[meteorite-list] Michael Blood's Meteorite Market Trends

From: Michael L Blood <mlblood_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Mar 6 18:13:56 2006
Message-ID: <C0320220.292D4%mlblood_at_cox.net>

Hi All,
        Mike asked some astute questions and I (hopefully) provided
some adequate responses. I asked him off list and he graciously
agreed to allow me to put his post and my responses into my
column as an addendum. I know they are few, but some people
do read the METEORITE TIMES that are not on the list.
        Thanks, Mike.
        Best wishes, Michael


on 3/6/06 2:06 PM, Mike Fowler at mqfowler_at_mac.com wrote:

> Hi Michael,
>
> Thanks for your thorough response to my post.
>
> The absence of response up till now had led me to believe that I was
> the only one on the list who didn't go to Tuscon, and that everyone
> else was already in the know!!
>
> Mike Fowler
>
>
>
>> Hi Mike and all,
>> Mostly good questions, so, I will attempt to respond to them
>> one at a time:
>>
>> on 3/5/06 8:02 PM, Michael Fowler at mqfowler at mac.com wrote:
>>
>>> --Since The Tucson Gem & Mineral Show is the most
>>> --significant single event yearly influencing the meteorite
>>> --market, as usual, I will devote the March article to
>>> --reporting on same.
>>>
>>> I was very disappointed that Michael Bloods always entertaining,
>> and usually
>>> informative column gave a report of
>>> the Tuscon show without a single word, not even a hint as, to the
>> trend of the
>>> meteorite market.
>>
>>
>> Sorry...
>>
>>> Was the show well attended? >More or less than past years?
>>
>> Yes, while it is impossible to tell, really, how many attended, the
>> BDBash appeared to have more people than ever. The auction definitely
>> had more people attending than ever, as was reported in my column.
>> In addition, for the first time, over 100 bid cards were assigned - I
>> believe last year was higher than the previous year and last year was
>> like 71. So, about a 43% increase over last year. I believe part,
>> though
>> not likely all, of this increase was due to the students and other
>> interested parties attending the lectures put on by the U of A SWMC.
>>
>>> Were the auctions well bid? More or less than past years?
>>
>> This is always "a mixed" aspect... though I believe overall bidding
>> went higher on the higher priced items than has been the case up
>> 'till now. On the other hand, some small lunars with very low
>> TKW were purchased at very thrifty prices, while the "historic falls"
>> tended to be inconsistent - with some going high and some going
>> low.
>>
>>> Were certain meteorite types hot this year? If so which ones?
>>
>> The "hottest" types I noticed were the oriented S-A specimens Mike
>> Farmer, Jim Strope and Eric Olsen were selling. There were a couple
>> that were KILLER, and not cheap - but, as I said, killer stinking
>> pieces!
>> Some of those were snatched right up.
>> ET had some very low priced unidentified NWA as did Hans, who usually
>> only carries New Campos - which, by the way, this year were almost all
>> very small (relatively speaking).
>>
>>> Were some meteorite types over supplied this year with little
>> demand? If so
>>> which ones?
>>
>> Hans did not seam to come close to selling out all those little New
>> Campos,
>> but that is just one dealer. UNDER represented seamed to me to be
>> Fukang
>> and Symchin.
>>
>>
>>> Has the meteorite market general began to recover from it's
>> depressed state of
>>> the last several years?
>>
>> Always a good question, but with meteorites there are SO many
>> variables that
>> I believe this question can only be answered a few years after the
>> fact. I
>> noticed the price of S-A speicmens is definitely increasing while the
>> quality seams to be decreasing (lack of totally fresh - some
>> rusting, etc).
>> While there was a brief - bottom fell out - pricing of D'Orbigney,
>> that
>> seams to be past and everything available is back at $5K/g.
>> Anne Black had a great stock of macromounts that seamed unusually
>> low and tempted me, as a dealer, to purchase many for resale.
>> The price of Brenham is WAY up - partly because of the spectacular
>> 1400 LB oriented individual Steve and Phil recovered and partly
>> because
>> much of the smaller specimens all appear to be from a dry matrix and
>> hope is high they will yield stable specimens when cut - as most of
>> you
>> know, most Brenham available to collectors up to now came from a
>> matrix
>> which resulted in specimens that would eventually be oozing Lawrencite
>> puss, so, this development could be the beginning of a Brenham
>> renaissance.
>>
>>
>>> Shouldn't some or all of these developments be discernible by an
>> astute
>>> observer at the USA's largest gathering of Meteorite People?
>>
>>
>> Yes
>>
>>> Is there any reason why this information should be kept from the
>> rest of us?
>>
>> There is a deeply concealed plot, but if I tell you what it is, I
>> will have
>> to kill you....
>>
>>> Is any one else as disappointed as I am?
>>
>> Ya, I got you beat by a mile... my wife broke bones in both her
>> feet and my
>> best surviving friend died.
>> Best wishes, Michael
>>
>>
>>
>>> Mike Fowler
>>> Chicago
>>> ebay-starsandrocks
>>
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-- 
"He is not a lover who does not love forever." - Euripides (485-406BC)
--
* If Jimmy cracks corn and no one  cares, why is there a song  about  him?

Received on Mon 06 Mar 2006 06:13:36 PM PST