[meteorite-list] Blaine Reed Tucson Notes & AD
From: MARK BOSTICK <thebigcollector_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:29:32 -0600 Message-ID: <BAY111-F37F2049BFA25CB0B019681B3880_at_phx.gbl> Blaine Reed is not part of the meteorite list so I am sending this along for him. You can join his e-mail group by going to Yahoo. Mark brmeteorites_list-owner at yahoogroups.com >Dear Collectors, > > I am finally back from Tucson (comments on the show below) and >unpacked enough to offer some of what I brought back now (my next few >offerings are likely to be such stuff). Many of these items are >consignments left with me at the show. As the owners of the largest >pieces want either their money or the items returned, I likely will be >offering these first (I would much rather sell them than have to pay >expensive registered return postage), but I will be offering more >smaller and affordable items later on (many of these need preparation >work that I have not had time for anyway). > >Notes on the show: > >I have had quite a few people call and ask how things went. To be >honest, in a word it was slow. In two words it was very slow. There >were not many buyers wandering the show this year and many dealers >suffered for it. I managed to do fairly well none the less (but down >quite a bit from last year). What I am VERY concerned about is an >increasing development the past few years in the actions of the >meteorite collecting public. > > The show in general has been noticeably slowing the past few years. >This is probably due to many factors such as cost (every thing gets >more expensive in Tucson each year), increased time needed to see the >people you need to see (as many dealers leave early and others show up >late, almost 8 or 10 days is needed to be sure everybody you need to >see will actually be there) and the internet (many of the large chain >stores no longer buy at the shows, but have arranged supply contracts >through internet connections now). > > I had been quite smug for the past years of this decline as we had a >close knit community in meteorites that seemed to defy these problems. > Collectors would come to the show for several days, visit dealers, go >to parties and to auctions. Everything seemed to complement each >other. Now I am seeing the rapid unraveling of this once neat social >fabric. > >I had originally assumed that not many collectors showed up this year > (I had maybe 35 meteorite people come to my room this year – I even >had trouble giving out all of my special Tucson wine glasses this >year). I was quickly shown how wrong I was when we attempted to attend >the "Meteorite Mayhem" party of Steve Arnold and Geoff Notkin. We >arrived late due to circumstances (business). The security guard would >not let us in, as the bar was "over capacity". We waited as several >people left, but he would still not allow us in. An attempt at bribery >(alas, poor George just doesn't have the negotiating power he once >did) and we were told to beat – it. Before leaving I looked in the >windows to see many dozens (possible a couple hundred) of people that >had, at one time been my customers that I had not seen in many years. >Clearly there is a problem on my end. > >What I am finding from the few I have been able to talk with is that >most collectors have now become completely focused on the auctions >only. Most fly in Friday night, go to Lang's auction on Saturday and >go to Blood's Saturday night (and often don't get out until well after >midnight) and fly home Sunday morning. I do understand that for many, >they are unable to take the extra vacation days to visit the show. > >I have been trying to formulate some kind of answer as to how I can >become relevant to the visiting collectors once more. This is a >difficult thing to do when facing something like auctions that seem to >work on the same powerful emotional areas as gambling in the human >brain. I have had a few ideas such as; > >1) Maybe moving to Inn Suites to be a little easier for those already >visiting the dealers there to find me (though I don't think many of >the dealers there had huge amounts of visitors either). >2) Starting one of my own auctions (Alan once told me this is why he >started his – to get collectors to at least come to his room and see >what else he has to offer ), though I have no idea when I could hold >such an event that wouldn't interfere with the already existing ones >(which would end up being a detriment to all of us). 3) Setting aside most >of my really special or unique items (commonly >available stuff generally does poorly at auction) during the year and >consign them to one of the existing auctions (not a bad idea actually, >but then I would not have these neat items available during the year). >The plus of this one is that it could eventually save me huge amounts >of money (if I do end up shutting down my Tucson show room that is, >then I would only have to be in town for a few days to do some buying >and let the auctions do the selling). >4) I am trying to convince Steve and Geoff to allow us dealers to each >set up a small display table (no need to haul in a bunch of >Sikhote-Alins, NWA 869's and other common stuff – just the true >collector oriented special items) at their party. This would actually >be quite fun and allow us to show the visiting collectors our special >new stuff (and might be of benefit to them as well. I heard that >Weston sold for $1600/g at the auctions. I had some in my room for >around $100/g – don't ask, it is long gone). > >Any comments from all of you would be helpful in my decisions. I have >re-signed for my same room next year, so no major changes will happen >next year. Though I suspect that, with Darryl bringing his auction >back next Tucson, I will be forced into some pretty hard choices the >year after. > >Any way, enough of all of that, here are some really nice items to >consider: > >ALLENDE, Mexico: (CV3.2). Fell Feb 8, 1969. >Here are a couple fantastic complete slices. These are some of the >freshest and nicest slices I have ever seen. Some parts of Allende >lack a lot of chondrule distinction. These are not from that part. >These have loads of chondrules (looking close to Axtell) and lots of >large CAIs. These also come with a David New label (he was one of the >true greats in meteorites, but has been retired for quite some time now). >a) 48.0 gram complete slice……92mm x 67mm x 3.5mm……$480 >b) 53.0 gram complete slice…...100mm x 77mm x 3mm……..$530 >c) 91.0 gram complete slice…...110mm x 90mm x 4mm……..$900 >– over 5 >huge (cm long) CAIs! > >CHINGA, Russia: Ni-rich ataxite (IVB). Found 1913. >Here is a wild- shaped polished complete slice. It has not been >etched- just polished to a mirror shine (though there are a couple >small darker patches). > 100.8gram complete slice…..95mm x 45mm x 5mm…..$150 > >DEPORT, Texas: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). >This is a highly cleaned little individual with a small (about 1cm x >1cm) cut and etched window. It looks like it has been sandblasted to >remove the original oxide (a good thing – or these tend to rust >scale). This neatly brought out the crystal structure in a 3-D way. >McCartney Taylor found this and says it has the name MOE. He found >three pieces together (the three stooges) and that this one was named >Moe at it's finding. A nice little display piece. > 99.1 gram individual with etched window…..45mm x 28mm x >22mm….$300 > >GAO, Burkina Faso, (H5). Fell March 5, 1960. >Now this is a great display piece. It has a nice sculpted shape and >really nice black crust showing flow lines and contraction cracks. >There are about 8 or so small natural chipped areas, showing the >lighter interior. I had another stone like this one at the show and it >sold within mere hours of being put on display. > 1006.4 gram individual….120mm x 70mm x 65mm……$1800 > >GIBEON, Namibia: Fine octahedrite (IVA). Found 1836. >This is a nice individual that has been highly brushed. It is not an >exceptional piece as far as wild shape or anything , but it does have >plenty of nice ridges and thumb-printing. Just a good honest display >piece. > 4037.8 gram brushed individual….140mm x 100mm x 75mm….$1400 > >MUONIONALUSTA, Sweden: Fine octahedrite (IVA). Found 1906. >A lot of metal-detecting field work has turned up quite a bit of this >lately. I got these pieces from a friend who actually found the >himself. I have one of each type; individual (fragment really), end >piece and slice. The end piece and slice show a beautiful etch. >a) 87.7 gram fragment (natural as found)……60mm x 25mm x >22mm……..$130 >b) 198.4 gram end piece…….85mm x 52mm x 10mm…….$275 >c) 196.5 gram complete slice…….95mm x 70mm x 4mm……$290 > > TENHAM, Australia: (L6), veined. Fell spring 1879. >Here is a nice absolutely complete individual that has some claims to >being oriented! This has complete coverage of the usual slate- gray >crust that Tenham typically shows (with some neat dark and somewhat >shiny ablated condrles clearly showing scattered about). It, as all >Tenhams I have seen, does not show much in the way of distinct flow >lines. It does have at one end a rim of slightly bubbled crust that >indicates that this spent some time in an oriented flight. This is >quite interesting in that it is a fairly long bar – shaped piece and >it oriented with the small pointed end down. A very nice, and quite >rare specimen. > 415.3 gram oriented individual……..100mm x 40mm x >37mm……..$1500 > >PHILIPPINITE >Here is a great LARGE Rizal province (rizalite) tektite I picked up >the last day I was at the show (interestingly, an antiquities dealer >had it hiding on a shelf). It is completely intact, shiny black and >has quite a bit of its surface showing grooves (only a few millimeters >deep unfortunately). A very nice display piece. > 334.1 gram grooved individual….60mm x 60mm x 55mm…..$335 > > > > Received on Wed 21 Feb 2007 04:29:32 PM PST |
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