-=> Quoting John Giannini to Carin M. Armlin <=-
 JG> On 21 Dec 96, Carin M. Armlin wrote to Dawn Bidot:
 
 CA>  Heh, yeah...I want The Little Mermaid, but I'm not about to pay $150
 CA> for it (or any other video).  I'll just wait for the rerelease next
 CA> year (if there indeed, is going to be one).  They are definitely
 CA> asking too much for them.
 JG> Actually, the price is quite fair considering collector market value.
 Maybe for people like you who must have ungodly amounts of money to spend
 on these things (you buy 10 copies of each Disney video?  You sure ain't 
 one of po' folk).
 
 JG> Carin, don't you collect anything?  Surely you know that certain
 
 Sure, I collect things.  Does that mean I have to pay hundreds of dollars
 for something tho?
 
 I don't want the Disney movies just so they can sit on my shelf, unwrapped
 and never watched.  That is ultimately what I would be doing if I paid
 hundreds of dollars for them.  
 It's like these people who buy these paintings, say like by Van Gogh, and
 instead of displaying them, they keep them locked away in a vault.  Or
 buy baubles, yet when they go out to dinner or a big Hollywood hoopla, all
 they have on is costume jewelry.
 
 JG> baseball  cards are worth thousands of dollars - so are certain 
 JG> coins, certain 45 and 33 records, certain stamps...  I 
 JG> myself have several LPs (such as Paul Revere & the Raiders 
 JG> "Like Long Hair" album on Gardena records) worth into the 
 JG> four figures.  And that's just one collectible I have - I 
 JG> have thousands of LPs - and my record collection is but one 
 JG> of dozens of collectible collections I have - everything 
 JG> from carnival glass to old postcards to movie and TV 
 JG> memoribillia to old sheet music to Star Trek models to 
 JG> Disney movies to antique radios to comic books to matchbox 
 JG> cars and trucks to gas station memoribilia to old bus 
 JG> tokens to antique Christmas lights.  And I could go on and 
 JG> on.  All of this stuff is worth more than you might ever 
 JG> guess! Collectors - what a concept.
 
 So?  Does this mean that I am deemed to pay these prices for them?
 If I choose, I don't have to pay anything for them.  Sure, I've
 collected Star Trek cards, paying 10-30 cents for them (obviously, not
 the RARE) cards.  I'm not going to pay $80-$500 for a card tho.  I don't 
 care how rare it is.
 
 JG> Maybe you don't collect things, and therefore don't suffer from
 JG> "collector- itis" - the disease of being willing to pay dozens of times
 JG> more than original price for something "collectible" - but 
 JG> many of us do.  And that's the market you see those Disney 
 
 No.  I'm suffering from a disease called "common sense," and "po-folk-ism."
 I exist on disability.  My bills get paid.  I'm lucky to have enough for
 dinner at McDonald's afterward.  My Sears card is what enabled me to buy
 most of the Disney movies I own.  Unlike you, I cannot afford to buy 
 multi-copies of one video.
 
 JG> prices in the paper, addressing.  You shouldn't be so down 
 JG> on how "expensive" those tapes in your paper were. 
 JG> Considering the rarity of some of those tapes at current 
 JG> levels, those prices were a deal.  Remember, the collector 
 JG> market gravitates to prices only at what the market will 
 JG> bear.  No one sells an item for 500 bucks that most people 
 JG> will sell for 50.  It's supply and demand, in pure form, 
 JG> and as such, it doesn't seem right for you to be critical 
 JG> of it...
 
 Excuse me?  And are you not being critical of those of us in return, by
 condemning us cause we don't want to, or can't afford to pay these
 prices?  I merely stated that I was not about to pay $150 for a copy of
 "The Little Mermaid," when I'll probably be able to get it in a couple of
 years for $20.  I do believe I can wait that long.
 
 CA>  I heard that someone paid several thousand dollars for a Tickle Me Elmo
 CA>  doll at an auction.  Sheesh.
 JG> Now *that* was a poor investment since everyone knows the 
 JG> Elmo toy will be out in Febuary by the tens of thousands.
 JG> Growing collectibles does require at least a grain of common sense.
 As does knowing just how much you can are willing to afford.
 Carin
... For an extra 50 bucks, ask me about my "Chest 'O' Fun".
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