Alnwick Auctions
Re: Alnwick Auctions
Exactly, when you account the time and effort you could earn 3 times more in McDonalds. As such it is a hobby and the very few like Henry Powell who tries to make a living has to charge sensible figures to do so.
The only way to make money is being lucky buying and flipping items without much work like most antique dealers, but the issue is getting stick in the first place.....still I am enjoying working in machines, just finished a Hi Top now onto a late open face Pace that has been kicking around a while...
I still want someone to teach me to paint, need to go in a course, maybe I need proper kit as well...
The only way to make money is being lucky buying and flipping items without much work like most antique dealers, but the issue is getting stick in the first place.....still I am enjoying working in machines, just finished a Hi Top now onto a late open face Pace that has been kicking around a while...
I still want someone to teach me to paint, need to go in a course, maybe I need proper kit as well...
Re: Alnwick Auctions
I'd have to strongly disagree with that statement Tree. There are always collectors out there willing to pay serious money for special machines. And by special I don't just mean rare and unusual, also unique. Unique as in a one off, which is what every single machine that's been operated is. Someone recently disparaged the term "patina" here saying that it was a byword for laziness. Ha, patina is everything to me, it's character - personality! A machine with character and patina is a one off and they literally try to walk out the door at my place while still on the workbench. Just look at US eBay coin-op now which is sinking under the weight of overly restored bandits. They all look the same, glossy, generic, boring and unold. Like a former Hollywood starlet with way too much plastic surgery - what a turn off! What's the hook to catch the attention of a possible buyer!? I can't keep up with demand on selling restored "patina" machines, while living in bumf*#ck nowheresville. What I will say is the market has changed 180 degrees over time. Back in the 70's, 80's and into the 90's a lot of people wanted the overly restored look, because the market was predominantly full of degraded pieces, so a restored machine really stood out from the norm. These days there just aren't that many nice unmolested pieces out there, so they stand out as special. I've always found a very healthy market for machines that I try to keep as original as possible, luckily that's my preference. Obviously the less work you put into refinishing a machine the lower the end price and more possible buyers. Sometimes you have to spend more time and effort salvaging the original finishes compared to just stripping everything and starting from new. And I've wasted effort attempting to save things that end up disintegrating. But you never really know what's going to happen without at least attempting to save as much as possible.
Re: Alnwick Auctions
Widget, what I experienced is that when you don’t want to sell and you meet someone who’s interested it’s easy to get a good price. At the moment you offer something it’s much harder to get a good price. I think it’s a matter of emotions (and a wallet ). Last time I bought a Jennings and didn’t look good enough at the mechanism. I thought it was only full with oil and grease and some rust, but I didn’t took my glasses and there was a looooot of rust. Lesson learned, were it emotions why I bought it?
Re: Alnwick Auctions
It also seems to be the case with fortune tellers and working models, especially our overseas friends with massive collections. In the '90s and onwards, huge quantities of British models ended up being shipped out with no regard to maker, quality or rarity and used as fillers for games rooms or decor. Years later everything reappears again in collections auctioned off restored to shiny and new looking with all original patina lost and overpainted, worse still, cast feet added where they never existed originally.
Usually with restoration, less is more, and about keeping the integrity of the piece instead of changing it.
Usually with restoration, less is more, and about keeping the integrity of the piece instead of changing it.
Re: Alnwick Auctions
Here are the ALNWICK Results taken from the auction in real time.
Sold or unsold who knows
141= 420
174= 310
Bryans Ants 350
132= 350
125=450
Brookland's=650
126= 700
143= 920
131= 1000
124= N/S
142= N/S
Sold or unsold who knows
141= 420
174= 310
Bryans Ants 350
132= 350
125=450
Brookland's=650
126= 700
143= 920
131= 1000
124= N/S
142= N/S
Re: Alnwick Auctions
I think I read it was 'no reserve'; so if a bid was made, it was 'sold'.
The Alien Ant Farm must have been worth more than £350, surely? It looked really good in the picture.
Wasn't the Buyer's Premium a bit excessive? That doesn't help.
The Alien Ant Farm must have been worth more than £350, surely? It looked really good in the picture.
Wasn't the Buyer's Premium a bit excessive? That doesn't help.
Re: Alnwick Auctions
Thanks for posting the results, I assume there must have been a minimum start price as if it were a no reserve auction, all lots would have sold.
The Ant Viewer, when you add commission and comparing to all previous sales, was at the top end. At the end of the day, they are a box with a light and see through lens, never understood them and, like the Rippler, not one of Bryans greatest inventions.
We have seen some collection in provincial auctions not always reach the high end and Northumberland, as beautiful as it is, is a long was away for a lot of us. Still the prices were higher than standard machines of their type, but do not reflect the hard work put in I guess. I thought the Mills Black Cherry reached a fair old price for the U.K.
The Ant Viewer, when you add commission and comparing to all previous sales, was at the top end. At the end of the day, they are a box with a light and see through lens, never understood them and, like the Rippler, not one of Bryans greatest inventions.
We have seen some collection in provincial auctions not always reach the high end and Northumberland, as beautiful as it is, is a long was away for a lot of us. Still the prices were higher than standard machines of their type, but do not reflect the hard work put in I guess. I thought the Mills Black Cherry reached a fair old price for the U.K.
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