Old Town Seliga?

[MGC]

This recent Seliga listing in the classifieds is puzzling...... the canoe has what appear to be Old Town labels attached to it. Is there a story associated? http://wcha.org/pp-classifieds/showfull.php?product=1315&bigimage=ps_2012_01_30_20_04_491.jpg

Further with respect to Seliga canoes, what drives the valuation of these? Certainly Joe was a bit iconic. It's clear that he built very few canoes. His hull design is interesting.... what doesn't seem logical are the asking prices for these...? Are they really that special that they should command (asking) prices 3 or 4 times an expected value? What is really behind the desirability?
Is this a case where limited supply and a small group of collectors have escalated prices beyond reason...... like with the trade models?

 

[Benson Gray]

I contacted the seller who acknowledged that the wrong pictures were attached to that classified advertisement. I expect that he will correct them shortly. He did provide pictures of a Seliga with serial number 006464 17 which my records show as the second one of six that were made in 2000 which was his last year. I have no experience with the selling prices for Seliga canoes but this does seem a bit optimistic. Most of the canoes (in all sizes) with unusually high asking prices don't sell so this one will probably not be heading off to a new home any time soon.

Benson

 

[Dan Lindberg]

Ya, I was e-mailing with the seller and he also sent me some pics. I responded that he should put them on the c-list ad and the WCHA ad, but it's been a while with no changes yet. Strange.

As for the canoe, yes, it's on the list, built on 2000, not the last year though, the seller is a relative of the original purchaser, no idea what he paid for it.

As for value, I think he has it priced about right, at least to start. It might be a little aggressive, but that's OK. It is a very "close to new"/unused canoe. In years past, at the peak of the market, several (?) new Seligas sold in the 10K range, I haven't inspected this one so don't know how close to new it is. I'm convinced the market is down now. Don't know how much. I did tell him I thought it would take a while to find the right buyer with deep pockets. If he wants a quicker sale, he might consider something in the 5-7k range. If it was mine, I wouldn't go lower that 6500, maybe even 7k.

As for why - Joe built 619 canoes & boats plus several book shelves. About 1/3 went to the local youth camps, the biggies being Widji and Sommers. The result of this is that thousands of kids from many states got exposed to Joe's canoes and many came away with the (strong) desire to have one of their own. As they have aged, some have the ability to pay a lot for one of Joe's canoes. With less than 600 out there, if one want's one, you kinda have buy when one is found.

BTW - Joe passed in Dec 2005, and he completed 4 canoes that year.

Dan