IS IT A RARE BOW?

What is a “RARE” Vintage Bow? 

by Larry Vienneau

The word “RARE” is one of the most overused words on eBay. Sellers use “RARE” liberally and deceitfully. Typacally there are around 600 vintage Bear Bows on any given day but there may only be one Root Bow. Yet Bear dealers insist on using "RARE" to describe their plentiful bows. I recently did a search for fiberglass bows on eBay. I found two sellers who insisted that their Ben Pearson fiberglass bows were “Rare”.

 One seller had a “RARE” Ben Pearson Strato-Jet #339 and he was asking $200. Another seller had a RARE” Ben Pearson Strato-jet Target #337 and he wanted $194.00. Another seller has a unmarked (Ben Pearson) -Antique recurve bow VINTAGE archery 1965 rare-with a price $3,598.00!!!

1958 Ben Pearson catalog

Considering that Ben Pearson produced hundreds of thousands of these bow, one has to delusional to believe that these bows are rare. I did a web search and found hundreds of each models for sale or as topic for traditional blogs. The fact that I found hundreds of Pearson models 337 and 339 in my very first search confirms that these bows are actually fairly common even though they are 40-50 years old.

 

 

Fiberglass bows are pretty tough and stand up to abuse better than laminated wood and fiberglass bows. Solid fiberglass bows were produced by the millions by the many companies which produced them. What really irks me is that someone not knowledgeable will see the deceptive word “rare” and will shell out $200 for a bow that is worth a fraction that price. Sometimes I will do an eBay search for “Rare Bear recurves” and I will find several dozens. Bear produced over 350,000-400,000 bows during the 1950s to 1980s. Very few Bear bows models are actually scarce yet they are found regularly on eBay listed as ‘Rare”.  I think sellers overuse the term “Rare”. Rare means sparse, uncommon, or seldom seen.  Bear bows, like the Tamerlane, are often called “rare” but one can find several on eBay at any given time. Every once in a while there is a real gem on eBay a true rarity, such as bow owned by Howard Hill or Saxon Pope…..that is rare! I consider a rare bow to be one that may turn up in auction once or twice a year. One such bow is an Adirondack Duro-Flex which was a rare dual dexterity bow. During the past two years there have been thousands of Bear bows; however I have seen only two Adirondack Duro-Flex recurves on eBay during that same time. That is a rare bow.

Ply-Flex Professional 1958

1955 AD

I am a proud owner of a very rare fiberglass bow.  I once saw one of these bows on eBay five years ago, and this past year I found another. The seller knew a lot about rare bows and properly used the word “RARE”. I have made extensive searches for this bow and this company, I found very little. I found one archery forum that had a brief discussion about this bow and I found a Korean Horsebow site that had a photo of a little boy holding one. That was all I could find. I knew this bow was very unique and I paid my highest price for a solid fiberglass bow - $129, but I think it was worth it.  Custom Built Ply-Flex bows were made by Sportsmen Accessories Inc., out of New York. It is interesting that they misspell fiberglass, they use “fibre glass”.  The company made fishing gear and archery equipment and went out of business in 1961.

 Most of their bows are fairly common and most were made in the 1950s. They were often straight limbed longbows or reflex recurves. They also made a few wood and fiberglass laminated bows in 1960-61.  In the late 1950s there was new interest in Asian style bows or Horsebows. In 1958 American Archery made a wood fiberglass laminate called “The Mongol” which mimicked the Mongolian bow. Also in 1958 Tri-State archery made a wood fiberglass laminate called “The Turk”. I think my bow was also made about this time. It is labeled “Ply-Flex Professional Model Genuine Fibre Glass”

Ply-Flex Professional Model

 

Ply-Flex Professional Model detail

It is heavy in the hand and it is thumps when shot like all solid fiberglass bows but it is a fast shooter and is also very consistent.  I repainted my bow and tried to match the color as closely as possible. I left the original logo untouched.  I replaced the white leather wrap with black leather and added new arrow rest and strike plate.

Strung or unstrung it looks like a Horsebow. Unlike most fiberglass recurves this bow’s recurve limbs thicken near the end making it a static recurve. 

comparison of a horsebow and the Ply-Fex

static tip of the Ply-Flex

A Horsebow also has thicker tips which are called the “siyah”. The Siyah are static tips which store energy and adds to the overall power of the bow. I tested the speed of this bow and I was very surprised because it was faster than many of my wood fiberglass laminate bows and all of my solid fiberglass bows. I tested by shooting a 412 grain arrow a dozen rounds through a chronograph and averaging the speeds. Average speed 178.89 FPS

comparison of the Ply-Flex with a Mongolian Horsebow

Ply-Flex Professional Model Genuine Fibre Glass

·         Late 1950s

·         60 inch

·         45 lbs. (likely came in a range of 30- 60 lbs)

·         Ambidextrous

·         Solid Fiberglass

·         Painted black and gold, or gold green and black

·         Applied plastic tips

·         Riser: metal with leather wrap

·         Reflex deflex recurve with rigid tips

·         Arrow speed: 412 gr arrow-  178.89 FPS

So what is a rare item? What is a rare bow? Just because a seller says an item is rare, does not make it so. Do your research.  The internet is a vast library, use it wisely. Remember, not everything on the internet is true. Do your research. Ask smart questions. If is smells fishy then it probably is rotten. A rare or desirable item really is in the eye of the beholder. I collect vintage bows. I own, Bear, Hoyt, Groves, York, Ben Pearson, Grimes, Root and Shakespeare. I also own Native American bows and Chinese, Mongolian and Korean Horsebows. I also collect solid fiberglass bows because many are ambidextrous.  I pay what I feel an item is worth to me. I have a unique perspective on rarity I am right handed but I am a left handed shooter. Some bows which are common as righties are very rare as lefties, I pay for the value of a bow as it pertains to me.  There is one seller on eBay who writes 2000-3000 word descriptions and his bows are overpriced. People fall for his spiel, he spins this sale pitch to make a buyer think they are getting a deal on a bow that is 40% higher than it should be. Research the prices by viewing past auctions, this will give you an idea of what the final price should be. It also shows you that the item may or may not be rare. Lastly, be willing to walk away from an item. Another one will inevitably come your way it you are patient.  Ask Questions. Do your research. Bid and buy wisely.

© Copyright, Larry Vienneau Jr.

All rights reserved.