Just For Openers Jan 2012 Issue #133

J U S T FOR OPENERS JAN 2012 I S S U E # 1 33PAGE 17“Opener and eBay Trivia” (“BIN” Buy-It-Now & “DNMR” Did Not Meet Reserve)It was a great quarter for your editor selling on eBay.Even with good sales many times I break even and evenlose money on many openers but it is time for some of mycollection to find a new home. One of my efforts has beento maintain about 4,000 openers in my collection. Forsome reason when I sell a lot, I buy even more. Youknow the drill so this past quarter I offered a lot of niceopeners. Don’t worry, I will have a lot of good openers inLas Vegas including a bunch of “A” and “B” openersfrom my third trip through Art Santen’s collection.A-004-004, Clinton Clothed, 6, $120.27A-004-004, Clinton Nude, 8, $120.27Your editor sold a pair of openers from Don Sherman’scollection and one variety was unknown. The buyerwanted both examples and a general Iowa breweriana collectorran the winning bidder up. U. S. beer openers withthe right advertising bring the most money.A-029-049, Anheuser-Busch Coca-Cola, 6, $153.57A cross-over between beer and soda and you cannot find abetter combination of names, Anheuser-Busch and Coca-Cola. This one went to a serious Coca-Cola collector. Forthis “A” figural style, the only A-29 Coca-Cola ad that Iknow of.A-057-002, Blatz, 8, $143.57For some reason this A-57 horse head figural with theBlatz ad usually is found in very nice condition. It wasnot cheap at $143.00 but a good buy considering rarityand condition. Horse head figurals are the hardest stylesto find with beer ads in the “A Animal Categories” (A-15Eagle Head, A-16 Elk Head, A-17 Lion Head and other A“Animal” styles with and without the gas key).A-999-999, 1933 FDR Donkey Take Your Cap Off ToRoosevelt, 6, $162.49A-999-999, 1933 FDR Donkey Take Your Cap Off ToRoosevelt, 6, $68.67After seeing the top example sell for $162.00, I thought itwas a good time to sell my dupe. Mine went begging alittle at $68.00 and proves the point that buyers get scaredoff when a second example of something they want appearsso quickly after an initial high price for the sameitem. This cap shaped opener shows a donkey with FDRtext.B-002-029, Gold Nugget (BIN), 4, $300.00Another rare opener from Don Sherman’s collection and Iwas fishing a little when I offered it for a Buy-It-Nowprice of $300.00. One of our advanced JFO membersjumped on it the second day it was listed. I had a coupleof others comment they wished they had bought it. It isone hard to find South Dakota beer opener.B-009-001, Centennial (BIN), 8, $175.00The good Don Sherman openers continued with anotherBuy-It-Now sale realized for this B-9-1 Centennial. It is avery nice and desirable Montana opener and was in verygood condition. Shortly after this sale, another one waslisted on eBay and ended up going for half of this pricebut at sometime the opener end had been ground out so itwas a damaged opener. Considering condition this was agreat opener to add to one’s collection,B-018-479, Anaconda, 6, $352.00Craig Green was the lucky seller of this extremely hard tofind Montana opener. A very few “B”s have sold in thisprice range but I was shocked to see the final result. Heeven mentioned it had wear but it did not slow the biddingdown. All I have to say is “WOW!”.B-021-292, Olympia / #334, 6, $256.99West Coast beer openers were on a roll this quarter. TheOlympia beer “B-18-55” which are also numbered on theback bring $10-$30 depending on the number but thesame Olympia opener in the “B-21” style went crazy beforefinally selling for $257.00. The 334 number is one ofthe lowest I have seen on an Olympia opener and mayhave played a part into the final price being so high.B-021-619, Kuhlmann, 6, $192.50A desirable New York state key style opener and it did notdisappoint the seller. The final value was high but beeropeners from the Kuhlmann Brewery are few and far betweenand it is a very sought after brewery to find advertisingfrom.B-021-999, Coca-Cola Jackson TN, 6, $139.00Coca-Cola key style openers can vary greatly in price andthis one finished in the middle of the range. Having thetown name I am sure helped so for a Coca-Cola openercollection this was a fair price. It was not cheap but agood addition to the buyer’s collection.B-022-129, Springfield, 8, $122.38An opener that brought a high price and I was not surewhy. It’s from the Springfield, Mass. Brewing Companyand generally openers from that brewery do very well.The condition was outstanding and surely played a part inthe fierce bidding. It was a good quarter on eBay for keystyle openers.