Mike McCandless Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 The best signs are slowly being seen as art by some collectors. Incredible weekend and thankful I was apart of this record setting event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auburnseeker Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 Hmm. Sign or Duesenberg. Tough choice, NOT. Oh and I collect signs but this is getting ridiculous. Most expensive sign in my collection cost me $600 and is 40 foot long and Neon. Not that I don't think some are worth more, but really over a million bucks? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
md murray Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 Aren't these the signs that were all dug up because a plumber used all the leftovers to cover up septic systems in his town? anyone remember the story? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert G. Smits Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 The real question is “Does the market have staying power or is this a bubble”? I’m betting on the former This sale is a “outlier” and won’t be repeated soon in my opinion. If you are a billionaire and want to own the best this is pocket change. The nice thing about this sign as compared to a car, no maintenance!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike McCandless Posted August 29, 2022 Author Share Posted August 29, 2022 1 hour ago, md murray said: Aren't these the signs that were all dug up because a plumber used all the leftovers to cover up septic systems in his town? anyone remember the story? Correct, that's why this one was so special. It was NOS. Avoided the septic tank treatment and only had factory flaws. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike McCandless Posted August 29, 2022 Author Share Posted August 29, 2022 5 hours ago, auburnseeker said: Hmm. Sign or Duesenberg. Tough choice, NOT. Oh and I collect signs but this is getting ridiculous. Most expensive sign in my collection cost me $600 and is 40 foot long and Neon. Not that I don't think some are worth more, but really over a million bucks? The people bidding in this range, aren't make that choice, they already have the Duesenburg if that's what they want. The previous record price before this was 400k for a fully restored Jubilee at BJ this year. That to me is more ridiculous as at least this was an NOS piece. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert G. Smits Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 Mile, if my memory is correct this sign had a TAC of 9.25. What were the imperfections? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike McCandless Posted August 30, 2022 Author Share Posted August 30, 2022 They were all factory imperfections pretty much. Could argue it was 9.5-9.75 if you don't count factory defects into it. The gloss and shelving was insane. It is paid for and will be delivering it within 2 weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Bond Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 If you missed that one there is another coming up for auction soon in PA at Morphy's auction. Not quite as nice as the one mentioned above, but I'd certainly find wall space for it. Sad thing is I probably drove by the building where these signs were stashed plenty of times. When I was in high-school over in Battle Creek, visits to Muskegon were frequent -beaches there were fantastic in summer, and later, when I was in college in Kalamazoo, my future bride lived there. Back then, the most important things on my mind were pretty girls and fast cars. Collecting signs came much later. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert G. Smits Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 I was very fortunate that past president Al Edmond introduced me to sign collecting in the mid 70’s when prices were cheap. Hope the kids enjoy the results. Here is a couple of non automotive I came across today. Both are NOS. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 (edited) The number for that sign is probably a world record for a gasoline item, but early Americana signage has been in that neighborhood for years. I do not own a single sign so I don’t have any dog in this fight. Just like any other antique items, things coming in out of fashion, and markets are made and developed. The real question is this……. at what price can you start making brand new fakes and passing them off as originals. That already started 25 years ago. Try to sell $1 million car without any provenance. And I don’t think there’s many ways to prove whether or not any particular signage is original. And yes I’m aware that many reproductions have a small mark in them to help people figure out what it is and isn’t real. If you buy what you like it doesn’t matter if the market goes up or down. Personally I would have a hard time paying anything more than $5000 for any particular sign. I look around my home it has a fair amount of tasteful original artwork. None of it cost me more than 1200 bucks. Will there be a market for any of it when cars go all electric? I don’t see cigarette signage going crazy. Edited August 31, 2022 by edinmass (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert G. Smits Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 All of us have mistakenly purchased porcelain fakes in the past. I have about a dozen in my storage facility. Interestingly some of the “old” fakes sell for good money today. You bring up a very good point Ed. Maybe Mike has an answer. Are the grading services able to weed out the reproductions? Richmond is the only auction that uses a grading service that I know of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 (edited) Grading on signs is common. Just like grading cars it’s very subjective. In my humble opinion there’s a lot more of the stuff out there than most people realize. Obviously the rear rare and obscure stuff will do well, condition is everything, but just like an automobile, ask yourself the question who and when is the next buyer stepping up to pay big dollars. I could be wrong, but the logistics and expense of displaying them is just as expensive as automobiles. Adjusting for inflation is the market really that hot? Of course that can apply to the cars as well. Edited August 31, 2022 by edinmass (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert G. Smits Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 All I know is that the advertising that I purchased prior to 2000 has appreciated considerably more that the cars. It is likely that my taste in memorabilia is better.. I have never considered appreciation in purchasing either, i buy what I like. This is a hobby, not a business. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryB Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 Someone paid $12.5 million for a Mickey Mantle baseball card. Crazy world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike McCandless Posted September 1, 2022 Author Share Posted September 1, 2022 Every item we sell is guaranteed authentic. You can analyze signs for chemical breakdown which makes dating easy. Very very few fakes are close to what the originals look like anyways. One of the reason we bring the big numbers is the verification of the items and accurate grading/descriptions. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike McCandless Posted September 1, 2022 Author Share Posted September 1, 2022 Signs are considerably cheaper than cars. No maintenance, taxes, dmv, breakage, leakage and take up way less room. We hand deliver a significant part of our inventory, making it easy on the buyer. I’ve hung over 1k pieces in my place, only the big neons take some planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 Having collected a world class automobilia collection from the 70’s onward, and then cashed it out in the mid 2000’s I can agree that the return on smaller collectables has been very good to me…..like 500 percent. Now the market for them is on a distinct downward trend. I’m fine with it, as I’m still buying………what I like. If it goes to zero, I’m fine with it. My limited experience with signs is there are two types of buyers……..impulsive with money to burn, and hard core collectors. Looking for an out on any sign over 50k isn’t an easy process. Then again, selling a car over 500k isn’t easy either. The question is how long will the music play…….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 (edited) On 8/29/2022 at 6:17 PM, Mike McCandless said: The people bidding in this range, aren't make that choice, they already have the Duesenburg if that's what they want. The previous record price before this was 400k for a fully restored Jubilee at BJ this year. That to me is more ridiculous as at least this was an NOS piece. I know countless Duesenberg owners……and only two of them have signs of any significance. Car guys are just that car guys…………different breed than sign/gasoline collectors. We can all realize our values by looking at our checkbooks……..I have no issue dumping huge amounts of wealth on a car……..on a sign……..nope. Doesn’t make me right or wrong just a car collector. Edited September 1, 2022 by edinmass (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 (edited) Sign porn………and also gas……..wonderful spot to visit. Edited September 1, 2022 by edinmass (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green37 Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 All thanks to Mike & Frank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike McCandless Posted September 2, 2022 Author Share Posted September 2, 2022 Where is/was that? One thing people mistake, is assuming the auction market is the sign market. We keep a significant amount of private inventory for private shoppers. This year we'll likely match our auction top line revenue, with private transactions. As car guys are realizing the value, interest has grown significantly. I think we're in the early stages of what the sign market can be. There are WAY more car guys than sign guys at this point. You don't need a significant percentage in order to swing the needle pretty far. I just love seeing all the new discoveries and learning the history of so many companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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