When: March 15 and 16, 2008.
Where: The Center for Research and Education, Rt. 47, Goshen.
Every March, the optics elves descend from the Big Glass Mountain bearing disgustingly expensive optics that they distribute, free, to needy boys and girls. Of course, there’s a catch.
To be considered a worthy candidate you must have the blood of Irish Kings running undiluted in your veins, slain five full grown dragons (at least one of them fire-breathing; not one of them under the legal limit), know how to drive a stick, eat anchovies and voted for Harold Stassen at least twice.
Needless to say, very few binoculars are actually ever given away (in fact, some authorities say “none”).
And this is why New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory initiated its annual Optics Sale. It just broke our hearts that so many needy and otherwise worthy boys and girls were so close to getting the instruments of their dreams but had never voted for Harold Stassen.
OK, I lied. The real reason we started the sale is because we had closets filled with binoculars and spotting scopes that we were sent “for testing” and just never got around to being returned.
No, we didn’t steal them. We just never returned them.
It’s different.
That first sale was an absolute hoot. We were selling binoculars so cheap that even the manufacturers were buying them from us.
I remember a Swarovski that went for $5.
I remember a Kowa TSN-4 with a 30x eyepiece that was priced for $100.
I remember it because it was mine. I donated it to the sale. Some student up from Washington slept on the porch all night to be first in line the next morning to get that scope.
And he really, really, really had to go to the biffy by the time I got to the door and relieved him (so to speak) for a couple of minutes so he could attend to business.
I still donate instruments to the sale every year. Lots of other people do, too. And manufacturers like Nikon, Swarovski, Zeiss, Leica and others rummage around in their closets and see what they come up with and sell it to us on the cheap.
Used instruments. Factory rebuilds. Discontinued models. They give it to us at a discount. We pass it on to you.
This year we’ve got a swarm of Leica Ultravids bearing price tags that haven’t been seen since they dismantled the Berlin Wall. We are also about the only people on the planet with Leica Spotting scopes to sell.
The new spotting scope line has been delayed three years. (When you ask the sales reps when it’s coming out they roll their eyes.) We’ve got a big inventory of Leica 77s and 62s. Other dealers call us and ask us “pretty please” to sell them or trade them….
We say. “Nope. Members get first dibs.”
You are a CMBO or NJAS member, right? If you’re not, then there is still time to become a member before the sale. Or you can join on March 15 or 16 but it’s going to eat up browsing time.
That’s right. In order to be eligible to take advantage of the sale prices on Nikon Monarchs, Leica Ultravids, and Leupold Yosemites you have to be a member.
What are the prices? Sorry. Can’t say in print. We’d lose our standing as dealers if we did.
Let’s just say that it’s low enough that it hardly matters that you’ve never voted for Harold Stassen. And you can stop lying about liking anchovies, too.
Not a member yet? Get a head start by going to our Membership page, download the online membership form, fill it out, and bring it with you to the sale!