? on a 59

[Rigs]

On the other site, a guy has a lefty 59 listed for $800 I think...has a bubinga I beam riser...This seems high to me...what's your thoughts?

 http://***********.bowsite.com/tf/lw/classdetail.CFM?id=63459

Thanks in advance.

Happy hunting,
Jason

[wadde]

A few years ago they were bringing those kind of prices. In todays market they are bringing much less. It is high for todays market.

[Rigs]

What would be a good fair price?

Happy hunting,
Jason

[Blackhawk]

There are lots of factors that figure into a bow's worth, but first and foremost is just how badly a person wants it.  If it's a bow that fits your wants and you have the funds, go for it.  

Many of us have picked up bows at prices that others would consider "high".  I have a good buddy that "would not give $20.00 for a barrel full of Black Widows", but I love'em.

A '59 with bubinga, in a good hunting weight, has no holes, and excellent condition, is probably worth that to some buyer out there.  

I would not buy it as an investment only, however, there is a good chance that the value will only increase in the future.  Besides that, you will get to shoot it and look at until that time comes.  

[wadde]

There have been quite a few of them on that auction site lately. Shop around completed auctions and you can see what they have been going for these days.

[johnnyrazorhead]

I agree with Lon.In the end it's whatever someone is willing to pay for it.I believe a 1967 1/2 Super Kodiak just sold for over $700.00.That seemed high to me but if that's what someone wanted you wouldn't find one much cleaner.It was clean but low poundage.The '59 Kodiak is one of the most beautiful and sought after of the Bear Kodiaks.That one is 48 or 49# I believe,a nice weight for most of us.
 In the past,the fact that the bow is a lefty would normally hinder the value,but it seems thee are more and more lefties shooting these vintage Bear bows now than ever before.I'm sure there were far fewer left-hand '59 Kodiaks made than right-hand so if I were a lefty looking for a nice,original '59 Kodiak to collect and/or shoot,the price seems reasonable to me.Not that many of them show up,at least not that I've seen.

[jackdaw]

A longtime trad archer buddy of mine has a 59' Kodiak that appears to be "showroom new" that he wants to sell. It has NOT been refinished and he's holding hard on that $750.00 selling price.I didn't buy it but nice 59's around here have once again climbed over the $600.00 priceline. Any thing on any given day is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. I SHOULD buy it......a good 59' is getting hard to find again.......

[450 marlin]

I still have the Kodiak. I have more in it and thought it was a good deal,hunted two years with it but have another I want more. It is slim pickings when trying to find a LH Kodiak in a weight over 45# be it a 1959-60 or 62 bow there just are not many that come up for sale.

[cacciatore]

They are pretty rare in hunting weight.I have seen maybe 3 in the last 4 years being lefties.
I have just received a nice one 55# and purpleheart side window.

[OldSkoolArcher]

That bow honestly has just about everything going for it. I think the price is right where it should be. I can only imagine how hard it would be to find the same thing again....

The LH's are seen alot less often. Glad I am a rightie!!!!

[d. ward]

my thoughts are if you are over 50 years of age and have no one to pass the bow along to when your gone.Do not buy them as an investment.Because we may not live long enough to see the prices go up as high as they were at one time.That may take another 20 years before you see two dudes going head to head on a friday night for your normal run of the mill Kodiak.And it ends up going for over 2 g's.Not going to be the norm for many years to come.Believe me I bet there are very few guys who are willing to take their 401 K's out and buy bows with it like some guy's did years ago bd

[shick]

We're starting to see a few collections being broken up for whatever reasons; lack of interest, been there done that; lack of money, get what you can if you need it; make them available for 'the new guy', I'm getting too old for this; Nothing to 'dictate' a going price.  Right time, right place, or not.  Not very stable or predictable.  I believe we 'older gentlemen' are all starting to move some things we sat on forever in order to 'salvage something'. As Doc says, if we have no one to pass them on to or who would be interested, do what you can.  Just my thoughts.
Denny

[Pack animal]

I offer this long winded oration as an explanation of change…
I was shooting at rabbits with my Grandfathers single shot .22 short before I even entered school and grew up a firearm shooter,(rifle, pistol and shotgun).In my 30s I became a bow hunter,(both compound and crossbow)… I wouldn’t have paid for a recurve of any kind… a couple years ago I was given an old Pearson.  One Saturday afternoon shooting and I was hooked…Telling a friend of my fun, of my sons, the grandson trying, and the retriever doing what he does best, retrieving,(some of the arrows didn’t make it); I was given another old Pearson.  Both old bows were RH and I am LH, so I sold them to get a lefty…I still wouldn’t have given $100 for a bow…But I did pay $70 for one…As my interest and enthusiasm grew so did my quest for knowledge…oh and so did the buying this one and selling that one…In a quest to find “THE ONE”…The new custom bows didn’t do it for me…”but the old ones did”….And so the obsessive gathering…I mean collecting began.
I am over 50…This yr I didn’t hunt with a rifle at all…But I did with a 1964 Shakespeare LH400, a 1954 Bear Polar and a 1956 Bear Polar,(different times of course),…My 4 year old grandson and his Bear Goblin  joined me one time out…We didn’t fling any arrows, but we watched a doe 50’ away as she watched us.  Afterwards we quietly walked up and looked over the does’ tracks and watched another deer slip through the trees; a day to remember.
This past weekend my wife seeing the addicted… I mean enthusiastic gleam in my eye agreed to accompany me to Kazoo to the traditional archery expo so I could feed my habit… I mean hobby.  And there I cast my lustful gaze upon… I mean saw a 59 for only $750…when I got home I started assessing what I could sell from the “collection” in order to be able to buy the 59…
 
And so; I went from not being willing to spend a penny, to having no rational reason why I  now was considering spending $750…all for the simple pleasure of flinging a few arrows…
First bow…..Free
Next bow….possibly $750
Last bow…unknown
Afternoon with my grandson watching deer and having and arrow notched….”PRICELESS”

[tuscarawasbowman]

You have to remember also that prices are influenced by memories sometimes. For example I have a 59 kodiak that I would not sell and if I did would be vastly overpriced. Probably not conciously but it would take a lot just because my neighbor gave my dad that bow when I was 12 or 13. Thinking that a guy I held in high regard held that bow at one time drives the price up for me anyhow.
Wish you the best whatever you decide.

[Ron Roehrick]

If my memory serves me correctly I read some where that the babinga sight window was a rare in the 1959 kodiaks.

[Shane Reed]

Guys,  I just purchased what I believe to be a 59 Kodiak. I need someone to look at pictures to confirm. If it is a 59 I got a good deal, if not I made a mistake. My E mail is [email protected] if anyone is willing to take a look for me. Thank YOu

[LPN]

Originally posted by Ron Roehrick:
If my memory serves me correctly I read some where that the babinga sight window was a rare in the 1959 kodiaks.

I've read that in a couple of threads myself,,noted collectors having seen/know of only one or two and those were probably right handed.

[hayslope]

I've seen a couple of them in the last year or so.  They are pretty rare.  I just had mine refinished (it had already been refinished once and really needed a "facelift").