Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Only A Few Times In One's "Picking" Adventures Does A Fella Come Across An Acquisition Such As This. Status: A Little Stunned.

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Earlier this week (last weekend actually) Nickarmadillo of Mid-Century Midwest snapped up a great Herman Miller slat bench for next to nothing (even with over offering / paying).  I have to say I was a little bummed as I too had fired off an e-mail after seeing the ad (and also over offered) and realized the seller had no idea what they were selling.  Well...Sunday brought blue skies again as these popped up on the list while I was poking around on my phone sittin' in the Mr. Chair.

I won't lie, I almost peed my pants when I spotted the ad.  I've been hoping to find a set of

Erik Buck barstools for about 4 or 5 years!  I won't crush you with the asking price of the set

but I'll give you this: I didn't make an over offer...I just called the number listed, showed up at

the door, looked them over and calmly (ohhhh...it was so hard to be calm!) calmy handed the

seller EIGHT TIMES THEIR ASKING PRICE.  They didn't even blink.  They didn't ask why

or anything.  I simply explained that they can consider it a tip and that the stools were worth

much more.  I grabbed them up, carefully placed them in the back of Frank and drove home

all giddy with excitement!

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Now understand this, even though I gave the seller WAY more than their asking price I paid

nowhere near the $500 - $600 these would cost on eBay...never mind 1stDibs.  Still, I feel

like my Karma is well in order.  The seller had a big grin on their face when I left...almost as

big as mine!  They surely thought me mad.  "What kinda idiot pays MORE for old junk we

just had sittin' out in the garage?" they must be thinking.

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Farm Fresh. It's a term pickers use to describe an item just pulled from a barn or out building.

Usually these items would be covered in dust, rust and spiderwebs. Well, these barstools didn't

come from any farm or barn but they were apparently stored out in a south city garage which

would technically be an out building as the garages on the south side are butted up against the

alley and not connected to the homes. Then there's all that dust, a little caked mud and yes

spiderwebs! Definitely Farm Fresh!

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I first encountered the Erik Buck barstool when I was researching my three danish style

barstools that we are currently using here at the Modtomic Ranch / Lily (her name...we name

everything) Pad.  While I love the barstools we have, when I found pics on the web of the

Erik Buck models...well, I was smitten.  Finding these is better than when I found the Bertoia

Diamond chairs, though those definitely have a better story attached to them.  I've been hoping

to find a set For FOUR or FIVE Years!  It's called patience...it's a virtue.

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Oh...oh my...look at that.  That my friends is Rosewood.  Don't you just love how it contrasts

and yet compliments the frames made of...uh, what...Walnut?  I'd guess Teak but Teak is

notoriously hard on tools and these aren't hand crafted as much as mass produced.  But then

again...most of those on the net that do list a wood type list the frames as Teak.  I can't guess.

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They cleaned up nice but the seats still need some more attention.  I only had about 20 minutes

to clean these up before shooting them for the blog this morning.  Not nearly enough time to

clean the seats properly.  Can you imagine...these were just left out in the garage until last

Sunday.  Then the stars all lined up just so...and they got rescued.  I bet this morning was the

first time in decades that they got the kinda love they shoulda' been gettin' all along.

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Only one still has it's original label. Oddly the manufacturer deemed it necessary to apply the

label not to the wood frame where the adhesive could get a good purchase, but to the fuzzy

bottom of the seat? Huh? Go figure. Now comes the hard part...keep or flip. Seems to be one

of the bigger questions these days. It's so hard to let my babies go!

37 comments:

  1. I say keep 'em. Finding actual Danish Modern is hard in STL, so what are the chances that you'll pick up something similar in the future. They'd look great at the bar. Just make sure that your party guests don't get TOO tipsy.

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    1. Hi Nick. Yeah, you know how my party guests get...well, some of us...I mean them. For full on drunken sillyness we'll have to party at Kevins.

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  2. Those are GORGEOUS! I say if you've been dreaming about them for five + years, it might be meant for you to keep them . . . . I'm always so happy when something goes from being "Farm Fresh" to being loved and enjoyed. Cheers - CT

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    1. Hi CT. They ARE gorgeous! I'll probably keep them. It would probably be insanely difficult to get what I'd ask.for them here in the midwest anyway.

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  3. Those are fantastic! I don't have a bar nor have I ever desired one, but if I found some stools like that I think I'd have to build one just for them!

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    1. Hi Vintage H. Do you have like a breakfast counter or anything like that? One could even use them at a counter height table in a kitchen. They ain't just for gettin' plastered!

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  4. WOW! I NEVER see Danish modern bar stools... Gorgeous!

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    1. Hi Shelly. Looks like I might have a set of three available soon. The trio that the Erik Bucks are gonna replace.

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    1. Hi Rachael. You know how many page views I'm gonna get from confused and disappointed guys searching the web for "sexy danish legs"? A lot I hope!

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  6. Wow! I saw those on there and you got quite a deal! Even paying 8 times the price! I can't believe somebody would just get rid of those beautiful bar stools. I sure wish there were more people that got rid of fantastic furniture like this down here where I am...

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    1. Hi Brian! You bloggin' again? You kinda fell off the face of the earth, seems like. So did you know what these were when you spotted the c-list ad? They are a little less known about than some other vintage modern items.

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    2. Yea I did kind of fall off the face of the earth didn't I? Well times are tough over here and I'm a poor college student and nobody ever has anything killer for sale around here! I'll fire up the blog here again soon though since I have managed to collect a few odds and ends over the past few months. Anyways, yea I saw them but I had no idea what they were... They looked cool but they were too far away from me to take a chance on them. They definitely did go to a good home though!

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  7. Replies
    1. Hi Pam. Thanks so much! Everybody know Pam? Pam's sorta' our bloggy God Mother. She blogcasts RetroRenovation.com, a HUGE inspiration for me and I'm sure many of you. If you haven't been there yet, you've been missing out!

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  8. So very nice! I don't consider myself selfish, but if someone is ignorant of the value of what they are getting rid of, I have no problem giving what they are asking. Even if the price is dirt cheap!! I've got bills to pay : )

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    1. Hi A Mod. That this is just a hobby and a way to acquire fabulous stuff to surround myself with affords me the option of offering more and or paying more than asking, but I'll admit...it's not always altruism...sometimes it's just how you play the game to win!

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  9. they are sinfully delicious :)

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    1. Hi Sudha. "Sexy Danish"..."Sinfully Delicious"...stop it, y'all are makin' a Mr. oddly hungry!

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  10. Congrats! Once more I bow to the master. As for giving people their asking price when they have NO idea of the items worth- Take what the picking gods give you with good grace and never, ever rub it in the sellers face. I know of a lady in Columbus who inherited her grand fathers guitar collection; she sold four 1950s era telecasters to a guy for less than a thousand dollars. He paid her, laughed in her face and told her the guitars were worth 10 times her house. Kharma's a bitch

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    1. Hi Bopfish. "Master" is a pretty strong description...oh, OK...shucks, if you insist. There is a delicate ballance at work here and we all find a slightly different place we feel comfortable stradling the fine line. I figure, as long as I can sleep comfortably at night...I must be doing OK.

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    2. ...and the Tele buyer...what a JackHole. He'll probably die in pain and alone. Is there a worse fate?

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  11. I agree with you, what a jerk! He has a place reserved in karma hell for him.

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  12. OH MY...I cannot tell you how jealous I am. Eric Buck barstools are on my dream list. Like higher than a womb chair. I have the generic Danish barstools. Which are great and useful, but not dreamy. Do you happen to have the same basic ones as me? http://midmodredo.com/moreleealex If your old ones are like mine, I'd love to buy them from you. I only have two barstools and we fight over them at the island.

    My recommendation? Don't sell those beauties! Keep them for another 50 years and love em every day. :>

    Seriously, if you happen to have the old generic ones that I have in my picture, I'd love to talk to you---I'm over at midmodredo.com (lesley at midmodredo dot com)

    Cheers!!! So jealous!

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    1. Hi Lesley. Nice joint you have! My eyes bugged out over the size of that HUGE C. Jere Birds sculpture! Sorry though, I don't have those style barstools.

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    2. Thanks for coming over to my blog (which is the most neglected blog on the web). I figured I had to ask. I see them every now and then, but I always seem to find the shorter ones or someone trying to pass these generic things off as Buck barstools on eBay. Can you imagine? Like I'd pay $600 for my crappy ones. ha!

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  13. oh god it must be super hard to flip something you waited years to get. And they look so amazing!

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    1. Hi Elizabeth. But here's how it all works...buy some no name danish lounge chair cheap. Sell it & make a few bucks. Use that money to buy something nicer to sell for even more $$. So on and so forth...until I get my Herman Miller / Eames lounge chair and ottoman!

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  14. It looks to me as if the treads are Zebra Wood.

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    1. Hi Doodle Bean. Most every place I've seen them described on the web list the treads as Rosewood. I haven't a real clue. It's obviously a different wood than the rest of the frame.

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  15. I saw these only two hours after the ad was posted. Glad to see where they went.

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    1. Hi Miranda Tegan. Were you aware of what they were when you spotted them? Can you believe they popped up on craigslist?

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  16. So did you keep or flip? I have been looking for perfect bar stools for ages. These go on my Christmas list.

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  17. I see that this thread is a little dated but wanted to share that my girlfriend and I happened upon one of these beautiful chairs for quite a steal ourselves. It's also in amazing condition and, since it's a solo, we're facing the keep/flip dilemma as well.
    Cheers!

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    1. Hi Matt (and sorry....Rebecca!).

      You'll be happy to know that I've kept the set for our very own. But yeah, a single...that's a tough call. Hard to utilize just one. If you have a bar you could use it for the bartender until you find another or a couple more, but finding another for a song will be tough.

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