Revenant

I tend to follow the rule of thumb that anything that is made for the express purpose of being collected / collected / saved will almost certainly never be rare and never have value. You can never really know what will have value long term because it's the stuff that flies under the radar, that no one saves, that will explode later.

9 hours ago, Mohawk said:

My fiancee cracked me up.....I was telling her about this discussion and she looked at me and said "If there was a Faustina the Younger Funko Pop, you'd buy it."

Sadly, I think she's right...........

Like I said before, I could see owning one of these things if you were really into that character and liked the "art" style. I just would never want dozens.

4 hours ago, Mokiechan said:

So

As you correctly stated, muchof the product they are putting out in the statue arena are just insane in detail and price.  I saw a 1:1 Scale Wonder Woman Bust that looks exactly like Gal.  Price, I think, before shipping is 3500.  The most I ever paid for a statue 1/6 scale, was probably in the high 200s, but that was 15-20 years  ago. 

 These days a lot of the 1/6th scale stuff seems to run $450-$1,500, depending on the item. Before I found out I was having a kid I really thought about dropping $500 for a Striker Eureka figure from Pacific Rim or a War Machine figurine.

2 hours ago, Mokiechan said:

I am a big-time fanboy of all things DC Comics and went to the San Diego Comic Con for 15 straight years in the 90's and early 2000's.  I have owned hundreds of action figures, statues, and actual comic books but when the Funko Pops first started appearing a decade ago, I had zero interest then and that still holds true.  My focus nowadays is exclusively on coins.  The comics and action figures and statues are mostly gone, just a few things that make me smile.  Coins are King. 

I know some people that really love one franchise / character from that franchise and they have 1 of these figures on their desk just for fun. I think that's fun / reasonable. Having a room full of these things breaks my brain to some degree.

I love comics - though I'm more a fan of Marvel, having grown up obsessed with Spiderman, Ironman, Ghostrider, and the Punisher - but, if I were to get figurines and such for them, I'd much rather have one of the limited edition figures from Sideshow Collectables or something similar. Those are 12-21" tall and insanely detailed and cool. I'm going to spend $500 on something, I want it to actually look cool. I'd rather have 1 thing and display it with pride than 50+ little figures in boxes.

On 6/18/2019 at 8:04 AM, Mokiechan said:

I always felt NGC was implying some kind of inferiority to PCGS by allowing PCGS coins in their competitive sets.

I always thought it was great of them and showed that they made this place to be for the collectors - to let collector's share what they love and make it more about the coins and the love of the hobby and not the plastic. I always thought it was just an acknowledgement of the fact that PCGS did good / good enough and they were willing to accept them on par - not a statement that PCGS was better.

Not trying to gripe about the change or say I disagreed with it. Just saying I always thought it was great / nice thing to do for the collectors that reflected well on them, not poorly, when they allowed people to do that.

On the flip side, I always thought it made PCGS seem somewhat elitist, money-hungry and self-interested, among other things, when they weren't willing to reciprocate / return the favor and let people have NGC coin in their registry while NGC was allowing it. At the end of the day though, it is their registry, their site, that they pay for, so it's their prerogative to use it to promote / emphasize their product / service, so I never judged them too harshly for it.

Wow. That was lucky then. Congrats!

12 hours ago, Coinbuf said:

I tend to think of that mentality as an investor not a collector

I think one of these days the "investors" are going to face some hard realities because nothing defies gravity and common sense forever. I recently saw a note that sold for $12,345 because it was the only one PMG had graded as a 70. There are 83 of the same note graded 69 and hundreds graded 68 and 67. I don't really see that person ever seeing that money coming back but I'm sure the dealer was thrilled.

3 hours ago, W.K.F. said:

My sets will be smaller, appearance wise, but who’s counting? Lol

The more time goes on, the more convinced I am that it's better to have fewer sets. It's easier to let the ones that are mostly complete and which have been shown a lot of love stand out.

Sometimes it feels like the sets that have been my main focus with all of their best images and descriptions become needles in a haystack, lost in all the low-ranking sets with 1-3 coins, bad pictures and non-existant descriptions. Even so, I can't convince myself to delete the other ones.

Nice to see / hear from you! I came back after a long absence a few months ago. Seems like lots of us have peaks and troughs that naturally correspond to peaks and valleys in how crazy the rest of our lives are.

As far as the PCGS slabs go - you'll be out of luck. PCGS coins were removed from all World sets in 2012 (not sure if you were here for that). PCGS coins can no longer be added to US sets as of about mid-2017 - coins that were already in sets were grandfathered in. But since you removed your old sets / deleted them you won't be able to add them back.

Hopefully you'll be happier with the change in focus. Collecting for points is a recipe for disappointment. I remember when they did a massive downward adjustment on the point values of the FDI presidential dollars. All the people that had been buying those up and making sets with huge point values saw them go down - I think by 50-70%. There were some fits thrown when that went down. In other sets I've bought something when it was worth 125 points, seen it go down to 37, and then go back up to 607 a month later. Point collecting is the trail of tears.

16 hours ago, Mokiechan said:

Well, to my surprise, it has already sold as a BIN.  I could have sworn when he relisted, it was a regular sale auction again.  I wonder if my publicizing it induced someone to contact him and arrange a BIN sale?  Well, regardless, I was never going to bid anyway, just found it kind of interesting.

Well, the right person saw it and wanted it. Can't say much more than that. Value is subjective and people overpay for stuff all the time.

25 minutes ago, Mohawk said:

I've looked at my old journals on here myself, and I don't even know who that guy was anymore.  But I've changed a lot over the past couple of years, for the better, I feel.  So I'm actually glad that those writings are so alien to me.....it is a great way to see how much I've grown and evolved in the years since they were written. I've considered deleting them, but I don't know if that's the correct course of action.  They're kind of like fossils of my older self, and they may be worth keeping for that reason.  I don't know....I haven't made a final decision yet.  Based on what I've seen from your collecting pursuits over the past year or so, it looks like you've reached a happy place in your collecting life as well.  The passion for what you do is readily evident in all of your current pursuits, and that's a great thing to see.  Though we've never met in person, we've talked a lot on here and I consider you a friend.  It's always good when you see a friend get to a happy place with things.  The fact that your current projects helped keep you grounded when you guys were going through everything that went along with Sam's birth and getting him healthy speaks volumes to the power of what you're collecting now, what it means to you and your happiness with the pursuit.  I like the new name of your journal as well....I think it really fits.  And, I think you may be correct in your assessment that your journals will one day give your sons some insight into their dad, how he thinks, what he's passionate about and what an excellent writer he is.  I hope that I can do something similar if Candice and I have a little Faustina or Julian of our own someday.

Thanks! With Ben and Sam, I think there's some relevance in that quote, "give me a boy until the age of 6, and I will show you the man." If you want to get a kid interested in something, it definitely helps to start young - and there will be more on that soon.

As far as the sets go: When I started spending more time here again there was definitely a purge and several sets got deleted. Most of what's left fits into three broad categories: The modern world 1 ounce bullion issues, which are still an interest of mine albeit not an active one at the moment, the sets that I built and manage with Choya, and the 19th century European gold coins I've started collecting more. It leaves me with a lot of sets but it's the best way I know of to show it. But there are still some sets that my yet get the axe at some point.

Always interesting to talk to you, Tom.

36 minutes ago, gherrmann44 said:

I remember your worldwide silver bullion collection and your desire for it to win an award. Today to the best of my knowledge you have not mentioned it in the new journal format. I can definitely tell that you are much more mature in your collecting interests. First you seem more patient in building your collections. You see collecting more as a marathon than a sprint. I'm not saying you ever saw it as a sprint but I do see a move towards a longer marathon. Taking a sabbatical from collecting because you were pursuing your education also showed wisdom. It shows that you have your priorities straight. Collecting today is also kept in its proper perspective as you are raising your children. You make collecting a lot of fun for Ben. (I am confident that Sam will grow into it). I also think it provides the opportunity for you to spend quality time with Ben which makes collecting a tool for building relationships. Much of your writing today tells stories about Ben and collecting all without spending a ton of money! Collecting to you is very much a family affair. This is as it should be. Yes you are older and wiser and if you are around these boards ten years from now it will be interesting to see your growing wisdom chronicled here.

Thanks. There is one project that's soaking up all the attention and money I have to give it at the moment - and that's not the world silver bullion set, it's the Zimbabwe note set. I do like it and will probably try to  build it up again one of these days, but it's just not what I'm pressing right now even though I did pick up some kiwis and koalas that fit in with it.

When I got back to the Zimbabwe notes, I didn't even look at my old signature set. I just deleted it outright and started over from scratch with fresh eyes. I don't know yet if that's the approach I'd take with the silver bullion set, but I suspect that, when the time comes and I get back into it, it'll get reworked.

1 hour ago, Mokiechan said:

This seller is not a coin seller either, when I looked at the items he had for sale right now, it was a hodgepodge of old license plates, fishing lures, doodads of various types,  a gauge cluster from an airplane, and the irradiated dimes.  So probably a picker of sorts, and may be, as you stated, just willing to wait for ever, if need be, to get his price.  gtw-123  suggested I just contact him directly and say something like, let's avoid all these pesky fees and I send you 30.00 postpaid for the dimes.  I might give it a try. 

There was 1 time that I can recall (I think it was for my 1887 10G) when I was able to make something like that work. The seller had an established coin store in another state and I was able to get an email address from them and approach them about it completely separate from eBay. They agreed to take a somewhat reduced price vs what they were asking on eBay if we didn't complete through eBay, saving them the fees. You have to be a bit careful though as eBay has rather strict rules about that sort of thing - officially to protect buyers and sellers and unofficially to protect their fees.

I've seen sellers sit with something on inventory for years and never bring the price down. There's a note I've been watching for a while. The seller had it listed for $32.50+$7.50 shipping as a BIN with best offer option. I don't think it's worth that. Apparently no one else does either. After a while he switched to listing it as an auction... except he listed the starting bid as $32.50+$7.50 shipping... why he thinks anyone is going to bid when the starting bid is a price that no one has been willing to snap it up at I'll never understand, but he's relisted this auction with no luck more than once now. I did buy another note from him a while back. It was also listed at $32.50+$7.50, but I haggled him down to $25+$7.50 shipping. But at this point I just don't want to haggle with someone who just doesn't seem to want to accept that it's not worth what he's asking for.

Why do they keep banging their heads on that wall? Why keep paying fees to eBay when it isn't selling? If you don't really want to sell it, if you aren't willing to let it go at a price someone is willing to pay, why list it? Why not just keep it?

I did see a case a while back where a similar item that was listed for about $42 after shipping finally sold after sitting for months, so maybe they're just hoping that if they wait long enough they'll find the right buyer. But I think in some cases they're going to have to sit on that inventory for a LONG time.

2 hours ago, Mohawk said:

I agree with you there, Mokie.  At least the guys on American Pickers seem like they're nice guys instead of a bunch of arrogant, obnoxious jerks.

Ah, but one of the best parts of the show is when they think they're smarter than they are and get bit hard - fake or not, that's funny.

2 hours ago, Mohawk said:

And I really dislike the four main "characters" of the show, especially Rick himself and Chumlee.....I can't stand them!! 

They definitely have their ups and downs with regards to tolerability. With Chumlee I just have to assume that most of what he does is an act because I just can't believe he really is that dense.

I tend to find Corey more unlikable than Rick though.

25 minutes ago, Mokiechan said:

I remember one very old episode where the Old Man got chastised by Rick for missing the CC on a Morgan and almost selling it for some relatively, I think $50, cheap price.  That was a raw one.  I used to watch them a lot but I tired of their completely staged customer interactions.  I understand that is the nature of the beast in the reality show game, I am just tired of it.  Having said that, I still enjoy American Pickers, even though it is equally staged.

From what I understand, laws in that state prevent them from filming in the actual Pawn Shop so all of the filming occurs on a sound stage. I've also heard that some of the people that come in with "rare items" that "experts" have to come in to authenticate are employees or family members of the "expert" coming into authenticate it... so... yeah. All fake. But I think most days it's entertaining enough and, if I'm honest, a lot of times I just use it as background noise while I do other things and just half watch it. I remember the episode you're talking about with the old man and the CC. American Pickers is okay. There's definitely some work in editing to make their visits seem more interesting and make their negotiations more rapid than they possibly can be - you don't negotiate prices on 10-12 items, but not take notes, write anything down, or have a running tally. I don't buy that, but you also don't see money changing hands at the time they agree on a price for each item - or ever usually.

2 hours ago, gherrmann44 said:

There may also be some kind of an agreement between Rick and NGC.

Well, based on them slabbing signed "Old Man" coins (that are produced by SMI), I'd say there's at least some kind of relationship there.

On 4/26/2019 at 2:18 PM, Mohawk said:

That'll be a nice display.  I don't know what I'm going to do with my "gravestone" for my former collecting self yet......now that I have it in hand, it kind of doesn't seem right to put it with my 2017 win for something I still pursue as I feel so differently about the two projects. 

One of the funny things about there being a 7 year gap between the 2nd award and the 3rd: They changed the style of the plaques a little, so they don't match 100% and that sets the new one apart from the old ones a little. Not that I had any say or control over it but it's not a bad way to separate the awards from 2007-2011 from anything from 2018-forward in my case. The pre-fatherhood and the post-fatherhood eras.

16 hours ago, Mohawk said:

If I had kids, I may feel more like you do on the issue, especially if I had a 2019 baby like you do

It's a little funny to me at this point that I have two big projects that are somewhat earmarked for my sons at some point in the future. Ben, since he is named "William" for me, will likely get my Wilhelm III 10G set one day if he wants it. Sam will likely get my Zimbabwe notes set if he wants it when the time comes. Both major projects for me with a lot of love and effort vested in them, but extremely different.

23 minutes ago, Six Mile Rick said:

Finding the "W" quarters will be a long hunt for areas that don't have amusement parks and vacation areas. The quarters are only in the bulk bags that go to the areas that are low on quarters and need change to keep the parks and stores rolling. 

Well... I think that'll pretty well count me out. Lol 

15 minutes ago, Mohawk said:

As I've said on here before about these, I hope most of them are found by people who actually want them for their collections.  That is not me......I'm just a potential flipper as far as W quarters are concerned.  Now, if it were like last year where some of the quarters depicted birds, that would be a different story.  Thankfully, none of them do so I don't have to get nuts about them.

If I could have gotten good money for one I probably would have turned flipper on it so I could use it to help my Zimbabwe notes set. As it stands - I wouldn't mind having one just for the novelty of it to show my boys in a few years, but I'm not interested enough to go buy one or to actively hunt one down.

Thanks for everyone for all the kind words all around! I don't think I'll ever be famous for collecting but I guess I talk a good enough game. I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable with the word "deserve" in this context but I remain grateful to NGC for giving the award(s).

On 4/26/2019 at 2:18 PM, Mohawk said:

I don't know what I'm going to do with my "gravestone" for my former collecting self yet.. now that I have it in hand, it kind of doesn't seem right to put it with my 2017 win for something I still pursue as I feel so differently about the two projects.  I guess I'll figure it out!  BTW....I'm jealous of the neatness of your work area!  Mine is a complete disaster which is a total eyesore in our otherwise cute little kitchen.  

 

I think you probably put too much thought into these things for your own happiness, Tom. Everything becomes an old project eventually. An award is an award. Display and enjoy them as such. And I was actually doing some cleaning / straightening that day. The top of the hutch stays orderly enough but not the desk surface.

2 hours ago, Mokiechan said:

Congratulations, you have a gift for prose...

You should see my technical perspectives and white papers. I think I could put you to sleep.

10 hours ago, MIKE BYRNE said:

What's a signature set I will be new for a while. Thanks Mike

Non-competitive sets where you get pretty much total control over what goes in it, how big / small it is, what the theme / message / etc is.

I'm including the screen caps to show you where to go to make one but this set I'm using hasn't been played with in 10 years and is a terrible example.  

3 hours ago, CRAWTOMATIC said:

All the dollar coins going back to Ike's work well, partial date buffalo's, half dollars, etc...

I have some old buffalo nickels that may go that way one of these days but I think my son is still a bit too young for that to work.

I'm going to try to have them do albums but I'm not sure what a good age for that will be yet.