"Return of Jedi??"

alvin · 09-22-2017, 05:59 PM

Received a message from RIAC auctioneer saying:

"Ladies and gentlemen of the collecting community, Rock Island Auction Company is excited to announce the encore appearance of a world record holder. The finest known Singer M1911A1 pistol in existence will be available to the public in our 2017 December Premiere Firearms Auction.

Its extraordinary condition and rarity brought the appropriately high price of $166,750 in our September 2010 Premiere Auction. How far will collectors go this December now that they've been granted a second chance?"

This is a phenomena in current collecting world -- many high value items could not be hold by owners for long time.. why? no matter how rare how nice a gun is, it's a single gun. But this particular single gun occupies considerable amount of resources,,,, unless owner is very rich, it's not amount of resources that he/she could easily ignore,,, and it affects collecting other items due to this big chunk of dead money sleeping in safe. This is not the old days of 1950s, or 60s. Gun price level affects collector's behavior.

But this is high risk playing. Not sure how much RIAC charges on high value item. If 20%, this one needs to go $200,100 hammer (or, $230,115 BP included) in December. Just break even, not talking about making profit yet. Anywhere under that level will be loss. If this type of gun has to be cycled so frequently at this price level, pyramid is being built up higher and higher quickly, how long could this ponzi scheme last...

rhuff · 09-23-2017, 03:24 PM

I am going to make a wild guess that this Singer 1911A1 will not be a shooter to the new owner!!! Perhaps the last owner has died, and his heirs are selling the 1911A1 as part of his/her estate.

alvin · 09-23-2017, 03:39 PM

Originally, I also thought those people dumping big bucks in auctions are people of 75 or 80 years old. But according to my observation, no. Most older collectors are not doing that.. many reasons, first, many people's interest in guns fades in that age, partially because they have seen or even owned many rare guns in the past 50 years; second, the more they looked at today's gun price, the more they felt uncomfortable. I noticed many buyers of expensive guns are in 40 to 60 age range, in great health condition, running small business, do not have much family burden, not much retirement concern either. Those people are aggressive in gun market.

As a proof to this, just watch those MG shooting videos in youtube.com. Those guns might not be as rare as Singer 1911A1, but nevertheless expensive guns too. Even garbage-look STEN costs about $10K nowadays. How many times you see the operators in those videos being 70s or 80s? Even occasionally see a grandma-age lady sitting on wheelchair shooting a MP40, I bet that's not her recent acquisition.

sheepherder · 09-23-2017, 03:56 PM

Perhaps the consignor needs to replace/repair a flood damaged home...

09-22-2017, 05:59 PM	#1
alvin User Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: US Posts: 3,843 Thanks: 132 Thanked 729 Times in 438 Posts	"Return of Jedi??" Received a message from RIAC auctioneer saying: "Ladies and gentlemen of the collecting community, Rock Island Auction Company is excited to announce the encore appearance of a world record holder. The finest known Singer M1911A1 pistol in existence will be available to the public in our 2017 December Premiere Firearms Auction. Its extraordinary condition and rarity brought the appropriately high price of $166,750 in our September 2010 Premiere Auction. How far will collectors go this December now that they've been granted a second chance?" This is a phenomena in current collecting world -- many high value items could not be hold by owners for long time.. why? no matter how rare how nice a gun is, it's a single gun. But this particular single gun occupies considerable amount of resources,,,, unless owner is very rich, it's not amount of resources that he/she could easily ignore,,, and it affects collecting other items due to this big chunk of dead money sleeping in safe. This is not the old days of 1950s, or 60s. Gun price level affects collector's behavior. But this is high risk playing. Not sure how much RIAC charges on high value item. If 20%, this one needs to go $200,100 hammer (or, $230,115 BP included) in December. Just break even, not talking about making profit yet. Anywhere under that level will be loss. If this type of gun has to be cycled so frequently at this price level, pyramid is being built up higher and higher quickly, how long could this ponzi scheme last...

09-23-2017, 03:24 PM	#2
rhuff Patron LugerForum Patron Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Az. Posts: 2,270 Thanks: 2,686 Thanked 958 Times in 704 Posts	I am going to make a wild guess that this Singer 1911A1 will not be a shooter to the new owner!!! Perhaps the last owner has died, and his heirs are selling the 1911A1 as part of his/her estate. __________________ Need DWM breechblock #21

09-23-2017, 03:56 PM	#4
sheepherder Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: ...on the 'ol Erie Canal... Posts: 8,182 Thanks: 1,398 Thanked 4,440 Times in 2,328 Posts	Perhaps the consignor needs to replace/repair a flood damaged home... __________________ I like my coffee the way I like my women... ...Cold and bitter...

09-23-2017, 03:39 PM	#3
alvin User Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: US Posts: 3,843 Thanks: 132 Thanked 729 Times in 438 Posts	Originally, I also thought those people dumping big bucks in auctions are people of 75 or 80 years old. But according to my observation, no. Most older collectors are not doing that.. many reasons, first, many people's interest in guns fades in that age, partially because they have seen or even owned many rare guns in the past 50 years; second, the more they looked at today's gun price, the more they felt uncomfortable. I noticed many buyers of expensive guns are in 40 to 60 age range, in great health condition, running small business, do not have much family burden, not much retirement concern either. Those people are aggressive in gun market. As a proof to this, just watch those MG shooting videos in youtube.com. Those guns might not be as rare as Singer 1911A1, but nevertheless expensive guns too. Even garbage-look STEN costs about $10K nowadays. How many times you see the operators in those videos being 70s or 80s? Even occasionally see a grandma-age lady sitting on wheelchair shooting a MP40, I bet that's not her recent acquisition.