An observation about the auction. Those that attended were primarily advanced collectors. They are not interested in Edison homes and standards. Prices reflected that. The lesser expensive items generally went to ebay bidders on the live auction. The better items went to floor bidders at current market prices. I really thought there were some bargains. A Columbia GG Graphophone Grand hammered at 8k. A Columbia BS at 4700. Idellia at 12k and the Edison Coin-op eclipse went for 18k. I have been attending the Union show for many years. I had a bad taste in my mouth the entire weekend because of the way the Donnely's treated me. I was told to leave on Thursday morning. They were very rude and they just dont get it. If buyers like me , who spend serious money at the show, quit comming from far away places like Oregon, the show is going to fail. Sales must have been way off. The general public was sparse on Saturday and it was pretty dead on Sunday. Most of the vendors reported slower sales this year. I did manage to buy an untouched Columbia BS with all original parts, and a mint condition Victor 1. The best part of the Union show was the comraderie, meeting really nice people, and sharing in the knowledge that we really are not crazy. AL Menashe ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 10:05 PM Subject: [Phono-L] Union 2005
>I really enjoyed my trip to Union this year. I traveled with Stan > Stanford and Dan Melvin and we all came home with some treasures. I have > been attending the Union show off and on for over twenty five years. > Years ago the show was basically a weekend sale but over the years, it has > "unofficially" started earlier and earlier. This year, we arrived in the > Union area on Wednesday afternoon and there were probably a dozen cars in > the parking lot with twenty collectors milling about. It was probably as > much a social occasion as anything but people were there to buy and sell. > On Thursday morning Randy D. announced that only persons holding > "exhibitor" badges would be allowed to stay in the parking lot. This > created more than just a few problems because many "early buyers" had > traveled with "exhibitors" in one vehicle. What were they to do? Their > options were to leave or pay for exhibitor space outside ($150 for space > which included two exhibitor passes). People that talked to Randy came > back with conflicting stories. I spoke with Randy and it was frustrating > because he really didn't seem to care about the future success of the show > but he does have some valid points. There are quite a few early buyers > that open their vehicles in the parking lot and sell as dealers. His > other complaint centers around the show starting early in the week and the > inconvenience that brings to his business. His concerns are valid but I > expressed how important it is for buyers to have as equal an opportunity > as the sellers at the parking lot deals. Just before the show opened on > Saturday morning, Mike D. made an announcement to the effect that there > would be no Thursday (or earlier) selling on their property. Exhibitors > would be allowed to bring items into the sale late on Thursday but no > buying or selling would be allowed. Sales would begin at the same time > for early buyers and exhibitors on Friday morning and everyone would have > equal opportunity. This should solve the problem and compact the sale > back towards the weekend. I think it is a change for the better. In my > opinion, Thursdays and Fridays have been great, Saturdays have been ok, > and Sundays have been boring. Maybe Saturday will be good and Sunday will > be ok. About this years show...there were some terrific machines. Dan > said he saw three machines with asking prices over $30,000! (several > Class M's and a Wizzard) There was also a mahogany Triumph (around > $4500?), mahogany Home ($4200?), an Echophone ($5200?) and an assortment > of Trademarks, Operas, Zonophones, etc. I think the most expensive > machine that sold was a Toy Gramophone. The asking price was $18,000 and > I believe it sold at or near that price. The Oregon group (Stan S., Dan > M., Al M., Bob J. and myself) had a great time and we're all looking > forward to next year. Happy Collecting, Jerry B. > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > [email protected] > > Phono-L Archive > http://www.oldcrank.org/pipermail/phono-l/ >
