BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett 5th July

[murphymad]

Hello everyone,

Well it is only two weeks now until the BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett radio meeting and Auction.

I am busy collecting in the stuff for auction and the process of lotting, photographing and listing has begun.

Most importantly to mention is the HMV 907 pre-war television in superb amazingly original condition. It also has a very good tube!!!

The table bookings are now coming in fast so if you want to book a table then get in touch asap!

Usual sort of size auction 250 - 300 lots. The Bring & Buy tables and also a Museum fund raising table with raffle prizes.

The BVWS stall will be there stocked full of high voltage electrolytic and polyester capacitors of all the types we need and use for vintage radio & TV.

It's going to be another bumper day so mark it in your diary now.

See you all there,

Mike...

[Hybrid tellies]

Thanks Mike for the reminder. I hope to be there.

[high_vacuum_house]

Good afternoon,
I cannot make it to this one, Booked a holiday on the Isle of Wight over this period !

If when the auction list is produced I am interested in a particular item can I place a bid before the event and then arrange to collect the item at the next event.
Many thanks,
Christopher Capener

[Paul Stenning]

That is not normally a problem Christopher. Contact Mike if you see something you want to discuss your maximum commission bid and arrangements if you win.

[murphymad]

Hello everyone.

I have now finished all lotting up and photographing ready for the BVWS website.

I am waiting to hear from one person who is entering items with his descriptions and then I will send everything to Paul for the BVWS website.

There are 325 lots at present.

Paul will let you all know when they are available.

There are now only two stalls left, so if you want to book a stall then let me know asap.

All the best,


Mike...

[Paul Stenning]

The photos and catalogue are now on the website at http://www.bvws.org.uk/auctions/phot...ootton-bassett and the catalogue is also attached to this post.

As Mike mentioned above there are a few descriptions still outstanding and these are noted in the catalogue.

EDIT: catalogue removed from this post as an updated one is available in a later post.

[audiomagpie]

And remember visitors are always welcome (although you'll need to be a member to obtain a bidding card for the auction).

If you've not been to a BVWS swapmeet and auction before, why not pop along and see what we're all about? Have a quick look at this Youtube video of a similar recent event at Harpenden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i2UZBn0pvg

Many stalls selling sets in all conditions, new and used spares, service equipment, manuals, etc. Oh, and of course, the superb catering!

Looking forward to the large and varied auction, our esteemed auctioneer with his usual honed and slick performance will ensure that it will all run like a well oiled machine!

[Paul Stenning]

Revised catalogue with the outstanding items added is attached and also on the website.

[murphymad]

Hi All,

Just a note:

There is now only one table left at RWB this coming Sunday.

If you want to book it, then get in touch via PM or email as in the front of the Bulletin.

Mike...

[Top Cap]

What is the name of the railway station? Entering Wootton Bassett brings up a "No station found" on the rail travel planner.
Les

[ronbryan]

Have you tried a "Royal" prefix?

Ron

[dazzlevision]

Originally Posted by Top Cap

What is the name of the railway station? Entering Wootton Bassett brings up a "No station found" on the rail travel planner.

Unfortunately. Wootton Bassett station closed many years ago. Nearest station is Swindon and there is a good Stagecoach bus service (55) to RWB. The bus station is 100yards from the train station.

[Top Cap]

Thanks for the info, will do some digging re timetables etc.
Regards, Les

[thermionic]

Another fabulous RWB, and thanks again to Mike and all the hard working members of the team including 4 auction porters this time.

Whilst queuing up to pay for my auction purchases at the end, there was discussion again about the generally low prices obtained at the auction, with a few exceptions. Apparently, there was one stall holder who was close to tears due to the fact he hardly covered his travelling expenses.

Whilst it is a buyers market at the moment, this trend does not bode well for the future of vintage wireless events, in my opinion. This, I assume is down to people downsizing their collections and the sheer amount of equipment that continues to keep turning up!

SimonT

[Cobaltblue]

Its not just people downsizing its the number of big collectors now passing on.

A lot of the people I was competing with in the 70's and 80's are now passing on.

When I joined the BVWS in the mid 80's I was a young member, most of the membership were 50+ in 1985

There are just not enough new members to take on all these old collections.

There is another thread to this a lot of the large collectors were "in the trade"

There has effectively been no Radio and TV trade now for 20 years.

I am afraid we may see many more tears before this gets resolved

Its such a pity many of these venerable sets are now just more value as parts.

But how many more sets can I take on I have been collecting for more than 40 years I have too many sets.

All credit to Mike Barker squeezing every last bid out of the crowd.

Cheers

Mike T

[thermionic]

Originally Posted by Cobaltblue

All credit to Mike Barker squeezing every last bid out of the crowd.

Mike could not say any more to encourage good bidding - the lump hammer even had to make an appearance today in order to cajole us into bidding for those poor unloved sets that were in danger of being broken up. Sad indeed.

[Paul Stenning]

We were making similar comments on the stage as sets were selling for low figures, comparing with what it would have sold for a few years ago (and what we paid for similar sets in our collections).

I don't think it is going to change much as younger people will probably be more interested in collecting items from their youth and that they remember their parents having, which is unlikely to go back much further than the 60s or 70s. The very early stuff is already out of anyone's living memory, although there does still seem to be more demand for that than post-war sets. Of course the current economic climate also means that many people don't have as much money to spend on hobbies etc now.

The majority of the items in BVWS auctions are from estate sales after members have died. Indeed that tends to be the better items too, whereas the more mediocre quality often comes from current members thinning their collections and getting rid of duplicates etc.

I think today's auction of 345 lots was the largest to date (excluding the special auction-only events a few years ago). It was certainly hard work for us up on stage, not helped because some items were out of sequence (items bought on the day were at the far side of the stage and down on the floor), but we got there! Mike did really well keeping it going at a good pace so we still finished at a reasonable time, and got the best prices he could for everything.

Overall it was a great day!

[Paul Stenning]

Originally Posted by thermionic

...the lump hammer even had to make an appearance today in order to cajole us into bidding for those poor unloved sets that were in danger of being broken up.

In the end it was thankfully not needed as most/all of the lots that didn't sell for a fiver in the auction were sold afterwards (for a fiver each). The sets that were unsold at higher figures where Mike didn't go down to £5 are too good to destroy and will probably reappear at a future auction.

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by thermionic

Whilst queuing up to pay for my auction purchases at the end, there was discussion again about the generally low prices obtained at the auction, with a few exceptions. Apparently, there was one stall holder who was close to tears due to the fact he hardly covered his travelling expenses.

I think the problem is that there are still very large numbers of old radios floating around. They were manufactured in huge numbers and lots are still being found in attics and sheds as houses are cleared, and there is only so much interest in restoring and keeping them. It goes against the grain here, but it might be better if lots of stuff actually was scrapped. The remaining examples would acquire scarcity value and sell at good prices at some stage.

One of the reasons I didn't go to RWB was I was afraid I'd be tempted to buy lots of stuff at very low prices, and then have to find a home for it in my already cluttered house.

[dave walsh]

They all seem to have done a very good job Paul nontheless. You have echoed my thoughts as I was writing. I wasn't there but again too much stuff! Still I turn up when I can. The age gradient is an important factor [for everyone]. On the other hand previous generations didn't have these problems as they didn't live long enough and had few possessions-never mind private museums We haven't realised how different it all is in our time yet and can't.

I'm sorry if someone is upset but you can't put your eggs in one basket. If you've got the same idea as everyone else it simply might not work out-unfortunately-it's called "the market". I think it's desperate when things get gutted or smashed though-that's right against the grain for me.

I don't think it's political to say things could be worse and that watching the destruction of our own beginnings that led to "Wireless" and everything else really [thousands of years later] is a salutory lesson! See "Civilisation Under Attack" BBC4 I-Player-really do watch it-put that soldering iron down!

On the up-side, lots of things comer back into fashion-vinyl being the best current example. People destroyed pianos and rejected anything Victorian in the sixties. That's where Andrew Lloyd Webber got all his paintings from. It's why I've hung on to my huge widescreen CRT TV-the others are all crushed

Dave W