On Wednesday, April 23, 2003, at 02:12 PM, Joe Starck wrote:
> In the crass side of the art world, some collectors and investors feed
> off promotions and popularities that gets them the best financial
> return or cache.
EXACTLY . . . and this is one of the big reasons for the hugely inflated prices for art by the Big Names and the reasonable prices for great regional and second-tier artists. It's all speculation fed by particular collectors with really deep pockets and corporations looking for an investment. In the 80s when art speculation hit its peak works of art that were reasonable 10 years before skyrocketed in price. One of the guys in Mitzi's program is writing his Ph.D dissertation on this subject, so I could go on and on about it. But let's bring it back to bikes.
I think we're starting to see this in the bike world, at lest in the lightweight collectables environment. The Ordinary/Penny Farthing, fat-tire cruiser, and 'muscle' bike have already seen this, and though the prices did recede again slightly, I don't see anyone buying another Herse Camper for less than $5k ever again. I also see the days of full Campy top-end Italian bikes for $100 long over. Sure there will be deals to be found at times but not like even 5 years ago. I still feel the Japanese and American builders are good deals in general. It's just straight fetishism, but if it's your fetish no price is too high.
If Mitzi and I had to choose between 3 Herse's or this
http://ebay.com/
enjoy,
Brandon"monkeyman"Ives
SB, CA