[ssrock64]

Any thoughts on BaT introducing auctions? I wonder how many of their BaT Exclusive sellers will choose to go the auction route in the coming months.

 

[Magick Man]

Very nice! That's very similar to the SAN we have from EMC - it has three tiers of disks: 1) SSD for cache, 2) high speed drives for primary storage and 3) lower speed, high capacity drives for data used less often. The EMS software manages the entire thing dynamically - we just define the logical drive space we want and then let it do the rest. Works great! If a drive fails, the SAN will isolate that physical drive and then email us *and* EMC about the fault. EMC ships us a new drive that day, and all we have to do is pull out the bad drive and plug in the new - the SAN will automatically recognize the new drive and incorporate it into the array.

Tonight I took a couple of co-workers on a foodie adventure in Dallas. We went here: http://www.knifedallas.com/

It was PHENOMENAL!!! Great starters, great steak, great sides, great dessert. Highly recommended!!

Reminds me of a new local eatery that's only open from 6pm-10pm Mon-Sat, and only serves prime rib, domestic wagyu fillets, and a small selection of sides. The prime rib, however, is out of this world. Be prepared for sticker shock though, all the meats are sold by the ounce, like narcotics, and only slightly less expensive than drugs. They list the per ounce beef "market price" (with 6 oz minimum) on a blackboard as you walk in, which is updated daily (ex. Prime Rib - $5.25 /oz, Wagyu Filet - $8.50 /oz), and that's the only time they mention price until you get the check.

Any thoughts on BaT introducing auctions? I wonder how many of their BaT Exclusive sellers will choose to go the auction route in the coming months.

It's substantially less than ebay or live auctions in terms of fees, with a 5% buyer's premium and $250 listing fee, it's definitely something to keep an eye on.

 

[billybob_jcv]

Reminds me of a new local eatery that's only open from 6pm-10pm Mon-Sat, and only serves prime rib, domestic wagyu fillets, and a small selection of sides. The prime rib, however, is out of this world. Be prepared for sticker shock though, all the meats are sold by the ounce, like narcotics, and only slightly less expensive than drugs. They list the per ounce beef "market price" (with 6 oz minimum) on a blackboard as you walk in, which is updated daily (ex. Prime Rib - $5.25 /oz, Wagyu Filet - $8.50 /oz), and that's the only time they mention price until you get the check.
It's substantially less than ebay or live auctions in terms of fees, with a 5% buyer's premium and $250 listing fee, it's definitely something to keep an eye on.

Yeah, one of the menu items (that was not available) was this:

240 day dry aged 103 Niman Ranch rib eye 80/inch

That's $80/inch - I'm guessing that's thickness they are talking about - but I was afraid to ask. They had a specially built & dedicated temp & humidity controlled room where they dry-aged the meat. Their Wagyu was a bargain compared to your place - a 32 oz Wagyu rib eye (for 2) was $95.

 

[Magick Man]

I'm not sure those were the prices, I honestly don't remember but I think they were in that area. It is amazing though, worth every cent, despite the desecration my wife submits it to. Not only does she order all steaks medium (cremated), she also uses steak sauce. $8 sirloin = A1, $80 filet = A1, it makes no difference at all. Fortunately that place has its own style of spicy demi-glace that they offer on the side, or I'm sure she'd ask for A1. I don't say anything to her, even though it kills me a little inside.

--------------

The service company came out and upgraded the big TV to officially support 4k. All they did was swap out the interface box and that was it. I asked if the panel was fully 4k compatible and the guy said it actually has >8k addressable horizontal pixels, so in theory it will handle even 4x the resolution of 4k. So that made me happy, at least it's not already obsolete. I can't really tell a lot of difference with 4k sources compared to 1080p, it's a little sharper, but that tech is in its infancy so maybe it'll improve as the market becomes larger and there's more demand for 4k content.

 

[billybob_jcv]

I suspect "a little bit sharper" is about the most you can hope for. I have long thought that the primary improvements people see when they replace their TVs is not due to the resolution, but due to all the other improvements made to each new model - deeper black levels, brighter while still offering better contrast, more natural color saturation, better off-angle viewing, etc, etc. I'm also betting that your viewing room was originally designed with a viewing distance that was near to optimal for the 1080p display. So, increasing the pixel density might not make a huge difference. 4K should allow you to move closer to the screen for a more "submersive" experience without losing the smooth yet sharp quality. However, there's a limit to that - I personally hate sitting so close to a wide screen that I can't see the entire picture without moving my head.

If you are watching Animal Planet, and this is what you see, then you're probably sitting a little too close...

 

[Magick Man]

Yeah, we did move the seating area forward by ~3' and lowered the stand 4", and even that smallish amount made quite a difference. I'm with you, I don't mind sweeping my eyes from side to side to get the whole picture, but moving my head is too much. In action films things often happen too quickly for your neck muscles to react (also an issue when you sit too close to the screen in a theater). So, yes, for the most immersive experience, panning your eyes is good (.001 sec), rotating your head is bad (.1 sec).

 

[ThickGlasses]

 

[Magick Man]

The Mecum Harrisburg auction was okay. I did get to buy one car, an Esprit 25th Aniv (I already had a 20th Anniv), a car I've wanted for a while now, so that was great. I didn't expect it to sell so low, @$40k, but the reserve came off and I nearly fell out of my chair. That's a hell of a lot of car for that price, and even though it needs a little TLC, like a gearbox/diff rebuild, it's no big thing. We've grown accustomed to just rebuilding those with every exotic that comes in and Lotus is easy to source, unlike anything Italian.




Another thing that impressed me is the money that nice Panteras are starting to demand, a car that would have only brought $35k just 2 years ago is easily going for $50k, now. That's a really nice investment return (I called it back then ) with a lot of headroom left to go. This gorgeous Euro spec brought north of 60k, even with a questionable tune. A 514 CI crate engine is too much weight in the back of a Pantera and completely screws weight distribution, but whatever.




Also, BBs, Testarossas, 308s, and 328s have "officially" bounced now, they're climbing fiercely and I don't expect that to change. According to our dbase, nice (2+ cond) examples have gone up 18-26% in 6 months and will only go higher. So if you envisioned yourself in a 70-80s Ferrari the time to buy is now, before they appreciate even more. Just make sure to remember that maintenance and service expenses on these are climbing too, due to more limited part availability.

 

[billybob_jcv]

It's hard not to love the Esprit - so I will take the easy road and say that I love it - even though red & white would not be my first choice in a color scheme.

Are the fender flares on the Euro-spec Pantera stock? I know they did some of that after they stopped importing them to the USA, but those seems a bit more pronounced than I remember?

 

[Hutnicks]

The Esprit was not terribly expensive when new compared to other cars of its genre so I suspect auction prices are reflecting that.
 
Up till about 2005 you could get hold of a 308 for about what you paid for that 400 of yours. It was the bargain basement exotic. Prices were bound to rise.

 

[Magick Man]

In top trim the Esprit 25th was almost $100k, and in the last year the two sales we have recorded were in the low to mid-50s, and one had more miles than mine, so I'm going to continue with the belief that we got a great deal.

----------------


LaFerrari update: It's tested, ready, and sitting at the factory, it would be here by now if we weren't waiting for the 458 Speciale. I got a killer price on air freight and they're going to be shipped together on a single two-car flat, then after a brief stop in Charlotte for prep, hopefully they'll arrive together.

 

[Hutnicks]

In top trim the Esprit 25th was almost $100k, and in the last year the two sales we have recorded were in the low to mid-50s, and one had more miles than mine, so I'm going to continue with the belief that we got a great deal.

---

LaFerrari update: It's tested, ready, and sitting at the factory, it would be here by now if we weren't waiting for the 458 Speciale. I got a killer price on air freight and they're going to be shipped together on a single two-car flat, then after a brief stop in Charlotte for prep, hopefully they'll arrive together.

The pricing was still cheap for an "exotic" of the day. I suspect it was the engine that always held the Esprit back as far as collectors went. It had none of the mystique of a Ferrari or even Turbo Porsche motor for that matter.
 
Great! Alonso just took second place so your motor will be well seasoned and quite the little performer

 

[billybob_jcv]

The Lotus 2.0L 4 cyl engine produced ~50% more HP than other 4 cyl engines of the time. Unfortunately for Lotus, other manufacturers also knew how to make 6,8 & 12 cylinder engines...

 

[veyrongatti]

LaFerrari update: It's tested, ready, and sitting at the factory, it would be here by now if we weren't waiting for the 458 Speciale. I got a killer price on air freight and they're going to be shipped together on a single two-car flat, then after a brief stop in Charlotte for prep, hopefully they'll arrive together.

Will there be a wallpaper of them 2 side by side? 

 

[Magick Man]

You mean something like this?