Norvel madness!
 

Whaaaaaat?????

Check out: item=330210265918

Shoot, for that price I'd buy two AP .061s and take my chances!

RE: Norvel madness!
 

Not even gonna look-I already know it was the AME .061R/C that went for $98 last night! Glad I didn't get up early and bid on it.

RE: Norvel madness!
 

On a positive note, not much more than a tank of gas. The buyer must be some trust funded kid with his first check.

RE: Norvel madness!
 

Geez, when you put it into those terms suddenly it's not a big deal. Mind you with a comparison like that I'm not sure if it's so much about the engine as the price of a tank of gas.....


It's not just Norvels either. I'm looking at thinning the engine box out so I've been watching prices over the last week. Two never been run PeeWee .020 engines went for $53 and $56. That caught me off guard a bit.

RE: Norvel madness!
 

Back when norvel came out with there new ceramic cylinder design they had a sale on there earlier engine for $20.00 each. I dug deep in the wallet and purchased 15 engines. 10 were BigMig.061 R/C(B6R) 5 were AME.049 R/C. At the time it bothered me for a while spending that kind of money. Needless to say it bother me any more!

RE: Norvel madness!
 

I wonder how many of the people that buy these engines at these crazy prices have any intention of atually using them on an ongoing basis. Or do they see them as some kind of investment? - they see that the prices have been rising faster than the price of petrol, and think that in 6 months or a year, they can put them back up for auction and double their money.

RE: Norvel madness!
 

Well, the seller was also shipping worldwide and it came with 2 props and a tool, so I'm not that supriced.

I've seen used Norvels go for about 80$, now that's buying the pig in a sack as we would say here...

RE: Norvel madness!
 

It might be that you are seeing "Pee Wee's" in your engines, and other people are seeing "Oh Cool, a piston, cylinder, con rod and glow head for my TD .020 for only $53!!!"

I'd bet if you listed just the cylinders and heads separately you'd get a lot more than that..

RE: Norvel madness!
 

I'm probably more guilty than most, In Norvels alone I have 23 1/2A's and 6 .074's. In my defense, I give a lot of motors away too, but I see buying engines today as an investment in my hobby-there will be no more 1/2A in modeling beyond what we as hobyists produce in the cottage industry. On it's face, that means no more motors and no more plugs. The plugs are an easier nut to crack, even needles-but motors will never be coming back. What you buy right now will have to last you a lifetime, and they won't get cheaper until enough of the people who care about them die off that they aren't recognized as valueable anymore. By that time we'll be old enough not to care, so get while the getting is good. You punishment for failing to heed my warnings will be being sentenced to a lifetime of putting dummy cylinders on electric models, spraying them down with castor oil, and yelling "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" every time you take off.

:D

RE: Norvel madness!
 

I would guess that most of these people are buying them as an investment, as modelers usually have other means of acquiring great deals other than fishing in the Bay (i.e. friends, older club members, that little LHS in the next town over, flea markets, etc...).

I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I refuse to pay more than 50% of an items original selling price for excellent condition used engines, and no more than the original selling price for NIB models (excluding way cool, gotta have vintage engines). I don't care how "rare" an engine is, or is becoming, I'm not going to pay an arm and a leg for it because it might not be around in a couple of years. I'm not saying that I don't shop the Bay - through patience I've gotten some fantastic deals there - like the $.99 NIB Fox .40 RC!

Everybody has a price that they're willing to pay, and because I'm one frugal SOB (and darn proud of it), I'm ensuring that there'll be a lot of engines in the Bay to go around. You all are welcome. ;)

For the most part though, I'm with DD - get 'em while you can. However.... there's an interesting trend going on in the electric plane groups - I'm seeing more and more "Electric to Glow" posts popping up, and there's even a RC heli pilot at work who was a die-hard E-guy six months ago, but now he's flying a glow again and is poo-pooing electric. Could it be just a fad? Are the real RC pilots going to hang in there long enough to kill the E-fad? [X(]

-Joe

RE: Norvel madness!
 

The bidding at eBay often goes nuts.

I just watched a well used PAW .03 with the control line/free flight venturi and needle valve go for more than the price new one with the R/C carburettor. :eek: I suppose some day there will be something really worthwhile offered tthat I'd bid on to my own limit, but until then I'll just look in the various stores for "buy it now" items and forget the hassles.