Great Flea Market Find!
John Bundy Wood Duck Decoys:
Hi All,
I thought I would share this Flea Market find with you….
For the past several years I have buying wood duck decoys at flea markets, garage sales, yard sales and thrift shops.
I have purchased about 25 of them so far and don’t spend more than $5.00 a piece for them.....Matter a fact most of them have been in the one to two dollar price range.
To be absolutely honest, I know nothing about Wood Decoy’s.
I just like the way the look out on display.........
Several weeks ago I went to one of the larger out door flea markets in my area.
As we were walking around, my wife was a few tables in front of me and waved me over to the table she was at.
I went over to the table and there was a gentleman that was here at the flea market for his first time….
He really didn’t have a lot of stuff out, but setting out on the front of the table was a pair of decoys.
At first glance, they looked like they where plastic, but when I picked them up I realized that they where wood.
One duck had a full branded logo on the bottom and the other had an initial’s branded in.
As I said I know nothing about decoys and I have not run across any decoys like this before.
I ask the gentlemen what he wanted for them and he told me $20.00 for the pair.
He indicated that they had been in his family for a long time and that it was time for them to go to a new home.
I told him SOLD! and he bagged up the ducks for me and I took them home…
On the way home I was really wondering what they could be worth…Maybe $40.00, $50.00 each?
When I got home, I googled the manufactures name that was on the bottom ‘John Bundy & Company’…
To my surprise, their website popped up.
As I surfed thru the web site, I really started to get excited. There where 100’s of decoy’s listed for sale and they where priced from $195.00 to $495.00 each…
But I didn’t see any pictures of the ones that I had brought..
So I sent an email to the company along with some photo’s of the decoys and indicated that I would call him on Monday…
When we spoke on the phone I was surprised to learn that the company has been making these decoys since the 70’s.
He told me that the decoy with the Gold Eye was a Lesser Scaup and was one of his favorite carvings. When he first offered this decoy for sale, his customers told him that the color of the eye was supposed to be Brown. So he only made a few of the ones with the Gold Eye, before for he switched to the Brown Eyes. He indicated that it was a very rare piece…
The second decoy was a Bufflehead that was made in the early 80’s. This was the first Bundy Decoy to be selected to be come a National Piece for the Ducks Unlimited for 1985/86. The ducks where ordered with the special DU brand. He indicated that they raised a lot of money for the Ducks Unlimited Program. Exactly 4000 of these ducks where produced for Ducks Unlimited. They where not allowed to make this same decoy again, for at least 10 years. The one that I have is an original decoy and not the DU model. He indicated that there where not many made in the 80’s when he first offered the duck for sale.
So here you have it….A great flea market find for $20.00..
The decoy’s where in pretty good shape, when I purchased them, but they where chipped and had some scratches on them.
Since I like to have everything in pristine condition, I decided to send both of the ducks back to John Bundy , to have them restored to thier original beauty.
He removed the old finish, took care of the nicks and scratches and refinished the ducks and brought them back to their original condition, as the day they where made.
Here are some photos of the ducks when I first purchased them and some photos of them being restored to their original glory.
Hope you enjoyed the story….
Stu Gabriel (MrGun)
Here is the Direct Link to John Bundy Duck Web Site......Check it out, you won't be disappionted!
http://bundyducks.com/
I thought I would share this Flea Market find with you….
For the past several years I have buying wood duck decoys at flea markets, garage sales, yard sales and thrift shops.
I have purchased about 25 of them so far and don’t spend more than $5.00 a piece for them.....Matter a fact most of them have been in the one to two dollar price range.
To be absolutely honest, I know nothing about Wood Decoy’s.
I just like the way the look out on display.........
Several weeks ago I went to one of the larger out door flea markets in my area.
As we were walking around, my wife was a few tables in front of me and waved me over to the table she was at.
I went over to the table and there was a gentleman that was here at the flea market for his first time….
He really didn’t have a lot of stuff out, but setting out on the front of the table was a pair of decoys.
At first glance, they looked like they where plastic, but when I picked them up I realized that they where wood.
One duck had a full branded logo on the bottom and the other had an initial’s branded in.
As I said I know nothing about decoys and I have not run across any decoys like this before.
I ask the gentlemen what he wanted for them and he told me $20.00 for the pair.
He indicated that they had been in his family for a long time and that it was time for them to go to a new home.
I told him SOLD! and he bagged up the ducks for me and I took them home…
On the way home I was really wondering what they could be worth…Maybe $40.00, $50.00 each?
When I got home, I googled the manufactures name that was on the bottom ‘John Bundy & Company’…
To my surprise, their website popped up.
As I surfed thru the web site, I really started to get excited. There where 100’s of decoy’s listed for sale and they where priced from $195.00 to $495.00 each…
But I didn’t see any pictures of the ones that I had brought..
So I sent an email to the company along with some photo’s of the decoys and indicated that I would call him on Monday…
When we spoke on the phone I was surprised to learn that the company has been making these decoys since the 70’s.
He told me that the decoy with the Gold Eye was a Lesser Scaup and was one of his favorite carvings. When he first offered this decoy for sale, his customers told him that the color of the eye was supposed to be Brown. So he only made a few of the ones with the Gold Eye, before for he switched to the Brown Eyes. He indicated that it was a very rare piece…
The second decoy was a Bufflehead that was made in the early 80’s. This was the first Bundy Decoy to be selected to be come a National Piece for the Ducks Unlimited for 1985/86. The ducks where ordered with the special DU brand. He indicated that they raised a lot of money for the Ducks Unlimited Program. Exactly 4000 of these ducks where produced for Ducks Unlimited. They where not allowed to make this same decoy again, for at least 10 years. The one that I have is an original decoy and not the DU model. He indicated that there where not many made in the 80’s when he first offered the duck for sale.
So here you have it….A great flea market find for $20.00..
The decoy’s where in pretty good shape, when I purchased them, but they where chipped and had some scratches on them.
Since I like to have everything in pristine condition, I decided to send both of the ducks back to John Bundy , to have them restored to thier original beauty.
He removed the old finish, took care of the nicks and scratches and refinished the ducks and brought them back to their original condition, as the day they where made.
Here are some photos of the ducks when I first purchased them and some photos of them being restored to their original glory.
Hope you enjoyed the story….
Stu Gabriel (MrGun)
Here is the Direct Link to John Bundy Duck Web Site......Check it out, you won't be disappionted!
http://bundyducks.com/
Here is a photo of the ducks, prior to refinishing......
Here is a photo of the ducks, after refinishing......
Pictures of the latest Bundy Ducks
Here are four new Bundy Ducks that I just added to my collection...As I have said before...I Am Hooked On Bundy!