Being out of the scene for 4 or 5 years i haven't been to a swap meet in a while. (had to sell off everything...you know how it goes). I attended my first swap meet on Sunday,....all i have to say is thank God for the HAMB. I made a mental decision Sunday that everything i buy, sell, or trade, is gonna come through the HAMB. The prices at the meet were rediculous, and on top of that the quality was garbage. If you wanted a mid 80's steering column, you could have all you wanted. It is great to know that there are still a dedicated few in this country that are here to help each other find what they need, get what they want, and support the same interest as each other, WITHOUT SCREWING EACH OTHERS EYES OUT. I have never been egotistical enough to name any of my rods....... but the next one will be called "THE HECKERT HAMBER" Thank you fellow hambers, Robert Heckert
I agree. Old ladies with dishes and grandpa with every piece of rusted out steel he could find started moving in about 10-15 years ago. Plus, here in MN you need a state sales tax ID # so that they can collect taxes off anything you sell(That already had tax paid on at sometime).
Even though I rarely find anything I can't live without, I love to go to them. Lately just to wonder what the F are these idiots thinking!
buddy of mine & i hit some of the ones around here.....what a freakin joke, if they have it & you want it, the stuff is incredibly rare, & worth OMG. If they are buying..what you have is just junk & you should pay them to take it off of your hands. So now most of the time, we go, ride the race tractors around, buy the stuff we can actually afford from the cool folks, BBQ, and drink way too much beer
I was at a big swap big Southwest swap meet in Arlington on Sat and a guy was sitting there with the following as his inventory: 1 used shower head 1 unmatched set of spotlights 1 Castor 1 very small pile of misc rusted metal
I've gotten some very cool things at very cool prices at swap meets this year For Example: 1. a lifetime supply of wet sand paper 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, 40, 60, - you name the grit. its in there- for 5 bucks. 2. OxyAcet Weld Tank cart - big old wheels - 15 bucks. It looks brand new with the paint job I put on it 3. Bomber Seats out of a old plane - can't advertise the price, but after I sold my other seats, - I have 100 in them 4. Some cool old bullet cadillac parking lights in great shape - like 50 bucks 5. A Model Fire Wall for 31 Ford - 55 bucks jeez the list goes on. 6. An enitre 31 cowl for 100 bucks 7. Complete 350 SBC for 150 8. 8" ford center chunk for 20 bucks 9. Set 16" take off white walls - 20 bucks I love the swap meets, you just have to realize some folks don't really want to sell the items unless you give them dear money for it. they use the good stuff as eye candy to get you to look at the rest of the shit the have laying around. Don't get me wrong the HAMB classifieds rock, but I say don't give upon the swap.
down here the swaps are still AWESOME! the only really high priced stuff is the muscle car stuff, nova parts chevelle parts vette parts ,etc... but man roadster bodies, and grill shells and headlights and frames and all that good shit is still cheap and mostly rust free!! luckily for us the older kats havent realized that "R A T R O D D I N G" is the next "next big thing"...lol...
I went to the spring Shriner's swap meet in KC and bought a complete '54 Desoto grill pitted but usable for $200. seen them on the web for $600 and up. also hooked up with the same guy to buy '50 Lincoln taillights, complete units for $125; however I think the new best place to look is at garage/yard sales, I have a friend that bought a running model A coupe for $3500 at a garage sale drives it all over KC to shows, some of you may have seen it. it's greenish colored, the guy that owns it, name is JP. FF
Hey neighbor! There is another affordable swap meet coming up in the latter part of October in Hutchinson, KS I went two years ago, but missed last year. It had strombergs, hemi-s (yes plural) and it is where i finally found a doable Henry J. Most of the stuff had aged well in barns and such, no billet, not much chrome and most of those guys in Western Kansas still don/t know where Japan, or Taiwan are yet, (Bless their hearts!) HI BOB!
It's funny how people's perception of the same thing is different... I went to the very same swap meet you did and found a lotta great buys but they were for stuff I didn't really need. If I'd owned a 37 Buick, I'd scarfed up a perfect hood for $35...[looked at it for a friend but his hood is perfect] I scored a cleaned up old Torquer SBC intake for a paltry $50....I was really hoping to find a pair of running boards for my car but none were to be found that day...still 2 more swaps locally in the next two weekends. Manley this Sunday and Wahoo the next. I love the swaps around here.
I gotta say that the swap meets have taken a hit with the emergence of ebay, however, there are plenty cheap old venders that will have nothing to do with a computer. Deals can always be found, you just gotta look.
Okay, I'm biased because I run a swap meet. That being said, in the last couple of months I've gotten: 20-ton hydraulic shop press; $80 Metal cutting horizontal band saw: $40 (Like NEW, too) Heavy duty, 4-footed engine stand: $40 (package deal with above saw) Bright orange molded rubber wheel chocks: 2 @ $5 each, and use them all the time. New engine dolly to store my small block Chevy; $25 Hand full of welding Vise Grips: $3 each Aluminum water pump: $20 (well, actually worked a little something out with Modified Driver!) I know there's more, but I'm forgetting it right now. And I also know that I've passed up a LOT of really good parts, simply because I've got to control myself. (Me running a swap meet is like an arsonist owning a match factory) One of the biggest advantages to a swap meet I know, though, is that it's not necessarily what you get THERE, it's the leads you get on other things you pick up. The Webster show in Florida lead me to fender well headers and fiberglass doors for my '57 Wagon. I've got a lead from a guy up here for the one piece of trim I'm missing for the car (they don't repop 150 side trim) As a promoter, I should make a career out of hating ebay--but the reality is that ebay is PERFECT for specific items you're looking for, like a Weiand 3x2 intake for a 322 Nailhead. That's not something you're likely to find at the average swap. Looking for body panels, intakes, carbs, engines, rear ends, brake parts, wheels, tires, seats or any number of other "I'll know it when I see it" pieces, and the swap meet's it. -Brad
I was there too (bad turnout for vendors BTW) and saw the same guy. My wife asked me how exactly he could have even paid for his booth? It's not like you had to pay to get in (or even park) like this next weekend at TMS. I went to the Decatur meet (my first ever) this spring and loved every second of it. It seems like every meet after that was worse than the previous one. (Although I do seem to recall that Greenville was OK)
I was there too. Buying I found several decent deals. Some I could not live without and others I should have bought. The swap meets are not like they were 5-10 years ago. I was into muscle cars and would trip over T or A parts at that time. Prices were reasonable then. Parts are higher but what isn't. The deals are still there to be found. Swap meets are the best place to get rid of large items. Because they are very hard and expensive to ship. I am with Rocky - I am primed for Manley. Might even take stuff.
hey swap meets are still a great place to see stuff some good some junk,I got some alum mags at springfield mo. for 20. first time there had a great time met up with a bunch of HAMBER's there. was looking forward to saying hi to big olds and getting a hamb sticker from her,but got stood up o'well had a good time anyway.I'LL BE BACK though just got to keep going or they may stop having them. bigdoug
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