For when one hits the lottery

[Tony Drago]

 Ebay item no. 392183991101 Scientific 1/2a Champ
 $4995.00

[Glenn (Gravitywell) Reach]

Say whaaaaaaa??

[Dan McEntee]

   No, there is one better than that:

       https://www.ebay.com/itm/153252534618

    This is part of a group of 1/4 scale models that some rich guy had some one build, evidently. These are worse than trying to liquidate someone's life long C/L model collection. I don't know how the assess the value, or think that there is anyone other than another rich guy with more money than brains that wouldpaythese prices for them just to hang them up and admire them! And where do you hang up a 1/4 scale DC-3??
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee
 
  PS: Be sure and check out the seller's other items also!

[mike londke]

   No, there is one better than that:

       https://www.ebay.com/itm/153252534618

    This is part of a group of 1/4 scale models that some rich guy had some one build, evidently. These are worse than trying to liquidate someone's life long C/L model collection. I don't know how the assess the value, or think that there is anyone other than another rich guy with more money than brains that wouldpaythese prices for them just to hang them up and admire them! And where do you hang up a 1/4 scale DC-3??
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee
 
  PS: Be sure and check out the seller's other items also!

I looked at his other planes, his prices are insane. They will be on Ebay forever, no one will pay what he's asking.

[Allan Leonard]

"A fool and his money are soon parted"

[Terrence Durrill]

Ebay item no. 392183991101 Scientific 1/2a Champ
 $4995.00

                             WOW ............ WHAT A BARGAIN ............ SNAP IT UP NOW, OR REGRET BEING TOO SLOW TO RECOGNIZE A DEAL !  ......  ...... 

[Tony Drago]

Years ago in Snohomish WA. There was an antique dealer called Black Cat antiques that had a model built by the late actor Jimmy Stewart. If i remember correctly it was a P-38. Wing span around 24in. Badly needed restoration and had a note on the top wing to the person he gave it to on the movie set signed by Sterwart. The price was through the roof and then some like all their merchandise . I guess the value is in the eyes of the beholder.

[JoeJust]

You're  missing the obvious.  What this is done, is to prepare the income tax report in 2019.  This person can claim that his inventory is X amount of dollars based on what he is offering these items for sale. Inventory is a reduction of sales! Ergo, his business has a reduction of sales based on his prices. Neat idea right?  We did it in the fishing tackle business every year, but used actual sales price, not inflated.. Build a big inventory in the last quarter of the year toward sales in the next year, and let the bean counters have their day. THERE IS NO WAY THIS PERSON WANTS TO ACTUIALLY SELL ANYTHING at the listed prices.  Other hobbies are doing he same thing on the Bay.  Princess doll Teddy bears are being offered at $20,000, with a few of the same item being offered by others at about $19.00! I am surprised that EBay hasn't caught this yet.
Joe

[Tony Drago]

High or regular retail inventory. Sell low elsewhere. Deduct the low sales from high inventory and claim the loss on one's income tax statements.

[wwwarbird]

     And where do you hang up a 1/4 scale DC-3??
 

 In a furniture store, apparently. 

[Chris Cox]

I only paid $1,000.00 for my first Champ (I’ve had two), and it was a full size airworthy airplane! 😂

[Dan McEntee]

Years ago in Snohomish WA. There was an antique dealer called Black Cat antiques that had a model built by the late actor Jimmy Stewart. If i remember correctly it was a P-38. Wing span around 24in. Badly needed restoration and had a note on the top wing to the person he gave it to on the movie set signed by Sterwart. The price was through the roof and then some like all their merchandise . I guess the value is in the eyes of the beholder.

   I've always been an old movie and Jimmy Stewart fan. Many know of Mr. Stewart's service during WW-2 as a B-25 and B-24 pilot. He sponsored and owned Bendix and Thompson Trophy racers also. I saw a TV show about him once that had some really old home movies of him as a struggling young actor sitting in his room with his then room mate, Henry Fonda, and they were both building large balsa models of stick construction. There was another shot from later on of his father's hardware store in his home town. This was obviously post WW-2 as there was the Bendix Trophy proudly displayed in the window!! Wish I could find that special again somewhere to watch again! There is no doubt in my mind after seeing this show that he would have done something like that.
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

[Tim Wescott]

I only paid $1,000.00 for my first Champ (I’ve had two), and it was a full size airworthy airplane! 😂

Well, these days you could slap servos into it and go fly!

[Tony Drago]

   I've always been an old movie and Jimmy Stewart fan. Many know of Mr. Stewart's service during WW-2 as a B-25 and B-24 pilot. He sponsored and owned Bendix and Thompson Trophy racers also. I saw a TV show about him once that had some really old home movies of him as a struggling young actor sitting in his room with his then room mate, Henry Fonda, and they were both building large balsa models of stick construction. There was another shot from later on of his father's hardware store in his home town. This was obviously post WW-2 as there was the Bendix Trophy proudly displayed in the window!! Wish I could find that special again somewhere to watch again! There is no doubt in my mind after seeing this show that he would have done something like that.
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

 Dan. I seen an interview with Peter Fonda Jr. He was talking about his father and Jimmy Stewart on how they would sit at a table hrs on end cutting out parts with razor blades and gluing parts f1 to f2 etc. together to build this gigantic model airplanes  and fly them.

[Dave Hull]

The DC-3 is the kind of thing you hang in the atrium or lobby of an international airport or the executive lobby of your corporation. Calspan has a large (full scale?) version of the Bell X-1 hanging in their lobby. Northrop Grumman facilities I have been in have had similar items at various different scales. Dulles has some big stuff; if I remember correctly, one of the Gossamer birds with a huge wingspan. Ryan Aircraft had full scale Aerobees hanging inside the entrance.

Another kind of example is the Proud Bird restaurant on the approach end of LAX. It had full scale replicas of WW II fighters just outside their picture windows. The restaurant closed a while back but they decided to reimagine the style into some type of food court. They kept the big display models. It is probably what sets it apart and draws customers. Any place else is just another restaurant. The Proud Bird is undeniably an airport restaurant with a P-40 hanging overhead and a "hanger motif."

The decorating budget for a major corporation would not struggle with the price this guy is asking--if the model was a part of their heritage, was accurate, and they were rotating/replacing other décor. I think his issue is going to be that there is no Douglas Aircraft anymore, and no subsidiaries on the west coast that are of direct lineage. So he's probably going to need to work the airport remodeling guys. Or, if he's lucky, find a museum with a budget, assuming his item is really accurate. The Santa Monica airport would be a natural location, except that they already have a full scale version on a pole.

You are looking at an objet d'art, not just a model airplane. They are very different things, or the same thing in very different markets. Which is why I imagine that most of them are commissioned pieces, not just something that a modeler builds and thinks he can sell. (See prior discussion here in the Stunt Hanger.) Go look at the exact same issues with scale sailboat models. I recently saw a huge America's Cup racer (1/4 scale?) that a museum had commissioned. Gorgeous, but who would make one on speculation?

Dave