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Re: Frankenstein's Meteorite Monster...

Again, I couldn't agree more!

Linda
Laguna, NM
 

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> From: STUARTATK@aol.com
> To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
> Subject: Frankenstein's Meteorite Monster...
> Date: Friday, July 10, 1998 12:18 PM
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> Nice of AOL to *finally* let me back onto the List again...!  Although we
> AOLers have been unable to communicate with you directly for a little
while
> we've been eagerly following the prices debate... and I'd like to add my
> contribution if I may...
> 
> Okay... can everyone pleeeeease calm down about prices? It all comes down
to
> personal choice and circumstances. There's no point in whining that you
can't
> afford a Portales... it's kind of called Life, you know? No-one on this
list
> is being *forced* to buy a piece of anything, no-one's having their arm
rammed
> up behind their back. And, you know, no-one on this list has a God-given
Right
> to it or ANY meteorite, just as none of us has a right to that top of the
> range Porsche advertised on the TV or in a magazine. There's no point
whinging
> about it - as with everything else in life, from paperbacks to hi-fi's,
we get
> what we can afford at that moment in time. No-one on the list would dream
of
> going into a motor dealer's and complaining that it's not fair that they
can't
> afford that car over there, it just doesn't work that way! Yes, it would
be
> nice if it did, and I wish the world was that nice a place... but, to my
> disappointment, the last time I looked I didn't live in a gingerbread
cottage
> in an enchanted wood, and there weren't unicorns prancing across my
lawn...!
> :-)
> 
> Yes, I want more meteorites, and oh yeah, when I leaf through a catalogue
or
> scroll down a website I *That one and That one and *definitely* That
one...
> but hey, I also want to drop a stone down into Valles Marineris, and to
wake
> up and make Shania Twain breakfast... :-)
> 
> So, reading all this stuff about prices is a little frustrating, you're
all
> talking fantasy figures to me... but I don't begrudge any of you dealers
out
> there your dollars - your hard-earned dollars - because as well as
> appreciating how rare meteorites are I'm thankful to you all for going
out
> there and getting the little critters! And I also know that sooner or
later
> there's going to be another Holbrook shower which will bring specimens in
my
> price range onto the market, so I can wait, and be happy for the rest of
you.
> Besides, I'm a firm believer in the ability of the Universe to balance
and
> even things out, so I figure it'll be okay. And, you know, Ron's recent
> personal news should remind us all that... excuse my blasphemy...
meteorites
> aren't  the most important thing in the world...
> 
> And I  for one ENJOY reading all about the hunts and the trials and
> tribulations of you rock hounds! It takes me out of my everyday life and
with
> you on your adventures! I like to feel you're representing me Out There,
and
> I'm grateful to you for your haggling and bidding.
> 
> We face a much worse problem than our own internal market - investors,
the
> people who are just beginning to wake up to the fact that meteorites are
Worth
> Something, and are going to move in and snatch them all up and stuff them
away
> in safe deposit boxes twenty stories below ground to let them increase in
> value, never seeing the light of day, never being touched, never been
seen or
> shared... they're our enemy, not each other. Jealous and frustrated
> researchers (mention no names of course, but I'll give you a clue: one's
name
> begins in "P" and ends in "rofessor Archie Roy"... !!) who think we're
> depriving them of study material. They're wrong, of course, and the time
is
> fast approaching when we will have to stand up to that. But that's old
> ground...
> 
> I've only been a member for a few weeks but it's obvious that the people
on
> this list are good people who want to ensure meteorites are appreciated
by
> fellow enthusiasts, and want to keep prices within reach (the generous
> response I had to a recent posting astounded me, and proved that the
> collectors in this community, at least, are great people, and thank you
all,
> you know who you are!)... but we have to accept that we are the victims
OF OUR
> OWN SUCCESS..!
> 
> What do I mean? Well, we can't go on and on about how wonderful and
special
> and important meteorites are as a sales pitch in catalogues and on web
sites
> (or in person, to visitors to our homes, and come on, admit it, we all
puff
> out our chests when showing others our collections, it's only right to be
> proud!) and THEN moan when people take us at our word and see $$$$$ signs
when
> one falls in *their* backyard!  This spiralling price situation is,
partly, a
> monster of our own creation, so let's not get too indignant about it,
hmm?
> 
> All that's happening is that the rest of the world is finally catching on
to
> how much meteorites are worth, that's all. It's absolutely no different
to
> someone charging a collector the Earth for a rare Elvis LP or a tattered
Civil
> War banner... it's greed, it's human nature. Face it, if you've been
reading
> reading for months - maybe years - about how valuable meteorites are, and
one
> falls - literally! - into your yard, prompting a flood of desperate rock-
> hounds, what are you going to do? Give it away to them?!! 
> 
> For us, the members of this list, meteorites are things of beauty and
> aesthetic value; but to a celestially unaware farmer who's being hounded
by
> the bank and is one post delivery away from bankruptcy they are a Chance,
> they're a big bundle of dollars wrapped in stone. And it comes down to
this:
> they have them, and we want them, and because we've done such a good job
of
> popularising them they know how much they're worth. They know that they
can
> charge the Earth and if it's something special someone will eventually
pay up.
> 
> But guys... we have power too! If we know a meteorite isn't worth what's
being
> asked then we don't pay it!! Simple! Or am I missing something..? 
> 
> It really is like anything else in life: it all comes down to just how
badly
> you want it, and how much you're prepared to pay to get it. 
> 
> So... let's not fight among ourselves, pleeeeeeease? We're all on the
same
> side, we all gaze up at the sky on a clear night and wish with all our
hearts
> that we'll see a fireball cut across the heavens and thud a piece of Mars
into
> the ground a few feet away... we all have a little flame of pride burning
> inside us that we are among the very, very few people on this world who
can
> hold pieces of others... and we all appreciate our place in the Universe
much
> more fully because of the pieces of metal and rock we've found or bought.
> 
> So, let's stop taking shots at each other and get back to healthy debate
and
> exchanges of information.
> 
> "Bygones people!!"
> 
> Stuart A
> UK
> 
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