There is so much more to collecting than just looking at an object like a water bottle and pronouncing it a bad deal because it is expensive. Beside the market value (where one exists) of a rarity there are things impinging that may be brought to the fore by psychological and emotional forces (if these concepts are, indeed different) on the part of the bidders and collectors. Only when viewed with a rather simplistic bias does an extremely rare water bottle compare to a rather common one value wise. It makes no sense when viewed through this prism. Is a Confente worth more than a Wizard? 135 Confente bikes were made. 75 Wizards were made. Both were made by master builders. A comparison of prices would lead one to believe purchasers of Confente bikes are nuts. Yet all the purchasers of them that I know are among the most savvy of collectors and some of the most intelligent folks I am aware of. It is just too simplistic to apply a calculus like this to evaluate such an item. It is akin to looking at a Van Gogh painting and pronouncing that your young child could paint it.
While we all certainly have a right, and very nearly an obligation to comment on such things, we need to use a great deal of caution in condemning such purchases and especially those who purchase such items. They just might be better informed and more intelligent than one would ever guess. And terribly serious about their collecting. Without these brave and dedicated folks our own collecting would be so diminished.
Tom Sanders
Lansing, MI USA