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Stereotypical Winchester 'Investor'
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December 9, 2013 - 4:42 am
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Yesterday was a snowy Sunday afternoon and I spent some of it looking at the results of the James D. Julia auction from October of 2013. Some of the prices were mind-boggling! And these prices weren’t even close to what some stuff goes for (for example, a Colt Walker sold for $920,000 in 2008.)

So I ask, then, who is the ‘typical’ (or ‘atypical’) person who can afford the $25,000, $50,000, $100,000 plus firearm? And, is this ‘stereotypical’ person doing this regularly?

I can only relate to myself and the very, very few individuals I interact with relative to the American population. I am college educated, and have a 4 year advanced degree. Having said that, most of the high end stuff, if not greater than my gross salary for a year, is greater than my take-home pay for a year. Most individuals I interact with have mortgages to pay, kids to pay for, student loans, etc. And these are professionals who earn more than the average salary in America.

I don’t think of the typical urban professional as investing in firearms, especially if a stockbroker or computer geek. But, then again, the Wall Street Journal runs an ad for Rock Island Auction fairly regularly.

When I was in school, it was STRESSED to go to college. I am thinking BAD advice relative to having lots of free cash.

I am guessing the ‘stereotypical’ investor might be a successful small business owner. Just a guess. Perhaps some or many of you out there are this ‘stereotypical’ investor?

As for myself, I collect some very nice stuff, and if I were to sell it all, I could afford one or two firearms that are quite high end, the stuff I have already being fairly good, and well ‘above average’ WHERE post_id = but none of it more than $15,000 these days. I would think that if something really great came along, and I had to have it, if I could bring myself to sell everything, I could have this nice firearm. I suppose other folks may be doing what I did. But the number of folks doing this must be few, if at all, relative to the number of high-dollar firearms out there for sale at auction several times a year, let alone those for sale at private sale.

I look at these collections being sold at auction, and usually they are that of an old timer, who bought when no one else was collecting this junk, and they were practically giving this away. The only recent exception I can think of is the collection of Wes Adams, who bought a lot of stuff fairly recently and had the misfortune to pass away at a relatively young age. Wes Adams was a developer, but, relative to the general population, developers are uncommon, and probably not doing as well now as in the past due to the recession/depression.

You turn on the TV or read the news and all you hear about is the unemployed, underemployed, stagnant wages, etc. Most the time you think America is impoverished, or nearly so.

Then you look at auction results, and are truly amazed!

So who is the stereotypical discerning Winchester investor?

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December 9, 2013 - 5:28 am
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There is some truth to the arguments about the disparity of income in this country and widening gap. There are people out there with so much money they cannot possibly spend the interest they earn on it *in a single hour* on all the guns available for sale at Julia’s, Little John’s, Cristies, etc.

They don’t even attend auctions or inspect stuff. They have buyers and they say "Go get me X . . . . " Most remain anonymous.

It’s not just Winchesters. Look at recent sales of art and celebrity memorabilia.

I know one of the Koch brothers is actually one of the few people who actually appreciate old west memorabilia for it’s own sake; not just for investment. He recently bought the entire old west town of Buckskin Joe and had it moved to his own ranch and reset up as a town. I’ve heard he’s been buying up lots of stuff, much to the chagrin of the little guys.

Just my two cents.

P.S. Warren Buffett made $37 million **per day** in 2013. If just one of these guys decided to corner the market on Winchesters . . . http://www.marketwatch.com/story/warren-buffett-made-37-million-a-day-in-2013-2013-12-18 If I had that kind of money I’d go for OBFMCB, straight grip, dark wood, dark metal, in Henry, 66, 73, 86, 92 and 94 (76 just doesn’t appeal to me) with long barrels, dark metal and dark stocks, leaving all of you to fight over those fancy guns.

Laugh

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