I see said the blind man , but then we all new they were all bad news...

Certainly I did not want to collect proverbs, but only to raise awareness, but especially if someone in the same county who thinks like me can complain to the authorities because I can not do this from Europe, only to protect antique items that are to be loved and not to do that end

Complain to the authorities?

Most here know about the above sellers.

Every blue, blue moon I part a drum since it happens to be in crap condition & it makes sense to part. These parts are needed by others who are missing those parts. And on those rare occasions I sometimes get messaged with diatribes about the terrible person that I am for parting. I question the sanity of these people. They're vintage drums. There will always be vintage drums.

And then you have what's called a free market economy: demand drives supply. It's business. And business is by nature more than less soulless.

Look, I get your opprobrium. And that you're talking about the serial mutilators. Most boycott these sellers anyway. Try and relax and put things in perspective: there's a whole lot more ugly going on in the world than this.

And there are no "authorities" to report to. Drum parts are not antiquities smuggled out of heritage sites. There's nothing to be done but boycotting.

Hobbs! Agree 100% with everything you have said.

Steff... I realize all this really angers you, but just know that the majority of us do boycott these sellers. For these sellers, it is just "business". Not much we can do about that. Now, that being said, I would like to say Welcome to the forum!

-Mark

there are objects that are of historical interest, if you make an international shipment to customs also make a difference to other "regular" items, the drum parts are such if you find a single piece or if the wood of the shell deteriorates then recover the other parts it has utility , completely different from taking a 100% efficient drum 40s or 50s, or worse previous years, and making it into pieces yourself

I agree with Hobbs and idrumforfun 100%....There are times we all need parts for our drums. Buy from VDF members who care. As a last resort you might even have to buy from one of the butcher shops but there is no law to stop it. Im in the UK and premier stuff is on the door step but ludwig and other vintage USA drums i gotta get parts across the pond.

I just recently landed a '69 Ludwig 13, 16, 18, 22 in Black Cortex. They were rough, but had potential for resto, and the price was right, and they came with a couple extra, non matching toms. I cleaned and reheaded one of them figuring someone could use it and it would help pay for parts and heads for the kit. Long story short, the buyer of that tom was interested in the kit too, and lived close enough, so we made a deal.

You guessed it, next day, he'd stripped the shells and all the shells and hardware are on eBay at unbelievable prices!

I was disappointed in myself. That was a complete kit! Never to be again😡

eBay handle is bonhamgear