Dead Rich/Poor doctor Estate Auction: Guns +

[Acera]

Saw this today and thought some of you might be interested.

In a nut shell, rich surgeon who liked the finer things and hunting went broke and died. Auction house is going to liquidate his stuff.

Michael Brown's Houston possessions to be sold at four January auctions - Houston Chronicle

The Jan. 19 sale will include more than 100 guns, ammunition, gun accessories, a barbecue trailer and taxidermy items.

Recently discovered animal skulls and hides left by Michael Brown at a taxidermy shop are among items to be auctioned next month

According to court records, the animal hides, skins and skulls are to be auctioned Jan. 19......................

............Perhaps the most striking piece was a 12-foot mounted American Grizzly bear on a custom base in the home's entry, valued at $5,000.

Auctions are scheduled for 1-4 p.m. Jan. 5, 12, 19 and 26 at Webster's Auction Palace, 14463 Luthe Road in north Houston.

Websters Auction

Not saying that there will be any good deals in the bunch, however sometime after the holiday seasons spending frenzy things slip through the cracks.

 

[benenglish]

A couple of notes.

First, I've been to that auction house a few times and I'm always amazed that the firearms sell for high prices. There always seem to be a couple of people who know nothing about firearms who show up and think "Wow, an old gun, I'll bet it's worth of fortune!" when looking at anything covered in rust and 100 years old.

Second, the connection to a famous person does weird things to prices. When John Connally's pocket knife, a well-used and somewhat abused Buck 105 worth $5 if a normal person was selling it, was sold as a part of his bankruptcy auction, it went for an even $5000. I tend to stay away from auctions with famous names prominently attached.

YMMV, of course. If anyone goes, I'd love to hear a report about it.

ETA - OTOH, estate sales of non-famous people are a wonderful resource. Back in the day, us photographers used to joke about "doctor-owned Linhofs", extremely expensive cameras bought by rich people for one special trip, then placed on a high shelf in a closet and never touched again. When those people give up the ghost, there used to be the occasional great deal on very expensive cameras. When looking for guns (and cameras, and stereo stuff), I like going to estate sales happening at the house of the deceased.

 

[Ole Cowboy]

CASE NO. 13-35892
MICHAEL G. BROWN
DOORS WILL OPEN AT 11:00AM FOR VIEWING; AUCTION BEGINS AT 1:00PM
1. ARSENAL 7LR 107 CR AK 47 7.62x3 RIFLE
2. A SQUARE .460WBY RIFLE
3. B WEST CHINESE AK47 7.62X39 RIFLE
4. BENELLI SEMI PUMP 12GA SHOTGUN
5. BENELLI SUPER 90 12GA SHOTGUN
6. BERETTA MOD 21A22 PISTOL
7. BERETTA MOD 92F9MM PISTOL
8. BERETTA MOD 950BS 22CAL PISTOL
9. BERETTA MOD 92F 9MM PISTOL
10. BLASER JAGDWAFFEN R84 .375 HSH PISTOL
11. BROWNING 6MM PISTOL
12. BROWNING 7MM RIFLE
13. BROWNING INJECTOR 12GA SHOTGUN
14. BROWNING MEDALLION HORNET 22CAL RIFLE
15. BROWNING BUCK MARK 22CAL PISTOL
16. BROWNING INVECTOR 26 10GA SHOTGUN
17. BROWNING BL22 22CAL RIFLE
18. BROWNING 8500 12GA SHOTGUN
19. BROWNING A BOLT 270CAL RIFLE
20. BROWNING 22CAL RIFLE
21. BUSHMASTER XM15-EZS 223 RIFLE
22. CALICO LIBERTY 3 9MM PISTOL
23. COLT WOODSMAN 22CAL PISTOL
24. COLT SEMIHBAR SPORTER AR-15AZ RIFLE
25. COLT WOODSMAN 22CAL PISTOL
26. COLT NEW FRONTIER 22CAL REVOLVER
27. COLT COMMANDER 45CAL PISTOL
28. COLT SPORTER .223CAL RIFLE
29. COLT PYTHON 375 REVOLVER
30. COLT ANACONDA 45MAG REVOLVER
31. COLT DIAMONDBACK 22CAL REVOLVER
32. COLT PYTHON 375 PISTOL
33. COLT 45 COLT REVOLVER
34. COLT AR-15 HBAR SPORTER 12GA/223 SHOTGUN/RIFLE
35. COLT AR-15 223/5.56 RIFLE
36. COLT ARMY 45CAL REVOLVER
37. COLT ARMY 45CAL REVOLVER
38. AMERICAN DERRINGER DA38 38CAL PISTOL
39. DESERT EAGLE 50AE 50CAL PISTOL
40. DPMS PANTHER ARMS A-15	223/5.56CAL	RIFLE
41. FNH BDA-380 38CAL PISTOL
42. FREEDOM ARMS PREMIER GRADE 454CAL REVOLVER
43. GAUCHA-IGA COACH GUN 12GA SHOTGUN
44. GLOCK 17 9MM PISTOL NO CLIP
45. GP WASR-10-AK47 WASR-10/63UF 7.62X39 RIFLE
46. GRENDEL P30 22MAG PISTOL
47. HAWKEN RIFLE 58/52CAL RIFLE
48. HK SP89 9MM PISTOL
49. HK USP 45CAL PISTOL
50. H&R TROOPER 158 410 RIFLE
51. INTERDYNAMIC KG9 9MM PISTOL NO CLIP
52. ITHACA M49 22CAL RIFLE
53. IVER JOHNSON 25CAL PISTOL
54. MARLIN GLENFIELD 30 30-30 RIFLE
55. MARLIN GLENFIELD 60 22LR RIFLE
56. MAUSER 30-06 RIFLE
57. MAUSER OBERNDORF 416 RIGBY RIFLE
58. MGA ULTA LIGHT 340WBY RIFLE
59. MIL INC/TAURUS THUNDER FIVE 410/45CAL REVOLVER
60. MOSSBERG 185KB 20GA SHOTGUN
61. MAGNUM RESEARCH MOUNTAIN EAGLE	22CAL PISTOL
62. NB DAVIS & SONS DOUBLE BARREL 20GA SHOTGUN
63. NORINCO 87S 7.62X39 RIFLE NO CLIP
64. NORTH AMERICAN ARMS GUARDIAN 32CAL PISTOL
65. NORTH AMERICAN 22CAL REVOLVER
66. ORDNANCE TECH MAGNUM RESEARCH 30-06 PISTOL
67. REMINGTON SPEEDMASTER 22S RIFLE
68. REMINGTON 11 12GA SHOTGUN
69. REMINGTON 870 EXPRESS MAGNUM 12GA SHOTGUN
70. REMINGTON 870 EXPRESS 12GA SHOTGUN
71. REMINGTON XP100 35REM PISTOL
72. REMINGTON 1100 20GA SHOTGUN
73. REMINGRTON 11 12GA SHOTGUN
74. REVELATION 110 22S-L-LR RIFLE
75. RIFLES INC ULTRA LIGHT 300WBY RIFLE
76. RUGER 1022 22CAL RIFLE
77. RUGER SINGLE SIX 22CAL REVOLVER
78. RUGER NEW BEARCAT 22CAL REVOLVER
79. SANTA BARERA 7MM MAG	RIFLE
80. SAVAGE 240/U 24LR/410 RIFLE
81. SAVAGE 2400 308/12GA RIFLE/SHOTGUN
82. SIG SUAR P220 45ACP PISTOL NO CLIP
83. SIG SAUR P220 45ACP PISTOL NO CLIP
84. SMITH & WESSON 5904 9MM PISTOL
85. SNAKE CHARMER 2 410GA SHOTGUN
86. TANFOGLIO GIUSEPP GT27 25CAL PISTOL
87. WINCHESTER / TAYLORS & CO NO. 2 STAGE 45/70CAL	RIFLE
88. THOMPSON CENTER ARMS 223 REM PISTOL
89. THOMPSON CARBINE SEMI 45CAL RIFLE
90. UZI ACTION ARMS 9MM RIFLE
91. WSR AK-47 7.62X39 RIFLE
92. WEATHERBY MARK V 378CAL RIFLE
93. WEATHERBY MARK V 300CAL RIFLE
94. WEATHERBY MARK V 416CAL RIFLE
95. WEATHERBY MARK V 460CAL RIFLE
96. WINCHESTER REAPTING 12GA SHOTGUN
97. WINCHESTER 9422M 22WIN RIFLE

 

[Acera]

Thanks Ole Cowboy, could not find the list yesterday.

That man had some seriously heavy duty hardware. Might go just to see what those 3 .460's go for.

I pity the poor soul who lights off that .340 ultra light. Buddy had a regular weight Sako in that, it was a beast. Kicked a lot harder than the .50 BMG and .458 WM we were shooting the same day.

.375 H&H pistol, WTF, wow !!

Quality arms on that list.

 

[Ole Cowboy]

No prob, yea that .375 H&H PISTOL, you kidding me, bet the recoil on that is hard on your wrist to say the least...

 

[benenglish]

Nothing worth seeing there. No need for anybody to attend. I'll take one for the team, show up, and live-post a few of the results so everyone can feel warm and fuzzy in their decision to stay home.

On a serious note, that auction house isn't nearly big enough to hold the number of people who will show up for a list like that. It's gonna be a zoo.

 

[Glockster69]

I'm certainly not a firearms encyclopedia but these are new to me

29. COLT PYTHON 375 REVOLVER
32. COLT PYTHON 375 PISTOL


44. GLOCK 17 9MM PISTOL NO CLIP

 

[Texasjack]

Brown was supposed to be a terrific surgeon and had a big practice operating on hands. I know a couple of people who got their hands fixed at his place and say they did a great job. (Brown didn't do their surgery, but his staff did). But Brown had a giant ego and a lot of money to burn. Wives, mistresses, hookers, you name it. And he (allegedly) was pretty quick to beat up on any women that pissed him off. Lots of time in court and in the Houston news.

 

[coachrick]

If he has a cache of ammo to match the weapons, THAT could be very interesting!

 

[Ole Cowboy]

Brown was supposed to be a terrific surgeon and had a big practice operating on hands. I know a couple of people who got their hands fixed at his place and say they did a great job. (Brown didn't do their surgery, but his staff did). But Brown had a giant ego and a lot of money to burn. Wives, mistresses, hookers, you name it. And he (allegedly) was pretty quick to beat up on any women that pissed him off. Lots of time in court and in the Houston news.

Now I know who he is. He developed a new surgical procedure that is less invasive to operate on hands. Not sure of all the details but it was heavily advertised all over the US and I guess he was teaching other docs the procedure as I was living in another part of the US and a local guy was advertising he was using the Brown Procedure...yadah, yadah. I got my hand operated on using his procedure.

 

[coachrick]

Now I know who he is. He developed a new surgical procedure that is less invasive to operate on hands. Not sure of all the details but it was heavily advertised all over the US and I guess he was teaching other docs the procedure as I was living in another part of the US and a local guy was advertising he was using the Brown Procedure...yadah, yadah. I got my hand operated on using his procedure.

I wondered if that might be the same guy. When we arrived in '08, Brown 'Hand Procedure' ads were everywhere!...Probably the most often seen/heard advertisement, at least in my experience...very noticeable in Austin.

 

[Ole Cowboy]

I wondered if that might be the same guy. When we arrived in '08, Brown 'Hand Procedure' ads were everywhere!...Probably the most often seen/heard advertisement, at least in my experience...very noticeable in Austin.

Yea, I think I was living in Virginia at the time...

 

[Glockster69]

Even though it pisses me off when they run a commercial about tomorrows "news" today, Channel 2 in Houston is doing a story on the auction Monday at 10pm.

 

[benenglish]

I went to the first of the 4 auctions yesterday. A few notes -

1. The auction house is no longer accepting pre-registrations. All the floor seats are already reserved. If you show up for any of the subsequent auctions, you'll be stuck with standing around the perimeter or at the back. If someone had called the Fire Marshall yesterday, tickets would have been written and people would have been expelled from the building. It was so packed that a fairly significant number of people left within the first hour or two of bidding. With the prices (see below) and the crush of people, it was a truly unpleasant environment.

2. There was a LOT of buzz about the firearms auction. I overheard multiple people talking. "When are they selling the guns?" "Did you see that list of guns?" "The gun auction is gonna be crazy."

3. The auction house has said nothing about ammo except that they'll be selling his ammo. I don't know how to read that. Did he buy a lot of guns to show off but never shoot them and thus had little ammo? Or does he have so much that they've stored it somewhere out of sight? I have no idea and they haven't put any inventory of the ammo on the inventory list. However, the auctioneer did announce they would be selling, in two weeks, his guns, taxidermy, and ammo.

4. Prices yesterday were almost all insane.

Brand new furniture with the full retail price tags on it from local stores actually sold for more than that tagged retail price.

Brown's camera bag contained about $10K in equipment if you bought it new, at retail. None of it was guaranteed to work and if just a couple of common problems were present there could easily be $2K-$5K worth of repairs in that bag. It still sold for $7500. The auctioneer congratulated the buyer on a good buy and, relative to the rest of the prices for the day, it actually was. Compared to reality, it was idiotic.

A truly crappy carved wood iguana of the sort you can buy at an overpriced Mexican resort souvenir shop for $200 sold for more than twice that.

A large number of collectible coins sold for double grey sheet; prices went UP from there. Junk silver Morgans were selling for $40 and $45 each. Most of the graded numismatics were from NGS, not PCGS; that's significant to me.

The only good prices I saw were on extremely expensive stuff. Some of the higher-end Rolex watches sold for decent prices. Unfortunately, there was some funny business going on. Multiple people were told by more than one of the auction house employees that the Rolex watches had NOT been released by the bankruptcy court and would not be sold. Then they were brought out and sold. It may be the case that this was simply the auction house lying to the customers so that they wouldn't have to bother pulling them from the case for every lookie-loo. I certainly wouldn't theorize that this was some collusion to depress prices as a favor to the Rolex dealer who was shadow-buying almost all of them through another bidder, even though that's what it probably looked like to anyone who was halfway observant.

5. Brown was a little guy. His rings wouldn't fit my pinky. His bracelets went barely more than half-way around my wrist. If the custom guns going on sale in a couple of weeks were set up specifically for him (and the jewels of the auction appear, to me, to be several custom rifles) with length of pull measurement suitable for him, most buyers will need to re-stock them or add stock extensions to get a comfortable fit. I'll definitely be shouldering and measuring all long guns before I bid on anything. I suggest others do the same. I can imagine lighting off an Ultra Light in .340 Wby with a 12" LOP! What I imagine is more than painful; it might be concussion-inducing.

6. My personal take - The guy was nouveau-riche in the worst sense. His taste was simply abominable.

7. I didn't sign up for next weeks auction and I won't attend. However, I took a quick look over the inventory. There's a bunch of machine-shop equipment. The Lincoln name was on much of it. If you do metal work and need some floor tools, you should be interested.

8. Websters is an interesting experience. I've been there plenty of times. I know that all auction houses have their quirks. If I were the sensitive type, I might even have taken offense at the auction house employee who got on the PA about 30 minutes before the start of the auction and started haranguing the crowd to move faster. He even called out individuals at the jewelry counter, identifying them to the crowd and trying to embarrass them by telling them to "Put that back. You've looked at it long enough. There are people waiting." Remember, this was over the PA system. At one point I guess it sorta sunk in that he was being an asshole and he should say something. Unfortunately, being an asshole was just fine with him; after being such a jerk to customers and involving the entire crowd to witness his douchebaggery, he clearly announced over the PA "We're not here to make friends. We're here to make money."

That same employee was responsible for determining the order of the lots offered. It was completely random to the attendees, though I suppose it made some kind of sense to him. The entire day was spent with people shuffling paperwork, trying to find what lot was being offered. It seemed sometimes like he was deliberately trying to jump to a different page in the inventory list with every successive lot. The presentation, IOW, was extremely disorganized and, as a result, slower than it needed to be.

That's par for the course at Websters. You just have to expect it.

Hope this helps, folks.

 

[40Arpent]

Thanks Ben, I truly appreciate the report. Whereas I was originally planning to attend, for the gun auction, I now know it's best to scrap that idea. Thanks again!

 

[Glockster69]

Well, I guess the good news is I can keep the 50 Jeffersons I was willing to blow.

Thanks Ben, great info as always.

 

[Tejano Scott]

Ben, you are way more fascinating than the guy from those mexican beer commercials! Thanks for the info.

 

[Glockster69]

Ben, you are way more fascinating than the guy from those mexican beer commercials!

I contemplated starting a thread on *who's the most interesting TGT member* ... lol


So, what did you come home with Ben?

 

[benenglish]

So, what did you come home with Ben?

Not a thing. I could see how things were going and threw out a couple of opening bids that were at the top end of what I was willing to pay; the bidding just zoomed up from there.

I won't be at the auction tomorrow but there are plenty of hand and shop tools being offered. I hope they attract a more sensible crowd than showed up a week ago.

When I go to the gun auction, I have hopes of bringing something home. There are several things I want enough to overpay at least a little. And I think I'll drive my truck, just hoping to get a good deal on ammo. They still haven't published an inventory of ammo available.

 

[Glockster69]

Not a thing ....

I don't blame you. I wouldn't put on the web I just dropped $100K either.

I enjoy a good auction. The couple times I've bought at them I never put in 1st bid, always waited 'til the frenzy was over and if the deal was still 'good', reveled in the steal.