Crazy prices on the auction Bay.

[GMP440]

Been following this.  Sealed , unopened MPC 1968 Dodge Coronet kit sold for over $1000.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MPC-1968-DODGE-CORONET-R-T-HT-ORIGINAL-FACTORY-SEALED-NOS-KIT-1768-CIRCA-1968/333289959195?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144

[TarheelRick]

"If ignorance is bliss, then this buyer is a blister"

[randyc]

I bet that one shows back up after the buyer doesn't pay.  But what do I know?  

[MrObsessive]

Man, I've paid some BIG bucks for models/kits, but NEVER that much!

I have the convertible, but had to buy it in stages. First the body, then the interior, and then some final pieces I was thankfully able to get from The Modelhaus before they closed shop. All that and it cost NOWHERE NEAR $1100!

7 minutes ago, randyc said:

I bet that one shows back up after the buyer doesn't pay.  But what do I know?  

I wondered about that too. I also NEVER trusted old sealed kits since being burned on one many years ago and I vowed never to buy a sealed vintage kit again. Some folks just like to collect sealed kits though.....but that's an awful lot of money and you're not even sure about tire burn, broken/warped parts.

[Rusty92]

Crazy. Either a big model fan or mopar fan

Edited August 14, 2019 by Rusty92

[StevenGuthmiller]

I will guarantee that this model will never be built.

There are builders among us, and collectors.

The prices will often reflect who's buying.

Collectors are looking for mint sealed kits that look pretty sitting on a shelf.

There is no way this kit will ever be opened at this price.

The value will never be anywhere close to that to a builder, and if opened, the value would plummet for a collector.

This guy better hope that his 3 year old grandson never gets a hold of it and decides to see what's in the box! 

 

 

Steve

[Mike999]

I'm getting ready to have an eBay sale.  So I've spent a lot of time on "Completed Items," checking to see what kits actually sold for.  As opposed to what people are asking. Those 2 things usually have nothing to do with each other.

The weirdness and inconsistency of eBay never ceases to amaze me.  I just checked on one of the kits I'm selling:  the old Monogram #2305 1/24 scale 1932 Cadillac V-16 touring car. I think it was first released around 1980 and hasn't been re-issued for a long time.  But it's pretty common on eBay.

Here are the results of 3 auctions for that kit:

1. Sealed kit, sold for $28.95 "Buy It Now" with free shipping

2. Sealed kit, auction, sold for $6.50 +$10.95 shipping, got 3 bids.

3. Open kit, auction, sold for $9.99 +$9.45 shipping, got 1 bid

[StevenGuthmiller]

23 minutes ago, MrObsessive said:

Man, I've paid some BIG bucks for models/kits, but NEVER that much!

I have the convertible, but had to buy it in stages. First the body, then the interior, and then some final pieces I was thankfully able to get from The Modelhaus before they closed shop. All that and it cost NOWHERE NEAR $1100!

I did something similar by buying a kit that was missing many of the parts but contained the essential body and interior parts to construct a model.

The box looked very sparse, missing all of the custom or racing parts, chassis, wheels, tires, glass, etc.

But a mint condition body, hood, bumpers, tail lights, and all of the necessary stock interior parts were included.

The only part that I had to find was a stock grille, which I picked up a month or 2 later.

The rest of the parts are irrelevant as the chassis, engine, glass, wheels etc, can all be found using other kits as donors.

 

I bought it some time ago, so I don't remember what I paid for it, but I'm certain that it couldn't have been much over $100.00.

Quite a contrast from $1,175.00!

 

 

Steve

 

[Xingu]

I have a couple of these kits (not sealed). I could sell them all (together) for that price and still make a ridiculous profit.

When did the manufacturer's start sealing the boxes?

[OldNYJim]

31 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

 

This guy better hope that his 3 year old grandson never gets a hold of it and decides to see what's in the box! 

 

Hopefully not a bunch of old sprue re-shrinkwrapped in the original kit box

[imarriedawitch]

27 minutes ago, Mike999 said:

I'm getting ready to have an eBay sale.  So I've spent a lot of time on "Completed Items," checking to see what kits actually sold for.  As opposed to what people are asking. Those 2 things usually have nothing to do with each other.

The weirdness and inconsistency of eBay never ceases to amaze me.  I just checked on one of the kits I'm selling:  the old Monogram #2305 1/24 scale 1932 Cadillac V-16 touring car. I think it was first released around 1980 and hasn't been re-issued for a long time.  But it's pretty common on eBay.

Here are the results of 3 auctions for that kit:

1. Sealed kit, sold for $28.95 "Buy It Now" with free shipping

2. Sealed kit, auction, sold for $6.50 +$10.95 shipping, got 3 bids.

3. Open kit, auction, sold for $9.99 +$9.45 shipping, got 1 bid

Keep in mind where the seller is willing to ship to. While there can be cheaper costing items out there, does the seller ship to the buyers country? As a Canadian I've had to pay more to someone that ships worldwide over an American that only ships lower 48.

[StevenGuthmiller]

22 minutes ago, CabDriver said:

Hopefully not a bunch of old sprue re-shrinkwrapped in the original kit box

Yes, there's always that worry as well.

But then again, the likelihood that this kit will ever breath oxygen is slim, so we'll probably never know.

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

24 minutes ago, Xingu said:

When did the manufacturer's start sealing the boxes?

That's always a question as well.

I've seen kits offered on ebay as sealed kits that were never shrink wrapped from the factory.

A dead give away.

 

Prior to shrink wrap, they were sealed with a couple of pieces of tape.

I have kits from 1962 that still have the tape, so I'm guessing sometime in the mid-sixties?

 

 

Steve

[CapSat 6]

I usually avoid older sealed kits (especially ANYTHING Jo Han!). I just like the idea of seeing what I'm buying. Also, as I do "collect" a few models, I don't see the attraction to a sealed kit that you can never view. At least with old Hot Wheels and action figures, for instance, you can see the item through the blister pack.

True Confession Time: I once (about 10 years ago) bought a sealed kit like this off of the 'bay. It was a 1973 MPC annual kit, that's all I will say. It came up as a "buy it now" for a fairly low price- low enough where I felt I could roll the dice. Let's say about 2-3x the cost of a new kit. The shrink wrap looked right in the pictures, and the box looked excellent.  

I bought it. I received it. In no time, I opened it.

It was exactly what you would expect- a perfect, sealed kit. I don't even think it had any tire burns anywhere (by 1972, the 'white" parts came in their own bag in MPC kits, so as long as that stayed closed, all that were vulnerable to tire burns was the glass pieces & the decals). The chrome usually did not get tire burns as I think the plating protected the plastic underneath. It was super nice.  

It was quite an experience opening that shrink wrap. No regrets here!!! If it were an MPC 1968 Coronet R/T Hardtop, perhaps my actions would have been a little more sinful.

There is now one less sealed one in the world thanks to me, but this one probably still remains as nice as it was when I opened it. At least now, the contents can be perused. Call it a public service.

Still- it was too nice to build, so I sold it off again about a year later, for a good deal more than what I paid for it.  

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, CapSat 6 said:

I usually avoid older sealed kits (especially ANYTHING Jo Han!).

I not only avoid it, I refuse to buy anything that is still sealed or the contents not pictured.

As someone who intends on building every vintage kit that I buy, I want to know "exactly" what's in the box.

 

 

Fun story Bill!

 

 

Steve

[slusher]

16 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

I will guarantee that this model will never be built.

There are builders among us, and collectors.

The prices will often reflect who's buying.

Collectors are looking for mint sealed kits that look pretty sitting on a shelf.

There is no way this kit will ever be opened at this price.

The value will never be anywhere close to that to a builder, and if opened, the value would plummet for a collector.

This guy better hope that his 3 year old grandson never gets a hold of it and decides to see what's in the box! 

 

 

Steve

Steve, that makes a whole lot of sense....

[Mark]

Sealed annual kits from that era are probably tougher to find than mint condition, not-messed-with promotional models now.  

[Mike999]

19 hours ago, imarriedawitch said:

Keep in mind where the seller is willing to ship to. While there can be cheaper costing items out there, does the seller ship to the buyers country? As a Canadian I've had to pay more to someone that ships worldwide over an American that only ships lower 48.

Good point. I'm seeing more listings recently with "Free International Shipping," which should help you buyers outside the U.S. Years ago, I used to ship internationally for eBay sales. I stopped after one sale where something like 30 items sold to international bidders, from Hong Kong to Brazil.  Just filling out the Customs paperwork took a lot of time and hassle. There was also a much better chance of a package getting lost, which happened a couple of times and I had to eat that loss.  

Note for old Heller kits:  Heller used to put the clear parts in a sealed plastic bag. But they put the rubber tires IN THE SAME BAG. Crazy.  I always open old Heller kits and see if they did that. If so, I open the bag and put the tires into a small Ziploc bag.  I know it ruins the "originality" of the kit. But I figure that's better than tire-burned glass in an old, rare kit. You can buy packages of different-sized Ziploc bags at Hobby Lobby or Michael's for just a couple of bucks. 

[CapSat 6]

19 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Fun story Bill!

 

 

Steve

Thanks, Steve! It's definitely not something I do all the time, but I do have to admit that opening that puppy was a real gas! 

[PeeBee]

I usually avoid old, sealed kits for all of the reasons that others have stated above.   However, a couple of years ago I went ahead and bid (and won for $70.00) on a sealed JoHan '67 Eldorado, but not without trepidation.  The kit arrived sealed, as stated, and the box is absolutely perfect.  I was ready to experience the heartbreak of tire melt upon opening the box but I got lucky; everything is fine and like new, no tire melt and nothing warped, etc.  I bagged the tires and added it to the line-up; this one is headed for the bench as soon as I decide what color to paint it.

PB.

[gtx6970]

Tape was used on kits on 1958 boxes i have. Same for some I have as new as 1962 or 63 ...I can ck some boxes i still have . 

I dont think sealed with cellophane started till approx 1965 ...maybe 66 ?

 

[Mark]

MPC shrink-wrapped their kits from day one (1964).  AMT started with the '67 annual kits in late '66 and phased in Trophy Series kits as they were reboxed after that.  I know '67 Jo-Han annuals were sealed, not sure about '66 but I don't think they were.  Revell was off and on, the '62 Mopar kits were wrapped but I don't think the Metalflake reissues were.  Some early parts packs weren't boxed, they were shrink-wrapped to a piece of cardboard.

[Richard Bartrop]

Whatever makes you happy.  Personally, of all the things I'd drop four figures on, that wouldn't be it.  I'm not even sure I'd pay retail price for it.

[StevenGuthmiller]

29 minutes ago, Mark said:

  I know '67 Jo-Han annuals were sealed, not sure about '66 but I don't think they were.

My '64, '65 and '66 Johan "flat box" kits don't show any signs of having been taped closed, but I have no idea how they were sealed.

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

The MPC '68 Coronet R/T is a very rare kit, but on it's best day, I don't think it's worth a penny over $300.00, and I personally would never pay that much for it.

 

 

 

Steve