$258 for a set of 310 dies on eNay

[44magLeo]

Things are getting a bit crazy. I saw a steel set of handles. $240 was the starting bid with a buy it now of $313.
I did see any body bidding yet.
I thought the one steel hannle at $125 was bad enough.
Leo

[Eddie Southgate]

There is a steel .375 set listed new in the box with a 1953 dated sales receipt for the small sum of only $2000.00 . Better jump on it fore somebody else gets it !

[Bent Ramrod]

It was a lot more fun collecting/accumulating this stuff when I could stand over a tub of miscellaneous 310 dies at a gun show with a magnifying glass and a well-thumbed Xerox copy of the Lyman/Ideal numbering scheme, putting sets together by the numbers, while the table holder beamed at me, overjoyed to be unloading the junk at a buck or two apiece.

These big-time investment brokers should go back to their penny stocks and Florida swampland. All they’ve done is turn the collection of stamps, matchbook covers, minerals, guns and a zillion other things into occupations limited to rich old men. Now it’s loading equipment.

The truly sad part is that 99% of these Gordon Gekkos of “collectibles” neither know nor care anything about the actual commodity that they think they can make a killing and retire to the Maldives off of. From everywhere comes the cry, “What is it worth?”

I’m glad this site is well-policed in this way. I used to see excrescences like this posted on sites:

PictureOfSincerity001

Posts: 1

“Hi, guys; I’m new here, and really am impressed at the vast&detailed knowledge I see on this site. I have a gun/mould/loading tool that I inherited from my dear old Aunt Edna when she sadly passed a few weeks back at the age of 92. Some of my most cherished childhood memories were our sessions of shooting/casting/reloading in the barn/on the porch/at the kitchen table, while she filled the ears of a young boy with all the wisdom and knowledge of Life that she had accumulated.”

“Of course, I’d never sell this priceless memory of her and my childhood, but I was wondering if I could just get an idea of what this thing is worth, strictly for insurance purposes? Of course, I’d never sell it, but it is part of the sentimental household treasure trove now.”

Forty posts of vast&detailed (and free&gratis) knowledgeable appraisals of what Aunt Edna’s treasure might be worth follow this post, and then this shows up:

PictureOfSincerity001

Posts: 2

“Thanks so much, guys, for the trouble you have taken with my questions. I’ve decided (after much thought, prayer and introspection, of course) that Aunt Edna would have really wanted to see her gun/mould/loading tool go to somebody who would appreciate, love and use it the way she used to. Of course, the precious memories will stay with me forever, but you can see the gun/mould/tool on the XYZ Auction Site with the starting bid a little above the highest estimate you made for me, with a ‘Buy It Now’ of 25% more. (Let the bidding war begin, suckers!)”

You can search the Net for Post 3 by PictureOfSincerity001. You can also go looking for the Flying Dutchman or the Superstition Mine if you want. You ain’t gonna find any of them.

I know—I’m just a sour old curmudgeon. And, once in a blue moon, one of these brokers will write an article or book that advances the knowledge base on these things. But, mostly, it’s “ka-CHINGGG!”

[Green Frog]

Bent Ramrod, that was as informative and entertaining an explanation of the whole "collecting" world I've seen in a long time. When investing takes over collecting (which happens in all things all too often) the exact sequence of events you describe is likely to occur. Thanks for a great laugh!

Froggie