Just For Openers Apr 2009 Issue #122
Just For Openers Apr 2009 Issue #122
Just For Openers Apr 2009 Issue #122
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J U S T FOR OPENERS APR <strong>2009</strong> I S S U E <strong>#122</strong><br />
PAGE 19<br />
In the last issue Joe Young sent in a picture of an Eifel<br />
Multitool. No one responded about inquiries if they knew<br />
the history behind the opener but I can add that at least<br />
three Eifel tools sold this past quarter on eBay and the price<br />
ranged from $10 to $20. Certainly not that rare but a neat<br />
opener with several functions.<br />
The number of eBay sales was high again this past quarter<br />
but the quality was down. The usual lots of average beer<br />
openers were offered for sale but the really good ones were<br />
few and far between. Starting out the “A”s was an original<br />
Coca-Cola baseball player bringing $306.99. With all of<br />
the repros in the marketplace it was a little surprising. On<br />
the beer side a nice B-11-1 Seattle Potlatch opener brought<br />
$177.50. A style that most serious collectors own but finding<br />
one with all of the enamel present can be very challenging.<br />
A B-31-UL Salem brought $169.49 and it is amazing<br />
to me how many B-24s from this brewery turn up and in<br />
JFO’s 31st year the B-31 is discovered.<br />
An apparently very tough style Cigar Box Opener (CBO-<br />
HKH-09) with an ad for Hernan Cortez / Key West brought<br />
$227.50. <strong>For</strong> the most part CBOs in the more common<br />
styles have seen prices settle down to the $10-$30 range.<br />
As always when it is a tough style the price can go way up<br />
as it did in this case. A rusty D-15-1 Excelsior Red Feather<br />
brought $136.49 and for this style a little cheap but considering<br />
condition and today’s market values, a fair price.<br />
In the wires or “E”s a couple of ULs made their way to<br />
North Carolina and they were not cheap. An E-4-UL Drink<br />
Edelweiss Beer / Pontiac Fuel Co sold for $89.00 followed<br />
by an E-9-UL Capitol New Beer / George Mason Co Denver<br />
Colo. selling for $114.50. Every now and then I decide<br />
to chase hard after some openers and both of these I really<br />
liked. Both are by distributors and in the “E” category they<br />
are usually the hardest ones to find. “F”s were highlighted<br />
by Coca-Cola openers with the top lot being a kitchen spatula,<br />
F-507 Coca-Cola Gardner Ice Cream, bringing<br />
$154.01. Coca-Cola still sells very well and the harder to<br />
find openers certainly bear this out.<br />
―Opener and eBay Trivia‖<br />
The next style of interest is the “L” or bottle shaped openers.<br />
A reminder is due as a couple of members asked me if<br />
a drop down bottle opener (similar to a L-1) advertising<br />
Spearman Beer, was legitimate? The seller “airborne306”<br />
is the person selling knives and openers with decals attached.<br />
Anytime you buy an opener with a decal or paper<br />
label it is “buyer beware”. This seller buys the drop down<br />
bottle styles and then they magically reappear with unknown<br />
beer labels on them. I always figure if you buy anything<br />
and it is under $25.00, you can live with it even if the<br />
piece is a fake. Lets call it a cheap lesson but when the<br />
money gets in the $100.00 range and higher then you are in<br />
the “I Lost My Shirt Class”. Be careful and ask a fellow<br />
member if you are not sure. Its people like “airborne306”<br />
who give the hobby a bad name.<br />
The “L”s saw one big highlight, a rare L-2-22 Enterprise<br />
Brewing from San Francisco, bringing $576.99. With four<br />
“L-2”s to go your editor chased hard but once again on a<br />
rare corkscrew I was runner-up. In this case the rumor mill<br />
told me it was a San Francisco collector with deep pockets<br />
who bought the item. I just keep telling Pat I have to live<br />
long enough to finish my set of “L-2”s. Note I am still one<br />
behind Norm Jay who has 21 of the known 24.<br />
Next up were two different N-29 Coca-Cola bullet pencils<br />
selling for $504.99 and $449.44. A couple of years ago I<br />
sold mine for $200.00 each and I thought I had done well.<br />
It sure looks like I left some money on the table. I have<br />
seen a couple of other examples with Coca-Cola ads and I<br />
cannot say why these two went into orbit price wise. With<br />
eBay you just never know.<br />
Wall mounts saw two examples of the O-5-11 Acme Beer<br />
Starr X opener sell for $127.50 and $100.00. The Acme is<br />
fairly tough to find but I did not realize it had risen to the<br />
$100.00 level value wise. One with a broken mounting<br />
hole also sold bringing $32.00. No other interesting wall<br />
mounts were noted. The “P”s or beer corkscrews had<br />
many notable price results. A nice Detroit corkscrew, P-2-<br />
2 Voigt brought $255.99, a P-10 Pickerings of Cincinnati<br />
(non-beer) in the original Williamson box brought $471.66<br />
and several A-B knives highlighted by a Blue Handle version<br />
bringing $869.00. The Voigt is a very desirable Detroit<br />
corkscrew, the P-10 “MIB” is extremely hard to find<br />
in the original packaging and A-B knives just keep selling<br />
for good prices.<br />
Other “P” knife results to note were two nice condition<br />
knives, a P-25 C F Blanke Tea & Faust Coffee and a P-40<br />
Remington made, both selling for $1,100.00. Remember<br />
with knives condition plays a big part in value. The P-71<br />
Budweiser mentioned in the last issue did not meet reserve<br />
closing at $431.00. Also in the last issue I mentioned Bob<br />
Suddeth had bought the “P type Christ Jensen” political ad<br />
knife from Chicago but he informed me he was not the<br />
high bidder. My apologies Bob.