Another of my old models turned up

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Once again, one of my old models, the schooner Mary Sinclair, turned up at auction in the US.  Although only a few inches long, this model was valued at between $1 and $1,000.    It sold yesterday afternoon for $860 (£672)!   I did not benefit from this, of course, because I sold it quite a few years ago for £325, and it was not me who listed it.    This sort of thing happens quite a lot, and it always surprises me.   https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/two-mast-schooner-mary-sinclair-model-ship-in-case-77-c-51741d2b16

   

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Bob,

I think you might have missed a trick.  If you were to put your famous pen in a glass case and auction that, you might be well surprised at what it would fetch.  It’s in nearly every picture of every model you’ve made!

Len.  

 

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Hi Len,

I never really thought much about the pen.   It was just a simple, international size-comparison item.   I once asked someone why they used a very ugly pen next to their model, and they said they didn’t like the idea of using a more photogenic one like a Parker, because that was my trademark, but I have no claim on the idea, and never really give it a second thought.    Quite often I get comments on the “very large pen” and my standard answer is that I have to use a large pen, because I have very large hands! (See image).   But I am now out of shipmodeling because I couldn’t cope with people failing to understand that I only built what I wanted to build, and that they could not be reserved during building, but were only available on completion on a “first come, first served” basis.     Then I would get quite a few requesting that I let them know when they are complete, and they would purchase them, or “put me down for the next one, whatever it is!”    But I really didn’t know how to deal with statements like that, because they all seemed to think that once they said it, it was “set in stone” that they wanted the next, and never mind all the others that had come out with similar statements.   

It is easier now I am specialising in drawing plans, because if anyone wants them, it is an easy matter to supply a copy.   But the type of ship I specialise in (Merchant ships built between about 1850 and 1965 do not hold much interest for the majority of ship modellers today, although the auction sales of my old models show that they are more popular than ever amongst collectors.

Bob

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