LSB
138 posts
Oct 15, 2012
2:55 PM
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Props to Melissa and the Rockford Register Star for doing some digging.
We'll never know whether R&R Opportunities ever actually “expressed firm commitment to filling our back orders.” or if Brad just ad libbed that to take some pressure off himself during his exit.
The fact that R&R states they are in process of doing a feasibility study is laughable because it wouldn't take anywhere near as long as a year if they were at all serious. Even more important, and telling, is that if you were really serious about producing the harmonicas then you'd do the feasibility study before purchasing the company assets in the first place if you had any business. Either way, the facts as presented don't point in the direction of a company planning to produce harmonicas any time soon, or make good on previous orders even if they do go into production. Certainly I won't be holding my breath for the 5 harps I'm owed.
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
1346 posts
Oct 15, 2012
3:52 PM
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I've been saying for some time that they bought the assets from the bank.
Are you kidding? If I had cash, and I had the chance to buy the B-radical patent and equipment for $11,000, I sure wouldn't wait around to do a feasibility study. I WOULD SNATCH IT UP!!!! IN A HEARTBEAT!!!
$11 grand. For that? You'd have to be crazy not to.
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David
____________________
At the time of his birth, it was widely accepted that no one man could play that much music so well or raise that much hell. He proved them all wrong.
R.I.P. H. Cecil Payne
Last Edited by on Oct 15, 2012 3:53 PM
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LSB
139 posts
Oct 15, 2012
5:40 PM
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You missed my point, but I won't belabor it.
Wish you had bought it David, at least something would be getting done one way or another.
Bottom line, from a business perspective it makes no sense from any angle to buy the assets and then sit on them: HH assets are not an investment - they will not appreciate in value over time just by virtue of ownership. In order to make the investment worthwhile one must either A) Resell the assets at a profit or B) Produce harmonicas in a profitable way. Of course sometimes people purchase things with the intention that they will never use them for profit. Seems unlikely in this case but anything is possible I suppose.
Regardless, it's been 13 months and still........nothing.
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
1349 posts
Oct 15, 2012
6:17 PM
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The thing is it's not easy to make harmonicas in a profitable way. I've seen it not done.
One thing this brings to light is people have been saying for a very long time that Brad sold everything, took the money and ran. I've been saying that's not the case, the bank took it and then the bank sold it - I just didn't say names or the amount (I never knew the amount until now). This confirms what I said about that and I hope it will help validate some of the other things I've said as well about what was going on at HH.
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David
____________________
At the time of his birth, it was widely accepted that no one man could play that much music so well or raise that much hell. He proved them all wrong.
R.I.P. H. Cecil Payne
Last Edited by on Oct 15, 2012 6:21 PM
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GMaj7
118 posts
Oct 15, 2012
6:16 PM
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I think it is really a drag that some of you folks lost your money on the B-Rad..
But expecting any future manufacturers to honor HH commitments would be sort of like a bar owner asking you to play for free because the last band stiffed him...
Or your your new girlfriend's ex asking you to pay him for dinner and drinks on their last date...
Not gonna happen..
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Greg Jones
16:23 Custom Harmonicas
greg@1623customharmonicas.com
1623customharmonicas.com
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HarveyHarp
379 posts
Oct 15, 2012
8:17 PM
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Heck, if he agrees to take my old girlfriend off my hands, I will buy him dinner and drinks for a long time. LOL
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HarveyHarp
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
1350 posts
Oct 15, 2012
10:00 PM
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No, that's the amount the bank sold it for. The amount has nothing to do with anything that was related to HH. That's just what they sold the assets for. Like you buy a house on the courthouse steps for $200. That kind of thing.
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David
____________________
At the time of his birth, it was widely accepted that no one man could play that much music so well or raise that much hell. He proved them all wrong.
R.I.P. H. Cecil Payne
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Tuckster
1163 posts
Oct 15, 2012
10:20 PM
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Think about it: if someone with the passion for harp that Brad Harrison obviously has,couldn't make it work,what chance does a venture capitalist have of making it work? Could it be as good? Would Brad have any input as to quality? I'm very doubtful.
Dave,don't know if you're free to comment,but why did HH fail? Lack of capital or manufacturing gremlims?
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
1351 posts
Oct 16, 2012
11:43 AM
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If you dig around, I put up a pretty lengthy explanation on here, but ultimately it was lack of capital. We overcame the manufacturing gremlins long before it went out of business.
David
____________________
At the time of his birth, it was widely accepted that no one man could play that much music so well or raise that much hell. He proved them all wrong.
R.I.P. H. Cecil Payne
Last Edited by on Oct 16, 2012 11:43 AM
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Honkin On Bobo
1068 posts
Oct 16, 2012
12:04 PM
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"Think about it: if someone with the passion for harp that Brad Harrison obviously has,couldn't make it work,what chance does a venture capitalist have of making it work? "
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Having passion for your end product isn't the only thing one needs to possess to successfully launch and grow a small business. You see this often in the food service industry where someody is a great gourmet cook at home, and they deludedly think that somehow this means they know something about starting and running a commercial kitchen. I don't know what went wrong at Harrison, but I will say that "lack of capital" is an overused term that is often used as a catch-all to try and explain a number of underlying causes.
Last Edited by on Oct 16, 2012 12:05 PM
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chromatonic
5 posts
Jan 13, 2013
10:54 AM
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There's so little money in harmonicas, and 'making it up on volume' is a common fallacy.
Hohner was the first big success because he figured out how to make, market and distribute literally millions of harmonicas - back in the 19th century when a million of anything was almost unheard of.
With $5 and $6 harmonicas 'all over', with the average diatonic harmonica selling for the price of a dinner for two, it's got to be really tough to make money on harmonicas.
Being a perfectionist, striving to make 'the ultimate' (for a reasonable price) is NOT the way to make money, by the way. I learned that "PERFECT is the enemy of ENOUGH". I'd love to see an American harmonica again... but then again there are few products here in America that are truly exclusively American. Maybe American labor and American manufacturing (with all our restrictive legislation) just makes it unfeasible.
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The Iceman
673 posts
Jan 13, 2013
11:30 AM
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Mass producing on the cheap seems to be one way towards big money.
I do gourmet foods, but being the stubborn ol' curmudgeon that I am, have been sticking to my principal of making something of highest quality that costs more and finding my demographic.
It's a much longer road to success (still not there yet) and a bigger gamble, but if payoff is there eventually, I will be one happy and non-principled-compromised guy.
For instance, a couple of the "big boys" have been sniffing around (as my brand products are making noise enough to start being picked up on their radar) and have sent me openings like "We are considering carrying your product line in our stores. Please send cost break down, minimum order requirements, wholesale price, shipping costs, etc).
Well, my wholesale price is a lot higher than other similar and not so similar food products out there on the shelves. However, my product is at least two levels above those stocked items in taste.
End result is that after submitting my information, I never hear from them again, even with follow up emails or phone calls.
This is how the big boys play the game. Luckily, it is a wide competitive market and I have found a handful of very small individually owned gourmet stores that are on the same page as me and sell my product to great success through repeat purchases and eventually finding that small demographic that enjoys high quality and pays a little more for it.
So, I am kinda the B-Radical of the olive tapenade and tomato bisque soup world and understand the difficulty involved when you put integrity into business instead of quantity sales at low price.
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The Iceman
Last Edited by on Jan 13, 2013 11:39 AM
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