Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Value of Mobilgas lens?

Hey Guys,
I have an opportunity to buy this lens and metal body. As you can see, the lens is in pretty good condition, but the body is poor. Apparently the other lens is badly broken.
I checked the B&H book and I would estimate a fair price at about $250 in todays market. I am still a rookie, so am I in the ballpark?
He is asking $450 and I dont know if he will take less or not. Let me know if anyone is interested in it and if I dont make a deal I will pass along his contact info. Thanks,
John

What size lens? 13-1/2", 15", or 16-1/2"? Maybe then I could help with a guesstimate! I've bought my share of them lately.
Thanks,
Darin

Darin,
His ad doesnt say the size, so I emailed him. According to the B&H guide, it would be a 15 or 16.5" with both sizes valued the same.
John

Hi John,
I'm sure others will weigh in this, but here are my thoughts. As long as the metal body is solid and doesn't have any rust through holes or thin areas, I would feel that the body would be worth between $135 to $150 for an average decent original. Unless there is damage or rust through I'm not seeing, it looks average to me?
In the line of the lens, the last single 16-1/2" lens I bought was a Mobilgas Special for $165, plus $20 for shipping, which personally I thought was a good price. In my nightmare claim with UPS on a complete Mobilgas 16-1/2" globe where one lens arrived broken, the claim for the single lens was $235. So I guess if you take an average for a single lens in an original metal body I'd say that around $350 would be a good price, but this is just from my own experiences. Plus I literally watch most every Mobil globe sell on Ebay so I think I have a good feeling for what they are actually selling for, versus what books may say. As they say, they ARE only guide books. Good luck with the purchase, hope it works out for you!
Darin

Thanks Darin, that was helpful. I guess I shouldnt write off the body so quickly. I havent followed ebay like I used to, but several months ago the prices seemed pretty depressed for fairly common globes.
John

My guess is 250-300 for a 15" in todays market. For a 16 1/2" would add 50 more.

I wouldn't pay $450 for that unless it fit into my collection in a VERY special way. On special pieces I'll pay what I have to get that what I want. With that said, I don't do anything crazy either; it's easier to change a display than to WAY overpay on something. But then that's the way I do it. Nothing more.

Hey John,
Like I wrote above, the prices I gave were from personal experiences, so I certainly would welcome others thoughts as well. I would guess there are guys out there who think my estimate may be high, and those are the guys I want to buy from, LOL! I agree with you that prices are soft on common globes, and certainly most Mobil globes are common ones. It's just interesting to me though that frequently people say something isn't worth what you say it is yet if they had one for sale they wouldn't sell it that cheap. I've certainly never seen a globe like the one pictured for $250 anywhere?
Keep in mind too I was pricing 16-1/2" globes. If it is in fact a 15" they haven't seemed to be selling too well lately, so maybe adjust the offer accordingly.
Have a good one,
Darin

I agree with Richard. If the body was decent & the other lens not broken it would be about $150 more