I guess y'all haven't seen what sealed Estes kits have been selling for on eBay.
Looking at
Gerry Fortin's site, here's approximately what others have paid for some of those kits:
#1227 - Honest John - $150.00
#1226 - Arcas - $200.00
#1293 - Black Brant II - $150.00
#1211 - WAC Corporal - $140.00
That's over $600 for just the first four listed kits.
I think the seller could do much better selling the kits individually rather than as a lot. Collectors want specific items. But, someone may buy this collection with the intent of breaking it up and reselling what they don't want.
-- Roger
Roger,
My take on this and other auctions:
From Gerry's site:
.....................................................AVG High Low
Semi Scale Honest John K-27 #1227 109 204 59
Semi Scale Arcas #1226 122 244 40
Black Brant III #1293 62 154 30
Wac Corporal K-11 #1211 94 138 56
Astron Alpha #1225 47 66 25
Astron Drifter K-14 #1214 122 311 46
Astron CamrocCarrier #1266 45 105 24
Mini-Brute Star Blazer TK-31 #0831 28 39 15
Mini-Brute Combo Javelin & Super Flea #0815 31 62 18
--------------------
.........................................AVG HIGH LOW
.............................Totals $660 $1323 $313
Based on this, yes the average of the aggregate of kits, IS $600+. But also note, the
low is only $313. The entire lot minus the plastic nozzle on the Black Brant could be cloned for under $70, and someone really diligent could do it for
under $50!
So if you are buying these models to built and fly, I would recommend AGAINST buying this auction.
If you are a collector, is this worth it? Well based on Gerry's site, yes. But realize the high and
averages are skewed due to possible reasons:
1)Shill bidding (seller has a separate account that pushes the price up so that that the winner has to pay more)
2)Emotion of the auction. From my experience, you can easily add 20% to the final price just from the
emotional last few seconds of the auction (this is why I use 3rd party snipers. Yes a win less, but when I do win,
I pay a more reasonable realistic price)
3)A collector, "MUST HAVE IT AT ANY PRICE!". I have done this in the past, and paid far far FAR more that what
the kit should have cost because I needed it to fill a hole in my collection.
Personally, I would only pay $30 - $40 per kit, but then I have multiples of these kits, and I am not starting out
new like some collectors.
Is the price high? Yes. The seller obviously values the dollars he will receive more than the "collectibility"
of the kits. Are the kits collectible? YES!!! Skill level kits are getting harder to find, they make a great
way to start your model rocket collecting; as I did, and they bridge the gap between the "K-Kits" of old and the
Damon era of model rocketry. Heck, some of the skill level kits are repackaged K-Kits complete with K-Kit instructions
and parts.
If the seller had started the auction at $9.99, and offered REASONABLE shipping, and factoring in today's economy
and the fact that budgets are depleted due to Christmas shopping, I would have expected the lot to close $275 - $350.00
if the auction was held honestly; no shilling by seller and no games by bidders who bid with no intention of paying.
$600 is over priced, but if you have the money, can pay your rent/mortgage, utilities, food, ect., and still have
$600 left over for this auction, God bless you because every time auctions like these take place, my collection grows
more and more in value
If I were to use Gerry's site as the absolute value of my collection (High-AVG price), my
collection would be worth multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars ... and I know it ISN'T!
Jonathan
