15-12-2011, 11:42 PM
Al and Michael R.....
I think you are both spot-on.
If there is no interest, then the items will go for scrap/landfill; if there is too much interest, then it will not be an affordable hobby for the likes of us.
This applies from anything from radios to Rolls Royces in my opinion. The problem is how to generate enough interest to save the item, but not enough to make it unaffordable.
Taking Michael R's example to an extreme, Paul Hubbard and myself have been involved in railway preservation for many years and we co-own an electric locomotive with a diesel engine fitted. We operate and maintain this item on a preserved railway in Kent, but there are many like us dotted around the country. You used to be able to buy a surplus locomotive for the scrap value i.e. xx tons at £yy/ton plus a bit more to beat the scrap man. Nowadays, the scrap man will pay over-the-top to get the unwanted locomotives and then make the valuable parts available to the likes of others. For example, a scrap man may remove the diesel engine+generator and offer it for £10k to mainline railway locomotive operating companies when he only paid £15-20k for the whole locomotive. The rest will go for scrap through the normal process where the copper alone may generate another £15k.
At some stage, the hobby will become unaffordable for us, as most hobbyists will be priced out of the market.
Just an example, but this could be applied to any hobby, I guess.
For example, if old radios had a transformer worth £20 as scrap and heavy silver contacts on the wavechange switch, then I guess they wouldn't be sold at auction for £3-£4.
I think you are both spot-on.
If there is no interest, then the items will go for scrap/landfill; if there is too much interest, then it will not be an affordable hobby for the likes of us.
This applies from anything from radios to Rolls Royces in my opinion. The problem is how to generate enough interest to save the item, but not enough to make it unaffordable.
Taking Michael R's example to an extreme, Paul Hubbard and myself have been involved in railway preservation for many years and we co-own an electric locomotive with a diesel engine fitted. We operate and maintain this item on a preserved railway in Kent, but there are many like us dotted around the country. You used to be able to buy a surplus locomotive for the scrap value i.e. xx tons at £yy/ton plus a bit more to beat the scrap man. Nowadays, the scrap man will pay over-the-top to get the unwanted locomotives and then make the valuable parts available to the likes of others. For example, a scrap man may remove the diesel engine+generator and offer it for £10k to mainline railway locomotive operating companies when he only paid £15-20k for the whole locomotive. The rest will go for scrap through the normal process where the copper alone may generate another £15k.
At some stage, the hobby will become unaffordable for us, as most hobbyists will be priced out of the market.
Just an example, but this could be applied to any hobby, I guess.
For example, if old radios had a transformer worth £20 as scrap and heavy silver contacts on the wavechange switch, then I guess they wouldn't be sold at auction for £3-£4.
