Dan Sitter. Is this for Real?

Spelling mistakes are sometimes a sign of scams. However, it could be just a fat finger thing.

I could easily see 10K for 397 engines. Especially if some of those are rare collectibles.

IDK... If I was 80 I would be thinking of selling if I was on SS and a small fixed income. Sounds like life priorities are a bit off kilter.

I wish him all the best, but won’t be donating. Mostly because there are more worthy causes out there. I would be happy to send an engine for free if I have one he needs.

Ron

Admin wrote:Anyone here have his actual contact info?

You can contact him through E-Bay, seller name is california-dan.
He currently has some engines for sale.
Bob

I bought a tie clip .010 engine from Dan a while back. Most expensive .010 in my collection. He has been selling and sold a lot of the rare Cox Conquest 40 prototypes and the yellow and orange RC bee tanked engines that never went into production. They went for pretty good money too. I question if it is really him with all the spelling mistakes on the gofundme listing.

Someone should reach out to him to confirm if this is a real listing. I would hate to see a scammer drag his name through the dirt.

I just bought a couple of product engines from Dan, and
e-mailed him about the GFM listing. I think it's legit, obviously.
Bob

This is B.S., Dan has health issues, but he's not illiterate. Dan and his son are on the Facebook group gas power toys/ 049 collectors and I'll bring it to their attention, thanks

I talked to John Sitter (Dan's son) and i hate to say, but yes it is legitimate, Dan did in fact post it.

Never would have guessed it to be legitimate. Wish him the best of luck.

I hope all the best for Dan, but this seems to assume that the engines are available.
As a collector for over 25 years, and as others will attest, the longer one collects, the harder it is to acquire the examples.
The reason is, that, as one moves down the product line - whether it’s Cox, or any other manufacturer - only the rarest samples remain to be found, (and that assumes one knows of their existence. There are always surprises.)
If he has not found them now, after collecting for nearly 60 years, then it’s not likely he will.
His math assumes roughly $25.00 per engine to complete his collection. This is unrealistic, particularly for very rare items. (I have engines that I wouldn’t let go for less than a thousand.)
The “out” is if he already has connections to these engines and only needs the money, or he’s simply collecting for quantity rather than specific items.
For me, if I were 80 years old, I think my priorities might be a little different. You can’t have it all and you can’t take it with you.
Dan has a remarkable, one-of-a-kind, collection. Be content with it.

The sad part is that we have offered to purchase his remaining Surestart engines (probably around 10,000 of them) but ran into a brick wall.

We brokered a 50,000 engine deal with Cox in 2008 and let Dan in on 20,000 of the engines. Some time after that relations soured as Dan believed that were undercutting his prices. The contrary was true as he was, and still is, selling Surestart engines for around $10 to $13; whereas our least expensive one is $30. Same goes for most of the other Cox items. Dan is liquidating at liquidation pricing (fair enough) and we are building a business.

Nonetheless wish him nothing but the best. Dan has great integrity and is the source of a wealth of Cox knowledge. Judging from long ago conversations with him, his engine collection must be worth well over $250,000 and probably much higher. He is an avid collector and perhaps now is a good time to dispose of some or all of the collection to obtain funds for retirement? But then, collectors love to collect

To put this in perspective we are talking a hobby or toy. This guy is obviously fixated on this stuff. Would be no different than hording. I don't know it all but, having worked in a nursing home for 20 years this is more or less the norm for the elderly. It's all the have to look forward to. Remember whoever dies with the most toys wins.... Mark

Mark Diedrichs wrote:To put this in perspective we are talking a hobby or toy. This guy is obviously fixated on this stuff. Would be no different than hording. I don't know it all but, having worked in a nursing home for 20 years this is more or less the norm for the elderly. It's all the have to look forward to. Remember whoever dies with the most toys wins.... Mark

Why wait till your old to hoard engines? When I’m his age I’ll be liquidating them. Probably to pay for a nursing home. By that time it will be acceptable to slip something in my oatmeal and that will be the end.

I think it’s just phenomenal that there is a connection via computers and the internet and this forum that anyone, anywhere can find and join a community of hobbiest, collectors and even hoarders of these Cox engines and related items.
Jason, do you have a will with listed beneficiaries??   Do you like Cinnamon on your oatmeal?   Just wondering....

Marleysky wrote:I think it’s just phenomenal that there is a connection via computers and the internet and this forum that anyone, anywhere can find and join a community of hobbiest, collectors and even hoarders of these Cox engines and related items.
Jason, do you have a will with listed beneficiaries??   Do you like Cinnamon on your oatmeal?   Just wondering....

If my oatmeal smells like burnt almonds I know the gig is up.