Score! Believe it or not, on Ebay

[Jim Gibbons]

I am one happy camper! I was able to get this MB 540K on Ebay for $9.95 as the only bidder. Yes, classic cars don't appeal to a lot of folks, but I expected some interest. It's an original issue molded in red. The main reason I bid on this kit was that it was my tenth birthday gift back in '69. I plan to build it much the same way I did back then, but detail it a little better, and not have the glue smears (which were not all that bad for a kid with my skills at the time.) I'm not even going to paint the body (I can hear folks gasping and screaming ) Monogram did a great job of polishing the body molds, so all I'll do is sand the minimal mold parting lines, then follow up with a polishing kit. I hope to finish this as a birthday present to myself on May 7th. I want to relive this kit and have as much fun with it as I did 42 years ago.

There was a small extra in this kit that I got a kick out of. An old set of decals from a Pyro model. I have a feeling that had the person built this kit, it would have ended up with these decals. I'm lucky that they didn't get any further than fitting one whitewall insert!

[Erik Smith]

That's cool. Box and everything look like they're in really good condition. Funny how eBay works - one day you could have two or three people interested in this kit and it sells for 20, 30, or who knows - then, one day, only one person is interested and, bingo! $9.95! Nice.

[philo426]

Nice score! It builds up into a nice model(I built the '81 "Museum Pieces" version)

[Jim Gibbons]

Nice score! It builds up into a nice model(I built the '81 "Museum Pieces" version)

That's a really nice build! I have one of those in storage when they were molded in silver, but it sat on a shelf unopened for several years. When I did open it, it was missing an entire parts tree. By then, it was too late to get replacement parts from Monogram. It is a neat kit; I also have an Italeri 540K to build along side of this one.

[sjordan2]

This is really a great kit, which I did in my adolescence. Painted it red with yellow under the fenders, based on a picture I saw in a book. I hope you got my PM on this.

EDIT: This is the picture I was talking about. I thought it was very unique and not typical of most of them. I brush-painted the yellow on the fenders and wheels and it didn't come out very well.

Edited April 18, 2011 by sjordan2

[Guest]

That was a good score Jim! You just never know on ebay. Sometimes the dogs will pile on in the last minute and sometimes you can catch them asleep.

[ra7c7er]

I've been realizing in the last few weeks that models seem to have crashed a bit on ebay. Several lots of built ups that should have sold in the 5-10 dollar a model range have started going for 2-5 each and even kit prices have fallen a bit. I don't know if it has to do with new shipping rates, new ebay fees, gas prices, or what but it's kind of great to see. I think most stuff on ebay is overpriced anyway.