Alnwick Auctions

[jimmycowman]

Anyone seen this 27th May

[widget2k4]

looks good

[jingle]

2of my antique buddies
From up north sent me these a few weeks ago
And asked a lot of questions
So maybe they could make a butty or 2 for the owner

[aristomatic]

Yes, Looks good widget,
Best of luck and interesting to see how you fare on hammer v Elephant House and then net after charges of course.

[jimmycowman]

Catalogue out now...... opening bid 300..on this . That would be my last one bid.. Lol

[widget2k4]

That will be because you don't see the time, effort, and money that goes into them

[jimmycowman]

I do appreciate the hours on them to get them to that standard. (nice looking machines) The market prices today are crazy.its a good time to sell. Good luck on selling.

[brigham]

Can't find the catalogue.

[treefrog]

Look at their website or the saleroom.....

Good luck with your sale, there is no harm in trying a local auction house, although probably way too far for many of us, mind you a beautiful part of the world and probably worth a visit just for the scenery. Was surprised at their auction fees though and interesting to see provisional auction houses now charging high levels, if buying online 27.6%, which is crazy. Bring back country auctions charging 10%.., I see the Cheffins sale is charging just that.

Prices are tough ones as these machines are retail quality items. What you need is a nice shop to display and sell as the right person has to come along......

I am intrigued how long it takes to restore each machine as I seem to take for ever and never can get to this level of detail. Have taken time out of work over last year and only managing to restore one machine every two weeks, although have made the mistake in doing 6 machines at once, so spend another 3 weeks trying to find the parts..

[widget2k4]

Yes Tom a lot of work as you have found out, it's really not worth the effort any more as people don't seem to want to pay for such machines now, I'm going to be giving it all up I've had enough of it now I think

[brigham]

It certainly isn't a business proposition any more.
A great hobby, though!

[treefrog]

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...

[gameswat]

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...

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.

[dutchboy]

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?

[moonriver]

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.

[jingle]

How did thee auction go
Was it bank holiday Monday the sale ?

[rockola]

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

[brigham]

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.

[treefrog]

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.

[dutchboy]

I think the duck hunt is a nice machine, don’t know if it’s sold.