Share Your Wares -- July 2007

[rickofricks]

Hey Chess Collecting Friends, I just listed a whole bunch of new and interesting chess items on my eBay store, including: MANY NEW MONGOLIAN CHESS SETS NEW TRADITIONAL KOREAN CHESS SETS (THE GAME OF JANGGI) NEW MORO CHESS SETS (TRADITIONAL MUSLIM SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES) SOME HIGH QUALITY STAUNTON SETS. Please do check out the link to my eBay store, below. I'm sure you'll find some interesting stuff. Click here to see the World Chess eBay Store!

[cpe1991]

rickofricks Please tell us why these sets are interesting and collectible. It will add some thought provoking discussion to our collector's group and it may well stir up interest and increase your sales. Alan F

[chesspurr]

rickofricks hi rick i was taking a look at your best quality bridle knight set.... a couple of questions .... could you explain what top quality means ..... as i have a problem understanding how a $200.00 set can be such a distinguished item . also any idea where the highly unusual bishops design originated ....the rooks too .... a personal view ... you have a right to make a living , and good luck to you ...i have no issue with your self promotion on this thread ... however .... please consider with care your selling description on your wares ... in our group .... to describe a massed produced set retailing at your price as top quality cannot be correct ... a nice set ,for chess players at a reasonable price , seems far more appropriate ....and honest to boot.

[chessspy]

Hi, Rick, I think you also have targeted the wrong group of people to flog your wares to. Most of the regular users of this forum are committed antique chess set collectors, some others who are interested in modern sets surely know where this stuff can be sourced, that's if they wanted it in the first place, which I doubt. I personally think you and Adi and the other drop shop merchants would get a much better response from members of the public who know nothing about chess sets, and the time you spend advertising here could be better spent elsewhere. This is of course a personal opinion, and if you sell lots of sets to members of this group, I personally will resign immediately, as soon as you supply me with proof of that, as a group of people who would buy such things has no place for me. Regards Alan D.

[chesspurr]

chessspy hi alan i do reckon your views are perhaps a little harsh on rick and any others who might buy his sets .... its his choice to sell ,and theirs to buy ... however ... the loss of your inputs to our group would be a disaster ... if he offered evidence to suggest that you should choke on your words . i strongly suspect he wont provide such proof , and sure hope we are both correct . not because i wish ill of his business ... but simply the idea of chessspy leaving us is not acceptable . mabye should bleak economic times hit us in the distant future ... restoring modern sets might get you the basic , blanket ,bread ,and water .one never knows ,what the future holds in store for us all. ]:)

[chessspy]

Hi, Guy, I would rather starve and freeze. Alan D.

[cpe1991]

If someone posts advertising in a collectors forum then they should also contribute to it. A start would be by explaining why the advertised sets are collectible. If they are not collectible they certainly should not be advertised. If advertisers do not contribute, then they are not participating members of a group but intruders and freeloaders. Alan F

[computojon]

I agree with Alan and Alan, and I am not in favor of a "Share Your Wares" thread in the first place. -- Edited by computojon at 07/26/2007 4:39 AM

[rickofricks]

Pack of jackals. I offer what I offer. You collect what you collect. Some of the things I offer are commonplace. Some you won't find anywhere else. I used to check in with this group CONSTANTLY. But the discussions got SO bogged down with petty nonsense and insults, I just couldn't sort through it to find the interesting chess oriented threads (harken back to our exciting discussion about bishops and knights in 18th century France -- a great discussion!). Now I come to drop just a few lines of for those who are interested in what I've got that's new, and it somehow warrants seven responses of petty bickering. You can email me personally at rickofricks@yahoo.com . I won't be checking the threads for your opinions very often. -- Rick Knowlton

[chesspurr]

rickofricks hi rick i can clearly see my questions were not worth answering , and i am a so called jackal, if i am reading your reply correctly. i wont of course offer an unpleasant reply .... its not worth the effort ... but you can be sure of one thing .... i dont think you have enhanced your reputation with some of us by taking such a stubborn stance . in your shoes i would have accepted the challange and at least answered the questions with civility.

[chessspy]

Well, That's a shame, as Rick has gone off. I cannot address (to him) some of the issues he raises. However, my comments to him were intended as sound business advice about his possible target audience, and if I have given offence it was unintended. I was talking yesterday to B.K. Singh (the owner of Bee Kay's Chess shop) about his definition of antique, and he changed the listing immediately, He assured me that it was not his intention to deceive anyone. and I was mightily pleased with his response. We went on to discuss the origin of one of his designs, (the 7 1/2" Indian bone set) as I did the restoration to the original antique set when it came up in the market. The collector who suggested the copies and indeed commissioned 2 or 3 is a great friend of both of us. I wonder if I could trace the maker of the "unique" sets that Rick offers? (I probably don't have the time). However as this is a share your wares thread I might point out that anyone wanting to purchase some modern sets to collect or for play, My friend Kimmy who sells on, http://www.kimmyskraft.com Has lots of very reasonably priced wooden weighted sets at prices which seem to be a good deal less than some others who offer wares here. Yes I think on reflection that this column could be useful for people looking to price check modern sets. Of course that might not be to the advantage of the drop shop merchants who would struggle to match the prices at source. Regards Alan D.

[lichess]

When CCI first started in 1984, we had a tiny group who wanted to keep the organization "exclusive" only for "high priced" or "antique" collectors. That almost killed the organization. Fortunately the mnjority insisted on a "EVERYONE WELCOME' approach. CCI is still going strong because we do not foster the thinking that "my collection" or approach to collecting, is better than yours. Unless the members of this group start accepting everyone who has any interest in chess collecting, it will be doomed to failure. Already we have drop outs who may be resistant to the "superior than you" approach that is reflective in some of the postings. Rick O Fricks should never have faced the kind of comments that some have posted about him.

[computojon]

lichess Hi Floyd! I fully agree with the sentiments of "everyone welcome". However, an important distinction needs to be made -- what does the term "everyone" mean within the context of this Group? In my opinion, "everyone" would be defined as those people who are chess collectors -- after all, this is a Chess Collectors Group. So regarding others, i.e. manufacturers of chess sets, then it seems fair and appropriate for the group to define the boundaries of interaction. I agree that some of the posts in this thread were not entirely civil, and uncivil comments should be discouraged. But by the same token, I don't think that the group needs to fully accommodate people who are marketing/advertising to the group, at least not in the same way that we should fully accommodate "everyone" who is a chess collector.

[cpe1991]

Floyd As you seem so concerned about this particular issue, would you please post a reasoned response to my posting number 7 in this thread. All collectors of all types of chess sets are most welcome. However, some of us draw the line at postings that simply use this forum as a vehicle for advertising wares without any other constructive input. If you think this view is wrong, please make a case for the counter viewpoint. Alan F

[chessspy]

Hi, Floyd, I cannot agree with you on this issue, I'm sorry to say. Firstly, in my opinion the CCI is and always has ben an exclusive and elitist group, mainly by price, as the cost of the European meetings, (in particular) is far too expensive for "ordinary" people. I looked at going to a meet a few yeas ago and the cost for just a few days would have used my full annual holiday allowance for a year, and at that time I was taking 8 or 10 short breaks a year (4 to 5 nights). Secondly, I do not agree with group members being "slagged off", however as sarcasm and other fairly mild figures of speech are difficult or impossible to pull off in the written word, sometimes the reader can take a wrong and unmeant criticism to heart. Thirdly, The (agents) sellers of chess sets which are made in India (mostly) rely on the good will of our group to tolerate them as they often don't give any useful information, If we as a group wanted to purchase through this group modern chess sets , then we could soon find the suppliers of these sets, and purchase them direct at a very considerable discount to those advertised on the web. (my knowledge of prices is a few years out of date, however the large bone sets, now bin'ed on ebay at $2,000 were £80 post paid from India). The agents use several sometimes rather shady methods to try and make the sets seem more desirable, from claiming the sets are antique or antique copies (whatever that means) to claiming they are on display in a 'chess museum'. If we take the selling into our own hands we can stop these practices. However on looking at the low volume of sales generated by these ,'drop shop merchants' it hardly seems worthwhile. Alan D.