Bren Ten prices....
- Thread starter Skans
- Start date
Shocks me that anyone (let alone TWENTY people?!) can attach that much collector "value" to a pistol that not only had manufacturing problems that could make them unsafe to shoot... but debuted in such a crap manner with so many fleeced at the time and with a huge dose of negative energy attached.
lee n. field
New member
Witness 10mm is cheaper and easier to come by.
(If I were to want a 10mm, I'd be looking at Gaston's Magic Plastic.)
"Shocks me that anyone ... can attach that much collector "value" to a pistol ... that ... had manufacturing problems ... [and] debuted in such a crap manner ..."
But those are just the reasons it could be (or could become) a collectors' item. If they had made a million of them, there would be no collector interest.
Jim
But those are just the reasons it could be (or could become) a collectors' item. If they had made a million of them, there would be no collector interest.
Jim
g.willikers
New member
Betcha' anyone who owns one is happy.
After selling four guns to fund the purchase of the rumored Bren Ten reboot from Vltor, I got tired of waiting and bid something over $3k for a Bren for sale in my state. For a week, I was almost frightened that I'd win, as that was about three times what I'd ever paid for a gun - guns that I could actually shoot - before.
Well, nobody else bid on it, until fifteen minutes before the auction ended and that guy got it for $25 more than my high bid.
Seeing the bidding up north of four grand is pretty amazing. I think that when Vltor announced that they were going to sell their gun for about $1200, people thought maybe the prices on originals were as high as they were ever going to be, so there was a relative glut of them for sale; at any given time, circa 2010-2011, there was at least one up for bid on gunbroker.
Now that Vltor has announced that we might see their Bren in 2016, and nobody's holding their breath, the Bren market has heated up again.
Well, nobody else bid on it, until fifteen minutes before the auction ended and that guy got it for $25 more than my high bid.
Seeing the bidding up north of four grand is pretty amazing. I think that when Vltor announced that they were going to sell their gun for about $1200, people thought maybe the prices on originals were as high as they were ever going to be, so there was a relative glut of them for sale; at any given time, circa 2010-2011, there was at least one up for bid on gunbroker.
Now that Vltor has announced that we might see their Bren in 2016, and nobody's holding their breath, the Bren market has heated up again.
I should make my position a little more clear and a little less murky!
I'm not saying they don't have part of the recipe for collectibility -- certainly they do. Noticeable role on a popular TV show, involvement and push from a wildly popular gun scribe in the industry, cool factor, and other bits and pieces that help build the resume for a collectible piece -- one of which is obvious exclusivity and the short supply of them.
However, my point is that there are absolutely NEGATIVE characteristics as well, and very well documented, and those are no small thing. The fact that some slides are KNOWN to fracture and erupt... making shooting any of them questionable? As well as the hi-jinx with the original shipping of magazines that may not have been a straight-up planned screw-job, but was perceived as such? Not to mention the fact that others furthered the idea and platform and went ahead and made actual working guns that made the cartridge viable even when the debut pistol certainly wasn't? The CZ-75 heritage was, at the time, entirely out of reach in the western market. Notice the price on Springfield P9's when you see them now.
My take is that the boatload of negatives associated with that particular blip in history should (in my opinion) temper the heights of collectibility that it could or should ever reach. But it is an organic thing we are talking about and often will not be explained.
Also, you used the term "a million of them" and while I understand it is merely an expression and not to be taken literally...
...they made over a HALF million Python revolvers and if you were writing the newest edition of the print dictionary that nobody uses anymore, you would have a picture of a Python next to the entry that said "gun collectible" and I don't think anyone could argue with you in any way for doing so.
There are not really any hard and fast rules for what builds and carries the market for things deemed collectible, only guidelines we have witnessed and noticed. My take is that the kind of prices the OP shows for a Bren Ten do, IMO, shatter many/most of the precedent we've seen. Most of the short-printed guns that bring HUGE collector value share one thing almost all the time: they are extremely good guns.
I submit that the Bren Ten was not.