High priced box. Why is it so expensive? Thanks
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Discussed here last week. It's a holy grail item.
All the info is here also ….
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GasGuzzler
Hunter
No offense but kind of a dumb question and topic, really.
GasGuzzler
Hunter
My bad. Seems like anyone with common sense and an affinity for supply and demand would understand a generally flimsy item that is really old might be worth a lot to a collector since there are people reading this right now that throw away boxes. Then again, people here misuse the word "clip" and write .45 LONG colt as well as .45 ACP too.Hey if a newbie don't know, he's gotta ask!
GasGuzzler
Hunter
I have asked a simple to answer question too. I prefer not to use "dumb question" but even I know there IS such a thing.
eveled
Hawkeye
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- Apr 3, 2012
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- 5,610
I agree, but not for the reason you said it.
I collect guns not boxes. I think the old boxes are nifty, but can't see spending any money on them.
Just me, and I know I'm in the minority.
Well, whether you're in the majority or minority depends on who you're comparing yourself to. Way back in the 1970's, a Colt collector who was a family friend convinced me to buy a Single Action Army (hopefully that name is good enough for the terminology monitors ;^); whatever generation they had at the time was going out of production, and he advised me it would be a prime investment. So I bit the bullet (blued .45 w/12" barrel), and learned all about "turn lines", and paper work, and boxes, and I think those little screw drivers some manufacturers used to include in the boxes.
But I was a starving college student, so I also learned that tying up $500 in a gun I could never shoot was not for me. It might have made sense for some folks, but for me it was just plain stupid. After a couple of years, I sold that Colt, to someone who maybe also collected cars he didn't drive, and sewing machines he didn't use.
Whether selling that gun looks smart or dumb might depend on whether you consider yourself a "shooter" or a "collector"! I know some folks manage to accomplish both, but that's not something many people can afford!
As always IMHO, FWIW, YMMV, etc., etc.
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The only dumb question is the one you don't ask. As a 'newbie' did you know everything? I doubt it.
Owning a gun that you don't shoot to preserve it's collectability isn't dumb, shooting it, is. If you owned a Spanish engraved, would you take it to the range and put a few hundred down the pipe? Valuable firearms are like gold/silver coins I'll never spend. Best solution, buy one to shoot, keep one nice.
I first started collecting when my dad died and I inherited his boxed 7.5" old model .45 Blackhawk and I had a boxed old model Super Blackhawk. Getting those two together gave me the "bug". The first new addition to that little collection was a boxed 4-5/8" old model .357/9mm convertible that a guy at work was selling for his friend's widow, so I had boxes for everything up to that point. But my next acquisition was a 4-5/8" flattop .357 with no box. The guy I got it from also sold me his multi-year collection of RCA Journals. Shortly after getting the flattop and reading about them in the journals, I discovered this forum and posted a "WTB Ruger old model boxes" ad and specifically asked for an early flattop box. I was a newbie. Carl "flatgate" (RIP) reached out to me privately and wished me good luck in my search, and schooled me on the scarcity of a lot of the old model boxes. I was very naïve about box demand and value. He taught me a lot over the next few years. I'm glad he didn't smack me down and tell me it was a dumb post,
contender
Ruger Guru
As mentioned above,, "There are no dumb questions."
We are not born with any knowledge. We learn by various methods. Asking questions is just one way to learn anything. Knowledge is when you retain the information you learned. Teaching is when you share it.
Long ago,, as I started my path of Ruger fun,, guns were a focus. But I also chased the "cheaper" stuff,, like catalogs, paperwork, & odds & ends. I quickly learned that as a collector,, having a "complete package" of something enhanced it's value.
Why?
Because things like the boxes were OFTEN thrown away, and the guns were kept. Now, you have a shortage of boxes,, when compared to the number of guns. Throw in the often shorter production items,, such as the Single-Six Lightweights,,, the scarcity of boxes rises. Next,, when there are variations of things,, like the same boxes,, where it can have either a "green wreath, or a black wreath" making one more scarce than the other,, values rise.
And to post a slight correction,, the black wreath LWAC box shown is not the holy grail of boxes. There are other boxes worth more,, and in just the LWAC boxes,, a green wreath is worth more than the black wreath ones.
Then there are the rarer OM FT boxes for the 10" guns. Especially the .357 10 FT.
But basically the OP's question is easy to answer. Collectors who want a rare, hard to find item, will pay more for it, than many might understand.
Just ask Miss Penny,, she thinks paying for boxes isn't "intelligent." But she also understands that people WILL pay,, and as such,, knows NOT to discard ANY boxes I have.
We are not born with any knowledge. We learn by various methods. Asking questions is just one way to learn anything. Knowledge is when you retain the information you learned. Teaching is when you share it.
Long ago,, as I started my path of Ruger fun,, guns were a focus. But I also chased the "cheaper" stuff,, like catalogs, paperwork, & odds & ends. I quickly learned that as a collector,, having a "complete package" of something enhanced it's value.
Why?
Because things like the boxes were OFTEN thrown away, and the guns were kept. Now, you have a shortage of boxes,, when compared to the number of guns. Throw in the often shorter production items,, such as the Single-Six Lightweights,,, the scarcity of boxes rises. Next,, when there are variations of things,, like the same boxes,, where it can have either a "green wreath, or a black wreath" making one more scarce than the other,, values rise.
And to post a slight correction,, the black wreath LWAC box shown is not the holy grail of boxes. There are other boxes worth more,, and in just the LWAC boxes,, a green wreath is worth more than the black wreath ones.
Then there are the rarer OM FT boxes for the 10" guns. Especially the .357 10 FT.
But basically the OP's question is easy to answer. Collectors who want a rare, hard to find item, will pay more for it, than many might understand.
Just ask Miss Penny,, she thinks paying for boxes isn't "intelligent." But she also understands that people WILL pay,, and as such,, knows NOT to discard ANY boxes I have.
freakindawgen
Single-Sixer
I save all boxes. That way they go on the shelf or stack up better.
Jan from Ohio , welcome to the Forum and a decent question, and "dumb" is NOT the proper term for a question that many folks ask or want or may even 'need' to know the answer to it...the vast majority if gun people have NO clue as to the value of the "boxes" , as well as in the case of Rugers, the "shipping carton" the wrapping the guns is actually shipped out in...many time valued information is on these "wrappers" ( shipper) and not on the boxes them selves...so in reality it is the "package" that makes so many guns of higher value, and get the top dollars in selling, auctions, whatever the venue...I know as I was one of the original folks who bought, found, sold boxes starting back in the early 1960s at the ChagrinFalls ,Oh national gueard armory gun shows...I used to find boxes tossed in the trash cans at the weekend gun shows folks tossed them out, I helped clean out gun shop back rooms and old attics, hell I got over 1200 boxes out of an attic in Arkport,New York when the owners asked me if we wanted, then free for the taking and clean out their attic,,,wow would love to do that one again....Bought over 400 boxes ( al S&W) from a dealer in Louisville,Ky gun show back in the late 80's , and again many out in Tulsa ,OK heck I even outbid Mr. Dougan on that deal but by then folks starting learning, as I certainly taught them at all the shows we went to, that KEEP your boxes, you bother to take care of the boxes, you probably took care of the guns too......wise advice..........wish I had a nickel for every gun box I ever sold..........
Yes and it also helps to pass on this information , I helped Jim Supica and Rich N, write the 'S&W Standard Catalog VOls 3 and #4" with pictures of some of the various boxes and had helped Dick Burg and Dave B. with the narrative of the backround in some of the boxes ........Did lot of Colt and High Standard stuff too but I stayed with my wives 'preference'; and collecting of the older Rugers,,,,Laura was, is, the true collector as well as a former Field Rep for the RCA here in OHio.......so any questions, yes feel free to ask, learn, do your homework, and if you do the gun shows here in OHio , now mainly up 'north', stop by say hello, and yes "ask away"....
......Yes, I used to be the " King of Cardboard".....
but by then folks starting learning, as I certainly taught them at all the shows we went to, that KEEP your boxes, you bother to take care of the boxes, you probably took care of the guns too......wise advice..........wish I had a nickel for every gun box I ever sold..........Yes and it also helps to pass on this information , I helped Jim Supica and Rich N, write the 'S&W Standard Catalog VOls 3 and #4" with pictures of some of the various boxes and had helped Dick Burg and Dave B. with the narrative of the backround in some of the boxes ........Did lot of Colt and High Standard stuff too but I stayed with my wives 'preference'; and collecting of the older Rugers,,,,Laura was, is, the true collector as well as a former Field Rep for the RCA here in OHio.......so any questions, yes feel free to ask, learn, do your homework, and if you do the gun shows here in OHio , now mainly up 'north', stop by say hello, and yes "ask away"....
......Yes, I used to be the " King of Cardboard".....
I don't understand the box thing, just because I am not even close to a 'collector' or semi-collector. That's ok though! As the saying goes, "one man's junk, is another man's treasure". I don't look at my firearms as investments. One day when I am pushing up daisies, my kids (or wife) will sell them/keep them -- as they will. I won't care in the least. My guns are just useful, fun tools while I am upright, and which are nice to handle and shoot. The boxes are just plastic and cardboard that take up space. The firearms aren't ever stored in them. So why have them around --other than a few in case you need to ship a gun back to the mothership. Got to be a bit practical about it. Right?
dhains1963
Single-Sixer
The Ruger bird looks like a Phoenix....with downs syndrome! Lmfao. As a car sales manager once told me, " There's an ass for every seat!" Who would pay a $1000 for a Pokémon card? And they want to take away sane people's guns?
Back in the 90's and 00's I got into collecting 1/16 scale die cast farm toys.
One time I scored a MINT Deere 7520 for $100 and that was pretty cheap at the time.
A few months later at a toy show I found a mint BOX only and shelled out $100 for it.
Later sold the tractor in box for $450.00.
One time I scored a MINT Deere 7520 for $100 and that was pretty cheap at the time.
A few months later at a toy show I found a mint BOX only and shelled out $100 for it.
Later sold the tractor in box for $450.00.
