Estate Auction of John Petik

[dmz]

I drove out to the auction house today and picked up the 5 pieces I won.
The building is literally half filled with John's collections and the staff is going to have a lot of work to do to pack things up and ship them.

They were nice enough to let me look around while they pulled my stuff and the sheer amount of built kits was trully impressive. John was quite possibly one of the most prolific kit builders out there. I managed to snap a bunch of photos that I'll share if I can figure out how to post them.

Most importantly, the kits I won are already proudly on display in my home and I of course now regret not bidding on more items.

[Heavy Metal Spike]

I drove out to the auction house today and picked up the 5 pieces I won.
The building is literally half filled with John's collections and the staff is going to have a lot of work to do to pack things up and ship them.

They were nice enough to let me look around while they pulled my stuff and the sheer amount of built kits was trully impressive. John was quite possibly one of the most prolific kit builders out there. I managed to snap a bunch of photos that I'll share if I can figure out how to post them.

Most importantly, the kits I won are already proudly on display in my home and I of course now regret not bidding on more items.

Nice.

I would have loved to have seen the full auction house before anything was shipped out.

I know we'd all like to see those photos - upload to any photo-sharing site then copy the url with [img ] before and [/img ] after each url (minus the space before each closing "]").

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[tay666]

If you can't figure out where to upload them, contact me.
I'll host them on my site.

[Heavy Metal Spike]

. . . I would have loved to have seen the full auction house before anything was shipped out . . .

Actually - I wonder if any member of their staff took shots of this

Can someone local try to get hold of them by phone to ask? - I'm having trouble getting ANY answers to my emails about shipping (probably because they are rushed off their feet!)


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[dmz]

This is the auction house Tuesday around 12:30. Most of the items from the first auction were already gone.

In the background are the comics and music items.

These kits are from Sunday's auction and these photos only show about half the items that were listed...more to be added

[Heavy Metal Spike]

Thanks Dan - I'm sure John would have loved to have seen everything so well spaced-out & displayed.

Please post any other photos you have when you find time.

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[root]

Now that's a model building legacy.
It's a wonder he had time to post and help others out.
Rich

[Heavy Metal Spike]

Just received my first box.

Totally unexpected as we had agreed they were not supposed to be shipping anything until ALL John’s auctions had finished, so they could then combine items in the cheapest way possible for shipping via USPS to Canada. I'd re-confirmed this via email after receiving each winning invoice from them.

• • The box was easily 2-3 times the size it needed to be, with most of the 16"x16½"x17" box (just over 75%) taken up with bubble-wrap and peanuts. A massive waste of packing material, and it weighed next-to-nothing.
  • I had won 1 item in the 1st auction, and 2 in the 2nd auction. It only contained the items from the 2nd auction – and they were already in their own boxes.
  • It does not include any of the other items I have purchased, although the box was easily large enough to do so.
  • According to the label, the box was sent USPS Express post rather than the cheaper Priority Mail International.
  • For this, they billed me $56.28 USD ($76.96 CAD !)
  • There is no proof of what THEY paid for postage on the shipping label, and although I think the shipping cost is accurate for the size of the box, this was total overkill, AND they shouldn’t have shipped these 2 items on their own.

I know they are crazy-busy, so I’ll have to hope they pack APPROPRIATELY for the other items I purchased (the buildups WITHOUT their own protective boxes!) - plonkers


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[Heavy Metal Spike]

Dan's added another 8 pics to the 2 that he posted previously (just in case anyone missed them - scroll back 4 posts).

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[Nalissa2]

What am impressive array of build ups.

[starmanmm]

My stuff just arrived yesterday as well. I haven't had the chance to unpack it yet. That is sure a lot of build ups.

[Zeiram]

Anyone still waiting for stuff from the first auction?

[root]

I called yesterday as they had charged me for both the 2nd and 3rd auctions but no shipping.
I asked why and they said they couldn't figure shipping until items were packed. And would charge my card again when they ship for the shipping.

I would have figured they would have packed then figured shipping and made just one charge to my card.
Kinda bass ackwards the way they are doing it.

Zeiram:
They said they just started packing the 2nd auction up yesterday morning and the 1st auction was about complete and sent.

They must have a small army working there.

Heavy Metal Spike shipping in the USA is no longer cheap. Seeing your shipping I expect to pay upwards of 30.00 per kit now not the 20 I had figured.
it goes by weight then size here. once over a certain size inch wise it sky rockets on the shipping.
Your shipping for your size sounds about right.

I don't think they are making anything on the shipping since they are charging the card twice. backwards as it may be

Easiest way for them to make money on the shipping would be to charge all at once on the card and add a extra pound and a extra inch to the total size and weight. Then ship with the real dimensions and weight.

Charging the card a second time like they are they can't get any extra out of it for themselves.

Kinda like what you see on Ebay seller charges 12.00 to ship then packs it and sends it for 8.00 bux because you already paid the 12.00 and keeps the extra 4.00 bux. It's also one reason Ebay now charges a % on the shipping fee. So many were selling high end items for a 1.00 and charging 99.00 shipping to beat the listing fees.
Can't do that with the card being charged a 2nd time for the shipping. Ya it would cost the buyer more but the seller can't get that extra out of the card since it was charged and paid by the buyer.

Rich

[Heavy Metal Spike]

. . . Heavy Metal Spike shipping in the USA is no longer cheap. Seeing your shipping I expect to pay upwards of 30.00 per kit now not the 20 I had figured.
it goes by weight then size here. once over a certain size inch wise it sky rockets on the shipping. Your shipping for your size sounds about right . . .

Rich - you missed the point of my post - try reading again bud

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[Zeiram]

Speak of the devil. I no sooner cracked open this thread to read Rich's post than I heard a thump at the door. All my round 1 goodies showed up, and I've placed the one build up from John in a prominent place in the gallery. Anxious to crack open the unbuilt kits.

[tay666]

Dan's added another 8 pics to the 2 that he posted previously (just in case anyone missed them - scroll back 4 posts).

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Wow!
Such an impressive collection of built kits.

[root]

Zeiram glad it showed up.

How was the built kit packed?

Heavy metal spike
I know what you are saying. they didn't follow through with the verbal phone agreement.
Goes to show no special instructions will be honoured.

I will say if they packed your unbuilt kits that well I have more faith that my build ups will be packed well and make it here safely.

I don't really mind the extra cost of the shipping if they pack them that well, the way you described it.

The two kits I bought are worth a whole lot more then I won them for that's for sure and I'd prefer them to make it here in the same shape John left them in.

Same as Zeiram I'm going to display them as is.

Rich

[Zeiram]

My stuff was all well packed. Lots of peanuts and bubble wrap. The built up in that lot was very compact - a gillman bust. Kind of hard to screw up packing it. My daughter is itching to build John's Apatosaurus that I picked out for her.

The next one I get is a bit more fragile, but that one I'm prepared to repair and repaint since it's a faux bronze maquette.

[Heavy Metal Spike]

Heavy metal spike
I know what you are saying. they didn't follow through with the verbal phone agreement.
Goes to show no special instructions will be honoured. . . .

Not quite - but I can't be arsed to go through it again


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[Zeiram]

...and here it is...



Oh, and I answered my own question in the Photobucket thread. Yes you can indeed link to Instagram photos...