Cobra / Battleskin / Revision market price

[Composite]

...well, I couldn't let it lie.......


After the Malvern Fair yesterday I thought I'd have one more stab at the market pricing issue just in time for Santa to get his act together......

Mk7....average market price £73.94 (previously £78.37) with highest and lowest being £160 & £40....and they were on a few stalls at Malvern...big'n'bold out there in the open....

Virtus....average price £301.93 (previously £322) with highest and lowest being £450 & £180....and I've started to see the "peripherals" hit ebay too.....mandible / jaw pieces (£225 each) and the soon-to-be-the-rarest-piece-of-Compo-bits the plastic branded NVG "bung".......

So, shock horror.....7's continue to reduce in price and Virtusses....Virti.....Virtus's......errr...the new one is much more common that the 7 was at the same stage of issue with market price continuing to fall


(All price information has been gleaned from the main online auction site...other sites are available........)


.....so that's my impression of Richard Quest..........just FYI....

[James C]

Thanks Ade and i noted yesterday that Ebay is slowly listing the Virtus add on's too at some hefty prices

[Composite]

Yep.....visors, mandible pieces and even one of the plastic NVG bung plugs.........

[Composite]

so, 3-4 weeks on.....according to ebay,

Mk7 Average - £78.37 (Aug) £73.94 (Nov) £62.54 (Dec)
Virtus Average - £322 (Aug) £301.93 (Nov) £317.27 (Dec) with Visors averaging £106 and Mandible bits £82 plus with every Virtus bought online comes (probably) a nice call from the MPs! (and they probably don't do refunds!)


so as Richard Quest would probably say, "BUY Mk7, SELL VIRTUS" ...which all means by my reckoning that by "War and Peace" 2018, Mk7s will be thrupence and Virtus will still be 6 days in the "Cooler" (so hang onto your Baseball mit'!).

NB you can't actually SELL either cos you don't own them......just to be clear....

I have to say though that Virtus do seem to be turning up on ebay a lot more frequently than 7's did in their hay day.......but none of this answers this year's big question....why isn't it the Mk8?!!!

[Composite]

so, Virtus-Fest on ebay or what?!!

'couldn't be @rsed to review Mk7 prices....it won't be long before 6As are rarer!!

Virtus Average - £322 (Aug) £301.93 (Nov) £317.27 (Dec) £242.11 (Feb).....so still declining...

No Visors to create a big enough sample and Mandible bits averaging £127.50 (up from £82)

Complete Helmet, visors and mandible thingies averaging £396 (highest £500, lowest £330)

....'still shouldn't be owning them of course.........

[Watchdog]

Of course what we see here is good old fashioned supply and demand principles in action. As with any commodity especially one pursued by collectors (and one has to include those wonderful paintballers and Airsoft intelligentsia when it comes to the kind of stuff we are considering here) where the supply is exceeded by the demand. It has little to do with "collectibility". Unlike collecting from a historical viewpoint when we know there is a reducing availability we are looking to the future with this new or current kit and we know fine well that availability will increase and demand decline in equal ratio. Enough said I suppose.

Of more interest to me is the perception that if a collector procures the latest creation of field gear that he is automatically at risk of the "Sweeney" kicking his back doors in (Oooer!!) before he has the wrapper off it. This is actually very unlikely. Whilst there might technically be an issue of "improper possession" this is unlikely to be a problem unless there are other factors involved. For there to be a crime there must be an "Injured party" (even in cases such as drunk and disorderly or drink driving the I/p is The State - these are "State Offences" ). Unless your helmet etc is thought to be the proceeds of an illegal act such as a burglary or other theft which would need to be "reported" (including after the fact when police inform the I/p of what has happened). So, with a single piece you are not likely to be bothered. The Police do not have the resources to look for a crime that may be unproveable or might not even have happened. The possession of a helmet is not an absolute offence in itself. Mens Rea, Actus reus, Res gestae etc google it! I am not saying it cannot happen because it is a useful means of operation (Modus Operandi - couldn't resist that one ) to have something to hang further enquiries upon. What is called in some places "probable cause". In the end it is also possible that given probable cause items might be seized as exhibits in an investigation that does not proceed and then not returned to the person they were seized from because it can be justified as inappropriate. No two cases are the same but this could be a likely outcome in the case of current up to date military equipment that has not yet been officially released to the surplus market.

I guess the principle here is don't panic just be sensible. No one should be buying what they might reasonably be expected to believe is not lawfully obtained and to buy an item in good faith is no crime (of course it might still be confiscated). But by the same token there is no "Big Brother" at GCHQ scanning the internet to see who just bought a pair of boots off Ebay! There might be someone looking at the internet to see who is selling the 500 helmets that were nicked from COD Donnington last week. Basically if you see a trailer load of brand new gear take another look and make a judgement. One helmet on a militaria fair (unless a piece of top secret hardware) is unlikely to attract any attention from the authorities unless they are rounding up something bigger. They really have more to do with their time and the MOD will not persue single items unless they are very high value or are part of a total of very high value.

I'm not trying to influence anybody here just saying "stay cool and be sensible"

All comments above are without prejudice or guarantee

Regards

Mark

[Composite]

'can't believe I started this in July 2016...Jees...there'll be a Mk9 soon!. OK, so last one......

Virtus Average - £322 (Aug '17) £301.93 (Nov '17) £317.27 (Dec '17) £242.11 (Feb'18)...and now £233.....so still declining...

Visors - £72

Mandible - £94 down from bits averaging £127.50


So, with a bit of crude straight-lining they'll be around a ton in May 2019, and FREE in February 2020!!!!..well, that's what the numbers say.....so take an Ikea Bag to Stoneleigh Fair 2020 where they'll be ten bob*!!!

Note - the poor mathematics of an old man should not be seen as a representation of market performance - helmet prices can go down as well as up


....anyway, they're still yellow and no green ones despite the fact that Western Europe will soon be in full bloom...tho' the Steppes will be dry / arid but that assumes we can hold 'em early.......oh well, it should lower the market prices of Russian helmets....... :-)


* "ten bob" was half of one pound

[Jerry B]

They will have to remanufacture DPM covers for them....and uniforms

[Composite]

NOooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

[Composite]

Well, I couldn't let it lie.......today is a momentous day.....the average market price (according to items sold on a well known global e-commerce sales site [other sites are available]) for the Brit Virtus/Cobra/"Mk8" has dipped below the £200 mark sending markets all over the world into a tail spin....errr.....well....not really......

Here's the disasterous decline in full:-


£322 (Aug '17)
£301.93 (Nov '17)
£317.27 (Dec '17) ...the famous so-called and ill-fated "Christmas Recovery" of 2017....the "Battle of the Bulge" for us Compo students
£242.11 (Feb'18)
£233 (Apr '18)
.....and today, £199.47


...and after that shocking revelation, back to the studio for news about a cat stuck in a drainpipe......