NORFOLK, Va. — People spend a lot of money on a lot of different odd hobbies.
But would you believe that some collectors are willing to pay up to $30,000 for a wooden duck?
How about hundreds of them?
Norfolk auctioneer Randy Fiel’s latest auction, the one taking up half of his showroom on Monticello Avenue, is one he won’t soon forget.
“We went out and saw it and I was flabbergasted,” said Fiel.
After receiving a call from a woman claiming to have hundreds of rare, hand-painted, hand-carved duck decoys, Fiel knew they’d be perfect for auction.
What he didn’t know at the time was how much they were worth.
Some of the duck decoys date back to the 1800s and are in near-perfect condition, making them worth tens of thousands of dollars each.
They will all be auctioned off at Randy's Auction Gallery on March 16, and the total value of the 400+ duck decoy collection is more than $600,000.
“I’ve been doing this for almost 50 years,” said Fiel. “But this got me excited. It’s rare, it’s neat, it’s fun. This is going to be fun.”
The ducks all come from a single collector in Virginia Beach who recently passed away.
Fiel says the value of each duck is based on its shape, the way it was painted and how old it is.
Fiel says the collection has been popular and the phone hasn’t stopped ringing; Collectors are expected to come from all over the country hoping to take home a piece of this rare collection of hand-carved birds.