I Can't Afford My Passion!!! RANT!

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Found out I can't afford my passion anymore! I've just realized that most of the S&W Models I've collected over the years, are being priced anywhere from 50% more to over 200+% more than I ever paid! (even over the last 3 years...) I wanted a few more. Good for investing purposes, (I'm rich now!) but can't afford any others!!! :eek: :rolleyes: :eek: :rolleyes: :eek: UGH!

OGCA used to be my secret Honey Hole. Over the past year I've seen the writing on the wall, but today it was in BOLD colors staring me in the face.....BLINKING! :rolleyes:

Rant off! Back to your regularly scheduled programing....
 
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I know Bob i've seen the same thing here.
Maybe arjay has the right idea !!!
I've not been in this game long but just in the past
5-6 years i have noticed the price of (Nice older
S&W's and Colts) are thru the roof.
My small LGS used to get in some nice guns and would
price them fairly. Now they hardly ever turn up there
and when they do they have crazy price tags on them.
I'm glad i have a few to enjoy.

Chuck
 
I feel your pain. Just be thankful you favor S&W and not the Pony.

Not sure what the future of collecting will be whenever new people can barely enter the hobby unless they want to forego a new car and or house payments.
 
It sounds as though a re-think of your collection may be in order - sell or trade some you have (the ones that made the largest value gains, or you no longer want?) for others you want. Of course, current values are high, but who knows where the top of the market will be? Or was? :)
 
Holy ****. It's like looking in the mirror!!!!!
I need an intervention.
 
I haven't been around this rodeo as long as a lot of you, but I too have seen the prices going up. Although, I must say you can still find some worthy pieces for sale on this forum. Maybe not priced like you saw years ago, but still they're not bending you over. Here in Fl we have a couple of online gun sale sites. I've bought a couple at good prices, but the one sight is a dangerous place if you are looking for Smiths. Every time I find a nice one, I get a warning it's a rip off. Also, we have a gun show in Orlando every other month. There is one guy with a couple of tables with some real nice Smiths, boxes and all. Like someone else said, half the fun is in the hunt.
 
I feel the same pain at times. I switched interest from model #'d guns to 5 screws and early 4 screws. Really slowed the buying and it is not saving me any money either!!!!! I am working on a 4" 5screw 44 magnum right now. The price is steep in my mind, but it is a gun I am willing to pay for.
I am hoping this one goes through. It may be the only deal I do this year, but it will be worth it.
 
Hey Bob, I'm just trying to be happy with what I already have. The problem is it don't help much when I see one I'd really like to have but don't have the scratch or I'm not willing to pay the price.
I thought about selling body parts but with this worn body that would probably only get me high point money.
 
Triathloncoach said:
I'm only about 2 years in and I've noticed. You long time guys must be shaking your head. Just make sure you appreciate what you have. I'm switching to 10mm guns, the revolvers are getting silly, especially on my local website.
Click to expand...
I bought my first S&W two years ago this month. I shot them as a kid and bought a K22 for nostalgic reasons. Now I buy every one I see that's in nice condition. According to what I see sold on the auction sites my meager "collection" has appreciated 20% in the last year.
 
And I thought a Python was expensive back in the 70s!! Guess I ain't gettin a good used one now either. LOL
 
bwelch47 said:
Marry a wife who enjoys revolvers. I married such aa wonderful woman. She passed away 3 yrs ago. I am still discovering guns that she did not tell me about. It's like living in a candy store.
Click to expand...

Sorry for your loss.
 
My online honey hole he's selling s&w revolvers as fast as he lists them.

I'm very humble to have the few I have.
 
I've been buying S&Ws for close to 40 years now. On the positive side, many of the guns I bought years ago are now worth 2, 3 and for a select few, even 4 times what I paid for them.
But also bear in mind that I paid top dollar for those guns back then. S&Ws were expensive even then. So its never been cheap to build a nice collection. More often than not, it was necessary to sell one in order to buy one.
The only real difference between what I paid back then and what they're worth now has been the passage of time and the changing value of the dollar.
I'm fortunate enough to have most of the guns I want. My current wish list is relatively short. However, I have had to concede the fact that at today's prices, I'll likely never get those last few on my list.
That's just the way it is.
 
Have to wonder if this trend will continue? I have seen allot of collectibles hit highs and eventually go back in price. I have been collecting S&W revolvers mostly Bangor Punta guns for a while now and half tempted to sell now. But I could never bring myself to doing that. Bought my first gun in 1985 and even through tough times where i had other interests I never sold a one.
 
bamabiker said:
Hey Bob, I'm just trying to be happy with what I already have. The problem is it don't help much when I see one I'd really like to have but don't have the scratch or I'm not willing to pay the price.
I thought about selling body parts but with this worn body that would probably only get me high point money.
Click to expand...

BigBill said:
My online honey hole he's selling s&w revolvers as fast as he lists them.

I'm very humble to have the few I have.
Click to expand...

chud333 said:
I know Bob i've seen the same thing here.
Maybe arjay has the right idea !!!
I've not been in this game long but just in the past
5-6 years i have noticed the price of (Nice older
S&W's and Colts) are thru the roof.
My small LGS used to get in some nice guns and would
price them fairly. Now they hardly ever turn up there
and when they do they have crazy price tags on them.
I'm glad i have a few to enjoy.

Chuck
Click to expand...

I have enough to quench my thirst for sure. I get real satisfaction out of my collection. I just can't get over the fact that Boxed Model 19 2 1/2" guns are going for $500 more than the 27-2 5" inchers, w/Presentation Cases, that I've drug out of there! :eek: :rolleyes: :confused:
 
Grayfox said:
I've been buying S&Ws for close to 40 years now. However, I have had to concede the fact that at today's prices, I'll likely never get those last few on my list.
Click to expand...


35 years for me. I accumulated many on my 01 FFL as trade ins in the 80's and 90's. Then the AWB in '94 caused me to divest revolvers and buy any double stack 9mm that could be had. Regaining sanity after the "windfall" I slowly started rebuying S&W's at reasonable prices. Granted the "$99 take-your-pick" Model 10's and $300 nickel Pythons (yes, I passed on it) were long gone but there was still abundance of nice examples. As these disappeared into collections, casual and serious, prices have skyrocketed. Today a "bargain" is measured not in price but "how bad do you want it." Joe
 
Bob, I never could afford my passion:eek:
As for classic Smith and Wesson revolvers, well from time to time a fair (not great) deal falls into my lap, and that is one of the things that makes our crazy hobby/addiction so much fun.
 
If I stopped and thought real hard about what this expensive hobby has cost me and is still costing me, I'd probably do what the good wife says and take up bird watching instead. ;)

I am a realist. I have a budget. I know my limitations. We have our family rules about what I can buy and what I can't without prior approval. I respect and obey the family rules.

Unfortunately, the budget and the rules pretty much rule out buying any decent condition pre-IL S&W revolvers. They just cost too much money. So 3rd Gens have been my main thing for the last several years. Thank God you can still find a really nice, privately-owned, used-but-not-abused 3rd Gen for under $500, shipping, transfer and/or sales tax included.

But as my 3rd Gen collection reaches maturity and a practical slowing down point, the call of older, pre-IL S&W revolvers is beckoning me again. I don't yet know what I'm going to do about that. I can only sell so much of my old, tired, watered-down blood and still continue to function. :rolleyes:

So, for now, I'll just continue my drooling over what I can't afford and I'll try a little harder to enjoy and be satisfied with what I already own. It's not exactly a small collection. But there is so much more that I'd still love to put into it before I take that long dirt nap. :)
 
And twenty years from now those high prices will seem so cheap !
I remember my Daddy, in the mid 50's giving a guy $3.00 for an 1851 Navy Colt, nobody wanted those old things , then !
 
Exact same story in my other collecting world. Insane prices for the best along with a plethora of fakes and restorations. And another problem is that newbies are few and far between due to high prices and unscrupulous dealers/sellers. The shows and auctions are beginning to look like old-timers conventions, with me being one of them.

Tough times for folks like us who were born with the "collecting gene" but have limited bank accounts.
 
357-RevolverGuy said:
You know what I do when I can't afford the revolvers I want? I move on to knives! There are so many pretty ones out there and a lot of better deals.
Click to expand...


I reload. Or clean and lube guns. Or slow down, regroup and go slow. I see some of my wants from $900 and up. No biggie just have to save more $$
 
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