Repro spam and the absence of real stuff

[Andrew]

Ok I’ve been in exile for the last few years perfecting my surfing obsession but I still get the daily emails from eBay to my inbox of searches I once eagerly scanned.

Those days they were full of real stuff that had actually been there and done it and had a history and story and it was like trawling through a museum. Now when I can be bothered to check the listings, they are full of CRAP which are mostly poor repros or worthless reprints or copies. Nothing real at all and often the actual name has been reappropriated to misrepresent something completely different and useless. I’m sure you guys know what I mean.

I guess this was bound to happen eventually and I should be happy to have been active when much of the stuff, people and events were accessible. It seems that that period’s largely passed now unfortunately.

For quite a while now I’ve been trying to motivate myself to move most of my collection on to others who will appreciate and look after it (mainly as I’m pretty much fully cured and I hate the thought of it not being looked after). I’m now more of a minimalist and really need to refine my small but refined surfboard collection with the exact same dedication. It won’t be easy and it will certainly be a different selling environment from that when I accumulated it. My big hurdle is my youngest lad is now 17, is an amazing actor and history buff and everything fits him perfectly

Just interested in hearing what you guys who are still in the zone think and feel about this. Oh, and hi to all of you old timers and friends. Hope you’re all ok ....

 

[B-Man2]

Andrew
Welcome home !
Good to hear from you . Several of us are still here, so drop in more often. When you decide how and when you’re ready to let some of your collections go ... post some of it here, as you may be able to move it on to others who would care for it with the same dedication that you have. You might also save on those high EBay fees they are currently charging .
Cheers

 

[CBI]

this still might be a good place to unload some things. I am just an observer now but there are still enthusiastic buyers here. Glad you are well.

 

[mulceber]

Welcome back, Andrew. I don’t think I was here when you were active, but I’ve seen your posts when I was digging through the archives. Lotsa people here still love and value the originals. I’d love to see what you’ve got for sale, to look if nothing else. But if you happened to have B-15 with a 22-23” pit-to-pit I’d be scrambling for my wallet.

 

[Bombing IP]

Hi Andrew Jeff here I used to post as Dubow A2 ,long time no hear from you .Still in the Architecture field and do you still have the MG sports car . Good to hear from you ,I was thinking about you the other day about that Good Wear jacket you had painted by a WWII vet ,that was so brave of you . I do not do the patches anymore ,did you ever go and visit that Aussie RAF vet with the B24 in the museum . BFN

Rgds Jeff

 

[ausreenactor]

Moving it all to Bitcoin?

Great to see you back... Jorge buys all the good stuff so reproduction is the only way to go!

Everyone in a 'hold' phase. Not the time to be selling....

 

[Silver Surfer]

while it true about this time and selling, the high quality original and repro jackets still have a market. what's more, many of us are now [when feasible] looking at second hand vs new, as new prices for top tier jackets have gone through the roof.

 

[Brettafett]

Glad to hear you are into surfing. Worth being passionate about. Been over a year since I was last in the ocean, and I miss it like mad.
I used to have quite a quiver at one point. Picked up a Tomo Evo a couple of years back, its all I really need now, its a one board quiver.

Be interested to see what you have by way of A-2s in a 42...

 

[Silver Surfer]

got it about surfing. all of my boards [long boards] are glass on finned heavy jobs, but now, due to age, I am looking for one or two lighter weight boards, perhaps in epoxy. I have no intention of giving up heavy boards, mind ya, but there are time when a lighter board is a better choice. then again, around here, water surf is a whole other game.

 

[Brettafett]

Thats why I love this Evo. Its made from Helium tech, like epoxy. Super light, super strong. You can size down due to increased buoyancy.
So easy to paddle in (for an unfit fish-out-of-water like me), easy to surf... 5 fin option... etc.

 

[YoungMedic]

Andrew,

Glad to hear you are well! Cheers

 

[Micawber]

Time and tide wait for no man.

I'm feel privileged to have met, mixed and made many friends who 'were there' and to have captured some of the history and passed it onto others, including my own family. Also happy to have dabbled in collecting long before the Internet existed when it was not uncommon to find gems right on your doorstep. Then came the net, followed by the likes of eBay and the good early years where the pickings were rich and reasonable. Now everyone is an expert, the whole world is sitting on their backsides searching for bargains and gems out of the huge amount of dross that gets listed in the hope of making a few notes.

I'm quite content to remember the days of rummaging through people's cast offs at jumble sales in church or village halls and finding this helmet, that bit of uniform or an Irvin that had finally been ejected from wherever it had been sleeping for 25 years.

Cue Monty Python's Four Yorkshiremen sketch.