Richard Courtney $2,500 (1 Viewer)

[theBaron]

Here's an update on our friend's Courtenay auctions:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=350206343463

"Extremely rare Courtenay Z10 King Jean II of France" (with better than 50% of the paint on his face gone!), $475 OBO, NO OFFERS MADE!


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=350196279481

"Very Rare Vintage Richard Courtenay Knight on Horse", $1,5000 OBO, 2 offers, one on 26. May, one on 2. June, both rejected and now expired.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=350196677597

"Very Rare Vintage Richard Courtenay Knight on Horse", $1,500 OBO, NO OFFERS MADE!


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=350197704566

"Very Rare Vintage Richard Courtenay Figures Signed", depicting Lady Jane Grey and her executioner, $1,500 OBO, 2 offers made, on 4. and 7. May, both rejected and now expired.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=350205750995

"5 Extremely Rare Vintage Richard Courtenay Knights", $1,500 OBO, 2 offers, on 24. May, both declined, not yet expired.


Well, at least the seller is persistent...

 

[trooper]

Not to mention optimistic, Brad

 

[theBaron]

"Persistance overcomes resistance", as we used to say in the collections business.

Our friend with the Courtenays found a sucker, er, I mean, a buyer for one of the pieces. According to the auction page, the figure of King Jean II, with almost all of the face paint gone, sold for $400, apparently on the 5th:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=350206343463

The others are all still up, though.

 

[theBaron]

A little update on Courtenay auctions....

Here are some new auctions, by other dealers, and I think these prices are more reasonable than those asked by our friend with the thousand-dollar Courtenays (of which the remainder are still unsold):

http://cgi.ebay.com/COURTENAY-GREEN...c0.m14&_trkparms=65:1|66:3|39:1|293:1|294:100

That one is signed by Peter Greenhill, at least

http://cgi.ebay.com/RICHARD-COURTEN...c0.m14&_trkparms=65:1|66:3|39:1|293:1|294:100

http://cgi.ebay.com/RICHARD-COURTEN...c0.m14&_trkparms=65:1|66:3|39:1|293:1|294:100

This one also appears to be signed, on the upper side of the base, but it's not clear from the pics.

As I said at the start of the post, I think these figures have prices that are more reasonable.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Gideon]

Hi Brad,

As an aside to your quoting of Bob Hornungs writings on Courtenay, the two companies making copies (aside from the modern ones) were Knights Castle and Minikin out of Japan.

I have had both KC's and Minikins over the years and I can tell that Bobs article is a bit skewed. Those figures are very nice and command good sums in their own rights.

Value of these figures is subject to economic conditons as most anything else but I have seen certain Courtenays bringing insane amounts.

Its a small crew but very dedicated.

 

[theBaron]

Hi, Gideon!

I agree with the Courtenay collectors about the quality of his figures, and appreciate those who collect the copies, too. But I think we have a consensus that the auctions with the four-figure "Buy It Now" prices are priced too high. I think the newer auctions support that view. That seller has set far lower starting prices, but those auctions are bidding up quite nicely. I think the first seller saw "Courtenay" and got greedy.

Could you put up some pictures of your figures? I'd love to see them.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Gideon]

I sold the Minikins off long ago but they were fabulous.

I really like Minikin. They have these "knock off" styles ranging from Heyde to the Courtenay figures and everything in between.

 

[theBaron]

An update on some of the Courtenay auctions....

First, our friend's overpriced Courtenay's are still out there, unpurchased.

In the meantime, another toy soldier dealer had posted some Courtenays and was much cannier in his pricing, I think.

Here's one auction that has ended:

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=360173779959

Courtenay's Jean de Moulmont, made by Peter Greenhill. The seller, iltis (a good toy soldier seller, I recommend him) set an opening bid of $39.99. Now, that could be considered ridiculously low, considering the subject, but maybe not. In any case, it was low enough to attract bidders, who fought for 16 rounds, if you will, and it ended at $500.

Here's another one he had up:

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=360173778521

Sir Thomas Braose. This one, he set at $59.99 to start, and again, the bidders bit, and after 20 bids, it closed at $364. Not as good as de Moulmont, perhaps, but again, if you want to be a dealer, you want to move product.

Here's an auction from yet another seller:

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=220453708798

"Courtenay mounted M2 Dunois". This seller started a little higher, at $175, but that's not too outrageous an opening bid. This one went for $332, after 7 bids.

Again, a seller has to ask himself, "Do I want to move the item, making as much as I can, of course, or do I want it to sit on my shelf?"

 

[theBaron]

I had to go back to the beginning of the thread to check our friend's original prices, and it does look perhaps like he's learning a lesson (maybe he's a member here, or at least, browsed and found this thread), because his asking prices have come down. He wants $850 now for Lady Jane Grey and the Executioner, $650 apiece for the two mounted knights, and $950 for the group of 5 foot figures (actually, the 5 foot figures just ended, untouched, at $950, maybe he'll repost and drop the opening bid even further).

Now here's another Courtenay, by a different seller, and this one falls in between on our spectrum:

http://cgi.ebay.com/RICHARD-COURTEN...iers?hash=item33547c5601&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

William Bowes, starting at $275, with a Buy It Now price of $325. I'm curious to see how quickly this one moves. It's a little steeper than iltis' auctions with their very reasonable opening bids, but maybe high enough to discourage all but the most ardent Courtenay fans. We'll have to wait and see...