Why the Aussie Acan craze???

[XSiVE]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10504458#post10504458 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by szwab
i don't know what you guys are talking about everything I put in my tank is either traded for or 20 bucks

Why do you think they are marketing them so hard now?

IMO the community is getting more mature and also aware of what we're doing to the natural source for our hobby so we're working together(with the help of sites like this one) to share / trade our prize pieces and collect less from the wild and/or from the high-price retailers... so what do they do? Simple.. make their stuff sound and look more appealing by spending more money to market it

 

[szwab]

I think the crazes are getting better at least they don't seem to last quite as long anymore. Just part of human nature. Just go at it remembering you are the one that looks at the tank if you like it get it but not just becaue it's a "Zippy the Pin Head Silver Plated Chromiums" (which BTW I'm looking for :lol: )
And if you just have to have it, then there's the 20$ rule. -- Which is the price I paid for each in my tank. Now that I think of it though, every pair of shoes she owns have been 20 bucks as well.

 

[rbtwo4]

:lol: I like the baseball card comparison. I'm an avid card collector and now all they do is just sit there collecting dust. I remember when Jose Cansecos rookie card was over $100 at one point (which was a lot of $$$ when I was 15) now u can't get 10 cents for it. But I did see on ebay the outrageous prices err I mean bids on these pieces. The chop shop comparison was also a good one. These guys must make a good turnover on what they actually spend. But I also read that these things eat. Is that true???

 

[ArgonDreams]

I would also like to put in my request for "Zippy the Pin Head Silver Plated Chromiums". If anyone has one PM ME!

ROFL

 

[sufunk]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10503688#post10503688 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tmz
The hobby is starting to remind me of baseball and football card collecting. We have hundreds if not thousands of specimens being touted as limited editions, originals,etremely rare and any other nomenclature that will make the specimen seem more desireable such as: must have for the collector,lights up your tank, definate showpiece and colors that are no longer red ,green ,blue, yellow but the bluest blue on the planet, nuclear ,true, neon, atomic and of course " never seen before". The names are really fun; bahama mamas,armour of god,alien eye, toxic, kedds reds, bleeding apples, gorrilla nipples and so on. How can the likes of zoanthus, duncanopsamia axifuga,and scolymia compete ?
Perhaps all of this adds to the fun. It certainly seems to dominate marketing tactics.
Maybe, that all of this hype is necessary to help rationalize spending hundreds of dollars for a pencil eraser sized piece of true watermelon. Many reefkeepers are becoming more overt collectors and sadly many are focusing on reselling and becoming "chop shop"operators and shippers. I understand the benefits of as
quaculture versus wild collection and see that as a noble motivation for trading in tank raised corals but with all of the focus on building collections, reselling and marketting is there enough time and energy for good husbandry and the creation of sustainable and aesthetidcally pleasing artful displays?
A buyer can choose from thousands of specimens via the internet and must have skill in looking past photo stopping and superlative adjectives and other techiniques to really know what he is purchasing. Most local shops can't carry an adequate variety to satisfy the coral consumer.
I think most folks like Austrailia and well the Great Barrier Reef notion speaks volumes without saying a word. It has been very difficult to get corals from this part of the world untill recently and they are different than what we are used to. They are also very colorful and desireable and many seem to survive the fragging process quite well, making them prime candidates for today's coral marketer, collector and resseler.

Finally someone who gets it!!!!

Ive been questioning all the crazed aussie buyers and touters in the lps forums for months now. Their response is basically "what do you care what we pay for corals, it doesn't hurt you".

This attitude and price gouging is exactly what has ruined the trading cards and comic books hobby. The hot,le, signed, numbered, one of a kind, hologram editions drove everyone out of the hobby and ruined them.
People are doing the same now to this hobby.

It seems alot of people are trying to run their own chop shop and make some money now in the lps forum. Used to be a ton of pics and threads about beautiful display tanks. Now about all you can find are pics of tiny frags and peoples frag racks and frag tanks.


There is a VERY disturbing trend in the LPS forum on here with Aussie acans. About 10 members who can get good deals spend all day posting how great aussies are, how rare they are and how the prices will never come down. All the while posting HEAVILY photoshopped and altered pics of their aussies. They buy the acans and chop them up into tiny mutilated frags and Then they turn around and post them for sale or trade in the selling forums or via pm trying to make a quick buck. Sad

 

[rbtwo4]

I remember when packs of baseball cards were under $1 now forget about it no little kid can afford a pack. And the mom and pop stores went out of business because of it. I went to the LFS and I saw some zoas for sale and they were pretty expensive for my taste I then saw a frag for sale that was cheaper. So of course I bought the frag. Do you think LFS will stay in business any longer? Especially when u can buy some stuff online now that are cheaper the in the store.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10506848#post10506848 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sufunk

There is a VERY disturbing trend in the LPS forum on here with Aussie acans.

If it's any consolation, this will likely pan out just like all the other fads. It's happened to certain SPS, zoas, LPS, even certain color variations of extremely common softies. Heck, I even remember back in the day when red bubble tipped anemones were all the hype! :lol: Of course, that was before it was common knowledge that they cloned like mad.

IMHO, that's one thing that's nice about reef keeping. Even though fads come and go, there's enough diversity in the selection of corals you can keep that it's very easy to stay away from the hype if you want to. It's totally possible to chug along right now with a great tank, even selling $10 frags here and there when you want to, without having to get too worked up about the latest LPS craze.

 

[sufunk]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10507140#post10507140 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by der_wille_zur_macht
If it's any consolation, this will likely pan out just like all the other fads. It's happened to certain SPS, zoas, LPS, even certain color variations of extremely common softies. Heck, I even remember back in the day when red bubble tipped anemones were all the hype! :lol: Of course, that was before it was common knowledge that they cloned like mad.

IMHO, that's one thing that's nice about reef keeping. Even though fads come and go, there's enough diversity in the selection of corals you can keep that it's very easy to stay away from the hype if you want to. It's totally possible to chug along right now with a great tank, even selling $10 frags here and there when you want to, without having to get too worked up about the latest LPS craze.

Agree 100%.

I'm laughing my butt off right now at all the "collectors" in the LPS forum that bought these at insane per head prices hoping to frag and resell.

ooooops.....the bottom has already started to fall out of the market. Instead of $150 a head, its now 10 heads for $150. Alot of people in there are gonna have some REAL expensive frag tanks!:lol:

 

[afelder]

Aren't cheap frags more fun than buying expensive "colonies" anyway. I enjoy watching items grow. I don't really understand acans or most LE anyway. If it is less than $30 and looks good I might buy it.

 

[Nano Chris]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10498565#post10498565 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Randall_James
What is funny, is 99% of the people that look at your reef tank could not tell the difference between a $500 acan and a $20 LPS... all they see is NEMO!!!!!! (and they always say what a "BEAUTIFUL TANK!!)

I think most really like the "swaying" of the GSP's I have had over the years

Same here, most cant tell the difference, people think 'Hey it's Nemo' but we think their saying look at that ' Super Cool Bowl Red with Teal Streak Echinophyllia' or what we want to think their thinking.

 

[b.branscombe]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10498565#post10498565 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Randall_James
What is funny, is 99% of the people that look at your reef tank could not tell the difference between a $500 acan and a $20 LPS... all they see is NEMO!!!!!! (and they always say what a "BEAUTIFUL TANK!!)

I think most really like the "swaying" of the GSP's I have had over the years

Most people seem to notice my little bit of cyano and 'pretty' bubble algae before any of the corals.

 

[rbtwo4]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10507964#post10507964 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by b.branscombe
Most people seem to notice my little bit of cyano and 'pretty' bubble algae before any of the corals.

:lol: or the snails