What is this cape worth?

[jd1983 0]

Alright, I know there are obvious answers like, "What someone will pay," and the silly answers like, "I'll give you $5," but I'd love some help getting a ballpark number.

 

Our local TU chapter was given a large donation of tying materials and this essentially unused cree cape was included. The smaller feathers are easily going to be in the size 20s but might be more dark barred ginger than cree. We don't know anything about the cape and it doesn't have any markings on it but it looks to be in good condition and a good quality. We are trying to decide what to do with it, either sell it or use it as a prize for the membership. What type of price would you put on something like this? Thanks for the help.

 

 

[Flat Rock native 0]

Very nice, since I am no longer allowed to spend $ on feathers, I will wait for others to chime in.

[Guest]

Can you post a good close up pic of the back of the cape??

[atxdiscgolfer 0]

Who's cape was it- Metz, Whiting, Collins? If you knew that you could maybe get up to $45 for it but without that info your probably looking at around $25-30 max

[jd1983 0]

Who's cape was it- Metz, Whiting, Collins? If you knew that you could maybe get up to $45 for it but without that info your probably looking at around $25-30 max

For a cree cape?

[Bryon Anderson 0]

 

Who's cape was it- Metz, Whiting, Collins? If you knew that you could maybe get up to $45 for it but without that info your probably looking at around $25-30 max

For a cree cape?

I would agree with atxdiscgolfer...without knowing something about the bloodline of the rooster(which knowing its breeder would tell you), I think it would be difficult to charge a premium price for it. The color is lovely but we don't know anything about stem thickness, barb count, etc. It may be first-rate all around; what I'm saying is, in the absence of knowledge about the breeder that it came from, the only way to know about its quality would be to hand-inspect it.

[SilverCreek 0]

I would have someone that knows hackle grade the cape.

 

Here's a Whiting Bronze Cree Neck and a Silver Cree Saddle from about 8 years ago. You can see that my neck and saddle feathers are longer and have a very sharp definition to the barring. The cree color may look dark on the skins but when tied on the fly they look great with well defined edges and coloring.

 

Your neck is a barred ginger and not a cree. Cree has white bars alternating with dark brown and not ginger alternating with dark brown. In your close up of the neck, the dark barring is rather faint and thin. So on the fly, I suspect it would not have as a distinct barred appearance.

 

I personally would grade neck as well below a bronze neck. It does not even meet the criterial for a pro neck in my opinion. I've looked though plenty of pro grade necks and they are better than the neck in your photo. What is attractive is the coloration but the barring is very weak so I still think it is not even a pro grade neck.

 

I hate to be harsh but in my world, I personally would not buy that neck even for $45. I think a pro grade ginger would be much better regardless of the barring on your neck.

 

Look at the barred ginger neck for $37 at the Campfire Lodge / Jim's Fly shop

 

http://www.jimsflyco.com/jims-rooster-hackle-capes/jimsflyco-barred-ginger-dry-fly-hackle-cape/

 

http://www.jimsflyco.com/barred-ginger/

 

Compare your neck to my bronze neck.

 

 

 

 

Close up of Neck:

 

 

 

Close up of saddle:

 

 

[Moshup 0]

I agree with SilverCreek. My first impression of the cape was that it was barred ginger not cree.

[Saltybum 0]

My first thought based on the info and lack of would be about $25

[cphubert 0]

I find it hard to price a cape without seeing and feeling it, best to raffle to the membership.

[jd1983 0]

Thank you all for the responses and the accurate evaluation. I think I may have been trying to stretch this into something it wasn't. It sounds like it'll be a better giveaway item than looking to sell it. In looking at the back, it is most likely a Metz neck from who knows when.

 

Maybe later I will post some photos of the Wheatley 1609 that came with this stuff as well. No making a mistake on what that is. I believe that will be a harder decision on what to do with it than this cape.

 

 

[SilverCreek 0]

Thank you all for the responses and the accurate evaluation. I think I may have been trying to stretch this into something it wasn't. It sounds like it'll be a better giveaway item than looking to sell it. In looking at the back, it is most likely a Metz neck from who knows when.

 

 

 

I would put it in a silent auction. All you need is a bidding war to get the price up.

[PENZZZ 0]

Another reason it's difficult to establish value without inspection is that we can't tell the condition of the stems. I continue to collect older Metz necks as I like specific colors for certain applications. Depending upon how the neck was stored, the stems may have become brittle with time, and may break when the tier begins to wrap around the shank of the hook. This doesn't mean you can't use the feathers, you just need to press the thicker part of the stem between a damp paper towel fold for around ten seconds before tying in. This injects moisture into the stem, softening it up a little and avoiding breakage.

[Flat Rock native 0]

Thanks for tips Penzzz and welcome to the forum. Again if I already did that!

[vicente 0]

Raffle it one dollar tickets even people that would buy it at a good price would likely buy a ticket or 5.