Anybody Score Anything During the Rock Island 3 Day Auction??

[flydipper]

Here's a couple of High Standard model 102 trophy's in the blond presentation boxes. Interesting about the 10" model, it was sold directly to an individual from HS which normally never happened speculation he must have been an employee.

 

[gmerkt]

I've thought about High Standard over the years. They turned out some nice .22 pistols. Yet they also sold a line of .22 revolvers on the low end, the Sentinel model, 9 shot. Die cast frame. I've owned a couple of those when I was a youngster. They works but nowhere near the quality of any of their automatics. Being in business to make money, they found things to sell in different niches in the market. The only of their automatics that I've owned was a 1937 Model B, nothing fancy but pretty good quality and worked well.

 

[flydipper]

They did have their fingers in a lots of pots back in the day. I have a good friend who has one of the top HS revolver collections in the country. It would be very difficult and pricey to collect all genre of HS 's in today's world even sub-genre within a genre, LOL. I am looking for a 99 to 100% Model B US marked.

 

[MrTwentyTwo]

Do they still charge a 15% buyer's fee? Buy a $500,000 firearm and pay them $75,000 in commission. I guess that's fine if made of money. Not sure they do $75000 worth of work though. On $21million they made $3.1million in commission fees....for running an auction house... Plus what ever they charge for consignment.

I signed up once to bid and decided not to when I saw their fees and then the proceeded to call me more than the NRA to try and tell me about every auction they had everywhere in the US.

Bolus, seriously? Other than eBay, I can not think of any other auction house (and eBay is not an auction house, by any stretch) that does not charge a 10 - 25% buyers premium. EBay gets the seller (as do the other auction houses) who make it off of both ends - buyer and seller. They put out an amazing full set of color catalogs with the best photography. They do an amazing amount of background research on each individual piece. They produce very professional videos, they advertise in very high end venues/magazines. They get the word out to the people and clientele that count, who will pay the high bucks. They actively seek out nothing but the best pieces to come up for auction. Therefore people seek them out to sell their items because they can command the high end and highest prices in the industry! As a seller, are you going to place your half million dollar item on Craigs List? Maybe eBay, or the local rag? I don't think so. You go to RIA. Christies, Sothebys, etc. to obtain the highest price possible for that item. Usually a small price to pay in order to obtain the highest price possible for your particular item. All of this and they have a reputation built on these things to get the seller the maximum value possible out of their particular item.

Now, me as a buyer understand that if I am looking for the best, some of the most rare, they are the exact houses that I seek out, they have the best pieces in the best available condition with best possible provenance. Yes, both ends (Seller and Buyer) are going to take a hit and it really is a relatively low amount to pay for what is a good item in the best possible condition, fully authenticated, etc. I suppose, if you can't play with the big boys, you shouldn't be in the game.

After it is all said and done, I figure, I will have to pay about 30% above the hammer price (the high bid) for Buyer's Premium, taxes, shipping and a transfer fee! I figure this into the highest price I am willing to pay for the item and that is my high bid. I usually figure it has to be on par with what I have seen a current item in like condition is going for, or that I could pick up. RIA is no different than any other auction house and they simply offer the best and believe it or not... at what I feel is, generally the best price. Again, after all is said and done, I figure I paid about $1k less than what it should have sold for... I'm a happy camper and know that I am dealing with a professional, reputable firm with the best possible service.

Put a fork in me... I'm done.

 

[bolus]

Bolus, seriously? Other than eBay, I can not think of any other auction house (and eBay is not an auction house, by any stretch) that does not charge a 10 - 25% buyers premium. EBay gets the seller (as do the other auction houses) who make it off of both ends - buyer and seller. They put out an amazing full set of color catalogs with the best photography. They do an amazing amount of background research on each individual piece. They produce very professional videos, they advertise in very high end venues/magazines. They get the word out to the people and clientele that count, who will pay the high bucks. They actively seek out nothing but the best pieces to come up for auction. Therefore people seek them out to sell their items because they can command the high end and highest prices in the industry! As a seller, are you going to place your half million dollar item on Craigs List? Maybe eBay, or the local rag? I don't think so. You go to RIA. Christies, Sothebys, etc. to obtain the highest price possible for that item. Usually a small price to pay in order to obtain the highest price possible for your particular item. All of this and they have a reputation built on these things to get the seller the maximum value possible out of their particular item.

Now, me as a buyer understand that if I am looking for the best, some of the most rare, they are the exact houses that I seek out, they have the best pieces in the best available condition with best possible provenance. Yes, both ends (Seller and Buyer) are going to take a hit and it really is a relatively low amount to pay for what is a good item in the best possible condition, fully authenticated, etc. I suppose, if you can't play with the big boys, you shouldn't be in the game.

After it is all said and done, I figure, I will have to pay about 30% above the hammer price (the high bid) for Buyer's Premium, taxes, shipping and a transfer fee! I figure this into the highest price I am willing to pay for the item and that is my high bid. I usually figure it has to be on par with what I have seen a current item in like condition is going for, or that I could pick up. RIA is no different than any other auction house and they simply offer the best and believe it or not... at what I feel is, generally the best price. Again, after all is said and done, I figure I paid about $1k less than what it should have sold for... I'm a happy camper and know that I am dealing with a professional, reputable firm with the best possible service.

Put a fork in me... I'm done.

They upset me with the non-stop telemarketer calls so I'm not their fan.

I sold an Ariel Atom, very rare track car which was titled and registered (even more rare) and had 100 extra horse power and the mechanic was the guy that literally built the car at the factory (extra extremely rare) and the listing fee on the auction site was $99 and the buyers commission fee was 5% with a max of $5000 at a collector car auction site (they dont even want to auction your car if it isnt interesting or a collector)

Perhaps Rock Island can justify those extra fees with appraisals or something extra spiffy (all the white gloves they have to buy) but 30% for the honor of buying something on an auction site seems high. But then again Im not a gazzilionaire. Perhaps maybe if they have a gunsmith completely disassemble, clean and inspect and test fire the firearm. They dont really say what they do for that 30% fee. At least I cant find it

 

[MrTwentyTwo]

Here's a couple of High Standard model 102 trophy's in the blond presentation boxes. Interesting about the 10" model, it was sold directly to an individual from HS which normally never happened speculation he must have been an employee.

View attachment 709929 View attachment 709930

Hey Flydipper... these are incredible! Do you own these as well?! Reminded me of another auction that, I believe, came up in 2016. A shot from that catalog (these make great reference material)...

 

[flydipper]

I do not own that particular gun! That may have been something special that the company did as a one off for somebody special (very doubtful) but was not a production gun. The gun is put together of several models of guns. The serial # puts it in the Model 102 range which is the same as my trophy's in the blond boxes. Citation grade was one step below the trophy model. the gun itself is a representation of a slant grip Victor model which didn't come into existence until over a decade later in the model 104 slant grip victor which are very desirable to the tune of $2k-5k depending on condition and when in time it was built. The early models had a higher steel rib on them vs an aluminum rib that the later versions had. The early ones are generally more desirable and valuable. They exported a lot of the SG Victors to Europe so it's not uncommon to see them with export and import marks! The European's liked the grip angle of the 104 vs the new 106 model which had what is referred to as a military grip (same as a 45).
Funny story, well wasn't funny at the time but anyway I was at the Billings Montana gun show last Sept and an older gentleman had his High Standard collection there for sale and he had some nice pieces that a group of us were looking over in depth. It was a 2 day show. Sat went by, mind you this guy was getting up there in age but was great to talk with, anyway Sun. rolls along and everyone has gone over this guys table probably 20 times and nothing super special. I'm about 8' away in the next aisle right behind this guys table and I see another guy pick up a gun off his table and I'm like (phuc@#$) that's a steel rib slant grip Victor. Of course I'm circling like a hawk on a mouse at this point, but the guy who picked it up knew what it was as well and never put it down. The older gentlemen had forgot about it in his plastic tubs and set it out on the table at the last minute. Sadly the one that got away for about half of what it was worth![/QUOTE]

 

[flydipper]

Here's what that gun started out like frame wise, probably the 10" or 8" barrel model because as you can see on the 6 3/4 barrel model the rear sight is dovetailed into the slide. They would have had to mill the top of the slide to clear the rib. You can see from the victor models that the rear sight is located in the rib. I don't have a slat grip victor yet, always on the hunt. The 2 victors in the pics are a 5 1/2" steel rib and a 4 1/2" steel rib. They are military grip versions.

 

[flydipper]

couple more in the collection, these are 1980 Olympic commemoratives 1000 made. They came in a cardboard box with the wooden presentation box separately. The wood box is embossed with 1980 Olympic Model on it. Usually the cardboard box and sleeve for the wooden box are missing. 2 of mine have cardboards. Edit, the 1980 Olympic patch is my add-on not from the factory!

 

[flydipper]

These are neat not super valuable but getting there. The are called a survival pack, they made 3 different versions of them. Both of these are the same version but I am on the hunt for the other two. Electroless nickel finish on them with an extra mag. I have been able to locate a third mag for both of mine. Canvas bag

 

[Stomper]

They upset me with the non-stop telemarketer calls so I'm not their fan.

I sold an Ariel Atom, very rare track car which was titled and registered (even more rare) and had 100 extra horse power and the mechanic was the guy that literally built the car at the factory (extra extremely rare) and the listing fee on the auction site was $99 and the buyers commission fee was 5% with a max of $5000 at a collector car auction site (they dont even want to auction your car if it isnt interesting or a collector)

Perhaps Rock Island can justify those extra fees with appraisals or something extra spiffy (all the white gloves they have to buy) but 30% for the honor of buying something on an auction site seems high. But then again Im not a gazzilionaire. Perhaps maybe if they have a gunsmith completely disassemble, clean and inspect and test fire the firearm. They dont really say what they do for that 30% fee. At least I cant find it

I get the same thing in my profession, we charge a premium for what we do, and often hear about it being compared to other shall we say... less "skilled" competitors (sometimes 25%-30% more). We don't get all the work we bid on, but we're oftentimes called in to fix the mistakes of the "low bidder", or they come crawling back after their contract expires (and we still charge our original hourly rates...LOL)


That being said:

Value is in the eye in the beholder and what they're willing to pay. As for me, while although I HIGHLY appreciate the artistry and craftsmanship in all of the above pistols, TO ME those pea-shooters don't appeal to me beyond the "shiny" aspect, and TO ME aren't worth $300 of MY money, let alone what they probably went for.

I'm not putting anything (or anyone) down, I'm just pointing out that "value" is subjective... Manhattan Island WAS purchased for some "pooka-shells" after all.


To the OP and the rest of you who are into this genre of firearms I say CONGRATS on your acquisition! Those are some PURDY specimens, thank you for sharing your enthusiasm, and I'm glad they bring you some joy!

 

[flydipper]

Here ya go Stomper!! So you don't feel left out! Some pointy things for you! Notice the M1917 that is homeless at the moment hopefully will be filling that hole tonight!

 

[bolus]

"value" is subjective...

That's for sure. I saved a life Thursday (made a correct diagnosis that led to appropriate test that found the critical lab value that would have caused the fatal heart arrhythmia within the next few weeks and got her treated). Insurance will pay us about $62 for that and my portion before taxes is $21. $21 for saving a life. Sure, its not playing basketball or make-believe on the TV and certainly not the value of selling a old firearm for someone....

Oh well, I'll stop pooing on the thread.

 

[flydipper]

That's the truth there! I used to be a volunteer firefighter/EMT. Got paid $8 per call, never missed a call during my stint!

 

[MrTwentyTwo]

To back up a few posts...

Flydipper, I didn't mean to ask if the HS in the catalog was one you owned (merely, showing a reference to an older auction). I was asking about your post of the ones in the blonde boxes! The short barreled one with sites mounted on the extra slide, is this possibly for a .22 Short, or something? I have to congratulate you on your knowledge and an awesome collection! Thanks for your contribution! If I should have any questions on HS in the future... I know who to contact!

 

[flydipper]

To back up a few posts...

Flydipper, I didn't mean to ask if the HS in the catalog was one you owned (merely, showing a reference to an older auction). I was asking about your post of the ones in the blonde boxes! The short barreled one with sites mounted on the extra slide, is this possibly for a .22 Short, or something? I have to congratulate you on your knowledge and an awesome collection! Thanks for your contribution! If I should have any questions on HS in the future... I know who to contact!

Sorry missed that and probably got a little carried away posting, yes they are mine. The short barrel and extra slide is in .22LR same as the 10" barrel. Noting that the rear sight is on the barrel for the 8" and 10" barrel but on the 6 3/4" barrel the sight was on the slide. That particular gun the extra barrel and slide were ordered and factory fit to the frame indicated by partial serial number stamped on the under side of slide. In other words it's mearly a shorter barrel and the correct slide to go with it. They did make conversion kits that went both directions.(To .22short from a .22lr chamber and the opposite way for the .22 short guns. HS had quite a few .22short models that were offered back in the day. In most models the short version of a model was called an Olympic. Then the had the various grades of finish. So in the 102 model they had an Olympic citation model. Which was the .22 short version of what is in the blond boxes but a lesser grade finish. In the 103 model HS added an Olympic Trophy (better finish same as the ones in the boxes) very rare and expensive for the Olympic trophy. One model only, less than 500 made! I've probably only seen 4 for sale in the last 10 years. Sorry getting carried away again. High Standard is very complicated, takes a long time to begin to understand even a small genre of them. Reach out anytime you need help!!

 

[MrTwentyTwo]

Hey Flydipper, Awesome. Thank you!

Way off subject now... would you mind discussing the HS 10X and sharing your knowledge on this model? I think I have only seen 1 or 2 come up for sale and they were outrageous then! Love to add one to the stable but know virtually, nothing about them!

 

[flydipper]

Sure, I have 3 of them. Robert (Bob) Shea was High Standards top gunsmith pretty much for his entire career. He and 4 other gunsmiths were the only ones who built the 10X pistols. They were mostly the 5 1/2" bull barrel but I know there was at least 1 with a 7 1/4" fluted barrel rumor has it there may have been a few more. There was also at least one 10X Victor. Under the left grip panel the gunsmiths stamped their initials. Bob Shea (RNS), Jerry Bennett (JB), M. Glen Moran (MGM), Karl DeCerbo (KD) and Irwin Campbell (IC). They had their pick of parts to blueprint and assemble these pistols with. The came in the 107 configuration, commonly called the ML series which was the last of the large push button takedowns. The 10X was also made in the model 108 configuration commonly called the SH series with an allen screw takedown. Bob Shea is by far the most desirable one as Bob passed away last year. The ML was produced in smaller numbers than the SH 10X. I don't recall the amount produced right at the moment! Be aware that High Standard Houston built the 10X as well, decent gun but doesn't carry the value of the Conn. guns. There is no such thing as an unfired High Standard, they were all test fired at the factory and these were no different. With the 10x the gunsmith shot a 5 shot group, signed the target and sent it with the gun, so getting the original target is a premium. I have a Bob Shea, Karl DeCerbo, and a Jerry Bennett, Jerry stamped everything gun, mags, slide and barrel. They should also have 3 mags with the gun!