Condition, Condition, Condition. Kettle rating?

[Bertman]

Well thought out points on rating systems and historical aspects. I wish wish is was just a friendly mom and pop collecting club but that not the world we live in. Where there's a buck to be made, someone will exploit it. No sense being naive.  For me it's a bit of both. I love the history around these original models and there designs. I also geek out over a true unused model with all the goodies.  Basically for me it's about cooking. What the Weber kettles provides is the best charcoal grill and trying new recipes and sharing it with family and friends. Thanks for listening.  Keep up the great work. Happy 4th!


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[charred]

   To hell with a kettle rating system. All that will do is push the CL prices higher and make this a collectors market. Lets keep this a likeable mom and pop market a little bit longer before the big monied collectors come barging in and "F ing" this up.

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X1000.

I've only been here a few years, but I'm out when the SmokinPerformer POV becomes commonplace. No personal offense intended.

[Josh G]

I don't need a rating system to tell me what condition a grill is in.  I guess this would help some of the new guys or less experienced.  No offense but because a grill gets rated an 88 is not going to make it anymore valuable to me.  I collect grills as a hobby and it takes my mind of work.  It's supposed to be fun. 

[Filibuster]

   And when I meet up with that CL seller and the bad points of that kettle have not been made known, then it is up to me to get a lower price or walk away. Case in point when I got my lime there was one pic on CL and that was from the best angle possible, when I got there and saw it was missing the back handle and a leg socket was loose I still gave the seller $40 because in the DC area these colors show up every two or three years.
   So $40 for a rare color that needs some work thats a bargin in my book, and no other rare color has popped up on CL in DC since then.

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[UserGone]

No offense taken.
I borrowed Under Parker's system on rating Wine. He uses a 50-100 points system on rating Wine.
  Just because a Wine receives a rating of 90 points by wine critics doesn't mean it's an automatic $18 bottle of wine.
Their are many 90 point bottles of wine in the $40 price range. I also believe those high end wine makers hate and may be against Under Parker's system. This points system places wine tasting, best are the ones that score 85-95 points.
This system has helped the average person purchase a bottle of wine without making them feel they might have picked a bad tasting wine.
  I see many bottles of wine from $4 to hundreds of dollars all score in the same 85-95 points. This system is not a price guide by any means.

My idea of using a 100 points system on Weber kettles would place most collectible kettles in the same 85-95 points. It doesn't make the ones that would receive a score of 50-84 not collectible or even usable.
However this 100 points idea is not in favor. So a simpler scale was suggested and no system will ever satisfy everyone.
We don't need to spend another 5 years without voting on some type of condition scale.

Waiting to here from more members that only collect excellent  or better condition kettles.

My 2cent opinion:  Even if We never post prices we paid for kettles. Stick to only posting photos and talk about how great these Weber grills are. Share recipes and those postings on how to cook threads.  Only stick to the history and historical events about these great grills. Eliminate the WKC market place and go underground when selling or trading kettles. Stop posting about the $10 garage sale FINDS  followed by the numerous " you stole that one" postings.

CL sellers will still do a basic online search when they receive numerous replies on the $50 charcoal grill listing they have. Then they will find this small online gathering of Weber Kettle collectors. They will page through the threads and find no such mentioning of any prices or condition rating system. They will only see a small gathering of happy wholesome people collecting a random odd item living in harmony like the Smurfs, singing La la- la la la la, La la la- la la.  They will see our pictures of shiny kettles posing in our backyards by the numbers and all colors.

   You still think those CL sellers will still keep that good condition Westerner or Glen Blue listed at $50?


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[MrHoss]

I think you are talking about Robert Parker and I do collect most excellent Kettles.....here hear.

[56MPG]

(VG) Very Good- defiantly cooked in.

I don't always cook with defiance, but when I do it's usually very good, sometimes even excellent.

[cwmfour]

(VG) Very Good- defiantly cooked in.

I don't always cook with defiance, but when I do it's usually very good, sometimes even excellent.

Ha ha. That's awesome.

I personally have no interest in a rating system for two reasons.

First, no matter how objective we might make it, there's a lot of opinion and personal taste that will weigh in.

Secondly, all mine are cookers for the joy the process brings.  I'm the guy that would probably use the original box to light the chimney of charcoal.

Cook with Defiance!!!!

I appreciate the desire to quantify a kettle's condition with a rating system.

Whit

[Harleysmoker]

I have not smoked enough pot to seriously consider this. The good sativa always helps with the obscure concepts man.

Mr Hoss,, Puff, Puff,,,,,,,Pass

[kettlebb]

Just be sure to pass it to the left because the right is always wrong.


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[demosthenes9]

I'm kind of confused as to when it was decided that a rating system was needed.    I mean, it's one thing to suggest that it might be a good idea, but it's a whole nether kettle of fish to say that one is needed and that the world would seemingly end if another 5 years went by without some kind of vote on scale.

For, to say that we don't need to wait t years to vote on a scale wrongly presupposes that one is either needed or wanted either by the community at large, or the owners / founders.

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[Filibuster]

   Why fix what aint broken.The only personal gain I see out of this is to start up a WKC price guide. We'll see.

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[pbe gummi bear]

A kettle rating scale sounds is a lot of work to standardize and too objective to be universal. For example, I don't place much value on patina and I don't keep colored grills with lid chips larger than a dime. That works for me but many others don't feel that way. Pictures speak louder than words, anyway. It seems like the end goal for doing this would be to place a value on kettles. The uncommon kettles generally have predictable values (and I definitely have my own free market kettle blue book in my head) but the truly rare kettles are wild cards without historical data to reference against.

[UserGone]

So far their are some Great comments on this post. I'm not surprised to read that most of them are against having some kind of a kettle condition scale since one hasn't been established yet. My purpose in bringing up this conversation was not to establish a price guide, it was to make everyone think about the idea of a simple condition chart. If this topic makes you think and opens up conversations at the next WKC meet whether negative or not, then it was worth mentioning it here. It just keeps the ball rolling down the years to come and maybe one day the momentum will stop and it will be forgotten or established.

Everyone of use have our own unique system in place when rating a kettle. I do like the simple rating system that was recommended, cooker, looker, looker/cooker. That system seams to be the most mentioned and accepted way when describing a kettle on past post.


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[Craig]

Here's the thing..... Not everyone will have the same standards/rating system no matter what. My "8/10" might be someone else's "5/10". People have different ideas about what is in "very good condition" vs  "okay condition" etc.... I use the "Looker, Cooker, or Cooker-Looker" rating system. Then I also have MY personal scale of 1-10. I'm also not above some chips or dings especially if its on a vintage rare colored Kettle. Having said that, I know there are a growing number of members here that WILL NOT ACCEPT chips of any kind or find a rougher one first then trade up to a nicer one.<< That used to be more prevalent in the early days of this hobby. Something I still do but it's all ones prerogative. I own kettles from NOS to beater patina. I like to think of myself as an equal opportunity Grillfella. Just my .02