Rc 81 on ebay now...

[SIGNGUY]

I once again, agree with Moondawg.. value can only be determined by what someone is willing to pay, and if someone out there really wants one to complete his collection and money is no object ,maybe he'll BIN or bid high and get it just to complete his collection. But what we all have to remember and help educate the "others" out there that whatever this machine sells for, doesn't automatically set the Bar and therefore all machines that are left are now valued at that price.. We see it all the time with Anything Coca-Cola. The little old lady or out of touch anitique dealer thinks, "We'll if it says COKE on it, it's worth a fortune" simply not true.. but supply and demand and what one is willing to pay. Ok have I just repeated what everyone was just talking about???

[sodaworks]

Believe it or not, I seen a restored one sell a couple of years ago in Bakersfield for 23K!! '>

[Marvin]

Quote (sodaworks @ Aug. 17 2006,11:01)

Believe it or not, I seen a restored one sell a couple of years ago in Bakersfield for 23K!! '>

I believe to the right person the machine could be worth that much.  Compared to that the one listed now is a bargain!  

I guess my earlier post made it seem I collected for the "investment."  While that is part of the overall scheme of things, I collect stuff I want that I can also afford.

I also have a small collection of gas globes.  What I have done in the past is to sell a few off to buy "better" ones.  What I have seen happen in the last few years is that the lower to mid priced globes have either leveled out or dropped in value.  I think alot of the leveling of price has to do with a large number of collections that have been sold off in the last few years. Just the opposite has happened with the rare pieces they keep going up! And selling for record prices
I am happy with the pieces I have currently, but if the right piece comes along I'll never get what I need to out of some of my pieces.  

The demand for soda machines seems to be steady, it seems like quite a few people make a decent living restoring these machines.  And the prices for the most part are fair so that anybody can enjoy the hobby.  I like being able to use and enjoy looking at my machines.  I can't do anything with globes except look at them.

Maybe this auction will surprise me and sell for more than the BIN.

A RC 81 is way out of my league and probably will always be.  Would I give 10 grand for one?  No way.  If I could find one for 4000.00 I would have a fire sale I may even throw in my wife.

Marvin

[MoonDawg]

About 10 years ago I found an original RC 81 exactly like the one for sale now, except that it had no chips or dings. It's only problem was the red letters had somehow been buffed off and the lady selling it thought it was a Coke machine painted yellow.
      She said she would accept nothing less than $500.00. When I get some time I will try and find the pictures.  Even back then, before internet and I was new to soda machines, it only took a few phone calls to fetch $5500.00.  Sure wish I'd kept it!!!!!!!!

[SIGNGUY]

I can just hear the little old lady... "Listen here sonny, this here is a very valuable Coke machine and I wont take a dime less than 500 for it , got it!!!"  if she only knew!
Great story!!!'>

[Gumbo]

Well it did not reach the reserve price.

[coke_and_stuff]

It didnt do as well as I thought it would.

Joey

[Skeleton Man]

I love the look of the old roundtops, but I'm a young guy with a small income and a tight budget, so buying one is out of the question. If ever I won the lottery I might consider at least one though '>

[Eric]

Skeleton Man... A round top will come your way! they're out there.... sitting in sheds, garages
barns, there sre people STILL that have these and just don't know what to do with them.
You'll see.... look hard enough, ask around, tell everyone you know what you're looking
and one will come your way! Then you can share the story with all of us!

davethebirdman made a statement about jukes and I'd like to chime in.  I never understood why my Seeburg 100R or Wurlitzer 1700HR jukes were worth so much less than my coke machine (CS-72).  Coke machines are frankly easier to restore than a jukebox of the same era.  I have three Seeburg 100Rs that could be restored, but I couldn't get $700 a piece for them.  If you had a 'restorable' CS-72 or CS-96, you could get $1000 each.  It doesn't cost much to completely restore a coke machine.  A jukebox, on the other hand, will set you back $1000 for the re-chroming and countless hours for rebuilding the amp, selector, receiver, coin mech, and all the veneer work.  In the end, the Juke is worth perhaps $4000 restored.  About the same retail price as the coke machine.  My game room has 4 pinball games, 2 jukeboxes, and the CS-72.  I have the Wurlitzer 1700 up in my office.  The CS-72 gets attention, but my son (2 y.o.) loves the jukebox.  You're right about 45s, but I got 5000 in one lot from a route owner for around $150.  They span the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.  I think iPODs and other devices have made jukeboxes moot in some respects.  They look nice, but few people can justify $4,000 for one.  They still make coke machines and frankly they're not that different than ones from the 1950s.  The technology is not that different.  With the coke machines, I'm just waiting for someone to create 'repro' embossed RC and 7up 81 parts.  It seems it's just the front door.  How difficult would it be to create that one part and then 'create' one?  Wurlitzer has a few reproduction machines and these appear to keep selling.  If they can make a reproduction Vendo 44, couldn't they also make a reproduction VMC-81 with Coke / 7-Up and RC options?  When the Wurlitzer 1015 came out as a reproduction, it tanked the market in some respects.  You don't see people shelling out $10K for an original when you can get a repro that "OK" for most people for $4,000 (less used).  I'm glad I stumbled upon this hobby because it's frankly easier to deal with than Jukes.  Once I restore my last juke, I'm out of that hobby ... too much work.