Headcovers? Honestly? Headcovers?!

[jonnygrouville]

It wasn't that I didn't believe him, but when Geoff said people were paying more than USD100 for Scotty Cameron headcovers I had to see if for myself.

 

What an insane corner of the golfing world, one, in many ways, I wish I had never visited because it is worse than just headcovers. Seems that people are willing to pay extraordinary prices for hats (USD100), pitchmark repairers (USD700!), over a hundred bucks for a grip and USD150 for a shaft ring. I don't even know what a shaft ring is, other than yet another double-entendre for the extensive golfing back catalogue of things that sound really rude.

 

What is the script here?! And the light is bright and burning for the masses as these don't seem like prospective punts hoping to get someone drunk on eBay.

 

Honestly, what is going on here? I want to know.

 

The putters look nice. Not my bag, but might be something there I would use. Wouldn't pay walking-around money for it though.

 

We are hardly in sound economic times. These can't all be being bought by crazy hedge-fund managers or slicked-back Wall Street M&A'ers. Is it the Apple thing again? A market without elasticity? Mental.

 

If I wasn't already sitting down, I would need to go and have a sit down. Going to get a cup of tea instead.

[BIG STU]

Don't feel you are alone in the world. I asked the same question time and time again. I guess it is just different strokes for different folks. One of my firmest rules is that I will not game a putter pristine enough to put a cover on period. I really did not use any head covers for years on the course on anything. Only recently when metal woods came out did I use covers on them because I cant stand the metal clank when riding a cart. Then I always used mismatched covers until recently. I had really wanted some old school leather covers for a while but was not going to pay $50 or more apiece for them. I found some that are not real leather at PGASS for around $12 each and bought 4 because a friend of mine had given me a gift card for $50. They suit me well. On my vintage persimmon stuff I use covers while transporting in the car but pull them off before putting the bag at the bag drop. My persimmon stuff is not pristine but I like it like that I play it!! I guess it is what someone's cup of tea is or whatever floats their boat. it is their money

[Sean2]

$100? That's all? People will pay $2,500 for one.

[Fellaheen51]

Ego gratification Jonny. The need to impress others. What good are these uber expensive HC if no one notices them? Not really that difficult to find a whole lot of pretentiousness in golfdom. But it's their dime(s), they can squander them however they choose.

[wobgon]

People collect things.......Nothing new......Happens all the time in all walks of life.......I own none of them but have no problem understanding the process......Pretty much everyone owns something that others think is ridiculous.

[Kathy Marie]

Wait, wait, wait wait....


I'm still home sick, OK? But I just [i]can't[/i] believe what I'm reading here, are people ACTUALLY paying $2,500 for a Scotty Cameron [i]head cover?!?![/i]

Awaiting Enlightenment,





Kathy Marie

[jwjw1212]

It's crazy, everyone thinks sc is so mucher better than anything in the market, when in reality they are no better at all. Prices of sc is through the roof but if people are willing to pay stupid prices for his stuff good for him.

[scomac2002]

[quote name='Kathy Marie' timestamp='1444005686' post='12410264']
Wait, wait, wait wait....


I'm still home sick, OK? But I just [i]can't[/i] believe what I'm reading here, are people ACTUALLY paying $2,500 for a Scotty Cameron [i]head cover?!?![/i]

Awaiting Enlightenment,





Kathy Marie
[/quote]

I don't know what makes more sense; a $2500 SC headcover or a $1000 Ferrari Driver by Cobra where you pay an extra $650 for the red paint and logo?

[birly-shirly]

I don't see the attraction myself, but what the hell, if I never bought another high street frothy coffee, I could pretty soon be all Scotty'd up.

I'd get the hat, the ballmarker and the pitchmark repairer - but I'd skip the headcover because, courtesy of my coffee dividend, I'd be replacing my SC every six months. That ought to be enough to stay current, no?

[Itsjustagame]

Collectibles. Lots of people do it. Cars, coins, etc. I'm sure there are still people who have a room full of beanie babies.

[ScooterMcTavish]

[quote name='Itsjustagame' timestamp='1444048123' post='12411810']
Collectibles. Lots of people do it. Cars, coins, etc. I'm sure there are still people who have a room full of beanie babies.
[/quote]

LOL'd at the Beanie Babies. Kind of like the price run back in the day on Disney VHS movies.

I asked this question once in the putters forum, as I genuinely wanted to understand. My question was more about why would people collect them if they had no intrinsic value.

For example, if you collect rare, handmade putters, these do have an intrinsic and useful value: you can putt with them. Same with any collectible golf club, car, or motorcycle. All have a practical purpose (intrinsic value) outside their value as a collectible. Sure some items have an even higher value because of who owned it, but we are now placing a historical value on top of the intrinsic one.

And really, it comes down to scarcity, exclusivity, and prestige as to why people collect these Scotty items.

To me, this makes them a bad collectible (i.e. investment) as there is a narrow captive market for these. As time moves, all brands (including Scotty) lose their value, and the pool of those willing to pay exorbitant amounts for no/low intrinsic value items will dry up.

A set of irons used by Seve Ballesteros? Sign me up. A putter cover given to executive douchebag 1/100? No thanks.

[wobgon]

[quote name='ScooterMcTavish' timestamp='1444069448' post='12413396']
[quote name='Itsjustagame' timestamp='1444048123' post='12411810']
Collectibles. Lots of people do it. Cars, coins, etc. I'm sure there are still people who have a room full of beanie babies.
[/quote]

LOL'd at the Beanie Babies. Kind of like the price run back in the day on Disney VHS movies.

I asked this question once in the putters forum, as I genuinely wanted to understand. My question was more about why would people collect them if they had no intrinsic value.

For example, if you collect rare, handmade putters, these do have an intrinsic and useful value: you can putt with them. Same with any collectible golf club, car, or motorcycle. All have a practical purpose (intrinsic value) outside their value as a collectible. Sure some items have an even higher value because of who owned it, but we are now placing a historical value on top of the intrinsic one.

And really, it comes down to scarcity, exclusivity, and prestige as to why people collect these Scotty items.

To me, this makes them a bad collectible (i.e. investment) as there is a narrow captive market for these. As time moves, all brands (including Scotty) lose their value, and the pool of those willing to pay exorbitant amounts for no/low intrinsic value items will dry up.

A set of irons used by Seve Ballesteros? Sign me up. A putter cover given to executive douchebag 1/100? No thanks.
[/quote]
That would all be well and good except for my nephew who has made thousands of dollars buying and selling scotty headcovers.

[NYCgolfer17]

[quote name='ScooterMcTavish' timestamp='1444069448' post='12413396']
[quote name='Itsjustagame' timestamp='1444048123' post='12411810']
Collectibles. Lots of people do it. Cars, coins, etc. I'm sure there are still people who have a room full of beanie babies.
[/quote]

LOL'd at the Beanie Babies. Kind of like the price run back in the day on Disney VHS movies.

I asked this question once in the putters forum, as I genuinely wanted to understand. My question was more about why would people collect them if they had no intrinsic value.

For example, if you collect rare, handmade putters, these do have an intrinsic and useful value: you can putt with them. Same with any collectible golf club, car, or motorcycle. All have a practical purpose (intrinsic value) outside their value as a collectible. Sure some items have an even higher value because of who owned it, but we are now placing a historical value on top of the intrinsic one.

And really, it comes down to scarcity, exclusivity, and prestige as to why people collect these Scotty items.

To me, this makes them a bad collectible (i.e. investment) as there is a narrow captive market for these. As time moves, all brands (including Scotty) lose their value, and the pool of those willing to pay exorbitant amounts for no/low intrinsic value items will dry up.

A set of irons used by Seve Ballesteros? Sign me up. A putter cover given to executive douchebag 1/100? No thanks.
[/quote]

I'm am 100% sure you own something that someone else would consider to have no "intrinsic value". Why do people buy nice clothes, cars, jewelry etc. Its all the same. They buy it because it makes them feel good, look good (according to their societal beliefs) or just because they can. I do not personally own any circle T putters or head covers but I dont see anything wrong with it. If people want to buy "overpriced" head covers, that is their choice.

Do you think a Chanel handbag costs $3000 to make? What about those $200 jeans you wear? That $20k diamond you bought for your fiance? Its all the same basic concept.

[ScooterMcTavish]

Ruh roh Raggy! Think I put my foot in it. Forgot my disclaimer:

 

"I do not see anything wrong with people spending money on whatever they want to, especially if it makes them happy"

 

Nice to see some new folks in this part of the forum as well! Welcome! Please stay and talk about vintage clubs - maybe your visit here will help us get you to drink the kool-aid.

 

Mind you, isn't there a collectible Bettinardi putter cover with the Kool-Aid man?

 

 

 

 

OOOOOH YEAH!

 

Edit: Oh, the set of six covers above is being sold online for $1,750! Ooooh, yeah!

[jonnygrouville]

Interesting. Yes, I get collecting stuff. Believe me, I get collecting stuff.

Fair play to the secondary market who are trading these and not holding many thousands of dollars of stock. Kudos to you.

Clothing, I get. And I get it that people will feel better about themselves owning them and buying them, all itches that need to be scratched.

Putters, I definitely get as I own... a truckload. This might be the problem. Given the option of spending money on a cover or another putter, I would pick another putter every time. Every. Time.

This just seems a mad little market that doesn't make a lot of sense to me by a factor of ten. If you were to have asked me what a ridiculous price for a putter cover was, in this day and age, I would have been wrong by a zero. All personal opinion, obviously.

I am fully aware that I sound like an old man for someone in their thirties (I also think that squirrels are mocking me), I just would never have guessed these would be collectibles. Would have been shorting these like mad and losing my shirt in the process.

[jonnygrouville]

Christ and a bear, that is a lot of money.

Think of everything else you could get for USD1,750. I am at the moment, and there is nothing in my head but golf clubs. Maybe that is part of my problem. It is like suggesting to an alcoholic that he spends his money on some nice crystal tumblers when the same money could be spent on some more booze and it'll be just as good drunk straight from the bottle, from a toy plastic cowboy hat or an ornamental thimble.

And nothing "wrong" with any of it. We're free to spend our money on anything we want, wasn't saying that it is wrong or stupid or whatever.

Is interesting from a disposable income point of view, but spending money on golf stuff is a luxury we should all be grateful for, and my spending on old persimmon and hickory would be just as weird to the headcover crowd as that is to me.

And I could get a shedload of old timber for this sort of tin!

[birly-shirly]

[quote name='ScooterMcTavish' timestamp='1444079031' post='12414276'] Ruh roh Raggy! Think I put my foot in it. Forgot my disclaimer: "I do not see anything wrong with people spending money on whatever they want to, especially if it makes them happy" [/quote]

I am with you Scooter on the concept of intrinsic value, and I too subscribe to "people can spend their money on whatever they want", but only as the lesser of 2 evils, and I am absolutely NOT relinquishing my right (or anyone elses) to JUDGE the guy who feels the need to co-ordinate his putter cover with his pitchmark repairer as some form of display or self-validation.

I am all for the enterprise economy, but the end justification is the production of useful, or beautiful or entertaining things. A $2 scrap of faux-fur lined leather trading at $hundreds is none of those and I defy anyone to feel a twinge of sympathy if they hear of a speculator holding $$$ of inventory when SC, or Bettindardi, is suddenly passe, and the price crashes to its natural level.

[tlhorsh]

[quote name='Fellaheen51' timestamp='1444003590' post='12410152']
Ego gratification Jonny. The need to impress others. What good are these uber expensive HC if no one notices them? Not really that difficult to find a whole lot of pretentiousness in golfdom. But it's their dime(s), they can squander them however they choose.
[/quote]

exactly AMEN and AMEN...I don't care if you have a 2500 scotty if you can't putt it don't mean ****

[jsanatx]

I'm all for people spending their money on whatever they want, its theirs anyway. I just sold a SC HC for about 5 times more than for what I paid for it. It was a limited one, about 65 made, so I'm not complaining. If people are willing to pay, people are willing to sell, nothing wrong with that.

[stixman]

How does it go? 'A mug and his money are soon parted'

If you didn't take advantage of the condition then sure as God made apples, someone else will.
And you owe it to yourself to offer a learning opportunity to others, if you profit by that kindness then may it be seen as Karma

.

[Ironmaster Oddities]

It takes all kinds of squirrels (such as we) to make the giant squirrel cage we call the Earth spin around.

In addition to classic golf clubs, i collect old toy marbles. They are similar to the kind most of us played with as kids.
And I have spent some crazy money on them at times. Uncle Bob paying crazy money for some antiquated item? Who'd a thunkit? On this note, I received a call from a person whom I have never met. Actually, I have received a dozen calls from him.
He wants to pay me over USD $7000.00 for two boxes containing 70 marbles! Each time he has called, his offer has gone up.

How does this relate to head covers, you ask? Well, the collector value of the marbles in the boxes is probably a little over $2000.
So he is willing to pay $5000.00 for the 2 pasteboard boxes. (marble covers?)
Insane, you say. Even crazier is the fact that I have not agreed to his price...yet.

How about the rest of you club Hos? What other obscure and virtually useless items do you collect? I am betting that several of us have or
had such hobbies. philatelist? numismatists? arrowheads? gemologists? rockhounds? knives? firearms? Automobiles? At least, the first two have some intrinsic value.

Pooling all of our Priceless/worthless assets, we could probably outfit a museum.

[wobgon]

[quote name='Ironmaster Oddities' timestamp='1444327773' post='12428680']
It takes all kinds of squirrels (such as we) to make the giant squirrel cage we call the Earth spin around.
In addition to classic golf clubs, i have collected old toy marbles. They are similar to the kind most of us played with as kids.
And I have spent some crazy money on them at times. Who'd a thunkit? on this note, I received a call from a person whom I have never met.
He wants to pay me over USD $7000.00 for two boxes containing 70 marbles!
[/quote]
I think he has lost his marbles.........

[Ironmaster Oddities]

[quote name='wobgon' timestamp='1444328959' post='12428786']
[quote name='Ironmaster Oddities' timestamp='1444327773' post='12428680']
It takes all kinds of squirrels (such as we) to make the giant squirrel cage we call the Earth spin around.
In addition to classic golf clubs, i have collected old toy marbles. They are similar to the kind most of us played with as kids.
And I have spent some crazy money on them at times. Who'd a thunkit? on this note, I received a call from a person whom I have never met.
He wants to pay me over USD $7000.00 for two boxes containing 70 marbles!
[/quote]
I think he has lost his marbles.........
[/quote]
My wife accuses me of the same affliction.

[ScooterMcTavish]

Interesting Uncle Bob, and I sincerely hope you are feeling better. Was thinking about you the other day when putting the M75W back into play.

Possibly part of it is growing up relatively poor, but I simply cannot spend money on items without an intrinsic useful value. Certainly I collect vintage stereo equipment, but it is usually done on the cheap, and the value I receive back in listening enjoyment is exponentially greater than that paid.

[NYCgolfer17]

[quote name='Ironmaster Oddities' timestamp='1444327773' post='12428680']
It takes all kinds of squirrels (such as we) to make the giant squirrel cage we call the Earth spin around.

In addition to classic golf clubs, i collect old toy marbles. They are similar to the kind most of us played with as kids.
And I have spent some crazy money on them at times. Uncle Bob paying crazy money for some antiquated item? Who'd a thunkit? On this note, I received a call from a person whom I have never met. Actually, I have received a dozen calls from him.
He wants to pay me over USD $7000.00 for two boxes containing 70 marbles! Each time he has called, his offer has gone up.

How does this relate to head covers, you ask? Well, the collector value of the marbles in the boxes is probably a little over $2000.
So he is willing to pay $5000.00 for the 2 pasteboard boxes. (marble covers?)
Insane, you say. Even crazier is the fact that I have not agreed to his price...yet.

How about the rest of you club Hos? What other obscure and virtually useless items do you collect? I am betting that several of us have or
had such hobbies. philatelist? numismatists? arrowheads? gemologists? rockhounds? knives? firearms? Automobiles? At least, the first two have some intrinsic value.

Pooling all of our Priceless/worthless assets, we could probably outfit a museum.
[/quote]

Serious question, How do you know a valuable marble from a non valuable one?

[ScooterMcTavish]

This is officially the most ADHD section of the GolfWRX forums.

[Fellaheen51]

Being that marbles are the topic of the moment (or how I lost them), also curious about this. The Mrs. has a leather bag and a cigar box of marbles that were her late father's as a child (early '30's). Just asked her about them and near as she recollects, they were clay, Cat Eyes, some kind of "swirly glass ones" and several larger ones (weren't they called boulders?). Could be setting on a gold mine here and not even know it. Not even sure where they're boxed up in the basement.

Holy threadjack.......but HC have sorta run their course.

[NYCgolfer17]

I know we are way off topic here now but this really started to intrege me as I know my grandfather has about a gazillion marbles from way back when. How does one determine value?

Also, ran across this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BLACK-COW-BLUSHING-MINT-MOO-PELTIER-GLASS-CO-2-/291562900680?hash=item43e280ccc8

[Ironmaster Oddities]

[quote name='NYCgolfer17' timestamp='1444335470' post='12429340']
[quote name='Ironmaster Oddities' timestamp='1444327773' post='12428680']
It takes all kinds of squirrels (such as we) to make the giant squirrel cage we call the Earth spin around.

In addition to classic golf clubs, i collect old toy marbles. They are similar to the kind most of us played with as kids.
And I have spent some crazy money on them at times. Uncle Bob paying crazy money for some antiquated item? Who'd a thunkit? On this note, I received a call from a person whom I have never met. Actually, I have received a dozen calls from him.
He wants to pay me over USD $7000.00 for two boxes containing 70 marbles! Each time he has called, his offer has gone up.

How does this relate to head covers, you ask? Well, the collector value of the marbles in the boxes is probably a little over $2000.
So he is willing to pay $5000.00 for the 2 pasteboard boxes. (marble covers?)
Insane, you say. Even crazier is the fact that I have not agreed to his price...yet.

How about the rest of you club Hos? What other obscure and virtually useless items do you collect? I am betting that several of us have or
had such hobbies. philatelist? numismatists? arrowheads? gemologists? rockhounds? knives? firearms? Automobiles? At least, the first two have some intrinsic value.

Pooling all of our Priceless/worthless assets, we could probably outfit a museum.
[/quote]

Serious question, How do you know a valuable marble from a non valuable one?
[/quote]

It is hard to explain. But I have spent a lot of time studying them and hanging around other people who knew a whole lot more about marbles than I did.
After a while, you can tell. Many companies made marbles from 1910 through the 1960's. on a lot of them, you can tell who made the mib by the way the colors of glass are swirled. Before 1910, virtually all marbles were made by hand.Most of those were made in and around Lauscha, Germany.
But the collectable machine-mades were all from the USA. After the war, Japan started making Cat-eyes and flooded the market. That was about the end

[Ironmaster Oddities]

[quote name='ScooterMcTavish' timestamp='1444336570' post='12429402']
This is officially the most ADHD section of the GolfWRX forums.
[/quote]
Scotty,
what makes you say that? we are always on topic here. Speaking of topics, that rhymes with tropics. How's is the weather in Tahiti, I wonder?