New Data on History Letters - Post 1 Update

[handejector]

The Factory has CEASED accepting Letter Requests.
The Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation will be doing them beginning in late June, 2016.

Letters will be $75 each.
SWHF members will pay $65 per letter.

Roy has asked that no letter requests be mailed till after June 15.
He just returned from vacation.
The annual meeting of the SWCA is coming up at the first of June, and he'll be traveling again.


Roy will still be doing the letters. He also has an assistant now.
I'm assuming he will wrap up any letters that the Factory accepted before the cutoff date of Apr 27 before the late June startup of the new system.



You all now know as much as I know at the moment.

[410bore]

Wow what news! At least this way the future of the historical letter process is no longer in question. Prices sound fine to me .

Also, is there a cutoff point? I sent a request in two weeks ago


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[richcory]

Thanks for the heads up

Cory

[Absalom]

Thanks for the information.

I can't say it's unexpected or unwelcome. I hope and assume Roy will still be involved since he presumably owns many of the records.

I also hope Smith & Wesson changes their website soonest. As of right now, it's unchanged. As much as it feels like it to us sometimes, this forum is not the center of the S&W owners' universe.

[DCWilson]

Thanks for the report. I kind of had the feeling that this is where we were heading.

I wonder if there may now be the opportunity to get both the authentication letter and a search for relevant documents from the SWHF data base as part of the same research request.

[YeshuaIsa53]

Will we still be doing the shipping date requests on the forum, too?

[gjamison]

Kind of figured something like this was coming. Hoping Mr Jinks is still involved, never replace his knowledge. This forum is starting to become a very large part of the S&W universe.

Many thanks to the SWHF and everyone else involved.

[glowe]

Originally Posted by gjamison

. . . This forum is starting to become a very large part of the S&W universe . . .

"starting to become"?? - - I think that ship sailed long ago. This Forum has been having a major impact on S&W collecting for many years already.

Good news that the historical letters will be handled by the Foundation. I wonder if the company will redirect dating requests to the proper place from now on?

[DGT]

Interesting... thanks for the update.

[petermari]

I mailed a Letter of Authenticity Request last month. S&W cashed my $50.00 check. I'm hoping I got it in just under the deadline. Anyone have any information?

[handejector]

Post 1 Updated

[rusty37874]

Interesting news! -- The current letterhead has " Office of Smith & Wesson" as the header of the letter. -- I wonder if they will now carry the SWHF logo letterhead.

[JJEH]

Thanks for the info

[colkid]

glowe-"This Forum has been having a major impact on S&W collecting for many years already."

I agree with this statement, a great place to get information.

[handejector]

Roy has asked that no letter requests be mailed till after June 15.
He just returned from vacation.
The annual meeting of the SWCA is coming up at the first of June, and he'll be traveling again.

Patience, lads, patience......

[Doc44]

For the foreseeable future, the stationery will not change.

Bill

[A-37]

Heck, why not just make it $200 per letter? Where else are you going to get one? Capitalism at its finest.

[richcory]

Ummm, what happened to the post's about the link to the new letter? They have disappeared.

Cory

[policerevolvercollector]

What is the address for letter requests?

[Absalom]

Originally Posted by policerevolvercollector

What is the address for letter requests?

Smith & Wesson Collectors Association

Download the form from the S&WCA site; all necessary info is on the form.

[steelslaver]

I don't think that the $75 for a letter is out of line. I bet that, on an average, it takes well over an hour to do the research, print the letter. Then figure the cost of computer, printer, ink, stationary. Plus, how much space has been dedicated to storage of what must be a lot of files. I think that this is more a labor of love than a for profit business and that S&W fans are lucky to have Roy and the people who help him out. I also think we are lucky that someone who appreciates the value of the information has made the effort to obtain it and setup a method to make it available to those who desire it. Plus, as I understand it an effort is being made to enter the information into a computer data base. Taking printed and worse hand written records and converting them into computer data takes time and those who are doing it deserve compensation for their efforts.

[Jack Flash]

Originally Posted by steelslaver

I don't think that the $75 for a letter is out of line. ...

Hear, Hear!

I personally don't think $100 would be out of line. To my way of thinking, a letter is appropriate for something particularly rare and / or valuable. If someone wants to letter every run of the mill Model 10 he comes across, fine. He can pay the piper like anybody else.

[alexan]

Originally Posted by policerevolvercollector

What is the address for letter requests?

Yes, the address would be nice.

[Absalom]

Originally Posted by alexan

Yes, the address would be nice.

Okay, one more time. It's at the bottom of the form.