Houdini's Bean Giant cuffs?

A pair of Bean Giant handcuffs with a special key extension are on eBay. They come from the Radner Collection/auction and have certificate of authenticity, etc.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harry-Houdinis- ... 1149513974

These already cycled once unsold. Price has been reduced. If these are indeed Houdini's Bean Giant with his own key extension, it's a MAJOR artifact. So I'm wondering why these are not getting more attention? Is the price just too high? Or is the reputation of Radner Collection cuffs working against these?

Just curious what the experts think. Wondering how (or if) to address these on my blog. Thanks.

Bad economy a lot of people are broke but if they are legit they are awesome

A pair of Bean Giant handcuffs with a special key extension are on eBay. They come from the Radner Collection/auction and have certificate of authenticity, etc.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harry-Houdinis- ... 1149513974

These already cycled once unsold. Price has been reduced. If these are indeed Houdini's Bean Giant with his own key extension, it's a MAJOR artifact. So I'm wondering why these are not getting more attention? Is the price just too high? Or is the reputation of Radner Collection cuffs working against these?

Just curious what the experts think. Wondering how (or if) to address these on my blog. Thanks.

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Hi John,
First up, I made the Bean Giant key extension and the key screwed to the end.


I cannot tell why these cuffs are not getting any real response but I can say that there were several items in the Radner/Houdini auction that were made after Houdini's death. Sid Radner appeared not to know one cuff from another (or didn't care)
His claim to fame was that he had some cuffs he got from Hardeen. Hardeen said they belonged to Houdini. There is a story going around and widely believed that Hardeen bought up old cuffs to sell to Sid to keep the kids off his back.
It is alledged that Sid said" any handcuffs that pass thru my hands belonged to Houdini'
As there are only a handful of cuff that can be truly attributed to Houdini, all other cuffs from that era can be passed off some way or another as once being owned by Houdini. I also have a pair of Been giant that was supposed to be from Houdini and I have a letter from Sid Radner and Joe tanner and Rick Simsler.
I also know off copies of these letters of authorisation, if the provenance was more credible or definite, I am sure these would sell for tens of thousands.

A pair of Bean Giant handcuffs with a special key extension are on eBay. They come from the Radner Collection/auction and have certificate of authenticity, etc.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harry-Houdinis- ... 1149513974

These already cycled once unsold. Price has been reduced. If these are indeed Houdini's Bean Giant with his own key extension, it's a MAJOR artifact. So I'm wondering why these are not getting more attention? Is the price just too high? Or is the reputation of Radner Collection cuffs working against these?

Just curious what the experts think. Wondering how (or if) to address these on my blog. Thanks.

Click to expand...

John:

In one fashion or another, it is always nifty to own a piece of history.

Over the past decades, I have had the wonderful opportunity to possess, for a while, many wonderful items, and I enjoyed showing them to friends and using them as a basis to talk about the history related to those objects.

At one time or another, I owned a Deringer pistol JUST LIKE the one John Wilkes Booth used to murder Abraham Lincoln. As I write this, I am enjoying a gin and tonic, with some ice in it, that is JUST LIKE the ice that composed the iceberg that caused the R.M.S. Titanic to sink.

The vendor of this item is not claiming it is a Houdini artifact; merely, it is JUST LIKE one that conjurer fooled around with.

Could it be a Houdini item? Sure. It is a possibility. Just like there is the possibility the ice in my afternoon cocktail contains one molecule of water that composed the iceberg that sank the Titanic.

As for that piece of paper, the so-called COA, it is just a piece of paper that relates a story, and seemingly truthfully so. It does not state that particular Bean Giant was owned by Houdini; merely, it implies it is JUST LIKE one he messed around with. Of the hundreds, if not thousands, of Bean Giants still around, that piece of paper accurately describes all of them.

With that awareness of history, that descriptive piece of paper may very well increase the ultimate sales price of the item to a buyer with limited knowledge of handcuffs. But that piece of paper is nothing more than an affirmation the object is a Bean Giant, which any handcuff collector will readily acknowledge, and will pay not one cent more because of that piece of paper.

Franklin

A pair of Bean Giant handcuffs with a special key extension are on eBay. They come from the Radner Collection/auction and have certificate of authenticity, etc.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harry-Houdinis- ... 1149513974

These already cycled once unsold. Price has been reduced. If these are indeed Houdini's Bean Giant with his own key extension, it's a MAJOR artifact. So I'm wondering why these are not getting more attention? Is the price just too high? Or is the reputation of Radner Collection cuffs working against these?

Just curious what the experts think. Wondering how (or if) to address these on my blog. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Ian hit the nail on the head !

I also have a pair of Been giant that was supposed to be from Houdini and I have a letter from Sid Radner and Joe tanner and Rick Simsler.
I also know off copies of these letters of authorisation,

if the provenance was more credible or definite I am sure these would sell for tens of thousands.

I Knew Rick and would take his word over Tanner or Radner Any day just my opinion.



Michael Lee