[meteorite-list] Blaine Reed Tucson Notes & AD

[tracy latimer]

The one and only year I have been able to attend the Tucson show so far, I 
was fortuante enough to make Blaine's room one of my first stops, and I 
still have (and will treasure!) the small slice of Imilac I got from him.  
The auctions are nice, and I met twice as many people there as I did by just 
cruising around, but usually auction prices seem to drift out of my reach.  
Auctions are for showpieces and rarities, the dinner-plate size slice of 
Brahin that will become the focus of a collection, and as such, it becomes a 
choice between several smaller pieces or one show-stopping number from an 
auction.

The biggest hurdle I found to my buying/collecting/visiting was trying to 
track down where all the meteorite dealers were located.  Once I had done 
that, then I had to drive all over creation to visit individual seller's 
rooms scattered all over Tucson.  Many meteorite people come to Tucson 
exclusively to talk story with all the other meteorite collectors and 
dealers.  Maybe it would be beneficial for as many sellers as possible to 
congregate in one or two venues.  I know I would much rather spend time 
looking at Lunars and other rare achondrites than driving, parking, paying 
for parking... you get the idea.  Also, if most of the dealers are at one or 
two hotels, going to the management of that hotel and saying "We would like 
to rent out your restaurant for a party on this evening, and 20% of the 
people who are staying here will attend" gives you a lot more buying power 
suddenly.

JMHO and 2 cents.
Tracy Latimer

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