Some crazy bidding on MPC One Arm Bandit!

[gbdolfans]

I believe the one at $245 is a member here. He is a good seller and I am looking to get some of his kits.

You can see more of his kits have a really good price.

[peteski]

2 hours ago, gbdolfans said:

I believe the one at $245 is a member here. He is a good seller and I am looking to get some of his kits.

You can see more of his kits have a really good price.

That does sound reasonable.

Another unusual thing about the other (original) seller I was mentioning is that they aren't really a seller of plastic kits - the One Arm Bandit is the only kit they have listed - all their other items are unrelated things.

Edited March 15, 2021 by peteski

[peteski]

Interesting turn of events.  The model relisted for 3rd time now sold for a more reasonable $295. Looking at the bidder list on the second relisting, he bid on it (only $149 that time).

Then the other kit (by that "good seller") in turn was sold for $515!!  Wow!  As expected bidders from the other listings were bidding on this kit.

[peteski]

Another one popped up in my automatic search.  This one was in Switzerland, shrink-wrapped and sold very fast for $400 (and $41 shipping cost to USA)!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/294280718299

Impressive what people will pay for this kit.

[deuces wild]

On 3/8/2021 at 4:59 PM, Deuces ll said:

I work way to hard to blow $$$ like that on a model kit....

I forgot to add... Some people have more money than brains...🙄🤑🙄

[Tom Geiger]

2 hours ago, deuces wild said:

I forgot to add... Some people have more money than brains...🙄🤑🙄

Understand something.. there are people who work hard and make a lot of money. That $400 is like $4 or $40 to you. It’s not worth their time to shop around because the $400 won’t be missed. 

[Mark]

Or this particular kit might be someone's piece de resistance, to top off their collection.  Most of us will spend stupid money to get the last item they need.

And, like Tom says, what's big money for one person is small potatoes for another.  My mom and one of my aunts liked Hummel figurines.  They even took a trip to Germany to see where they were made.  My mom was happy to have one figurine in the size of her choosing.  My aunt, on the other hand, had to have nearly all of them, in more than one size.

My mom's were displayed in the cabinet in her living room, and each of her surviving children has one or two of them.  My aunt probably unpacked a lot of hers, looked them over, and put some of them back in the boxes.  When I bought a home in 1989, I remember getting a pile of QVC boxes from her.  My mom got her moneys' worth in enjoyment from the several pieces that she put the money together for.

[NOBLNG]

I have bought very little from e-bay and never sold anything. What is to prevent someone with a rare kit from buying it themselves  (or have an accomplice buy it) for stupid money in order to drive up the price for the next time they list it? Obviously it would have to be rare and would not work with a relatively common kit.

[TarheelRick]

20 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

I have bought very little from e-bay and never sold anything. What is to prevent someone with a rare kit from buying it themselves  (or have an accomplice buy it) for stupid money in order to drive up the price for the next time they list it? Obviously it would have to be rare and would not work with a relatively common kit.

Price fixing and price gouging are more than likely quite common in the upper price ranges of our hobby.

[peteski]

1 hour ago, NOBLNG said:

I have bought very little from e-bay and never sold anything. What is to prevent someone with a rare kit from buying it themselves  (or have an accomplice buy it) for stupid money in order to drive up the price for the next time they list it? Obviously it would have to be rare and would not work with a relatively common kit.

I doubt it - upon a sale the seller pays all sorts of fees. It would not make sense to do what you suggest, because they would be losing money. And auctions run hot and cold all the time - you really need at least 2 very committed bidders to bid the item up to high amounts.

The last listing I linked to appears to have been "buy it now" listing as there were no bids on it - just a sale.

[BlackSheep214]

You know what they say.... Money talks, BS walks.....

[Tom Geiger]

There is an eBay phenomena that when a rare kit sells for a record price, several others get listed the following week. People see the high price and want that too!

 

[Sledsel]

insanity is my description   Winning bid:US $943.99

 

   

[BlackSheep214]

And Round 2 will pull a re pop on this down the road...😆

[ZTony8]

1 hour ago, BlackSheep214 said:

And Round 2 will pull a re pop on this down the road...😆

I don't think that's possible. I believe the tooling was modified and the '70 Coronet(the body and interior anyway) that's been available over the last few years is derived from that kit.

[deuces wild]

3 hours ago, Sledsel said:

insanity is my description   Winning bid:US $943.99

 

   

🙄🤪

[peteski]

I just watch another One-arm-Bandit sell on eBay for "only" $315. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/284567824115

[A modeler named mike]

On 7/21/2021 at 7:00 PM, Tom Geiger said:

Understand something.. there are people who work hard and make a lot of money. That $400 is like $4 or $40 to you. It’s not worth their time to shop around because the $400 won’t be missed. 

So true.. Yes I know I'm a couple of years past this conversation but I wanted to join in because this particular MPC kit THE ONE ARMED BANDIT holds near and dear memories for me. I built one as a kid when it first came out. It was purchased for me by my Grandmother who I spent the summers months with. Each weekend we would go into town to shop. I would always end up with a model kit to build. I've been trying to score one but they always seem to go for an ungodly amount. The last one I bid on at eBay went for $156.00 and it was not in that great of shape. Last week I got a hit from eBay that another kit came up at $249.99 buy now. Not long after it was posted I received an offer of $$219.00 for the kit. Before I could jump on it it was gone. To me the memories this kit brings is priceless to me but I'm not a rich man and recently retired. I did finally score one! and it was on eBay. The kit was all there with some parts painted but complete with good decals. It was buy now at $199.99. I contacted the seller to thank them for the reduction of price but because of the painted parts I'd only be interested in paying $150.00 for the kit. I was amazed that the seller messaged me that he had reduced the price once again so I could purchase it at my offered price. Some may say I'm silly for paying that much for a kit. I don't. You can't put a price on something that brings back found memories. As for eBay.. I've gotten some killer deals and yes I too have seen some asinine prices on kits there too.

Thanks for listen to my ramblings.. 

 

[bobthehobbyguy]

Don't think that that was an outrageous price. For the memories you have are priceless and getting to relive them is important.

[A modeler named mike]

5 minutes ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

Don't think that that was an outrageous price. For the memories you have are priceless and getting to relive them is important.

Thanks Bob.. I'm hoping that the painted parts clean up as well as other kits have in the past. I'm gonna enjoy every second of this build when I finally get to it. 

[Can-Con]

4 hours ago, A modeler named mike said:

So true.. Yes I know I'm a couple of years past this conversation but I wanted to join in because this particular MPC kit THE ONE ARMED BANDIT holds near and dear memories for me. I built one as a kid when it first came out. It was purchased for me by my Grandmother who I spent the summers months with. Each weekend we would go into town to shop. I would always end up with a model kit to build. I've been trying to score one but they always seem to go for an ungodly amount. The last one I bid on at eBay went for $156.00 and it was not in that great of shape. Last week I got a hit from eBay that another kit came up at $249.99 buy now. Not long after it was posted I received an offer of $$219.00 for the kit. Before I could jump on it it was gone. To me the memories this kit brings is priceless to me but I'm not a rich man and recently retired. I did finally score one! and it was on eBay. The kit was all there with some parts painted but complete with good decals. It was buy now at $199.99. I contacted the seller to thank them for the reduction of price but because of the painted parts I'd only be interested in paying $150.00 for the kit. I was amazed that the seller messaged me that he had reduced the price once again so I could purchase it at my offered price. Some may say I'm silly for paying that much for a kit. I don't. You can't put a price on something that brings back found memories. As for eBay.. I've gotten some killer deals and yes I too have seen some asinine prices on kits there too.

Thanks for listen to my ramblings.. 

 

Not silly at all. 

Like I keep telling people, would you rather have a 1/2 dozen more common kits you won't get around to and don't have much interest in anyway or spend that money on one kit you really want?

I think you made the right decision, Mike.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Old kits are all that I build anymore.

it helps to keep me motivated knowing that I’m not building the same kit that 5,000 other people are building.

Luckily for me, I filled in the vast majority of my wanted vintage kits 10 years ago or more, when it was actually fun to bid on eBay.

You know, back when you might be able to bid $40.00 or $50.00 on a Johan 1969 Roadrunner, and actually win it!

It appears to me that most prices for these old kits have more than tripled, as a rule, over the past 6 or 8 years.

But, the prices reflect the market, and if people don’t mind paying $600.00 for a model, I guess that’s their business. 
Myself, I’ve got enough subject matter to easily keep me busy for the rest of my life, so it bothers me little.

I will say though that it gives me a bit of a chuckle when I see people asking $300.00 or $400.00 for a ‘60 Ford Pickup, or a 1971 Dodge Demon, when Round-2 is about to re-issue them! 😊

Round-2 seems to be destroying quite a few individuals dreams of fortune as of late! 
 

 

 

 

Steve

Edited June 5, 2023 by StevenGuthmiller

[A modeler named mike]

18 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Old kits are all that I build anymore.

it helps to keep me motivated knowing that I’m not building the same kit that 5,000 other people are building.

Luckily for me, I filled in the vast majority of my wanted vintage kits 10 years ago or more, when it was actually fun to bid on eBay.

You know, back when you might be able to bid $40.00 or $50.00 on a Johan 1969 Roadrunner, and actually win it!

It appears to me that most prices for these old kits have more than tripled, as a rule, over the past 6 or 8 years.

But, the prices reflect the market, and if people don’t mind paying $600.00 for a model, I guess that’s their business. 
Myself, I’ve got enough subject matter to easily keep me busy for the rest of my life, so it bothers me little.

I will say though that it gives me a bit of a chuckle when I see people asking $300.00 or $400.00 for a ‘60 Ford Pickup, or a 1971 Dodge Demon, when Round-2 is about to re-issue them! 😊

Round-2 seems to be destroying quite a few individuals dreams of fortune as of late! 
 

 

 

 

Steve

I think you're right about Round 2 crushing future fortunes of greedy people.  I like what Round 2 is doing, it's definitely helping keep the model hobby alive. It just seems like more of the same with some of their subject matter selections. The Chevy dually pick up is a cool simple kit but it would've been nice to offer it with the slicks and wide rims as in the original kit. That original dually kit is another kit that has crazy bids when they come up for auction, it's a snap kit for Pete's sake..😜 However I am looking forward to picking up a few of the '65 Chevelle altered WB kits. 

 

[peteski]

Speaking of old kits, does anybody know what happened to the One-Arm-Bandit's molds?  Any chance it will ever get reissued?

The kits I scored years ago had bad decals, so I will make my own.  While I was designing the artwork (based on the scan of my damaged sheet) I realized that the scroll-work does not match boxart.  The decal's corner scrolls are larger than what the boxart shows.  So I modified the artwork to make them more closely match the boxart.  I have printed some test samples, but the final product is still ways off.

[Tom Geiger]

The one holy grail I paid real money for.. the ultra rare 66 Valiant promo.

I always wanted one and each time one would come up for bid on eBay it wasn’t a good time for me to indulge myself.. so I’d pass.

So about a dozen years ago this one pops up. Again, it wasn’t a good time for me.  Then I thought about it.. when would be a good time? Maybe never! So I hit that Buy it Now button for something like $400!  And I’m glad I did!