Rea is in action

[puckpaul]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I get 30 emails a day from auction houses. I’m more likely to forget my wife’s birthday.

I go through the auction once very early on. Drop from 0-10 bids at very low levels. Then reappear in the last day and decide how badly I really want any of the things I put bids on. Often times the answer is not at all, or I picked up something nice in the interim and no longer feel compelled to buy anything.

If there is an auction with something that I really want I will calendar the closing on my phone so it’s on the radar.

Often I will sort by “recent bids” on the final day and see if per chance something cool was missed.

Funny opening line!

Funny story regarding the opening bids…i do that too. Open up or place early bids on stuff and then decide later which I am really interested in at what prices, so I don’t have to comb through the whole auction again or forget…..

Soooo…I was bidding in an auction of large Gromit (Wallace and Gromit, i find it hilarious and its another obsession) artist-designed sculptures/statues some years back. You know, they make a trail of them outside at places and its a great promotion and tied to charity. There was an auction of them that i missed in the UK (Gromit’s home base) where the prices went crazy, $10-60k. so then there was one in Hong Kong, and i went through the 50-odd pieces and found 3-4 i was interested in with the intention of buying one to have. They started at $1000-1500, so I figured, what the heck, I will put opening bids in on the four and then decide….

Well, as would have it, not so much interest. In fact, i won three of them. And I didn’t realize two of the three were enormous! 5 feet tall plus a 2 foot mount. Shipping was really expensive from HK, so I had conveniently not factored that in (turned out to do in bulk wasn’t that bad…probably prohibitive today!).

Here is a photo of the two large ones for kicks….

I am glad I have them though, still think they are very cool and great fun, and good story to tell. Kids love them.