[Leica] LHSA Black Paint M6

["Jack F. Matlock" <jfmatlo@ibm.net>]

Rich of Photovilla wrote:

"Of course, many dealers (including me) 
ordered a bunch more then they pre-sold to speculate that prices would be 
going only up on these desirable cameras."

As an LHSA member who unfortunately was unable to get to Boston this year but who bought one of the black paint LHSA M6's (a magnificent camera, by the way), I must confess I have some questions regarding the way LHSA communicated with its members.

The only notice I received from LHSA specified that the cameras had to be ordered through LHSA by members, and the full price paid up front, even for deliveries that might not occur until November or later.

A few months later, it turned out that the cameras were also available through dealers who could offer much better payment terms (payment by credit card upon shipment, for example).  As an LHSA member I received no notice of this change in the rules.  Am I unique, or did LHSA fail to notify its members of a change in procedure?

Second question: why is it, if all orders had to be submitted by June 30, that we cannot get an exact figure for the number of .72 and .85  LHSA M6s that have been and will be produced?  If, indeed, orders are closed, surely LHSA and Leica Solms must know how many have been ordered.  Why is this a secret? (The only figure l have heard is "about 1200" but it is not clear whether this includes both .72 and..85 models, and whether it is the number already produced or the total production.  If the announced rules were followed, it is most unlikely that the number ordered would be precisely divisible by 100.  

Finally: members of LHSA could order as many of each model as they wished, so long as they paid in full up front.  Were dealers also required to pay in full upon their order?  Unless they were, the original announcement to LHSA members was misleading.  Also, how can dealers sell for the same price as LHSA unless they can buy at a discount?  (I would have no problem with that, except that it is not what LHSA  members were told originally.)

Anybody out there know the answers to these questions? 

I can imagine that sales under the original terms were slow, so dealers were allowed to order the  same way they would any other model.  Nothing wrong with this, except that it is not what members were originally told.  

l should add that I am delighted that LHSA persuaded Solms to make this model.  But I think that, if the rules for ordering were changed after the original announcement, LHSA members should have been notified and an explanation offered.  Although I am a user, not a collector who simply puts cameras away in the hope of future value appreciation, I still have an interest in knowing what the future value is likely to be for an article commanding a premium price.

Maybe this was discussed in Boston, and if so I apologize for raising it here, but I am genuinely perplexed.  



Jack