Right place at the right time

[MartyG]

I know the "Weberitus" thread is alive and well, and there are some great stories there about the lengths we go to collect/save these great kettles, but this is a thread about the lucky accidental finds that we dream about, and some have experienced. (And some seem to have more often than others.)

My own story relates to the red SS performer I have now. My wife and I stopped at a community yard sale a couple years ago for a look around. After an hour or so I noticed  this nice looking grill sitting behind a table, and asked about it. The woman said her husband was not there at the moment, but if I made an offer she would think about it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I said $20. She immediately said SOLD, and went on to tell me it would serve her husband right because he was off buying another fixer-upper lawn mower - like they really needed one. Needless to say I had that grill in the back of my Jeep long before the lawnmower man showed up.

So what are your stories of being at the right place at the right time?

[1911Ron]

Dude you stole that!  btw i'm jealous

[mike.stavlund]

This is a great idea for a thread, and a great story, Marty.  It also makes me even more jealous of your beautiful red SS Performer. 

My story of being in the right place starts with being in the wrong place.  I'd been checking CL for months, searching for an SS Performer.  I barely missed out on a red one for $125, passed on a green one for about 80 (my wife said the deck would look like Christmas with a green grill parked next to my red one), and even found one of those rare non-gas assist models for a minute.  Anyway, I check CL several times a day usually, and especially on the weekends.  But I sometimes teach a class on Saturday afternoon from 1 to 5, and wouldn't you know it...  I came home from class and someone had posted a black SS Performer WITH a rotisserie ring for $75.  But they posted it at about 1:30, so I knew my chances were poor.  Sure enough, the owner got back to me to tell me that he had two people coming by on Sunday morning, and he'd let me know if it was still available after that.  I was pretty dejected, because I knew there was no way that two people would pass up a deal like that. 

I was lamenting about it to a neighbor who is also trolling CL pretty heavily (he's looking for a smoker).  He mentioned an ad for an estate sale that I had also looked at.  I had seen the estate sale listing for a big Kenmore gas grill, and a Weber gas grill.  But he pointed out something I had missed:  the ad actually said 'Weber gas charcoal grill'.  He said it was a long shot, but it might be a Performer.  And since it was like a mile from my house, he encouraged me to check it out. 

So that morning I piled my three kids in the car to stop by the estate sale.  Ironically, I had a black kettle in the back of the car already, since I had done some work on it and was going to drop it off at a friend's.  We walked around the back of the house, and as I came around the corner, I saw two guys neck deep in that Kenmore gasser, closing the deal.  Another few steps and I saw it right on the patio:  a black SS Performer.  There was a cover next to it, and it was in good shape, and everything was there (including those old-style wire coal baskets I had been looking for).  There was even enough gas in the tank to confirm that it was working just fine.  And the price tag on it said $50.  The only thing I didn't see was the plastic bin for the charcoal.  So I walked over to the guy running the estate sale to ask if that plastic bin might be somewhere and I overheard him saying that everything was half off that day.  Once I heard that, the first thing I said to him was, "I will buy that grill-- mark it 'sold'."  Then he let me try to find that bin.  I looked in the garage first, where another estate sale dude was using it as a trash can.  So I was all set.  As I was moving the grill to my car, I even pointed out the Weber chimney sitting by the house and told the guy it went with the grill.  He gave me that as well. 

I'm still shocked that that grill sat there all day Saturday and no one bought it for 50 bucks.  And I'm really grateful that no one got there before me and took it for $25.  But honestly, I still think about that rotisserie that I might have had.  And sometimes late at night I will stare at that photo of Marty's red SS Performer and hope for the day I can find one of those.  Though I'm sure it will be more than 25 bucks. 

[MartyG]

That's awesome Mike. Thanks for the contribution, and the compliments. I'm on the hunt for a 26er - preferably in red of course, but another SS Performer would not go unnoticed. I did find a green one, and paid only $50, but gave it to my son-in-law. I was just thinking how cool it would be to swap lids at Christmas-time. Don't be surprised...

[reillyranch]

Hey guys, the red proformer was my first.  I was walking into a Lowes store as they were wheeling a returned used red proformer out to the curb. It had a full 5 pound tank and in great condition.  The mark down price tag said $20.00 and I said sold!  I didn't know much about Weber, just that a similar black proformer was $399.00.  My plan was to clean it up and resale it for a profit.  I never did sell it and kept on collecting vintage Weber's. 

[zavod44]

Mike always has the best stories....


Brian

[swamprb]

Once I had set up a time to meet a woman to sell her a 22" Red OTS kettle I had on CL, and I had just gotten home and was unloading a Green 22" OTG I had picked up and she asked if it was for sale as well?
She wanted it for her daughter and I ended up transferring it from my trunk to hers....never had a chance to get attached to it!