Re: [meteorite-list] Marching Hammers - Business and Marketing
Gilmer, I did not see anyone attacking Blood. I will tell you that my short list of dealers I would recommend is headed by Blood. Others include in no particular order; Black, Notkin, Pitt, Garcia, Arnold #1, Kachinka, Miller, Reeds, Bruno. Gheesling,Grossman. just to name the stand outs that have treated me personally well. My vote for best Scientist still working with us is Ted Bunch. Korotev comes close. Carl Esparza IMCA 5829 Meteoritemax Michael Gilmer michael_w_gil...@yahoo.com wrote: Hi List, Another can of worms opened up here with the definition of a hammer. First, whoever emailed Michael Blood and bashed his business practices needs to have their head examined. I've done trades and made purchases from Michael and can state that he is a first class guy. Michael's only crime is his enthusiasm for collecting meteorites that have struck objects. And let's not discredit thinking people by claiming that some dealer using the word hammer is going to damage the hobby as a whole or devaluate all other real hammers. This is being a bit dramatic. I think most people, including newbies, are perfectly capable of using a search engine, reading, and learning. I am going to say something that may get vegetables thrown at me, but the overall atmosphere of suspicion in this hobby is unfortunate. I have never in my life seen a hobby where many newcomers are viewed with suspicion and people launch accusations against other's business practices based on semantics. Sure, meteorites are a valuable commodity and any valuable commodity is going to the target/source of frauds. But all of the suspicion, accusations, and general rivalry is unnecessary. There are enough meteorites for everyone. There are enough collectors for every dealer. And fakes/frauds are much less common than the alarmists would have you believe. I've done hundreds of meteorite deals in my short time in this hobby, and not once has a person tried to defraud me - if they were that type, I wouldn't have done business with them in the first place. I'm very thankful that visual astronomy doesn't have the same atmosphere as meteorite collecting - if it did, I would have quit the hobby long ago and never learned the wonders of the heavens above. A handful of people have been very gracious to me in this hobby, but several have also been twofaced - ready to take my money when I buy their meteorites, but ready to talk smack behind my back because I don't buy into their particular clique. When I got into astronomy and approached an observing club about joining, I was welcomed with open arms and brought into the hobby - which I now share with others in the same manner. Unfortunately, meteorites have not been like that - I was viewed with suspicion by some from the minute I arrived on the scene. Why? I don't know. Probably for the same reason someone is now talking crap about Michael Blood. Politics, cliques, gossip, and profiteering - much bigger issues in the meteorite world than the definition of a hammer. That's where I stand, even if it's not popular. Regards and clear skies, MikeG PS - despite all the politics, backbiting, and suspicion, I am still having a lot of fun collecting meteorites. So NEENER NEENER! :P LOL PSS - to the 5 or 6 people who have been straight up with me in our dealings, you have my sincerest thanks again. You know who you are. ;) :) . Michael Gilmer (Louisiana, USA) Member of the Meteoritical Society. Member of the Bayou Region Stargazers Network. Websites - http://www.galactic-stone.com and http://www.glassthrower.com .. __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Marching Hammers - Business and Marketing
Thanks Mike ! Love that email And as you say, common sense is not reserved to the seasoned ones Being a newbie doesn't mean I will be fooled by Hammers :) And being a newbie, I enjoyed the rich information laded website from Michael Blood. Good evening everyone Michael B, France - Original Message - From: Michael Gilmer michael_w_gil...@yahoo.com To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 5:35 AM Subject: [meteorite-list] Marching Hammers - Business and Marketing Hi List, Another can of worms opened up here with the definition of a hammer. First, whoever emailed Michael Blood and bashed his business practices needs to have their head examined. I've done trades and made purchases from Michael and can state that he is a first class guy. Michael's only crime is his enthusiasm for collecting meteorites that have struck objects. And let's not discredit thinking people by claiming that some dealer using the word hammer is going to damage the hobby as a whole or devaluate all other real hammers. This is being a bit dramatic. I think most people, including newbies, are perfectly capable of using a search engine, reading, and learning. I am going to say something that may get vegetables thrown at me, but the overall atmosphere of suspicion in this hobby is unfortunate. I have never in my life seen a hobby where many newcomers are viewed with suspicion and people launch accusations against other's business practices based on semantics. Sure, meteorites are a valuable commodity and any valuable commodity is going to the target/source of frauds. But all of the suspicion, accusations, and general rivalry is unnecessary. There are enough meteorites for everyone. There are enough collectors for every dealer. And fakes/frauds are much less common than the alarmists would have you believe. I've done hundreds of meteorite deals in my short time in this hobby, and not once has a person tried to defraud me - if they were that type, I wouldn't have done business with them in the first place. I'm very thankful that visual astronomy doesn't have the same atmosphere as meteorite collecting - if it did, I would have quit the hobby long ago and never learned the wonders of the heavens above. A handful of people have been very gracious to me in this hobby, but several have also been twofaced - ready to take my money when I buy their meteorites, but ready to talk smack behind my back because I don't buy into their particular clique. When I got into astronomy and approached an observing club about joining, I was welcomed with open arms and brought into the hobby - which I now share with others in the same manner. Unfortunately, meteorites have not been like that - I was viewed with suspicion by some from the minute I arrived on the scene. Why? I don't know. Probably for the same reason someone is now talking crap about Michael Blood. Politics, cliques, gossip, and profiteering - much bigger issues in the meteorite world than the definition of a hammer. That's where I stand, even if it's not popular. Regards and clear skies, MikeG PS - despite all the politics, backbiting, and suspicion, I am still having a lot of fun collecting meteorites. So NEENER NEENER! :P LOL PSS - to the 5 or 6 people who have been straight up with me in our dealings, you have my sincerest thanks again. You know who you are. ;) :) . Michael Gilmer (Louisiana, USA) Member of the Meteoritical Society. Member of the Bayou Region Stargazers Network. Websites - http://www.galactic-stone.com and http://www.glassthrower.com .. __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
