[meteorite-list] I am home from Tokyo

From: Michael Farmer <meteoritehunter_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Jun 7 02:29:22 2005
Message-ID: <00b301c56b2a$444554c0$0200a8c0_at_S0031628003>

Hi everyone,
I am home a little early from Tokyo, and am preparing now for the Ensishiem
and St Marie aux Mines shows in France. Anyone who wants anything, let me
know now so that I can prepare it, ship it, or bring it to France. I will be
traveling on from there back to Asia, and will not be bringing much at all
to Europe. So please make your requests now.

On to other business:

Just a quick note about the Tokyo show, and just to squash any rumors before
they start, something occurred there that needs to be addressed now, not
when people start spreading rumors.

    Hans Koser and I went to Tokyo, and managed to acquire a table at the
show, directly from the show owner, when another dealers material was stuck
in customs.
That table unfortunately was next to Marvin and Kitty Kilgore. We agreed
from the start not to put meteorite specimens on the table (as this would
compete too much with Marvin). Hans and I both had mineral specimens, and
meteorite jewelry, spheres, and eggs made of meteorites.
Within an hour of setting up the table (the show had already started) there
was a meeting with Marvin Kilgore and Bud Eisler. The complained to the show
owner several times, then Kitty Kilgore came in and saw us there and she got
the show owner, then they forced us to be kicked out of the show. There was
of course, an argument and although nothing serious, there was no happiness
between Hans, myself nor Marvin. He tried to explain that it was not
personal, only business.
Of course, any of you can imagine how much it costs to go to Tokyo, shipping
material, then being thrown out of the show barely two hours after it
opened. This was not a nice thing to do, and we had only jewelry and
manufactured items on our table, Kilgore had none of that, only large
specimens for sale. Eisler did have lots of meteorite jewelry, but he was
nowhere near us.
    This is a pretty bad situation, and no need to make it worse with
rumors. It was several dealers being jealous and not wanting competition at
a show, and that was that. Since I have never attended that show, the show
owner bowed to the complaints of Bruno and Carine, Marvin, and Eisler and
kicked us out. Bruno complained to me the moment he saw me in Tokyo.
    Any of you who know Hans Koser knows that he is the nicest guy in the
world, who works on very little money, and who this hurt extremely badly. He
did not deserve that sort of treatment, nor did I as I hardly know Bud
Eisler (even though he lives in Tucson) and have always considered Marvin a
close friend. Needless to say, that is over with this action.

There are two sides to every story, and Marvin tried to tell me that he was
kicked out of there before and it was then only fair that I got kicked out
( I don't buy that argument at all), and that there were too many meteorite
dealers there (again, so what) and those things made it ok to kick two
friends to the curb and force them to lose $4000 to $6000 each in expenses!
There were many witnesses to what happened, and if you don't believe me, ask
Hans.

I am a firm believer in "what goes around, comes around".

Mike Farmer
Received on Tue 07 Jun 2005 02:29:28 AM PDT