Great Marketing

[RangerDan]

I am so gullible.  Winchester has figured out that if you put "THE DUKE" on a box of ammo and call it 'commemorative', that people like me will pay any amount of money to have it!  Well it worked.  I bought a box of .45's and a box of 30-30's. 

Hmmm, commemorative ammo huh?  What's next?  They sure will look good in a gunbelt!


Dan

[St. George]

Winchester marketed that ammunition to those who owned the companion commemorative weapons and to those who revered 'The Duke'.

As such - the ammunition and weapons and other related 'collectables' only have significant value when un-used, un-cycled and un-opened.

The original output of this ammunition wasn't priced significantly higher by Winchester - it got higher as folks speculated on it's eventual rarity, so any and all exorbitant profit is going into their pockets and not to those of the manufacturer.

Enough did that to where it's getting somewhat scarce and a little higher in perceived value every day - especially when in boxes that show zero shelf wear, or that were sealed at the time of initial purchase in hopes the price would rise.

Scouts Out!

[Deadeye Don]

I wont own ammo I dont plan on shooting unless it is old original ammo that is.

[St. George]

When the various 'John Wayne Commemorative' market opened - there were Colts, Winchesters, a so-marketed Bianchi gun rig (BTW - El Paso Saddlery made their rig way before the commemoratives), medallions, books, booklets, tokens, ammunition, 'special boxed sets' of movies - and so on and so forth.

It happened towards the middle-to-end of the 'Commemorative Firearm' wave of popularity and at the very beginning of the C&WAS movement and there were fans of all stripes who just couldn't live without some sort of 'souvenir' - no matter how recently manufactured/contrived.

'If' one owns the commemorative firearm - then seeking the companion pieces is a good investment idea, as folks will buy 'complete sets' way faster than they'll invest the time it takes to assemble one.

The significant price increase happens on the secondary and tertiary markets - where the buyer is at the mercy of the seller.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!