Take a look at this :shock:
Metz Saddle hackle grizzly #1 for micro barb hair extensions sold on eBay for[SIZE=5][COLOR=red] $480 last night [/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Metz Saddle hackle grizzly #1 microbarb hair extensions | eBay
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This sorta thing is disturbing to me & many of us, however, I think and hope it will come to be a fad that passes, just like “Beatle Boots” did when I was a kid. I can’t imagine our trusted hackle suppliers "throwin’ us under the bus’ on this issue, as we, as fly fishermen & tiers are their bread & butter, and true and loyal customers going back many, many years. I think & hope we can trust Metz, Whiting, and the others to continue to value us as customers, and price their products for us within our reach… We’ve already heard from Denny Conrad regarding Conranch’s take and position on this. I’ve heard & seen other things like this Ebay sale, though, and it is a bit alarming…ModocDan
Maybe it’s time for technology to invent a high floating polypropylene imitation hackle. At least Denny said he’d never sell to the glamor industry.
This is the kind of thing that upsets me, I was reading on another forum and this guy posted this:
“I sent 33 saddle hackle skins to a salon in Southern California last Monday. At $59.95 per skin, plus tax, plus shipping with insurance, that’s over $2K. If I had more of what she wanted, she would had probably bought more”
So I came back and said “Are you saying you support selling saddle hackles to the salons”
And this was his reply:
[COLOR=black][FONT=Tahoma]"I work at a shop, but I’m not selling Whiting, Keough, or Metz quality saddles. If someone wants to pay good money for OK quality feathers, I will gladly take the money. Would I tie with these feathers? Only if I was desperate. I have my personal stash Whiting Gold skins that I am keeping for myself.
Shops need to stay afloat. Saddle hackle sales make up a lot of the slow days. With all the hard work to find secondary sources of feathers, businesses should be rewarded for all the effort put in. With bills to pay and planned expansions in the business, revenue is revenue. That revenue will allow the business to bring more products and services to its client?le"
[/COLOR][/FONT]Now this is disturbing to me along with the whole eBay thing going on with the saddle hackles…just my opinion.
I think that high a price for some hackle is probably a one-off. Chicken feathers, even gm chicken feathers, just aren’t worth that much.
The sad thing is cycler68 is this is the second one that sold for over $400 in the last two days, the first one was dyed blue.
the second one that sold for over $400 in the last two days, the first one was dyed blue.
Somebody paid $400 for some blue chicken feathers to put in somebodies hair? I’m just glad I’m not dating that chick cuz ugly is costing her way to much.
Like a prune and cabbage casserole this too shall pass.
Don’t sweat a fad.
Eric
And I’m hoping it passes leaving a ton of feathers on the market to be bought at lower prices.
I’m taking a different view of this.
I am hoping that all the shops who are struggling though this recession (even though it is “over”) and all the people who are staring at the loss of their unemployment because they have been out too long are able to make a KILLING on this fad. Charge 2 prices, one for FFers at home and one for Salons in another town through the magic of Ebay.
I guess you missed the grizzly dyed pink saddle that sold on Ebay that same day for $595.00!
We all have bills to pay and families to feed. These are feathers not dispensations or indulgences, and there are more where they came from.
how many tyers on here have actually RUN OUT of hackles for flies? Neck hackle still seems to be widely available. I just don’t get the attitude expressed that shops should not sell feathers to whomever will buy them. Fly tyers will ALLWAYS be there to buy feathers… morons who put them in their hair will only be around for a short while.
I, for one, am glad that the growers and distributors have a chance to gain an unexpected profit. Lets be happy that they can make a little more cash than usual, pay off a few bills and buy a few extras for their family. Times have been hard for the fly fishing industry. The fad will pass just like Davey Crockett hats. Hackle and coon skins will return to their normal prices in three or four months. 8T 
BTW, my new hairdo with black and chartreuse hackles is absolutely stunning.
I’m just jealous that I don’t have enough hair to warrant hair extensions.
Ed
Ed -
You can pin several whole saddles on the inside of your favorite fishing hat and it will make you look like you have more hair (or something) than you could ever imagine.
The “chicks” wouild really dig it.
:shock:Can they extend bald?:?
Ed,
Who said anything about hair. I’m wearing two complete saddles on my head. The powers that be didn’t leave me much hair either. Even at the new inflated prices, saddles and toupees are pretty evenly priced. 8T