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<P>Ed Tanton wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> <SPAN class=496332702-29121998><FONT COLOR="#0000FF">Well,
here we go... I can't let that sit still... I would like to suggest that
I would be happy to buy all the MINT </FONT></SPAN><SPAN class=496332702-29121998><FONT COLOR="#0000FF">75S-3(c)s
at $1200 that anyone would care to offer. Just past Christmastime, I can't
do that. I couldn't buy even one. But, gentlemen, there aren't that many
MINT 75S-3(c)'s around period-much less for $1200. Anyone keeping track
of prices here, on the BA USENET lists, and in the Yellow Sheets, would
know better than to </SPAN><SPAN
class=496332702-29121998>make statements
about $400/$600 too much etc etc- or possibly you must have missed the
'(C) as well as the word MINT. </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
class=496332702-29121998></SPAN><SPAN class=496332702-29121998><FONT COLOR="#0000FF">With
Collins rcvr prices, the 75S-3(c) is the final word (in the 75S line),
and MINT </SPAN><SPAN class=496332702-29121998>is itself a strange
word-it has different meanings to different people. I consider MINT to
be a unit that cannot be distinguished from new without magnifying glass
examination. It's pricing is a discernable cut-above that of even CCA-EXC...
because more is implied. CCA EXC 75S-3(c)s have been going for $1500-$1800
for somewhere around the last 4 to 6 months-and I'm NOT talking about ebay.
Consistently. Regularly. In any economic scenario there are always going
to be good deals, just as there will be bad ones. I am certain there have
been CCA EXC 75S-3(c)s that sold for less... but VERY few... until lately. </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
class=496332702-29121998></SPAN><SPAN class=496332702-29121998><FONT COLOR="#0000FF">The
Asian Economic Crisis has been felt here too; and as a result, supply and
demand have done their thing, and prices are dropping somewhat. I don't
think there are any MINT condition 75S-3(c)s that are going to go for the
prices suggested-and probably not for the $1200 you fellows are making
such a big deal over. CCA EXC, yes indeed. And the upper end of CCA EXC
is the lower end of MINT. 75A-4 prices have done the same thing.</FONT></SPAN>
<BR>Well, Ed me boy, I do take a tiny offense at your comments as this
whole damed radio hobby has gotten so far out of hand that I consider all
this stuff to be a variation on the Junk theme--devine junk if you prefer,
but junk none the less it is. These radios are satisfactory examples
of ham equipment from a few decades ago and fun to putter around with--ownership
of this junk illustrates in many ways the emotional and romatic nature
of our hobby. This thread is but one example of how we hams and radio
hobbyists get so wrapped around the mystic nature of the hobby that any
vestige of rational thought vanishes. As to definitions, if it is
not new, it is old. If a radio is 30 years old then it is not new
and therefore, cannot in any way be construed to be new--therefore, mint
is word that should be left to the coin collector world where the item
of interest has no moving parts or biodegradable components other than
the slow but sure oxidation of the precious metal it is composed of while
laying in its velvet case. So read it anyway you want and if "Collins
Junk" upsets folks, well I guess they will just have to get over it.
All of my stuff I consider to be junk of some type regardless of brand
and I love it dearly. But I shall not cough up 1800 or for that matter
800 dollars for a 75S3B receiver with a few extra crystal positions.
But as I said, if someone wants to spend the big money, may he or she be
my guest. Eveyone drives a used car, Ed. Lighten up!
and have a Happy New Year.
<BR>Bob, KE6F
<BR>
<BR> <SPAN class=496332702-29121998><FONT COLOR="#0000FF">And Bob,
KE6F, I'd lay off words like "Collins junk" and "...some fool" till I knew
a little more about what I was talking about. Some folks might take serious
offense-and I don't think you meant it that way. It's just a suggestion,
mind you.</FONT></SPAN> <SPAN class=496332702-29121998><FONT COLOR="#0000FF">One
last word or two... I don't own a 75S-3(c) in MINT condition, or otherwise.
I watched those prices climb the scale, and any idea I might have entertained
of getting one, certainly went through the roof with them. They are very
fine receivers. For many reasons, it is the only 75S-X(x) rcvr I would
be interested in-but I DO have a 75A-4, a 51J-4, an R-390, an R-390-A,
and a 51S-1... and all of them are as far from the word "junk" as you get. </FONT></SPAN><SPAN class=496332702-29121998></SPAN><SPAN class=496332702-29121998><FONT COLOR="#0000FF">I
personally think the seller on ebay made an error in selling a MINT unit
there. With specialty units such as a MINT condition rcvr, I don't think
he has thought very much about his "chosen customer". The ONLY people willing
to fork out the kind of $$$ he's obviously looking for, are those people
here, and on the Collins reflectors-where that word-one last time-MINT
is understood, and appreciated.</FONT></SPAN> <SPAN class=496332702-29121998><FONT COLOR="#0000FF">Ed
Tanton N4XY</FONT></SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE>
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