Goddamn!

Bret, you gotta get some perspective here. I'm a collector, so I can feel your pain. But the vast majority of people would think it's a GOOD thing to have buyers from the Pacific Rim pay huge amounts of cash for our obsolete electronics. Seriously. If you wish to put a political/economic spin on this, I can't imagine a better situation for the United States.

I had acquired an older Apple Computer system. To "me" - it was junk whether it worked or not. I put it on E-Bay. A guy from Japan asked if I would ship to Japan, my answer - NO. He asked if I would ship to a U.S. - contact, which I was happy to do. He bought the computer system. Just to ship within the U.S. I thought was bad enough. I can imagine what it would have cost to Japan. He may have been an Apple "collector" - I don't know - but he was certainly willing to pay more than "I" would have - for it.

Lou

I gotta wonder how valuable this old tube audio gear would be if oriental buyers did not exist.

These guys have actually altered my buying pattern at swaps. In the past, If I saw a junky piece of tube gear suitable as a parts donor, I would pass it by and then pick it up on my second go-round the swap to avoid interrupting the first go-round, which I do rather quickly to catch any items which tend to sell early and quick. It was a reasonable certainty that the junky item(s) that I spotted would still be there on my second-go-round, because they were junk and only good for parts.

I can't do that anymore. It seems that almost anything with a hefty high-voltage trasformer, output transformer or choke goes quickly now, regardless of condition. If I want it and don't buy it right away, I won't get another chance, because it will already be sold. The buyers I am competing with are almost always oriental-the caucasian attendees seem to pass 'em right by.

I'm not being prejudiced here, nor am I whining. At a swap meet, it's every man for himself, and if somebody gets something that I want before I do, more power to 'em. It's just strange that those of a particular ethnicity would find more value in this old equipment than the rest of us.

-Scott

Also, he has 2 of those already, so they are indeed being preserved. What more can we ask for?

A basic principle of business seems to have escaped Bret, but fortunately not you.

"Buy low, sell high".