The new year is a little more than a week old. How is your 2025 going so far, organizer-wise?
Is your 2025 setup all complete and working smoothly?
Are you still working out the kinks?
Are you still getting all the parts into place? (me!)
And as always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything Filofax related!
Recently, I was browsing through some of the old catalogues and I began to wonder, where all the old Filofax file cabinets/filing boxes enden up that must have ben sold in the millions over time...I cannot find any on the market! Anyone has one to sell?
ReplyDeleteI was just wondering what the longest lasting Filofax model is or was. Anyone got contenders?
ReplyDeleteI assume there might be some that lasted in name but got changed. I am kind of thinking of models that survived unchanged for a long time or structurally unchanged.
This came from Franz' comment about the millions of filing boxxes that must have been sold over time. There must have been some organiser models that were similarly sold in their millions. So I guess either a long sale time to get to a lot out there or a big sales rate over a shorter time period.
It seems to me that there are a lot of certain models in used sales outlets, saffiano probably as they were cheaper and a starter one so sold a lot in shorter time perhaps. There seems to be the Kent models that I see a bit too. Does the used market reflect the new or the number sold?
For the longest-surviving models, compare the 1937 and 1979 catalogues; the model numbers (and pictures!) are identical. And those old models (e.g. E.199) morphed into the likes of the 2MLF (Buckingham), 4CLF & 5CLF (Winchester), 6CL (Gloucester). The Duplex persisted until 1991.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure the numbers sold run into the millions, though it would be interesting to know; possible to estimate if you could find company turnover figures for each year. I think it ticked over quietly for many years until the big boom & bust of the late 80's early 90's.
There _is_ a storage box currently on sale, from a regular filofax organiser reseller, but with a huge stack of old, unused inserts, at a rather high price for what is just a cardboard box and some sheets of paper...
The old models were built to last, so they do appear on auction sites. And people can usually research the prior sales before they list, though some are wildly optimistic (e.g. £400 for a Winchester, vs usual sale price of around £30).
The 'new' items are generally resale of clearance stock (e.g. from TK Maxx). These are mostly the cheaper models, but I have seen a few Finsburys, Maldens & Lockwoods in the recent sales.
Some NOS is from genuine, ancient dead stock found in warehouses. Some 'unused' old items were obviously unused gifts, put away in drawers for years. I tend to go for these two sources.
The cheaper models (Saffiano, Domino, Metropol) really don't last if actually used, and get tatty quite quickly, so are unlikely to be sold on unless very cheaply, commensurate with their poor condition and low quality.
The vinyl faux leather binders (such as Kent, Keswick & Identity) do seem to be quite durable, judging by the examples I've seen for resale. That tallies with my personal experience of vinyl leathercloth that is 50 years old.
The really nice binders? I guess people hang on to those...
Kevin
The filing box on sale at present is probably the same one that had sold a few days earlier for £30. There are bargains out there, but it’s hard to catch them in time,
DeleteIndeed; this seller has a lot of interesting stuff. It must take a lot of time and effort to find it, from wherever they get it. I spend too much time trawling charity shops and the like, and, whilst I have found some crazy bargains, nowhere near the volume this person has.
DeleteI did strike it lucky last week with a BIN of two lovely old (1993) kid leather Pockets (my favourite), probably NOS (or cosmetic seconds, given the minor blemishes) from somewhere. It may be time to get a paypal account so I can clear some of the obsessive finds before it gets too out of hand...
I bought my first Filofax, a NOS P5KLF, 4-ring Pocket, in 2020, for £6 delivered. The same seller is finally trying to clear the last few of this stock for £50. Not sure if that reflects a change in value of secondhand Filofaxes, or the seller's understanding of the market, or their choosing to try to get the most value from their last few items...
Kevin
On a different topic, I have been looking at Flex binders. The Philofaxy post archive suggests they were introduced 2010/11, but the only appearance they make in the old catalogues is 2013-14. Were they not included in the catalogues for some reason (too different a product?). What was their actual production lifespan? Thanks,
ReplyDeleteKevin
Some years ago, a family member asked me to sell some stuff on eBay & to my surprise, pulled a very well worn king croc Winchester out of a cupboard!
ReplyDeletehttps://filowiki.robert-mayr.com/index.php?title=Winchester_4CCF_King_Crocodile_Personal
He admitted that he used to have lots of the filing boxes, but assumed that no one would want them, so he'd put them all in his recycling bin!
I picked up a lovely Winchester years ago on eBay & gifted it to my Dad. The seller said that it had been in a skip when family were clearing out his late relative's place & he only managed to rescue it in time...