Re: [meteorite-list] AD, New Meteorite Men Collectible on Ebay Closing on Thursday Night

2009-07-15 Thread John Gwilliam
Both these guys are grown men who don't mind saying what they 
think.  Their latest "go round" was pretty bland. You should have 
been here seven or eight years ago when Michael Casper was an active 
participant.  Truly an ego on steroids...and lithium.


Best,
John

At 06:05 PM 7/15/2009, countde...@earthlink.net wrote:

To all from a "newbie",

What MikeG has published from the "peanut gallery" is pretty sage 
commentary. I'm one of the "newbies" who has been chasing sites on 
the web and crusing eBay buying "nickel and dime" specimens. Fact 
is, I have bought "nickel and dime" meteorites from Steve and Mike 
and MikeG and a half dozen other dealers on the "List" here, and in 
Europe and the Orient.  That's where newbies start... and you know 
what happens after they have filled their cabinets with the cheap 
compulsory examples and read the right books, accessed the data 
banks, subscribed to the pubs and read your on line stories and 
"wowed" over your finds? Eventually, they have the good fortune to 
tap into the "List"..as I did a few weeks ago. What an amazing 
resource! The science is right there for me to read and see..and 
free! Wonderful dissertations by respected and credentialed 
professionals..the very names in the books. ( Incidentally, Martin's 
letters are in a class of their own.) Why, for a while there I thought
 I was back at Indiana U. in a graduate program...Well, at least 
until I started reading the contentious posts about the Arizona and 
the Pennslyvania falls and the ongoing "dust up" over the pros and 
cons of "hyping" the marketing of space rocks, the personal digs, 
ill concealed expressions of envy, borderline slanders and finger 
pointing... then I knew I was back in school...kindergarten.


Count Deiro
-Original Message-
>From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks 
>Sent: Jul 15, 2009 12:47 PM
>To: Michael Farmer 
>Cc: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com, meteorh...@aol.com
>Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] AD,  New Meteorite Men 
Collectible on Ebay   Closing on Thursday Night

>
>Hi Steve, Mike and List,
>
>>From the peanut gallery -
>
>Ok guys, enough is enough.  This back and forth is making us all look
>bad and making meteorites look bad by proxy.  Newbies are going to
>come here and think that space rocks infect people with Andromeda
>Strain madness.
>
>Look, when I act up and say stupid things on the List, most people
>ignore it.  Who am I anyway?
>
>But you guys are the big names in the field - you guys are
>representatives of the hobby.  You are in magazines and on TV.  I knew
>who Steve Arnold and Mike Farmer were before I knew there were
>different types of carbonaceous chondrites.  So when you guys come on
>the List and start going back and forth with general nastiness, it
>carries more weight and grabs more attention than it would if I was
>saying it. (or some other Johnny Come Lately)  People are going to
>think - so this how meteorite people behave, I think I'll go collect
>pez dispensers now.
>
>Professional meteorite hunters (the successful ones, like you guys)
>live a life the rest of us armchair chasers dream of - you get to
>"work" by chasing space rocks and finding them.  It beats the hell out
>of getting up at 4:30am and running a forklift at a distribution
>center or digging ditches for a living.  (although, one could argue
>that finding meteorites does involve some ditch digging) - you guys
>are part of a very small brotherhood that gets to make a living from a
>PASSION.  How cool is that?  To wake up in the morning and ENJOY the
>idea of going to work.
>
>Steve is riding high on his Meteorite Men success right now - let him
>have it.  Damn, if the tables were turned, I'd like to think that any
>of us wouldn't get our hides skinned because we revelled in our
>success of finding meteorites.   And I understand what Mike is saying
>about too much hype - it what the radio does to new music - they run
>it into the ground until you are sick of hearing it.  But there is no
>reason to carry out a public slapfight over this.  Take it to private
>email.  Mike, I'm sure you have Steve's phone number - call him up and
>bitch him out over the phone so we don't have to hear it.  All you are
>doing is alienating customers/newbies - which I'm sure you don't care
>about because they are "nickel and dime" customers anyway.   Actually,
>if I was profit-minded, I'd be loving this - because for every newbie
>you guys turn off, they come running to people like me - and I am more
>than happy to sell them all of the nickel and dime meteorites they
>want.
>
>I promised myself and the List, I'd keep my mouth s

Re: [meteorite-list] AD, New Meteorite Men Collectible on Ebay Closing on Thursday Night

2009-07-15 Thread countdeiro
To all from a "newbie",

What MikeG has published from the "peanut gallery" is pretty sage commentary. 
I'm one of the "newbies" who has been chasing sites on the web and crusing eBay 
buying "nickel and dime" specimens. Fact is, I have bought "nickel and dime" 
meteorites from Steve and Mike and MikeG and a half dozen other dealers on the 
"List" here, and in Europe and the Orient.  That's where newbies start... and 
you know what happens after they have filled their cabinets with the cheap 
compulsory examples and read the right books, accessed the data banks, 
subscribed to the pubs and read your on line stories and "wowed" over your 
finds? Eventually, they have the good fortune to tap into the "List"..as I did 
a few weeks ago. What an amazing resource! The science is right there for me to 
read and see..and free! Wonderful dissertations by respected and credentialed 
professionals..the very names in the books. ( Incidentally, Martin's letters 
are in a class of their own.) Why, for a while there I thought 
 I was back at Indiana U. in a graduate program...Well, at least until I 
started reading the contentious posts about the Arizona and the Pennslyvania 
falls and the ongoing "dust up" over the pros and cons of "hyping" the 
marketing of space rocks, the personal digs, ill concealed expressions of envy, 
borderline slanders and finger pointing... then I knew I was back in 
school...kindergarten.

Count Deiro  
-Original Message- 
>From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks 
>Sent: Jul 15, 2009 12:47 PM
>To: Michael Farmer 
>Cc: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com, meteorh...@aol.com
>Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] AD,  New Meteorite Men Collectible on Ebay   
>Closing on Thursday Night
>
>Hi Steve, Mike and List,
>
>>From the peanut gallery -
>
>Ok guys, enough is enough.  This back and forth is making us all look
>bad and making meteorites look bad by proxy.  Newbies are going to
>come here and think that space rocks infect people with Andromeda
>Strain madness.
>
>Look, when I act up and say stupid things on the List, most people
>ignore it.  Who am I anyway?
>
>But you guys are the big names in the field - you guys are
>representatives of the hobby.  You are in magazines and on TV.  I knew
>who Steve Arnold and Mike Farmer were before I knew there were
>different types of carbonaceous chondrites.  So when you guys come on
>the List and start going back and forth with general nastiness, it
>carries more weight and grabs more attention than it would if I was
>saying it. (or some other Johnny Come Lately)  People are going to
>think - so this how meteorite people behave, I think I'll go collect
>pez dispensers now.
>
>Professional meteorite hunters (the successful ones, like you guys)
>live a life the rest of us armchair chasers dream of - you get to
>"work" by chasing space rocks and finding them.  It beats the hell out
>of getting up at 4:30am and running a forklift at a distribution
>center or digging ditches for a living.  (although, one could argue
>that finding meteorites does involve some ditch digging) - you guys
>are part of a very small brotherhood that gets to make a living from a
>PASSION.  How cool is that?  To wake up in the morning and ENJOY the
>idea of going to work.
>
>Steve is riding high on his Meteorite Men success right now - let him
>have it.  Damn, if the tables were turned, I'd like to think that any
>of us wouldn't get our hides skinned because we revelled in our
>success of finding meteorites.   And I understand what Mike is saying
>about too much hype - it what the radio does to new music - they run
>it into the ground until you are sick of hearing it.  But there is no
>reason to carry out a public slapfight over this.  Take it to private
>email.  Mike, I'm sure you have Steve's phone number - call him up and
>bitch him out over the phone so we don't have to hear it.  All you are
>doing is alienating customers/newbies - which I'm sure you don't care
>about because they are "nickel and dime" customers anyway.   Actually,
>if I was profit-minded, I'd be loving this - because for every newbie
>you guys turn off, they come running to people like me - and I am more
>than happy to sell them all of the nickel and dime meteorites they
>want.
>
>I promised myself and the List, I'd keep my mouth shut and think
>before hitting "send" - which I have done for a week now while this
>continues on and on.  So here you have it.
>
>Best regards and let's knock it off,
>
>MikeG
>
>
>On 7/15/09, Michael Farmer  wrote:
>>
>> Let me get this strait, so you put it in a box, a

Re: [meteorite-list] AD, New Meteorite Men Collectible on Ebay Closing on Thursday Night

2009-07-15 Thread Galactic Stone & Ironworks
BTW - show some respect for Mr. Billy Mays.  He was a better salesman
than any of you or us.  If he was shilling meteorites, there'd be a
space rock in every home.  ;)


On 7/15/09, Galactic Stone & Ironworks  wrote:
> Hi Steve, Mike and List,
>
> From the peanut gallery -
>
> Ok guys, enough is enough.  This back and forth is making us all look
> bad and making meteorites look bad by proxy.  Newbies are going to
> come here and think that space rocks infect people with Andromeda
> Strain madness.
>
> Look, when I act up and say stupid things on the List, most people
> ignore it.  Who am I anyway?
>
> But you guys are the big names in the field - you guys are
> representatives of the hobby.  You are in magazines and on TV.  I knew
> who Steve Arnold and Mike Farmer were before I knew there were
> different types of carbonaceous chondrites.  So when you guys come on
> the List and start going back and forth with general nastiness, it
> carries more weight and grabs more attention than it would if I was
> saying it. (or some other Johnny Come Lately)  People are going to
> think - so this how meteorite people behave, I think I'll go collect
> pez dispensers now.
>
> Professional meteorite hunters (the successful ones, like you guys)
> live a life the rest of us armchair chasers dream of - you get to
> "work" by chasing space rocks and finding them.  It beats the hell out
> of getting up at 4:30am and running a forklift at a distribution
> center or digging ditches for a living.  (although, one could argue
> that finding meteorites does involve some ditch digging) - you guys
> are part of a very small brotherhood that gets to make a living from a
> PASSION.  How cool is that?  To wake up in the morning and ENJOY the
> idea of going to work.
>
> Steve is riding high on his Meteorite Men success right now - let him
> have it.  Damn, if the tables were turned, I'd like to think that any
> of us wouldn't get our hides skinned because we revelled in our
> success of finding meteorites.   And I understand what Mike is saying
> about too much hype - it what the radio does to new music - they run
> it into the ground until you are sick of hearing it.  But there is no
> reason to carry out a public slapfight over this.  Take it to private
> email.  Mike, I'm sure you have Steve's phone number - call him up and
> bitch him out over the phone so we don't have to hear it.  All you are
> doing is alienating customers/newbies - which I'm sure you don't care
> about because they are "nickel and dime" customers anyway.   Actually,
> if I was profit-minded, I'd be loving this - because for every newbie
> you guys turn off, they come running to people like me - and I am more
> than happy to sell them all of the nickel and dime meteorites they
> want.
>
> I promised myself and the List, I'd keep my mouth shut and think
> before hitting "send" - which I have done for a week now while this
> continues on and on.  So here you have it.
>
> Best regards and let's knock it off,
>
> MikeG
>
>
> On 7/15/09, Michael Farmer  wrote:
>>
>> Let me get this strait, so you put it in a box, and make a label saying
>> it
>> is from you, and all you do is put a number on it, say #4 of 45.
>> Damn, can't believe I didn't think of that first. I have thousands of
>> Allende fragments, (I used to buy kilos of them from the Mexicans direct
>> until they ran out)  I could really ramp up the gimmicks to try and
>> squeeze
>> another buck or two out of the buyer using their own stupidity against
>> them.
>> I am sure though, when they go to sell their box later that anyone with
>> brains will say, h .35 gram fragment of Allende retails for about
>> $3.00,
>> so I offer you $1.00 and not "wow", this is a limited edition plastic box
>> so
>> let's call it $30.00.
>>
>> I don't know why you cant just sell what you own for what it is, and not
>> try
>> to "Billy Mays" it all daytime TV style.
>> It is good for a laugh though.
>>
>> Michael Farmer
>> __
>> http://www.meteoritecentral.com
>> Meteorite-list mailing list
>> Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>>
>
>
> --
> .
> Michael Gilmer (Louisiana, USA)
> Member of the Meteoritical Society.
> Member of the Bayou Region Stargazers Network.
> Websites - http://www.galactic-stone.com and http://www.glassthrower.com
> ..
>


-- 
.
Michael Gilmer (Louisiana, USA)
Member of the Meteoritical Society.
Member of the Bayou Region Stargazers Network.
Websites - http://www.galactic-stone.com and http://www.glassthrower.com
..
__
http://www.meteoritecentral.com
Meteorite-list mailing list
Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
http://six.pairlist.net/mai

Re: [meteorite-list] AD, New Meteorite Men Collectible on Ebay Closing on Thursday Night

2009-07-15 Thread Galactic Stone & Ironworks
Hi Steve, Mike and List,

>From the peanut gallery -

Ok guys, enough is enough.  This back and forth is making us all look
bad and making meteorites look bad by proxy.  Newbies are going to
come here and think that space rocks infect people with Andromeda
Strain madness.

Look, when I act up and say stupid things on the List, most people
ignore it.  Who am I anyway?

But you guys are the big names in the field - you guys are
representatives of the hobby.  You are in magazines and on TV.  I knew
who Steve Arnold and Mike Farmer were before I knew there were
different types of carbonaceous chondrites.  So when you guys come on
the List and start going back and forth with general nastiness, it
carries more weight and grabs more attention than it would if I was
saying it. (or some other Johnny Come Lately)  People are going to
think - so this how meteorite people behave, I think I'll go collect
pez dispensers now.

Professional meteorite hunters (the successful ones, like you guys)
live a life the rest of us armchair chasers dream of - you get to
"work" by chasing space rocks and finding them.  It beats the hell out
of getting up at 4:30am and running a forklift at a distribution
center or digging ditches for a living.  (although, one could argue
that finding meteorites does involve some ditch digging) - you guys
are part of a very small brotherhood that gets to make a living from a
PASSION.  How cool is that?  To wake up in the morning and ENJOY the
idea of going to work.

Steve is riding high on his Meteorite Men success right now - let him
have it.  Damn, if the tables were turned, I'd like to think that any
of us wouldn't get our hides skinned because we revelled in our
success of finding meteorites.   And I understand what Mike is saying
about too much hype - it what the radio does to new music - they run
it into the ground until you are sick of hearing it.  But there is no
reason to carry out a public slapfight over this.  Take it to private
email.  Mike, I'm sure you have Steve's phone number - call him up and
bitch him out over the phone so we don't have to hear it.  All you are
doing is alienating customers/newbies - which I'm sure you don't care
about because they are "nickel and dime" customers anyway.   Actually,
if I was profit-minded, I'd be loving this - because for every newbie
you guys turn off, they come running to people like me - and I am more
than happy to sell them all of the nickel and dime meteorites they
want.

I promised myself and the List, I'd keep my mouth shut and think
before hitting "send" - which I have done for a week now while this
continues on and on.  So here you have it.

Best regards and let's knock it off,

MikeG


On 7/15/09, Michael Farmer  wrote:
>
> Let me get this strait, so you put it in a box, and make a label saying it
> is from you, and all you do is put a number on it, say #4 of 45.
> Damn, can't believe I didn't think of that first. I have thousands of
> Allende fragments, (I used to buy kilos of them from the Mexicans direct
> until they ran out)  I could really ramp up the gimmicks to try and squeeze
> another buck or two out of the buyer using their own stupidity against them.
> I am sure though, when they go to sell their box later that anyone with
> brains will say, h .35 gram fragment of Allende retails for about $3.00,
> so I offer you $1.00 and not "wow", this is a limited edition plastic box so
> let's call it $30.00.
>
> I don't know why you cant just sell what you own for what it is, and not try
> to "Billy Mays" it all daytime TV style.
> It is good for a laugh though.
>
> Michael Farmer
> __
> http://www.meteoritecentral.com
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>


-- 
.
Michael Gilmer (Louisiana, USA)
Member of the Meteoritical Society.
Member of the Bayou Region Stargazers Network.
Websites - http://www.galactic-stone.com and http://www.glassthrower.com
..
__
http://www.meteoritecentral.com
Meteorite-list mailing list
Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list


Re: [meteorite-list] AD, New Meteorite Men Collectible on Ebay Closing on Thursday Night

2009-07-15 Thread Michael Farmer

Let me get this strait, so you put it in a box, and make a label saying it is 
from you, and all you do is put a number on it, say #4 of 45.
Damn, can't believe I didn't think of that first. I have thousands of Allende 
fragments, (I used to buy kilos of them from the Mexicans direct until they ran 
out)  I could really ramp up the gimmicks to try and squeeze another buck or 
two out of the buyer using their own stupidity against them.
I am sure though, when they go to sell their box later that anyone with brains 
will say, h .35 gram fragment of Allende retails for about $3.00, so I 
offer you $1.00 and not "wow", this is a limited edition plastic box so let's 
call it $30.00.

I don't know why you cant just sell what you own for what it is, and not try to 
"Billy Mays" it all daytime TV style. 
It is good for a laugh though.

Michael Farmer
__
http://www.meteoritecentral.com
Meteorite-list mailing list
Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list


[meteorite-list] AD, New Meteorite Men Collectible on Ebay Closing on Thursday Night

2009-07-15 Thread MeteorHntr
Hello List,

I am excited to announce the prototype to a new line of  meteorite 
collectibles Geoff Notkin and I are working on.  Several years  ago, I put some 
pieces of Brenham Shale in a plastic "slabs" as a test as a  Limited Edition 
Collectible at the Haviland Kansas Meteorite Festival, they  seemed to go over 
well.  I then took it a step further and made six  different slabs holding 
dust from various meteorites (Moon Dust, Mars Dust,  etc).  

I put that project on the back burner, until  revisiting the concept with 
Geoff now.  

These slabs are  manufactured for the rare coin industry and are quite 
popular in that industry.  The slim clear plastic cases also work great for 
holding thin part slices of  meteorites as well.

With our TV show "Meteorite Men" airing on  Science Channel, more people 
are being introduced to the world of meteorite  collecting, and as such we 
thought it would be nice to make it a little easier  for them to get started 
with meteorites with a little different packaging.   

Of course, most all of you on the Meteorite List are not in need  of help 
in getting started collecting, but we wanted to get your feedback on  this as 
well.

Some of you remember our limited run of Brenham part  slices in Lucite from 
Tucson.  These were quite popular, but at $99 they  were priced out of the 
range of a lot of beginning collectors.  We wanted  to have something in the 
$3 to $50 retail price range to offer.

We  are expecting that more "Meteorite Men" episodes will be coming in the 
near  future.  If more TV episodes do materialize, then we will almost 
certainly  take these slabbed meteorites collectibles up to a far more 
professional level  in appearance, as well as with a wider selection of 
available 
specimens.   But for now, this is what we have.

Some of these will slabbed  specimens in the future will not be limited 
editions, where we would most likely  set the retail price and then make as 
many as the market would continue to  buy.  While others will be limited to a 
just a few limited number  specimens, in some case a very limited number. 

So we have made a  "prototype" assortment of limited edition meteorites 
encased in the slabs, and  we have some of them up on Ebay right now.  Getting 
the exact same size  part slice for each of a limited edition of 20 pieces, 
for example, would be  very hard to do.  With low priced per gram material, 
it is not a big deal,  as they can all be priced all the same.  But with 
more rare material, the  actual value of the specimen could differ greatly base 
upon the weight of the  slice.

Then there is the value of the item as a collectible.   It is so hard to 
predict what the values should be, as that is so  subjective.  Ask some 
people, and they will say the collectible factor is  not even worth $1.00.  If 
our 
TV show does go to series, and becomes a big  hit, and we start cranking 
out thousands of these specimens in slabs, then the  first ones out in this 
batch theoretically could become more valuable up and  beyond the raw value of 
the meteorite specimen enclosed in it.  Why are  some rare coins with the 
same about of silver in them worth more than  others?  Why are some baseball 
cards worth more than others?  It all  has a bit to do with supply and 
demand. 

The demand is real low for these  right now, since (relatively speaking) no 
one knows about us, or these items,  yet.

Some of these specimens are almost impossible to find on the market,  while 
some are very common.  Some are exotic types, others more  common.  The 
numbers available of each range from 6 up to 27, so there is a  wide range on 
the availability factor.  

So, I have put some  of these up on Ebay with a 3 day listing.  

We hope some of  you buy these at what will be a fair price right now, and 
we hope they later  become worth a lot more. In addition to making the 
buyers happy, and us happy,  it would really tweak one person out there!  :-)

So, I am  starting each of these at $0.99, with no reserve, and we will see 
where they  go.  

Also, I have one complete set with all 18 specimens, all  numbered #4, up 
for auction in one lot.  In this prototype run, the lower  the number the 
BIGGER the specimen enclosed.  So many of the #4 specimens  are much larger 
than the others being listed here on the same night.   Remember that when 
looking to 

The Colony, OK specimen only has 6  units.  And the #6 unit is up for sale 
as an individual with this  batch.  So, at the most, there is only going to 
be 5 complete sets  available.  In fact, this one full set might be the only 
complete set that  will go on sale as such. 

Check them out  here:

http://stores.ebay.com/Steve-Arnold-Meteorites?refid=store  

Please look at the listings, and feel free to respond to me off  list if 
you would like to share some comments, or ask questions.  

Also, if you are one of the people who eventually buys one, please  check 
back with me on your opinion of thes