Navy Holster/Stock...

[Pete Ebbink]

...on Gun Broker...seller is indicated as a guy named Ed Hicks...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...?Item=39927343

[Navy]

I have conversed with this gentleman concerning this stock. He wants entirely too much for it.

Tom A

[c3006]

I noticed that this guys reserve dont get met very often I dont understand why people dont just start it at what they will take and be done with it.

[Ron Wood]

"He wants entirely too much for it" Boy, you got that right! It is up to $3200 and the reserve hasn't been met yet! Looks like a decent rig, and they don't come up for sale very often, so I guess it is a seller's market...but geez, where do we go from here?

[Navy]

The guy is fairly typical of a type I encounter occasionally. He knows just enough about Lugers to appreciate that some are rare and believes that there is no limit to what people will pay. He approached me with the rig unsolicited and after some conversation, revealed that someone had offered him $3K + for it. That is when I ended the conversation.

[drbuster]

Hey guys, I have seen (and I'm sure you have also) full 1906 Navy rigs go for between $6-8K and I remember one very nice one on Simpsons LTD a few years back for $14K. If the gun goes for $4-6K then isn't the holster and stock plus straps and iron worth at least $3K? Am I missing something? Please educate me!

[Ron Wood]

I think that it is worth at least $3K (although for that money just a little bit better condition would be nice). The thing that is tending toward excessive, in my opinion, is that it is already at $3200 and the reserve is still not met. I guess I am just an anachronism. This used to be a hobby, now it is like playing the stock market.

[Navy]

It is certainly worth $3K; probably $3500, but not any more than that. I believe that $3500 is probably his reserve.

Tom A

[lugerholsterrepair]

These rarely come up in my neck of the woods...It actually took me ten years to aquire my Imperial Navy stock and holster. Tom is most probably jaded a bit since he has dozens of them but for those of us on the getting eaten side of the food chain, to find this complete rig ready to go and in fairly decent condition saves a lot of looking.
Thes strap is very rare.....If it is an original. They were the first thing to break.
The holster is not that bad for an imperial Navy. I have had many here in my shop and most are in this condition or worse. These must have been hard used or badly stored on shipboard. There are not many Imperial Navy's I have seen in pristine shape.
This one seems to have been repaired and has some stitching problems. Nothing that couldn't be improved apon however.
Ron is right...it is like the stock market only better. Jerry Burney

[Ed Hicks]

Interesting thread here and most helpful in respect to what some people think of sellers versus buyers, relative rarity considering supply and demand...It also is readily apparent that some folks are a bit on the touchy side...As a newcomer to this particular board I would like to stay in everyone's good graces since I have been a longtime dealer as well as a collector...I hope to continue to do so as long as good firearms are available to sell and trade.

The Navy stock and holster set was being seriously researched on this, and other, gun boards prior to setting any price...I felt it prudent to obtain as much information as possible to verify the artifact as correct first and then try to establish some sort of accurate market value range...I was aided in my initial research by several members of this august forum and, to all who advised me, my sincere thanks...I appreciate the knowledge that you shared with me on the few Lugers that I had posted for reference...[COLOR=darkred][COLOR=darkred]...I subsequently received emails from several fellow collectors/dealers who inquired about what I would be selling and what prices I would ask-very fair questions I think you will agree.

The Navy stock in particular seemed to be a magnet for helpful and useful information as well as some rather unkind comments about others collecting habits...I received an unsolicited offer well above $3,000 the day I posted images...Frankly, that seemed very fair to me and I would likely have taken the offer had the collector gotten back to me in a timely manner...However, I received several calls and emails from other collectors who wished to either trade or purchase the rig outright...Having had what seemed a very serious offer I felt obligated to give that person first shot... I gave him a week and heard no more from him...I had another offer that I would have to say was severely short of the initial
offer as well as an offer to break up the set and buy only part of it.

Having received so much good information initially and having done a good deal of independent research regarding its value I decided to place the Navy rig on auction with a reserve lower than a couple sets that had sold recently...My intent was not to ruffle anyone's feathers here and my sincere apologies if anyone takes offence at me for actually using a reserve on an item that I own...Reserves I place at auction are normally at about the level of what I take to be current retail and, when an item does not sell, I usually negotiate the final price...I am not in the wholesale business so I can not automatically discount a firearm to new customers...Besides, unlike most women and similar beautiful things, a good gun is hard to find!

Feel free to contact me directly if you have suggestions (other than where I can stick an object please) or questions...Ed Hicks 910-425-7000 Email: edhicks82@aol.com [COLOR=darkred][I][U][COLOR=darkred]

[Edward Tinker]

thanks for responding Ed, sounds fair enough to me.


Ed

[drbuster]

Me too Ed. I think Ron Wood is right about the stock market analogy. Things in demand (with no more supply...hopefully) will just go up in price reinforced by people who are willing to pay. They do so, enjoy looking and holding the object (can't do that with stock!) and later part with it (many times posthumously) for more than what they paid for it. That is the way things go in a free market situation.

[Navy]

For drbuster,

Concerning your accounting of the price for full rigs, I would suggest you failed to take into account the factor known as "gestalt", to wit: the whole is more than the sum of it's parts.

I have several full rig Imperial Navy pistols and I can state with some experience that a $3500 pistol in a $1500 holster attached to a $1700 holster with a $250 mag pouch and a $300 carry strap is easily worth $12-15K if the stuff is an original set . Piece parts are nice and help enhance a rig, but trying to deduce the value of the piece parts by de-constructing the value of a matched rig is, at best, folly.

Tom A

[Ron Wood]

Ed,

You certainly didnâ??t ruffle my feathers, and I sincerely apologize if I ruffled yours. I have had a long-standing practice of not placing values on other folkâ??s stuff and I donâ??t know what possessed me to comment on yours. It was not directed at you, just the cost of things in general. I guess I am a little chagrined by the sudden escalation in the price of Lugers and Luger accessories. Canâ??t buy very many toys anymore. From now on I will return to keeping my mouth shut.

The rig is yours and you certainly have the right to place whatever value on it you darned well please, and you donâ??t have to answer to anyone. Rest assured if I had the disposable income I would like to have, my bid would be up there with the others.

Respectfully,
Ron

[Big Norm]

Ron Wood and Jerry Burney,
your wrong about comparing this rig or Lugers in general to the stock market. Frequently, the prices on the stock market go down. I have ample proof to that.

Mr Hicks, I am going to ask some questions about your rig, but I do not mean to offend. But the shoulder straps have me wondering if the original straps would be brown in color or should they be black?
Big Norm

[Ed Hicks]

Which is correct I am unsure of...Most folks say black is correct and these straps appear brown to me although quite faded.

Ed

[Big Norm]

Mr. Hicks,
now that I know that you are not going to beat me up or anything, I would like to ask one more question. What is the serial number on the attaching iron of your stock?
Big Norm

[lugerholsterrepair]

Big Norm, I stand corrected, I should have said like a Bull market.

Ed, Take a look at the straps. Imperial Navy and Artillery were much the same only different hole patterns. The Navy has only two holes for the adjusting stud on one end and a line of holes on the other. The Artillery has a line of 10 or so holes on both sides. It might be an Artillery strap on a Navy rig. It's my opinion Navy straps were black. Leather does have a propensity for severe wear which removes the dyed color and leaves it brown. Jerry Burney

[Ed Hicks]

Mr. Hicks,
now that I know that you are not going to beat me up or anything, I would like to ask one more question. What is the serial number on the attaching iron of your stock?
Big Norm

Now where did you come up with that idea? You're Big Norm! You can ask me anything and I'll be frank, I may not know the answer...The reply I left earlier was for one particular individual who posted comments that were not exactly accurate (read into that what you will)...I'm a peace loving guy and I had posted to answer a couple of remarks that just struck me as uncalled for (again one person)...Email me directly at edhicks82@aol.com and I'll check the stock number when I return to work.

Ed

[Big Norm]

Mr. Hicks,
I am not called 'Big Norm' because of my upward measurements. In my humble opinion, it comes from my remarkably talented ablity to grow a stomach. Instead of sending you an email, howsabout my sending you a PM via the forum? I have a lot of Lugers and I am always on the lookout for a matching serial number on magazines and stocks.

I am tired right now, but I didn't really notice a real hostile comment on this thread. This forum is pretty widely polulated with very nice and talanted people. But it is also a teaching forum and sometimes comments that are intended to instruct others, who are learning but just reading the posts, comes across as hostile. Myself, I never, ever came across or intended that any of my comments to be actually hostile. (Hee! Hee! Do you believe that one? )
Big Norm