The Forum at Handcuffs.Org

Selling these Bean Giants

22 visible archived posts · 22 preserved total · topic ID 2953

Paulmcxxx 27 Mar 2009

Hi all,
I just put these up on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0310426591

Let's see if there is any interest...

Atlanta*Casting 27 Mar 2009

limited $$$

The Amazing Michael 27 Mar 2009

Buy it now for ONLY $2,500.00??? Wow, what a deal!

Nils 30 Mar 2009

Just an idea where prices are heading in the future. As long as you find a buyer who is ready to pay that much it seems we will be entering orbit.

I'm amazed of the number of Towers that keep turning up on ebay. And I thought Germany had been a police state in the 1900s. Then we'd have the same numbers of Moabits and Kaysers ...

My pair is not as nice, but I did get a pair of these once. Didn't really think they were worth it at the time.
Good luck anyway.

Lindsay 31 Mar 2009

I don't think this guy will get anything close to $2,500!
I wonder if he will even get $750 or $800 for them.
This is a very hard cuff to find and probably in the top 10 rarest cuffs of any substantial production American models.
All collections should have this example included.
Lindsay

Michael Busch 31 Mar 2009

@Nils

In the USA usually law enforcement officers buy their equipment, including the handcuffs, so that when the officer retires his tools are still in his posession and often find their way to the collectors market.

In Germany all equipment is in the posession of the state. When anything is no longer used it ends up on the junk-yard or nowadays gets recycled, which means destroyed.

Michael

Nils 01 Apr 2009

That may be well true. I remember many ads and brochures for handcuffs in the US. In Germany, these are mostly targeted at purchasing departments.

I once read somewhere they used vintage restraints for ballast, or dead weight, on ships.

Paul Reardon 01 Apr 2009

Remember too that at least for the Towers pattern, not only was it a highly sucessful and popular design, but it was produced for about 6 decades.

Atlanta*Casting 03 Apr 2009

Item ended without winning bid.

Apparently not that much interest at this price ...

Kevin Connolly 03 Apr 2009

#10

At what price? It went to $1,350+. The reserve could have been $1,500. The reserve and the Buy It Now price are usually two different animals. And with almost 500 hits, there was significant interest.

Dorson 03 Apr 2009

#11

Kevin, number of times viewed 460+ but there was like 3-4 bidders... So apparently not that much interest... Just a lot of people curious to see what they were going for...

Kevin Connolly 03 Apr 2009

#12

Dorson...From what I see, there were 7 bidders. I'm sure most people on Ebay would like to have 7 bidders on their items.

Anyway, what do these sell for?

Nils 03 Apr 2009

#13

About the amount of handcuffs on ebay, or used handcuffs showing up on the Market:

still, the US only surpassed Germany in number of citizens around 1930, I believe. Before that,
more people lived in central Europe than in the US.

I wonder if ebay will go --boink! one day, "All Tower handcuffs sold out." Still good pieces fetch prices over $100 every week.

Kevin Connolly 03 Apr 2009

#14

1930

USA almost 123,000,000

Germany about 65,000,000

Anonymous 04 Apr 2009

#15

And as the seller noted:

He is not a handcuff expert.

annon 04 Apr 2009

#16

for not being an expert, he knows they are old. knows enough about the key & expected to get rich off them. just another liar who trys to play stupid. another con job

Kevin Connolly 04 Apr 2009

#17

Everyone has quips, but no one have any answers. Again, how much do they go for? I don't get people posting a statement, then not backing it up. As for Assnonimous posts, they speak for themselves.

I'll stick to collecting Houdini.

Damon Shields 04 Apr 2009

#18

Kevin,

To answer your question directly, Bean Giants have sold for between $600 and $2500 on ebay. I don't have a pair of originals either but I believe your bid was certainly fair for the most recent offering. The finish on the cuffs was good and the seller was honest about the mechanics. The only concern is the hang up on one side and why did the original key break? Regardless the cuffs function as they are now. I think $1000 to $1500 is a fair price for a decent pair. (Finish, mechanics, original key and so on) Pricing is very subjective, especially with auction items.

Of course, like most collectors if I decide that I want a handcuff, the fair or average price is less relevant.

Damon

RestraintsBlog 09 Apr 2009

#19

I was the high bidder for this set of Bean Giants.

Once the auction was over I contacted the seller and we came to an agreement for $1,600.

I just got them this morning. They work fine and I am happy with my purchase.

-----------------------------------
http://restraintsblog.blogspot.com/

Unknown / guest 11 Apr 2009

#20

Here is one of the photos she sent me:

No, I did not get a photo of the mitts or of the Wisner. She mentioned that 'her camera battery died.' Well, here are the other photos:

-----------------------------------
http://restraintsblog.blogspot.com/

Atlanta*Casting 11 Apr 2009

#21

WoW ..

RestraintsBlog 11 Apr 2009

#22

OK, now I know where my first attempt to post went. Something must have happened when I logged in, taking me back to this thread here.

Yes, I need to take pictures of my Bean Giant and post them......

-----------------------------------
http://restraintsblog.blogspot.com/