This guy calls me up and wants to know the value of his Stark player
piano and a Wurlitzer nickelodeon.

The value of either is what ever price you can get for them.  The
sellability is determined by the market's ability to "absorb" them.
Sellability determines price/value.

In this market area, player pianos are at their lowest.  The dealers have
them marked at $2000 and $3000 for basic players, and they aren't selling.
The newspaper has them listed for $1000 to $1500 and they aren't selling.
(All listings indicated are for players that work.)  Stripped players --
ones with their player mechanisms removed -- are not selling as straight
pianos for much more than $700.  (It's sad, since most players from the
'twenties were put in really well-built pianos.)

So anyway, I told this guy the player was only worth $1500 tops if he
were to try and sell it out of his home (realistic numbers).  This price
includes 40 rolls and matching bench.

The nickelodeon -- I hadn't a clue as to it's value, and I informed him
of the fact that the unit was a collector's item and had value only to
that small market that was willing to buy such a beast.  As a last effort
to come up with a number, I promised him I would post this query on the
Internet and see what transpires:

 -->> What's the value of a Wurlitzer nickelodeon, number 18457? <<--

Give it your best shot and I'll interpolate from there.

Larry Fisher RPT¶
specialist in players, retrofits, and other complicated stuff¶
phone 360-256-2999 or email larryf@pacifier.com¶
http://www.pacifier.com/~larryf/ (revised 10/96)