A reply to Dick Bales, special guest commentator on SOTW:

I suspect many of our readers are growing weary of prolonged agonizing over the issue of "What is it worth" as applied to pre-pro shots.  But at the risk of testing the patience of some, the animal does still seem to have life and so long as there's any sign of movement, we'll keep flogging it (arrggggh).

While I admire and embrace the passion of the "value equals desirability" collector (by  Dick's definition) for whom monetary worth is irrelevant when they have a glass in their sniper sights, most collectors actually do want to be able to place a precise dollar value on all their glasses. "What is it worth" is the unspoken question in virtually every query I receive from the web (e.g. What can you tell me about this jug/bottle/glass?). It's the reason that Antiques Roadshow (the popular PBS program) exists. It's why price guides (including HSG and OASG) get published. It's why many of your colleagues are willing to pay to access sales data.  From a purely practical point of view, collections grow to the point where homeowner insurance coverage is insufficient to cover replacement cost should the unthinkable occur, but deciding how much additional insurance to buy requires that one calculate worth.

Providing new collectors (the FNGs referred to by glass-slave) with estimates of worth helps prevent them paying $60 for a beat-up Kellerstrass or dropping several $1,000 for 20 clunkers. Seasoned collectors rely on their experience of rarity and worth when considering buying a collection and, I would bet ever the value = desirability collector appreciates knowing a desirable glass like the Walsh's Special No 4 is so common that a $160 bid is more than excessive.  So, bottom line is that we need to discuss and have some measure of worth.

But (and it's a big BUT), we have also to acknowledge the fact that some glasses are so rare and/or so desirable that we can't really determine true worth. LUG's and enamels and, increasingly glasses with any color, don't come along very often and those that specialize in rare glasses are willing to pay a premium for them. How much of a premium depends largely on how deep the bidder's pockets are and their willingness to empty them. In a recent e-mail conversation on the possible value of transfer-label glasses (e.g. the John Hancock: HSG refers to them as label under glass), I hypothesized that if one came up on eBay and if I had the resources, maybe that I would consider loading $3,000 into the sniper even though true worth were closer to $250.   So bottom line is that the Despres in the latest SOTW was probably not a bad buy at $168 plus change given the rarity/desirability factor.

Being caretaker of pre-pro forces me to wear two interwoven hats that don't always fit comfortably on the same head.  Since pre-pro is sitting out here on the web, the_glassmaster gets e-mails from collectors from all walks of life and at every stage of their collecting career. Many have limited glass budgets. After they've added the obligatory Hayners, Sunny Brook Inspectors and Detricks to their collection, they're faced with reality of either sticking to plain text glasses or giving up because they can't afford to compete for anything fancier, even if only at the low end of the "desirable" (e.g. glasses with a simple monogram).  This issue has become particularly acute in recent months, where prices of anything other than plain Jane glasses have been running well above current worth (as best we can estimate it) due to a couple of tenacious solitary bidders.

So is the pre-pro collecting community to divide into a population of Haves and Have nots, with the gap between the two ever widening?   There's some satisfaction in the knowledge that the current haves will probably get flattened by the next generation of well-heeled bidders, but that's cold comfort to those who want to add a few choice glasses in a display case.

As oldwhiskey, I am a passionate collector who is willing to throw absurd amount of cash at rare glass. Just take a look around you: there are now some 40,000 pages on this site that attest to fact that I am obsessed with collecting pre-pro's.  The only thing that has kept the quacks in white coats from carting me off to the funny farm is the fact that there are equally obsessed collectors out there and we can't all be barking. My guiding principal in growing my collection (ow's Rule #1) has been to bid according to worth and, if I get out-sniped, not to worry because another example of the same glass will come along before too long, and probably for much less. That's proved to be true more times than I can mention, especially on eBay where sellers will see a glass fetch big bucks on a "unique" glass and then decide to list their own example to cash in while interest is high.

Do I get upset when a competitor stomps on me and walks off with a choice glass? Of course! But there's so much glass to be had out there. There's always something else to bid on today or tomorrow or next week. 

There's a couple of issues that oldwhiskey and the_glassmaster can agree on. 
Yes, there is some concern that the record high prices being set on eBay at the moment for even mid-range glasses may trickle down to the bottle shows and antique malls.  They're still an excellent source of glass, if one is willing to take the time to hunt in the wild; hopefully limited local demand will keep prices reasonable.

But on the flip side, its encouraging to note that averaged prices have not changed too radically over the past five years.  Yes, there are collectors trying to assemble world-class collections in a very short space of time by throwing cash "into the eBay maw".  But similar collections can also be grown slowly and at modest cost through diligence and patience; for every $40 glass that gets bid up to $80, another two sell at $20 (on average).  And you can have a collection that includes fancy glasses (lugs and enamels).  Of the 20 or so such glasses that I have in my own collection, less than a quarter have come by outbidding the competition on eBay.  You just have to be willing to go out and look for them.... 

Good hunting!