Banananana Daquiri, Anyone? (Pratchett Fans Unite)

[Growltigger]

LOLROFLMAO, I particularily like the feather in the hat...

The first edition LOTR was got bu one of my aunts, who worked at his publishers. It is a bit of a family heirloom and has ended up with me as I am the Tolien buff in the clan.

I am curious to know what it would be worth, probably, not as much as you would think, but given that a first edition signed Harry Potter went for quite a bit of money recently, maybe I should sell and use it to fund my new kitchen!!

Any offers?

[Gwaihir]

you would SELL that treasure?!?!

could you wait until i can afford it?

Seriously though, it could go for a LOT. (but i wouldn't sell it if i could avoid it)

hehe, actually the thing on top o' the hat is a star, only its tilted so far you cant really see it. He shoulda worn the "ZZ" part forward, but oh well. You also can't see the stars and stuff she stitched into it in gold thread - - only the letters are in sequins.

[Growltigger]

I would sell anything for the right price!!

The interesting thing is I had a valuation agent from the insurance company come round the house recently to value a few items. I have a bronze age sword (about 3000 years old) which was gifted to me by an uncle. That was valued at quite a bit and I am waiting to see what they come back with for the Terry Pratchet and the LOTR!

I am not sure how good he was though cos he marked down a rug I bought Last year as "Antique Persian" when in fact I bought it in Marrakesh for USD 270. Either a really good buy or the valuer is not so much of an expert.

I will let you know what he values the LOTR at

[Loser]

Originally posted by Gwaihir:
you would SELL that treasure?!?!

Originally posted by growltigger:
I would sell anything for the right price!!

Hoarding is a vice, but investing is a virtue.

Odd to think how many capitally blessed people are sinning against capitalism by indulging in their urge to hoard.

[Growltigger]

That is a fair point Loser. It is nice to have some things of value, as these add to the quality of your life in a way that money never does.

I inherited/bought/begged/borrowed/nicked a whole raft of antiques which in my old house (a very small cottage in the country) looked absolutely mint and calmed me down as I thought I lived in a georgian house.

When I moved to my new gaff, my style changed (well, my wife told me it would) and we have now gone contemporary. The antiques didnt fit so I have sold them and am investing in a new state of the art kitchen with all sorts of grnaite, marble and chrome stuff. Adds value to the house and I will enjoy it in a way that I wouldn't have enjoyed my old grandfather clock in the same way...

Just a pity I cant trade the current Mrs Growltigga in the same way for a younger model with bigger buffers

[Gwaihir]

Real stone in a kitchen - lookout, it is REALLY easy to scratch, and then it shows . . . friend of our family did this and regretted it - some of the synthetics are as bad or worse though.

I think we can safely assume from that comment that Mrs. Growltigga does not read this forum (either that or Growltigga will mysteriously disappear from it in the near future . . . )

Re: the valuation guy - - of COURSE he values stuff high - that way they can charge you more $$! If I were an insurance company, I would use whatever risk formula I use (which must be good, the companies make lotsa money), and send an "overevaluator" to a low-risk place, and an "underevaluator" to a high-risk place. Of course, that would be illegal, but if you kept track of who tends to value this way or that, you could make it virtually impossible to detect/prove. Maybe I'm way too cynical, but . . .

I wonder if Bill Gates buys insurance . . . he definitely shouldn't. I wonder what he would have to pay on his super-house (the one with the movie theater, etc etc etc) if he did . . .

[Growltigger]

Gwaihir, you are partly right about the insurance guys BUT, I won a legal case against my chaps some time ago.

I was burgled, and had several items stolen which were worth about �3,000. However, the insurance company said that my total contents were worth �85,000 and as I only had �60,000 worth of contents cover, they wanted to pro-rate down the �3,000 on a 60/85 basis.

I reverted by saying that I had paid for their valuer to opine on the value of my contents and he fixed the cover level ergo they had provided less insurance than I obviously needed therefore I was sueing them for negligence and breach of duty of care.....

They paid the �3,000....

As part of the deal I get, I also ask a friend of mine who is an auctioneer to check things out re antiques. If he says things are worht more or less, I query.

Takes forever but is worth it if the house ever burns down!!