bagophily

Bruce joins the 5000 club

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:50:00 +0000

Alaskan baggist Bruce Kelly tells me that he has crossed the 5000-bag threshold. "Not nearly enough to challenge the top 2", he laments. But he's off to Mexico to forage for fresh items, so expect his total to rise soon.

Oliver has 5792

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:06:00 +0000

Hamburg collector Oliver Conradi has gone public with his bagnumbers - in the German tabloid newspaper Bild.

Oliver featured in a story about Hamburg airport, along with brusque credit-card promoters and hidden railway signage.

Oliver's most recent bagnumbers? 5792 bags from 1399 airlines, collected over 30 years. According to Bild, That's more than Niek Vermeulen, the current Guinness record holder.

Oliver is now 45, says the Bild journalist. A bit of mental arithmetic tells us that he must have started collecting bags at the impressionable age of 15.

If you have teenage children, perhaps it's time to warn them now about the dangers of baggery.

That is, if you don't want to learn of their exploits from the inside pages of a sensationalist tabloid rag.

Barfbags for beer

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:23:00 +0000

This Times newspaper article says that Kirin (a Japanese brewer) is using bags to advertise its alcohol-free beer to sloshed salarymen riding home in taxis after their nightly male-bonding binges.

An advertising venture doomed to fail, I predict. If the said salaryman is sloshed enough to use one of Kirin’s bags, he is unlikely to remember the message it carries the following morning.

Nice try, Kirin. But perhaps advertising express flower-delivery services to appease irate spouses would be a better use of scarce bagspace?

Thanks to Steve Silberberg for this alert.

Yet another use for unwanted bags

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:56:00 +0000

Did Boeing forget to install a video screen in the back of the seat in front of you?

Fret no more: all you need do is bring your iPod and a spare plain white bag on board with you. Cut a screen-size hole in the bag, and a small in the side for the earphone cable, and presto - your own personal inflight entertainment system.

You may need to pre-cut the holes in order to avoid risking your penknife being confiscated by security at check-in.

This image is from gadling.com.

discover | map | navigate | puke

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:34:00 +0000

"Airsickness Bags Make Unusual Collections", says this Rand McNally blog.

Not news for the majority of baggists, but perhaps an eye-opener for the uninitiated non-bagging public.

The blog goes on to laud Bruce Kelly's collection, and to reveal that he is about to pass the psychologically important 5,000 mark. Other collections featured include those of Steve Silberberg, Rune Tapper, Alan Howlett, as well as bagophily.com.

Thanks to Steve for this alert.

Vote early, vote often

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:32:00 +0000

Want to know what your fellow baggists think? Want to know if they think at all?

Then set up a poll on the barfbags egroup.

The egroup site, hosted by Yahoogroups, has a plethora of little-known bells and whistles. Members can set up polls, upload photos, add links, create databases, set up a calendar, and lots of other goodies.

Click here to visit the site and play with these toys.

One member has recently started a poll asking whether members want to receive automatic replies to email postings to the group.

Yahoo's sophisticated polling software automatically calculates percentages and displays a bar chart - like the one on the left, which confirms that 6 votes out of 10 equals 60%.

Proving that to be a member of the prestigious baggist coterie, an ability to think (or at least, the ability to do simple maths) is not a requirement.

Grizzled old baggist

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:41:00 +0000

Publicity-shy though I am, bagophily.com has been featured in the prestigious "Grizzled Old Traveler" blog run by travel writer Sean McLachlan.

The motto of this blog is "Because the adventure doesn't stop after thirty".

That should presumably read "...at thirty thousand feet". After all, that altitude is safely above most hurl-inducing turbulence, so it's safe to move around the cabin to steal bags from other passengers' seat pockets. Make sure they're asleep before you try this, though.

The Clemens eBay report for 2nd Quarter 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:11:00 +0000

A new record for a barfbag - €633.62 for a single bag. A generic one at that - proving that airlines do not have to print logos on their bags for them to be valued by their customers.

Alas for the airline, though - its name is not recorded for posterity. It was not a mere company name that made this bag go for such an astronomical sum. No, the bag was autographed by legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

So a celeb-defaced overpriced bag hit the jackpot on bagmarket watcher Gerd Clemens' eBay listing. Here's his complete list of auctions exceeding EUR 20 for the second quarter of 2008 (with minor additions from last week of first quarter).

Rank, Airline, Country, Price, Notes

Generic, USA, €633.62, With Jimi Hendrix signature

SAE Regional Airlines, Mali, €107.31

Aeropesca, Colombia, €104.00

SAHSA, Honduras, €97.60

UTA, France, €82.93

Lan Chile, Chile, €79.21

AVIATECA, Guatemala, €79.00

LAN, Chile, €66.83

Safi Airways, Afghanistan, €65.77

Russavia Ltd., UK, €65.03

Safi Airways, Afghanistan, €65.00, Direct Sale

LOT old, Poland, €56.85

Jeju Air, Korea, €47.23

Jeju Air, Korea, €46.73, Direct Sale

Jet Star, Australia, €46.65

Jet Star, Australia, €45.90

P.L.L. Lot Air, Poland, €45.70

Safi Airways, Afghanistan, €45.00, Direct Sale

Air Bagan, Burma, €42.73

Jet Star, Australia, €39.40

Island Aviation, Maldives, €39.34

Aero Condor, Peru, €39.25

VIVA Macau, Macau, €39.17

MEA, Lebanon, €38.18

VIVA Macau, China, €36.40

Pluna # 1, Uruguay, €35.50

Pluna # 1, Uruguay, €35.00, Direct Sale

GMG, Bangladesh, €34.50

Kam Air, Afghanistan, €34.19

TAE Trabajos Aereos, Spain, €33.80

Andes Lineas Aereas, Argentina, €33.60

Kam Air, Afghanistan, €33.50, Direct Sale

Seven Air, Tunisia, €33.48

Andes Lineas Aereas, Argentina, €33.10, Direct Sale

Moscow Air, Russia, €33.00

VIVA Macau,China , €32.55

Skynet Asia Airways, Japan, €32.50

Clickair, Spain, €32.47

Linus Airways, Indonesia, €32.30

VIVA Macau, China, €32.10

Moscow Air, Russia, €32.00, Direct Sale

LADE, Argentina, €31.70

Lucky Air, China, €31.34

Air Bagan, Burma, €29.60, Direct Sale

VIVA Macau, China, €29.50, Direct Sale

Freedom Airways, Cyprus, €29.23

GMG, Bangladesh, €29.00

Starflyer, Japan, €29.00

Air Bagan, Burma, €28.70

Air Bagan, Burma, €28.70

United Company, China, €28.50

Air India, India, €28.50

Air India, India, €28.00

Yeti Airways, Nepal, €27.62

Aero Republica, Colombia, €26.60

BEA British European, UK, €26.50

Far Eastern Air Transport, Taiwan, €26.38

Linus Airways, Indonesia, €26.38

Clickair, Spain, €26.30

Aero Republica, Colombia, €26.10, Direct Sale

Airsur, Spain, €26.00

ORC, Japan, €25.50

Pluna # 1, Uruguay, €24.23

Air Sul, Spain, €23.93

BEA, UK, €23.75

Siem Reap, Cambodia, €22.79

Seven Air, Tunisia, €22.53

Dniproavia, Ukraine, €22.50

Avior Airlines, Venezuela, €22.17

Aero Republica, Colombia, €22.00, Direct Sale

Air New Zealand, New Zealand, €21.75

Mandala, Indonesia, €21.60

Pluna # 2, Uruguay, €21.60

Air India, India, €21.50

Siem Reap, Cambodia, €20.81

Air Dolomiti, Italy, €20.60

Far Eastern Air Transport, Taiwan, €20.50, Direct Sale

Zoom Airlines, Canada, €20.50

Presidential Airways, USA, 20.26

Pluna # 1, Uruguay, €20.10, Direct Sale

VIVA Macau, China, €20.00

Another worthless reality TV show?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:59:00 +0000

Get served by Michelle Marsh (above), and you could pick up the bag below.

But at least this one has its own barfbags, says Danish-based baggist Homer Goetz.

"CelebAir is a reality TV series, which sees 11 celebrities doing the jobs of cabin crew and check-in attendants", says Homer.

"The tv-company subchartered an Airbus A321 from Monarch Airlines, registration G-OZBI, which has been repainted in CelebAir colours.

"The series is set in Gatwick Airport. There are seven destinations that CelebAir will fly to: Tenerife South Airport, Faro Airport (Portugal), Málaga Airport, Ibiza Airport, Mahon Airport, Larnaca International Airport and Alicante Airport.

"Before any of the celebrities were allowed to start their new jobs, they undertook a rigorous six-week training programme run by Monarch, the airline involved in the show, and were required to adhere to Monarch’s standards whilst working for CelebAir.

"The series began on 2 September 2008 on ITV2."

If you want to be served by a C-list British celebrity that you've never heard of, book a CelebAir flight by clicking on the link above. You will be assured of Monarch's usual classy service, and while you're on board, be sure to pick up one of their special barfbags. Better still, grab a handful and send one to me.

Thanks to Homer for this item.

Bag 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:05:00 +0000

Bagging has taken the next step forward by embracing Web 2.0 technology.

French baggiste Gilles Beger has founded a Facebook group, the Airsickness Bags Appreciation Society.

"The ASBAS pomotes [sic] the use and circulation of Air Sickness bags worldwide. This group is dedicated to those collecting air sickness bags..." says the introductory blurb.

The group is open to all, so we can predict it will attract all kinds of weirdo baggists.

Click on the link above to sign up.

Broken something?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:52:00 +0000

Germany continues to lead the way with bag humour. The cartoon by Uli Stein on the left appeared in the veterinary journal VetImpulse in September 2008.

"On the phone you said you had broken something?" asks the doctor. "I don't see anything?"

"I've brought it with me..." says the patient, reaching into her handbag and pulling out a full barfbag.

For those needing to attend remedial German classes, this draws on the double meaning of the word "gebrochen" in German: it means both "broken" and "thrown up".

Click on the picture for a closer look.

Get your own virtual bag

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:34:00 +0000

You can now introduce all your non-baggist friends to the joys of bag collecting by giving them a free virtual bag on Facebook.

The social networking site has 250,000 of these bags available. Designed by the Travel Channel, they feature a big Travel Channel T logo and the informative text "BARF BAG".

These must be among the smallest bags ever offered outside of Indonesia, though: scarcely big enough for one portion of your avatar's emesis.

Got more virtual puke to dispose of? Then sign on to Facebook and send multiple virtual bags to the baggist of your choice. Desperate? You can even give a bag to yourself (like I did).

Thanks to Steve Silberberg for this alert.

Need bags? Get pregnant

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:22:00 +0000

Want to look chic while you throw up? Easy - all you have to do is to get pregnant, then find someone to order some of these Morning Chicness Bags for you.

"Morning Chicness Bags are excellent gifts for your pregnant friend or wife", says the vendor's site, www.morningchicnessbags.com. "Help her make this difficult time a little easier for her. She will love this thoughtful and unique gift."

Morning Chicness Bags are "convenient, disposable, affordable and yet stylish", says this review. We might add that they also make excellent gifts for your unpregnant baggist friends. Have pity on baggists - the vast majority of them are male, so have few chances of experiencing the joys of Hyperemesis Gravidarum, or receiving these delectable items from sympathetic acquaintances. Perhaps they could simulate pregnancy by stuffing a few of their spare bags under their pullovers?

Morning Chicness Bags come in six feminine pastel designs: Lavender Lulu, Tickled Pink, Baby Bubbles, Bambooboo, Labor of Love, and Rosebuddies. This last design carries the text "Live, Laugh, Love". Shouldn't that be "Spew, Barf, Heave"?

A pack of ten bags will cost you a mere $7.50. Unfortunately it's possible to order only one type of design at a time, so you have to buy 6 packs of 10 to get a full set. That will cost you $45. Feel free to donate your unwanted extras to me for my Biman Bangladesh Appeal.

Thanks to Gilles Beger for this alert.

Get ready for an expensive October

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:17:00 +0000

You're going to use up an awful lot of your frequent flyer miles if you want to hunt for bags at all October's airline collectible shows.

According to veteran showgoer Niek Vermeulen, no less than five North American shows open their doors between 4 and 25 October: in Minneapolis, Toronto, Seattle, Atlanta and Houston. You have a problem on 18 October, though, as the shows in Atlanta and Brussels take place on the same day.

A tip from bagophily.com: find out whether Niek will be at Atlanta or Brussels, then go to the other show. You'll have more chance of picking up a bargain bag if you don't have to compete with him.

Thanks to Niek for these dates. See the Shows page for more details.

The Clemens eBay report for 1st Quarter 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:14:00 +0000

"Compared to last quarter of 2007, the year 2008 has started with a far higher number of auctions at Ebay which exceeded the barrier of €20", writes our Senior Markets Correspondent Gerd Clemens.

"Winner in this quarter is a bag from the Namibian Charter Flight – Skeleton Coast at a price of €87.40.

Runner up is a bag from the first low cost carrier Laker from UK which is dated with 1976. The extraordinary thing is this bag can also be used to send films for processing which makes this bag very rare. Final bid was made at €79.10.

In course of this quarter a plastic bag from TWA which was offered in their 1st class was on sale very often. At the beginning price came up to €70, but at the end even at prices of €2 could not find a buyer.

On rank #4 we find a very interesting German specimen which is more than just an airsickness bag. It is an airmail letter from 1925 with all the stamps but as envelope an airsickness bag was used. On this bag a small poem is printed and for some of you which want to improve their German here the text:

O, brich die Knospe nicht in ihrem Jugendtraum,
Erbrich von fremdem Brief das Siegel nicht,
Erbrich dich selber nicht in diesem Raum,
Brich in die Tüte, sie ist stark und dicht!

(Unauthorized bagophily.com translation:

Oh, break no blossoms in your youthful gloom
Break open no other's letter - 'tis wrong,
Break not yourself in this room,
But break in the bag, it is tight and strong!)

I guess that this poem would have had good chances to win the poem contest which was organized by Paul some years ago. Finally the auction was won from a member of our group against strong competitors which were philatelists at a price of €62.00.

Now Andemar is an Argentinean first class bus service which operates with the slogan “the best way to know Argentina”. About 15 years ago Andemar operated also as airline which flew over the Andes. Price for this bag came up to €61.64 and as direct sale to €60.30.

Not much to our surprise Republic of China (Taiwan) has a national air force. But a bag from this organisation is very rarely seen. So price went up to €60.65.

Bolivia operates an airline called TAM which stands for Transporte Aereo Militar Boliviano. It was founded in 1946 and operates on domestic flights. Price for this bag was €51 and in a further auction price came up to €23.60, which is rank #37.

A bag from the Israeli an carrier EL AL from the 1970s came in at #9 at a price of €50.93.

TAN Transportes Aereos Neuquen is another Argentinean airline which operates from the region Neuquen. As this is a very unusual air sickness bag price was €50.74.

United Eagles Airlines is a privately owned Chinese airline based in Chengdu, Sichuan. It operates domestic passenger services and was established in 2004. Price of this bag was €50.55.

Another privately owned Chinese airline is East Star Airline which operates from Wuhan, Hubai. They started operation in May 2006. Final bid was made at €47.60.
For a bag with another design €40.50 were paid which is rank #19.

The Korean airline Jeju Air connects Seoul and Busan with the small honeymoon island Jeju. From time to time a bag from this carrier is on sale. This quarter their bag reached rank #13 at a price of €47.23.

And again a bag from Argentina, Andes, an airline which offers regional services as well as charter flights since June 2006. They are based in Salta connecting this city with Buenos Aires. Price for this bag was €46.59.

China Express Airlines was established in May 2006. Based in Guiyang they operate with 2 Bombardiers. The price was €46.55.

Belavia is the national airline of the Republic of Belarus. Main base is Minsk the capitol of Belarus. Price came up to €45.52.

VIM is an Russian airline based in Moscow, which was established in 2000. Later they acquired Chitavia, Aeobratsk and Russian Sky Airlines, which made them very strong in the charter flight business. Just recently they bought 12 Boeing 757. Price for their bag came in at €45.50.

At rank 18 we find a bag from the African carrier Air Malawi at a price of €44.84.

China West Air is a start up airline based in Chongqing. It was established in March 2006 by Hainan Airlines and operates domestic flights. Price was €35.61.

On rank 21 we find Santa Barbara Airlines which is based in Venezuela at a price of €34.78, moreover on the ranks 26 to 29 in direct sales at a price of €32.36 and in an another auction at prices of €25.01 and €23.87.

A bag from Kenya Airways issued mid of the 1970s was bought at €34.55.

Chosonminhang is the former name of the North Korean carrier Air Koryo. The bag came in as #23 at a price of €37.04.

Air Cairo is from Egypt. According to the name this charter and low cost carrier is based in Cairo. Operation started in 1997. In 2005 Egypt Air acquired 40% of their shares and operation was transferred to a new company: Cairo Aviation. Later Air Cairo was re-positioned as a new low cost carrier which belongs to Egypt Air. Price came up to €35.50, which is rank #25 and in another auction at €24.60.

With a bag from 1976 British Midland came in at a price of €32.07 which is rank #30.

A defunct Indian airline is NECP. For a bag from this airline €31.03 was paid.

China Southwest was an airline which had their headquarters in Chengdu, Sichuan. In 2002 China Southwest was merged into Air China. Bag offered was a very nice one as it shows a panda bear carrying the logo. Price for this scarce bag was €30.60.

Next bag comes from Spain. It is an original red TAE bag with a white Hispania sticker. Hispania was founded in 1982 for charter flights from Germany, UK and France to Spain. In July 1989 when liabilities were more than their assets Hispania was forced to chease operation. Price of this special bag came up to €27.47.

A paper bag with a smiley and the words “Have a happy day” was sold at €26.45.

Siem Reap Airways, wholly owned by Bangkok Airways, started operation in Nov 2000. It is based in Phnom Penk Cambodia. A severe fight started for their bags with a totally new design. In the first auction price came up to €26.38, which is rank #35, another auction was finalized at €21.04. But within short when more and more of these bags were offered a strong price erosion took place. Now you get this bag for some euros.

Far Eastern Air Transport is based in the Republic of China. A bag with a new design was sold at €26.38.

An older bag in light green from MAS Malaysian Airlines, offered together with some safety cards was sold at €23.00, which is rank #41.

Oasis Hong Kong is an airline with a very short time of operation. Founded just about 2 years ago they made a lot of noises by offering very low prices for flights between Hong Kong and London. But it seems that calculation was not made carefully enough as they were forced to cease operation because of financial problems on the 9th of April.
One of their last bags with a new design was sold at €22.99.

SAETA means Sociedad Anonima Ecuatorian de Transportes was a privately held airline of Ecuador which began operation in the 1960s. The collapse of Ecuador’s economy in the late 90’s forced the airline to cease operation in 2000. Bags were bought at €22.80.

A plastic bag with pull strings from Royal Nepal Airlines, which is quite unusual was sold at €22.50.

2 bags from Luxair of which one was scarce were sold at €22.00 which was rank #45.

Aigle-Azur which serves France with North Africa is a French airline. Much to my surprise price came up to €21.50 as 2 gentlemen fought very hard for this bag.

Bags from the Brazilian carrier NHT is on sale during the last few quarters. This time prices were €20.87 and €20.50.

On rank #50 we find a Japanese bag from Osaka Airport Transport which is available on busses on this airport. Price came up to €20.71 and another bag in direct sale at €20, which is rank #53, the last bag on this list.

Air Algerie normally is nothing special. But an older bag with a slightly different design was attractive enough to spent €20.50.

A British Airways sick bag from 1976 was #52 at a price of €20.11.

Maybe you can agree that first quarter of 2008 started not too bad. Let us se what the next months will bring. Kind regards from sunny Germany."

- Gerd Clemens

Biman needs bags

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:03:00 +0000

Bangladeshi flag carrier Biman is in the market for some new bags.

Not just a few: the tender has gone out to supply them with 13,75,000 bags.

That's 13.75 lakh, or 1.375 million bags. At five grams a bag, that lot would weigh nearly 7 tons.

Anyone want to come together with me for a joint bid? I'm still a few crores and lakhs short of the number of bags they need. But if enough baggists pool our spares, perhaps we can put together enough to compete.

Still short of spares? Then one way to get enough bags together would be for each baggist in this group to steal as many bags as we can from each plane we board (yes, I know we all do this anyway...). With (say) 70 baggists contributing (say) 10 bags a month to a common pool, we should be able to get the number of bags we need to fulfil the order in a little over 160 years.

French textbook to feature bags

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:39:00 +0000

Rejected: Finnaviation and Jaromir Kral's design (used here by Aviateca)

Exclusive to bagophily.com: A fifth-grade French-language textbook in Canada is to feature bags and baggery, bagophily.com has learned.

The book will follow the exploits of "Keiko", a young girl who supposedly lives in St John's in Newfoundland. Keiko travels a lot, so has amassed a barfbag collection.

A representative of the publisher contacted bagophily.com for publication-quality images of the bags in Keiko's fictitious collection. Plans originally called for the book to include Finnaviation's iconic barfing reindeer design, as well as Jaromir Kral's wondrous happy full barfbag.

But Finnaviation's copyright holders refused permission to use the reindeer image, and Jaromir's design was judged "not cutesy enough".

The book will now feature bagdesigns from Virgin Atlantic's Design for Chunks Limited Edition series.

The French reader will be published in March 2009. Bagophily.com has been promised an exclusive copy.

Baggist in photo exhibit

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:22:00 +0000

Hamburg-based baggist Oliver Conradi stars in a photo exhibit by rising photographer Hannah Schuh.

Part of Ms Schuh's exhibit features "Wunderkammer" (magical chambers): "collectors and their treasured objects".

The shot of Oliver shows him seated at a table strewn with his treasured bags, tossing a handful into the air. Not advisable for fragile or vintage bags, though Oliver has so many that he can afford to chuck them around.

Ms Schuh's photos were exhibited in The Hague from 28 June to 6 July 2008, and in Amsterdam from 10 to 16 July.

Click on the photo to see the full collection (of Hannah's photos, not Oliver's bags).

Baggist breaks bagprice record

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:41:00 +0000

An anonymous bag collector based in Belgium has broken the world record for a bag price.

"Kiekeboecollector" has shelled out €430 for two identical barfbags erroneously marketed as "DDR". That's €215 each. Probably 1930s vintage from Lufthansa, the pricey bags sport the text "Nach Gebrauch nicht aus dem Flugzeug werfen, sondern schliessen und auf den Boden stellen."

That's "After use, do not throw out of the window but close and stand on the floor." Useful advice even today.

But are they real? After all, given the prices paid for vintage bags, it would be tempting for unscrupulous bagforgers to find a brown paper bag of the right size and have the appropriate text printed on it.

And the lack of a logo means that these bags, however costly, cannot be counted towards a world record using the Guinness World Records criteria.

That presumably does not matter to Kiekeboecollector, well-known as a high roller among knowledgeable eBay bidders.

Italian parliamentarian into bags?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:45:00 +0000

Irene Pivetti, broadcaster and politician, and former president of the Italian Parliament, is interested in bags, reports Italian baggist Guido Debenedetti.

Ms Pivetti interviewed Guido about his bags for Radio Monte Carlo on 21 October 2007.

Baggists active in Dallas

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 06:51:00 +0000

A trio of the world's leading baggists was active at the Airliners International show in Dallas in July.

The photo on the left shows Bob Grove (centre), beaming at having grabbed a Lina Congo bag (click on the picture for a closer view).

He would have been even happier if he had got to a Budget Airways bag before Niek Vermeulen (right).

The third member of the trio, Bruce Kelly (left), seems to have emerged bagless despite a long trip from Alaska. He had to make do with what appears to be a boxful of pork pies by his elbow.

Thanks to Bob for the photo.

Virtual airline, real bag

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 10:57:00 +0000

Most of the airsickness bags featured on bagophily.com are issued by airlines. The Ingold Airline bag is no exception: Ingold is a Cologne-based carrier founded by Swiss professor and entrepreneur Res Ingold.

The Ingold Airlines website allows you to book flights from anywhere in the world, using a variety of transport means. You can add on-board services ranging from acupuncture to archery.

Ingold's barfbag features a stork with severe gastroenteritis with projectile diarrhoea and regurgitating its herring lunch.

With such a range of services, and a bag to make larger carriers envious, it's a shame that Ingold is entirely fictitious. The airline is an artistic endeavour rather than a transport concern. Found by Professor Ingold in 1982, the firm is virtual: it has no planes, no crew, no ground staff, no passengers, and no worries about rising fuel costs.

The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, a Cologne newspaper, carried a story about Ingold Airlines in its 28/29 June 2008 edition.

The bag is real, though. Now, how do I classify it on bagophily.com?

Click on the bag on the left to see it in all its glory, and on the newspaper article to read the full text (in German).

Thanks to Walter Brinker for the bag and article.

Goodbye to sanis

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Sat, 17 May 2008 18:00:00 +0000

Bagophily.com is giving up on sanibags.

A pioneer in this innovative field of bag collecting, bagophily.com has amassed the world's largest collection of sanitary receptacles.

But life at the top is too much, bagophily.com founder and CEO Paul Mundy explains.

"Feminine hygiene products have become a distraction from our core business of barf", he says. "Collectors have started sending in sanibags and expecting high-value airline barfbags in return."

The inherent difficulty of managing a sanibag collection also play a part. "Many sanibags are very similar: there are dozens of 'Hygiene-Beutel' or 'Hygienické sáčky' variants, not to mention 'Astrein' and 'Pour les dames'. Very few have logos - you're lucky if you see one with a cross on it", says Mundy. "That makes bags hard to classify. We've considered hiring interns to handle the backlog, but can't find anyone interested."

So the bagophily.com sanibag collection has moved - to specialist Dutch collector Johannes Bosma.

"Mr Bosma has been a close partner in developing the bagophily.com collection, and we are confident that the bags will do well under his stewardship", says Mundy.

Bagsurvey reveals rift in world baggery

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:12:00 +0000

Baggists were quizzed about their habit

A rift has emerged in world baggery between modernists and traditionalists, a study has revealed.

And it's increasingly a rift between the baghaves and the baghavenots

Earlier this year bagophily.com asked baggists how they had acquired their bags during 2007. A total of 11 baggists replied - that's 15% of the worldwide membership of the exclusive barfbags egroup of collectors. Not a bad response rate from a group who deal primarily in stolen goods.

The survey asked the baggists to say how many bags they had acquired from each of these seven categories:

Stolen: Collected yourself from aircraft or airports
Requests: Requested from bag manufacturers, airlines, etc.
Donations: Donated by friends, relatives, etc.
Swaps: Exchange or donations other collectors
eBay: Purchased via eBay
Bought: Purchased by routes other than eBay (eg at collectors’ conventions)
Other: Other (please specify)

The 11 respondents reported they had acquired a total of 1863 bags in 2007 - ranging from an impressive haul of 420 for the most prolific baggist, to a meagre 6 bags by what my wife might call a "mickriger Kleinsammler" (a miserable small-time collector).

Where do bags come from?

The most important source of bags - accounting for an impressive 755 bags, or 41% of the total, was swaps. Yes, the barter trade is still alive and well in bagdom.

A close second, with 683 bags or 37% of the total, was purchases from eBay. Barter may still be king, but cash is about to dethrone it.

The only other significant source was gifts, which accounted for 14% of the bags acquired.

Baggists stole surprisingly few of their bags themselves: only 4% of the total. Perhaps that is because they tend to fly on the same airlines, so have little opportunity to acquire new bags in this way. That doesn't mean that flying is a waste of time from a bagging point of view: many baggists harvest multiple bags from a single aircraft, so generate large numbers of bags they can swap with other collectors.

Treating baggists as equals

The figures above are based on the total number of bags acquired, so give more weight to collectors with large baghauls. What does it look like if we treat all baggists alike - from Superbagman with his 420 new bags, down to the 6-bag weakling?

Swaps now dominate the picture, accounting for 42% of the typical baggist's acquisitions. Gifts from relatives, workmates, friends, friends-of-friends-of-friends and casual one-flight-stand partners, are a major source. eBay drops to third place, supplying only 19% of our typical baggist's hoard.

Are you an eBay junkie?

But is there such a thing as a typical baggist? Some baggists are eBay junkies, scouring cyberspace for hot items and diverting all their disposable income to fund bidding wars against fellow addicts. One confessed to spending a four-figure euro sum to finance his habit, and pleaded with bagophily.com researchers not to inform his wife.

Other baggists eschew eBay altogether, preferring to rely on barter and smuggling to boost their collections. Their only cost is the postage needed to ship bags around the globe in plain brown envelopes.

As might be expected, the two groups show markedly different bagacquisition patterns. The junkies first:

This group of five of our 11 respondents netted some 1349 bags in 2007. Over half came from eBay, while another 5% were bought at collector conventions. Swaps and gifts were also important sources.

Ignoring the market

How about baggists who resist the temptation to splurge their hard-earned income on secondhand paper bags? As expected, swaps were by far the most important source of supplies for this group, accounting for 70% of their accessions. Gifts were also important - these baggists clearly cultivate their friendships carefully.

But these six respondents managed to acquire only 514 bags between them in 2007 - less than half the haul amassed by the eBay crowd. Turning their backs on the cash-for-bags trade clearly carries a price: a smaller stash of bags.

And take the eBay slice out of the junkies' pie, and it looks pretty similar to that of the non-market-oriented subsistence baggists. It looks as if baggists who support their habit with cash are able to build their collections faster than those who rely on traditional collection mechanisms. That points to a growing rift in world baggery - between a market-savvy, eBay-oriented elite, and a persistent underclass of subsistence baggists - a lumpen proletariat toiling away in the nether regions of the bagleague tables.

Thanks to all baggists who responded to the survey. Watch for more surveys on bagophily.com!

Grinches spare German Wikipedia - for now

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Mundy) — Sat, 03 May 2008 11:56:00 +0000

Back in March we reported that the Wikipedia entry on airsickness bags had been emasculated by fastidious editors.

One justified hitting the delete key by describing bagsites such as bagophily.com as "utterly unnotable".

Bremen-based baggist Wolfgang Franken has pointed out that the entry on "Spuckbeutel" in the German version of Wikipedia has so far been spared the blue-pencilled onslaught.

More entertainingly written than its English equivalent (even before the grinches decimated it), the German entry mentions the innovative designs of Hapag-Lloyd Express, as well as Qantas's predilection for bags that double as film mailing envelopes. It even has a short list of collectors' bagsites.

Wikipedia's policy is to make all its language versions parallel - so make sure you read the German version while it still exists.

English speakers can console themselves with the thought that English and German are the only languages to have a Wikipedia entry on this important subject. A search for sac vomitoire in the French Wikipedia results in a plaintive "Il n'existe aucune page portant ce titre", and invites you to créer la page « sac vomitoire » vous-même. Spanish speakers in search of encyclopedic information on bolsas de mareo are similarly frustrated: "No existe ningún artículo con el título que has escrito".

Meanwhile the English Wikipedia site requests readers to supply references to justify its bagtext. Sadly, most of the world's literature on bags is in German - as cited by the German Wikipedia page.

Just remember, bagophily.com is not what Wikipedia regards as a "reliable source".