price check colt ace

[stuckinthe60s]

1981 nib.
5" 22LR
box papers.
factory letter.
any idea?

[Aguila Blanca]

Condition?

[RickB]

NIB, I'd say at least $1500, and wouldn't be surprised by $2500.

[Aguila Blanca]

I think $1500 would be quite low for a LNIB example, if you could find one.

[stuckinthe60s]

new in the box...NIB, unfired, box papers.

[44caliberkid]

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1031078639

This is the only one anyone is bidding on. How does yours compare?

[mikejonestkd]

As neat as the Colt Ace is, I would be hesitant to buy a 1981 vintage model.
Colt had serious quality issues during that time period

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by mikejonestkd

As neat as the Colt Ace is, I would be hesitant to buy a 1981 vintage model.
Colt had serious quality issues during that time period

43 years later, most folks wouldn't spend the money for a LNIB, unfired original and then go out and shoot it.

[Aguila Blanca]

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1031078639

This is the only one anyone is bidding on. How does yours compare?

I was going to say $2,500 before I even knew he's asking about a LNIB example. Guess I wasn't too far off the mark.

[stuckinthe60s]

that one on gb is a 1931 vintage.
1981 sounds like a union strike gun.

[Lurch37]

I know of one that has sat for over a year at $2499. It is LNIB with papers and everything. I'd like to have it as they are awesome pistols if your into the Colt 1911 stuff, but in my opinion, at $2500, it is too much. Researching the gunbroker sales, here are the last 7 sold when I was checking a couple weeks ago.

1. Sold 1-7-24 for $1500 a ANIB 1980 Model
2. Sold 12-16-23 for $1300 a 98% 1981 Model
3. Sold 12-5-23 for $1650 a ANIB 1978 Model
4. Sold 12-3-23 for $2325 a NIB 1979 Model
5. Sold 11-29-23 for $1600 a ANIB 1980 Model
6. Sold 11-26-23 for $1614 a 98% 1981 Model
7. Sold 11-26-23 for $1440 a 98% 1981 Model

Condition is a subjective thing where one mans NIB is another mans 98%. The $2325 Ace was perfect and looked like new and brought a premium price compared to the others that sold for an average of $1517.

Great for a collection and also shooting if you have a shooter grade one.

Also, the linked GB auction is for a pre-war Ace, which is different than the Service Model Ace we are discussing.

[Aguila Blanca]

Properly speaking, NIB (New In Box) means it has never been sold at retail. If it has been sold to a privatowner -- even once -- it is now "new," it is pre-owned. The appropriate description in that case would be LNIB (Like New In Box) or, perhaps, ANIB (As New In Box).

[Lurch37]

Aguila, I've often wondered how one would actually get a NIB firearm, would it have to be given to me from the factory? Is there a way a firearm could have been bought from the factory and not actually retail? I'm assuming anybody outside of the factory is a private owner or am I missing something?

Through my many years of gun collecting I've always seen LNIB or Like New and then of course the percentage grading, 98%, 90% and so on. Only in the last few years have I noticed the ANIB grading. There was always the "unfired" firearms being promoted but I don't see that used much anymore.

[stuckinthe60s]

when a store goes oob, inventories can be sold w/o being sold at a profit.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by Lurch37

Aguila, I've often wondered how one would actually get a NIB firearm, would it have to be given to me from the factory? Is there a way a firearm could have been bought from the factory and not actually retail? I'm assuming anybody outside of the factory is a private owner or am I missing something?

NIB means not previously sold AT RETAIL.

No different from cars. Dealers buy cars from the manufacturers, but when you buy a car from a dealer that came to them directly from the manufacturers, it's a "new" car. If someone traded it in, even if it's only six months old and in perfect condition, it's a used car.