson used to hand out little booklets of Lugers that he had for sale. I kept them. I think that Simpson had a love affair with Lugers that had grip safeties. He had them so over priced that I bet that he still has them in inventory after many years. I got burned on an 1900 American Eagle when I was first starting out because I used Simpsons price books as a reference to buy from an individual. I still have that AE and its still pretty, but I paid way too much at the time. I could also get into a very long discussion about appraising and appraisors. I am not pointing a finger at anyone in particular. But appraising a Luger can sometimes be difficult. Is there really such a thing as an expert on ALL Lugers? Emotions come into play. Is this a gun that the expert wants to buy? Is he just pricing it for conversation sake? Is he just pricing it while wasting some time and does not care what the seller gets for the gun? There are many other reasons that someone would appraise someone elses gun. Basically, it still boils down to what a buyer is willing to pay for the gun, if the seller can find that right person and how long the seller is willing to wait to find that buyer. I have guns that I wonder where my head was and I have seen guns sell for prices that made me wonder where that buyers head was at. Its a jungle out there. Big Norm