no surprise there. their prices were rediculous before, don't even want to know what they're going to charge for a 9 or 12" sluggo now. Its cheaper to buy eels and rig them, especially given that you can catch 10+ fish on a riggie compared to 1 or 2 on a rigged sluggo.

When will u ^%$#@ smarten/// up/// hooks are cheap// bait=free=big fish///stop %$#@ around.....<><:eyes:

Flap - Quite the witty retort. Well played.

You make rocking plugs. Why would you ever need to buy wood?

ha ha ha
 

eric,there like potato chips...I can't just have one:wave:

Hey stripercrazy------ the plug sale industry is going to need a bailout soon. that why i bought everything and making my own,and is way easier with the help of Mr.vega.
:nailem:

OK! I admit it. I have been stockpiling BMs and Smiths like crazy. Anyone who has a 401K knows that they have lost more than half their value with this &^%#$ mess in the financial sector. So I am investing in my retirement. I'm 61 and don't have time for "in it for the long haul". Plugs are a much better investment than the stockmarket right now. I am not ashamed of it either!!!:walk:

I'm a bit skeptical about the investment value of plugs. It seems to me that plug collecting, particularly of recent vintage stuff, has been a fad being driven by the large numbers of people, flush with disposable income, who have taken up surf fishing lately. Most will likely move on to other hobbies. Bandwagon collecting has a way of petering out as fast as it arrives. Now if eels become protected, bunker scarce, and the size limit on scup raised further, things might change. We'll see.

Get 5 Pt Jude tins for the price of 1 beachmaster...and they're blooofish proof! :rotf3:

:whackin::fury::cheers::bshake::wave::humpty::bana no:

Pete, you think you will be getting more Beachmaster Danny's?

10 min with a cast net, more bait then you know what to do with!! Hook swivel sinker you good to go!

I bet I don't own 5 plugs and I can't even tell you when i used one last?

well, there are only so many collectors out there. if they want to spend their hard earned money, good for them. that being said, desire will die down in time. i doubt these plugs will hold value over time for example like a pre-war lionel train. do you think an rm smith or bm plug will be on antiques road show 50 yrs. from now? not to mention, the newer generations are losing interest in the outdoors so who will show demand in the future? thanks to outfits like Salty's plugs and kits, the avg. fisherman today can still afford some fishing wood.

Yeah, the bubble has burst and the party is pretty much over. Looks like prices have stabilized and are actually beginning to drop a little. Like the man said, it's the economy, stupid.

To me it seems that there were three types of guys who were driving the plug market.

First there are the guys who appreciate the craftsmanship and skill of the plugmakers past and present. It really is an art form, much like carved duck decoys and I think there are those particular 'boutique' builders whose work will pretty much hold it's value. With the downturn it may drop a little but they will always have some worth from that perspective.

I always used to marvel watching Habs, the amount of time and care he took to produce his plugs. He loved what he did, he was proud of it and it showed. I never thought the hard work he put into his plugs then was reflected in the price he charged for them. If Habs could see what they fetch today, I think he'd just shake his head and laugh - but without a doubt he also would have been proud that people thought so much of them. For people who actually fish them - which includes me - they put fish on the beach like few others. And now it appears the same is true of John Jr. who has picked up where his Dad left off - it's that same level of committment and hard work.

Then there are the guys who swap them like commodities traders and they create their own market. Although it's increased somewhat, I don't see it as often here at S-B, but on some of the other sites it's a circus, largely driven by kids - oops, kids to me, anyway - who flip them like baseball cards, make a couple of bucks and then buy some more. It doesn't seem to me that they fish them, if at all, or intend to. I seriously doubt you'd find them in their bag if they have one. Also included in that group are perhaps older guys who don't have the chance to fish as much living away from the coast and maybe looking to buy a little extra mojo to up their odds.

The last group are the trust fund kids and broker types who have 'discovered' surf-casting, having moved on from windsurfing, which is now passe, or perhaps high-end fly-fishing. They're fairly easy to spot, with high-end reels in 'steal me' gold, all the accoutrements money can buy and the Brahman attitude to go with it. A lot of them will eventually get bored with it and move on to the next big thing, or suddenly find they have to divest themselves of some of this stuff now that the bubble has burst. A few may be able to duck and cover. Having dealt with that particular group in Newport all my life, I see very few in that last category, regardless of what they may think.

So...uhhh...what's the point? :huh: :huh: :huh:

Point is, it doesn't matter - whatever floats your boat.

Years ago I ran into Seldom Brown, an older gentleman in his late 70's at the time, who once fished with bamboo surf-rods and 12 thread linen line on a thumb-stall reel. He had also been a machinist and made his own molds for the tin squids he poured and fished with. I still have a couple of them today.

We were standing in the lot overlooking Graves Point on the Drive talking about the pick that morning and watching a fly-fisherman flail away into a head wind with little success and I commented on how unlikely he was to do anything at that point.

You know, Mr Brown told me, for him it doesn't really matter whether he catches or not. He spent all winter tying his flies, getting everything just right and thinking about today to pass his time just like we do. It's all about the anticipation. And if that's what helps him pass his time, there's nothing wrong with it.

Smart man.

Plugs=Baseball cards
 

I have lots of worthless baseball cards... maybe over a hundred thousand from the eighties... At that time they were hot and lots of interest... now they're junk. Just because the plugs are hot now doesn't mean much in 10 years if the demand drops or there is oversupply in the market. Now, Hello Kitty, that's another story. Should be over today Eben.

Now that is a smart man......