[Milsurplus] A new high?

[Todd Bigelow - PS]

brianm@carsoncomm.net wrote:

> Thank goodness for those sellers who won't ship out of country!
>  
>
>>Mike / KK5F
>>    
>>
>
>That doesn't matter to Max - he's got a friend in California that acts as
>the middle man.  That way if one states that they wont ship outside the
>U.S., he simply provides the U.S. address, and then his friend forwards it
>to the U.K.  I sold a CU-32 awhile back and stated that it was U.S. only.
>Well, he provided a U.S. address, so I had to honor it.  I'm still irked
>that it ended up in jolly ol' England.  Can't recall his callsign, but he
>does have one.
>
>Brian    wj0p
>

Yep, he has a friend in Texas too who acts as his middleman. I've done 
business with both of the high bidders and, as evidenced by their 
willingness to pay, they'll get what they want. High bidder told me 
previously that he wants to build up a full collection of this gear, has 
the money to spend, and isn't shy about using it. I have a theory that 
they both visited Mike Hanz's AAF pages and lost control. So it's Mike's 
fault. (o:

There are radio buffs all over the world, why should we expect them not 
to desire some of the finest and most historic pieces of gear every 
produced? I sold some Collins gear to a fellow in Japan who did the same 
end-around by using an address in Hawaii. It didn't please me, but what 
are you gonna do?  I'd suspect that a lot of the older Command sets and 
ARC-5 gear would've ended up in jolly ol England after the war anyhow 
since they were an ally and basically our 'aircraft carrier'  against 
fortress Europe. I re-imported about 75 kgs of Command/ARC-5/ARA gear 
from Australia a couple years back to get some items I needed for my 
stations. Bill Babb in Melbourne ended up with loads of this stuff after 
WWII which, through lend-lease, standard wartime procurement and 
whatever else it was left there after the war. Brian Clark acted as 
middleman for Bill and got most all of it redistributed to folks like me 
as well as some actual aircraft restorations. If they didn't enjoy this 
stuff too, all that gear wouldn't have come back here. I don't mind 
things ending up in the UK anywhere near as much as I would in 
say...France. What's that saying again? The US, Britain, and allies 
liberated France and they've never forgiven us for it - either time. The 
good, decent people of France don't deserve that, but the rest do! You 
get the idea.

As someone has already pointed out, it's only worth as little or as much 
as someone wants to pay. Why get wound up over it? Would 99% of us pay 
that much for something we'd want to use or enjoy? Probably not, but we 
have to consider bills, groceries, mortgages and the rest too. What if 
you had more money than you could ever spend and wanted things you could 
enjoy over more money sitting in a bank collecting dust and interest? 
Think you might pay what others consider a ridiculous price for 
something you wanted? If anyone here watched the Barrett/Jackson classic 
car auction a week or so back, you'll recall that the highest selling 
vehicle was a 1937 Lincoln V-12 that someone had made into a street rod. 
$400K for a modified, unoriginal car! Kinda sheds a different light on 
those hammed Command sets and BC-348s, huh?

My guess is that many are focusing too much on the perceived 
'investment' value of something and missing the point entirely. If I 
looked at radio gear and paid based on what I thought I'd get out of it 
later (or lose on it), I'd be collecting oil paintings instead. The gear 
picked up here will eventually be used on the air (if legal to do so, of 
course), as intended, at reduced B+ or whatever and enjoyed. That way it 
remains a radio and not an 'investment' (doorstop). You either enjoy the 
thrill of the hunt in locating this stuff, enjoy restoring and using it, 
or want to be able to say "Mine's bigger than yours". Perhaps a 
combination of all three. But if anyone ever does get to the point of 
using a safe deposit box, try to find one that will fit big radios for 
those guys with the $25K KW-1s, $5K SX-88s and $1K R-390As etc.. They 
might not know they shouldn't be using them.

My hat's off to folks like August Link and Bill Babb who had the 
foresight and enthusiasm to save a lot of stuff that might have 
otherwise ended up in the landfill. And as far as Max, Ed, Joe Walsh and 
the others who buy what they want because they can, well... they're not 
doing anything the rest of us wouldn't do if we had their money.

It's all about the enjoyment, not the money. Money only becomes an issue 
if you don't have it. I don't have much, that's how I know. (o:

73 de Todd/'Boomer'   KA1KAQ