It is sad to see this wonderful hobby going the same way as the once
affordable classic car hobby.

[It's no longer] the fascinating technology and engineering in the
item, the people who made it happen, the reasons people bought the
thing in the first place, or the joy and pleasure of restoring it back
to original condition then using it and sharing and enjoying it with
others -- now "what's it worth" has taken the top spot.

The various hobby club publications which once were full of historical
data, biographies of the people who invented these items and good
ideas of how to restore the thing have now been slowly converted to
pages of advertising for shilled auction houses who are only after
their commissions, not any real interest or concern for the item and
what it represents.  Not the wonderful people like Ray Siou, who did
all he could to further the joy of mechanical music with his roll
productions, or the ones who wrote very learned papers and books on
the instruments for the rest of us, like Larry Givens, Dave Bowers
and Harvey Roehl and his essential Vestal Press and people like them.

Several professional automotive auction firms have turned that hobby
into a revolting circus of high pressure fraud, screaming floor pitch
men, fake telephone bidding, churned items and open greed.  Just watch
this going on via their TV channel.

The question often arises in this one island of sanity, this one the
MMD, about what is going to happen to our hobby once the original
people who started it pass on.  This is the answer, auction it off and
get the highest amount you can.  Then watch what is left sink into
this same situation as the car hobby.  Fleece the rich ignorant buyers
for all you can, just do enough shoddy restoration to get through the
auction house process and go on to the next sucker.

Who cares, our hobby has long passed the tipping point.

Jim Crank