[Eric Adams]

Some lady had it in her home filled with collectables. It looked all original and in good shape with all the glassware. She told Frank that it was worth $8000.00  
I guess she didn't want to sell it.

   

[morzh]

For about $3K it will go, for 8K....in 10-20 years, possible. Or maybe some craze will spread unexpectedly sooner. Not today though.

[Warren]

I saw that last night. Very nice Radio Bar, but when she said 8k i just about fell over. I thought like Mike, about 3k at most. Seems she wanted very high prices for everything she had though.

[TA Forbes]

Shows like "American Pickers" often adversely drive the prices in our hobby unrealistically high. 

One of the things that eventually kills a hobby or makes it exclusively in the hands of a small elite is driving prices of items so high that old members are unable to keep up and potential new members are driven away.

I have personally witnessed this occur in the car, gun, and insulator collecting hobbies. I see it in the radio hobby more frequently than I used to, although it still seems a "cyclic" thing vice a constant one. Back in the 80s and 90s it was the "Cathedral Craze." Now we see Waltons, 37 and 38-690s, Catalins, and Radiobars making the silly-high prices. 

Of course there are sets that command a premium price, based mainly on rarity. Ever see the prices realized by a WLW or a 1000Z ??

It is incumbant on every one of us to not allow this to happen by refusing to pay these prices, even though it may be a set you want badly.   

   

[Warren]

.. The pickers didnt pay tht price either.

[Ron Ramirez]

Who is Frank?

(answer: It doesn't matter who Frank is!)

Is this TV show (which I have never seen) the reason why so many nincompoops keep listing $50 radios on eBay for $500 and up?

[morzh]

Let'em...ain't no one gonna buy. And whosoever will, I have no compassion for suckers.

[jerryhawthorne]

Hey, if someone wants to buy it for anywhere close to what they are asking, it apparently is worth it to them. They are not going to flip it and make any money. There are people out there with a lot of disposable money (not me). The only problem I see is it sets a "sales price" that is unrealistic and jacks subsequent sales offers up. Frank was probably close to a good price with all the glassware. Ron, you really need to get some expanded TV experience, it is a fun show to watch. No doubt totally staged but fun to watch.
Best, Jerry

PS: A nice "sad face" recently sold for close to $500. I would have loved to have it but not for that much. Someone wanted and willing to pay the price. Let's face it all of us are looking for something on the cheap.

[Ron Ramirez]

Jerry...I stand by my words.

And Mike (morzh) said:

...I have no compassion for suckers.

+1 Well said, sir! I would only add that for my part, I also have no compassion for the enablers (those who make people think their $50 radio is worth $500+).

Edit: We do not have cable, nor do we plan to get cable. Our TV viewing is limited to one hour nightly...a DVD of an old TV show. We're currently on season 7 of Bonanza.

[Arran]

Shows like "American Pickers" often adversely drive the prices in our hobby unrealistically high. 

One of the things that eventually kills a hobby or makes it exclusively in the hands of a small elite is driving prices of items so high that old members are unable to keep up and potential new members are driven away.

I have personally witnessed this occur in the car, gun, and insulator collecting hobbies. I see it in the radio hobby more frequently than I used to, although it still seems a "cyclic" thing vice a constant one. Back in the 80s and 90s it was the "Cathedral Craze." Now we see Waltons, 37 and 38-690s, Catalins, and Radiobars making the silly-high prices. 

Of course there are sets that command a premium price, based mainly on rarity. Ever see the prices realized by a WLW or a 1000Z ??

It is incumbant on every one of us to not allow this to happen by refusing to pay these prices, even though it may be a set you want badly.   

   

 
 I don't know of anyone in my area who collects insulators, so I guess if there was a trend of pie in the sky pricing with insulators it killed it stone cold. With respect to cars it seems to depend on what era of cars it is, at one time it was 1920s and 30s cars, then 1950s cars, and more recently early 70s muscle cars.
  With the radios the cathedral craze really took a dump, the days of people paying $400 for unrestored Philco 90s are gone, as they should be. Actually the Catalin market really took a dump in the past 10 years, sets that used to sell for 1000s can't even crack $500. Honestly though sometimes free is too much to pay for a radio given how much time you have to spend on the chassis and cabinets to restore them correctly.
  As for American Pickers they generally seem to avoid buying anything radio related, none the less I would really like to see that show, and the storage auction shows go off the air, the latter will probably die first since there are too many competing for the same audience. These programs are really doing a disservice not only to collectors and people who make their living in this business but the general public as well by miseducation. At least the pickers passed on this delusional woman's prices, if it were the Canadian Pickers show, which is no longer on the air, they would have given her a double take and told her how they can only get about $XXX in their shop for one of those. The one pictured more then likely had a 38-620 chassis in it, and it's in the most common cabinet, realistically it should be under $1000 or perhaps $500 unrestored, but I agree, the best way to keep prices in line is not only to not pay them but be honest and tell them up front how off the beam they are.
Regards
Arran

[sdradioman]

The show is staged. A guy that I work with has a friend who is going to be on the show here is South Dakota. How it works is they send in "recruiters" that look at all the stuff, decide what they want to buy and what the price is going to be and then they send Mike and Frank in to "seal the deal". After finding that out I kind of lost a little respect for the show. I still watch the show, but with a different outlook. Our local antique store even got a visit from their recruiters, which are based out of New York City, looking for any leads in the area. Dani D doesn't even find them leads. She just tells them to go where the recruiters have found them the things they want to buy. Kind of a letdown.

[morzh]

It was obvious from the start. I don't watch this at all, saw one episode,was quite enough.

[Eric Adams]

I think the main reason I still watch is because they used a photo of me from 1965 in one of the shows:I'm the 2nd on the right

[Crist Rigotti]

I think the main reason I still watch is because they used a photo of me from 1965 in one of the shows:I'm the 2nd on the right

Cool!