EBay madness

[PieGuyRob]

1 hour ago, 40152 said:

I know it’s a sound-fitted one, but still over half a grand for an N gauge loco is getting a bit fruity:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313863898696?

That's more expensive than a brand new 0 gauge Heljan class 40 from Tower Models, by 50 quid.

[PhilJ W]

4 hours ago, John M Upton said:

Good grief...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134260838585?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=DwwvwfO_QTu&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=NiGtNyCuSh2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

Sixty eight sheets PLUS postage just for a body....

 

Not madness, just utter insanity. 

 

4 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

I blame the bidders!

 

The eventual winner only put in a couple of bids towards the end.

[5 C]

The whole boxed thing mostly probably appeals to collectors, driven by the whole "mint and boxed" approach. It's no doubt fuelled by the likes of the Antiques Roadshow whose experts point out to hopeful punters that their play worn piece would be worth much more if it were mint and boxed.

 

For the ultra fastidious, the mere fact the box has been opened instantly renders the item non-mint.

 

While it's useful to know whether something has a box, it's not a deal breaker for me and often makes an item cheaper. Boxes can be useful for storage (providing it's the right box, not always a given) but definitely not for transit. If I'm selling a boxed item, I'll always add additional packing to the original. It's only in recent years that manufacturers have got to grips with transit proof packing. Expanded polystyrene really doesn't cut it anymore.

[Hroth]

11 hours ago, Esmedune said:

Maybe I'm too cynical and assume it has been done to cash in on the silly prices of R30231.

 

Then its a well-executed* cash in, and after 14 bids went up to £134.50 so at least two people wanted it. I've not a clue what the starting price was.  I expect it will be a display shelf model, unless a third-rail enthusiast wanted an old Duchess of Montrose with a new paint job!  And if you bought an old DoM and had an ordinary professional repaint, the total could well come out at a similar cost.

 

* Rather better than my Sir Dinadan with a Cadburys Easter Egg foil wrap....

 

[SteveyDee68]

I’ve purchased unboxed items that have been packed meticulously, with lots of protection - even to the extent of creating a cardboard “box” around the (multiple) items.

 

I’ve also had “good boxed condition” items sent me with brown paper wrapping over the box - so the box provides the only protection to the item whilst in transit!

 

And on occasion it’s the minimum packaging that has the highest packaging fees… which extracts the Michael, so to speak.

 

Then again, my most recent purchase of a second hand Hornby Q class loco came extremely well wrapped with lots of protection, with the seller even going as far as adding additional packaging to ensure the contents arrived safely…

 

 

Now, that is a seller going above and beyond!

 

HOURS OF FUN!

[MrWolf]

The problem with boxes is when everyone jumps on the bandwagon and buys instant collectibles to stash away unopened. It's particularly prevalent amongst sci fi, action figures and diecasts. Certain examples get talked up by those with a vested interest.

Unlike things such as the original 70s toys and earlier, they are bought by adults and rarely thrown around the garden by children as they were when I was in junior school, so that the rarity value of mint boxed items is a myth created by collectors and auctioneers.

[The Johnster]

I agree, and get a bit irritated when something I wants has an inflated price because if this, but that’s the world we live in and dem’s de market rules.  
 

Any RTR/RTP item that comes into my possession it very quickly rendered worthless to these people by weathering, repainting, renumbering, detailing, rewheeling in the case of Dapols, and similar improvements to make them suitable for my purposes.  This is not done to spite the collectors’ market, but I’ll confess to a degree of satisfaction if it does!

[2E Sub Shed]

Just now, The Johnster said:

Any RTR/RTP item that comes into my possession it very quickly rendered worthless to these people by weathering, repainting, renumbering, detailing, rewheeling in the case of Dapols, and similar improvements to make them suitable for my purposes.  This is not done to spite the collectors’ market, but I’ll confess to a degree of satisfaction if it does!

But you are reducing the supply of mint items and hence making the remaining mint examples @@@RARE  🙂 

[The Johnster]

Not my fault of there’s one born every minute!  Caveat Emptor.  @@@RARE and it’s ilk invariably put me off buying the item, and nothing has yet challenged my view that  such shennanigans are designed to mislead me in a way that is legal but dodgy, and an insult to my intelligence, and there are those that reckon you’ve got to be pretty savagely insulting to insult my intelligence…

 

They are also invariably linked to auctions, which I avoid unless it is for an item I want badly that is not available BIN.  I can’t be @rsed with auctions otherwise; too much bother and you have to note the closing time and set alarms for it, often to be outbid at the last second.  I’d much rather BIN, job done there and then, get on with your life, go and do some shunting!

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Meanwhile...back at the Thread Drift...😉

 

Citroen 2CV.🇫🇷

 

Squeaking Suspension? 🤔

 

Carefully drill a hole in the top of the tube containing the suspension, exactly at the midpoint.

 

Squirt in some lubricating oil.

 

Seal the hole with a short Pan Head self tapping screw. (Stainless steel is good!)👍

 

This was told to me a while ago now. 🙂

 

ᚱᚢᚠᚠᚾᚢᛏ × ᛏᚼᚬᚱᛋᛏᚬᚾ

🐉🙋🏼‍♀️

[Hroth]

On 09/10/2022 at 13:53, MrWolf said:

 

I got bored of that as it kept circling back to the same half a dozen songs or artists.

It was like listening to local radio....

 

I've got a "Smooth Radio" cd. Its got all those popular tunes they play over and over.  If you play it on random shuffle, its just like listening to the radio, without the presenter and the ads!

 

28 minutes ago, Ruffnut Thorston said:

Meanwhile...back at the Thread Drift...😉

 

Citroen 2CV.🇫🇷

 

Squeaking Suspension? 🤔

 

Carefully drill a hole in the top of the tube containing the suspension, exactly at the midpoint.

 

Squirt in some lubricating oil.

 

Seal the hole with a short Pan Head self tapping screw. (Stainless steel is good!)👍

 

This was told to me a while ago now. 🙂

 

ᚱᚢᚠᚠᚾᚢᛏ × ᛏᚼᚬᚱᛋᛏᚬᚾ

🐉🙋🏼‍♀️

 

 

Its just wanting to be loved!

Actually, the shape of a 2CV reminds me of a back to front snail, stick a couple of whippy antennae on the rear quarters...

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

17 minutes ago, Hroth said:

stick a couple of whippy antennae on the rear quarters...

 

Which got me my first licence endorsement back in 1972 under construction and use, albeit not on a tin snail I hasten to add!

 

Mike.

[The Johnster]

If a 2CV is a tin snail, how come everbody got in the way of mine...  They're pretty nippy in traffic, handle oddly but superbly (especially on rough surfaces), don't be afraid of how much it leans over, it won't tip and the tyres won't lose grip on normal roads, you've just got to drive it like you stole it, make as much noise as you can, thrash it, chuck it about a bit; it thrives on abuse, it's mechanically indestructable!  Driving it normally gets you nowhere, and you have to be assertive, frighten the other traffic into respecting you and giving you your space.

 

Try it sometime, it's fun!

[tomparryharry]

There is a kit available, to convert a 2CV into a Morgan-type 3 wheeler. I haven't seen one in a while, but reputed to go like sh!t off a shovel. I considered building one for Mrs Smith. The latest Morgan 3-wheeler sports a Harley- Davidson power pack. I did consider one, but I couldn't get a ladder rack on the top.... Prices on these are very good, with values ranging from approximately 1 arm & leg.

 

Get to 80, change to second..... 

[Paul H Vigor]

3 hours ago, The Johnster said:

If a 2CV is a tin snail, how come everbody got in the way of mine...  They're pretty nippy in traffic, handle oddly but superbly (especially on rough surfaces), don't be afraid of how much it leans over, it won't tip and the tyres won't lose grip on normal roads, you've just got to drive it like you stole it, make as much noise as you can, thrash it, chuck it about a bit; it thrives on abuse, it's mechanically indestructable!  Driving it normally gets you nowhere, and you have to be assertive, frighten the other traffic into respecting you and giving you your space.

 

Try it sometime, it's fun!

My late father told a tale of hitch-hiking home from Aldershot on leave during National Service. He was offered a lift by a test driver for Citroen driving a 2CV. Apparently they achieved 'the ton' on the A33 Winchester Bypass! I wasn't aware they were capable of such speeds. I assume this one had been 'souped up' a little?

[The Johnster]

The very thing my biker chum from the post office used mine to create after it failed it’s MOT with serious body rust issues.  IIRC the conversion uses bike-type shock absorbers and most people fit wire wheels with the old-fashioned ‘knock off’ racing hub caps, and round headlamps if the donor car had rectangular.  The Citroen engine is an air-cooled opposed twin, so looks the part with it’s cylinder heads poking out of the side.  The bodywork is aluminium and very much in the pre-war style, a two-seater with little half-moon windscreens for each seat.  
 

The body tapers away to a point over the enclosed rear wheel; I don’t think luggage carrying is a design priority, and I can’t remember if it has a folding roof or you are simply expected to put up with the elements.  My mate’s was finished in a high gloss deep maroon, and with the brightwork polished looked the mutt’s nuts.  Top speed about 80 but it gets there quickly and corners as well as the donor car, so very quick indeed on country lanes and wiggly roads. 
 

 

[The Johnster]

2 hours ago, tomparryharry said:

There is a kit available, to convert a 2CV into a Morgan-type 3 wheeler. I haven't seen one in a while, but reputed to go like sh!t off a shovel. I considered building one for Mrs Smith. The latest Morgan 3-wheeler sports a Harley- Davidson power pack. I did consider one, but I couldn't get a ladder rack on the top.... Prices on these are very good, with values ranging from approximately 1 arm & leg.

 

Get to 80, change to second..... 

 

There’s the possibly apophrycal story of the guy who buys a Morgan 4+4; they are tailored to the individual driver and he made several trips to the factory for ‘fitting’ sessions before they were happy for him to take it.  Eventually all was well and the car was ready for him to pick up from the factory, so he got in, started it up (fired first time of course) and took it gently off the assembly floor, and after a short and completely satisfactory test drive, started the journey home.  Not much fuel in the tank, though, and he pulled on to a petrol station up the road.  Filled her up, went in to pay, and the guy behind the counter says ‘nice car sir, they don’t make ‘em like that any more, do they’?

[Esmedune]

Probably well known already, ACmodels2, everything is "spares or repair" but always asking full price...  Cake and eat it??

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155158412689

[MrWolf]

2 hours ago, Esmedune said:

Probably well known already, ACmodels2, everything is "spares or repair" but always asking full price...  Cake and eat it??

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155158412689

 

"I do my best to accurately describe items..."

 

Er, actually....

 

No. You don't.

 

"Untested, unchecked or incomplete"

 

Is not a description. It's just a vague indication that there might be something wrong with it and a tempter for potential buyers that there isn't.

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2022 by MrWolf

[MrWolf]

3 hours ago, Paul H Vigor said:

My late father told a tale of hitch-hiking home from Aldershot on leave during National Service. He was offered a lift by a test driver for Citroen driving a 2CV. Apparently they achieved 'the ton' on the A33 Winchester Bypass! I wasn't aware they were capable of such speeds. I assume this one had been 'souped up' a little?

 

It's quite possible to tune one to hit the magic ton and it being a 2CV of the national service era would have had next to no interior trim and canvas hammock seats, saving quite a lot of weight. The 1986 version my sister had was one of the bling models with more trim, but that would hit 80 with a favourable wind.

[MrWolf]

11 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

I've got a "Smooth Radio" cd. Its got all those popular tunes they play over and over.  If you play it on random shuffle, its just like listening to the radio, without the presenter and the ads!

 

 

I guess that it's a case of if you enjoy it, listen to it and don't let anyone tell you that you shouldn't, 

When I was in sixth form, I had an evening job stacking shelves for a miserable £1.38 an hour. Whilst we worked there was an endless tape of popular mid to late 80s music that cycled about every half an hour.

It wasn't my kind of music, so that made it even more monotonous.

After a while it became like white noise torture.

Even now I can't listen to Dire Straits, Rick Astley or Whitney Houston without feeling the urge to punch something.

It did, I think, inspire me to expand my musical horizons, so it quicker to say what I don't like, so it was probably a good thing!

[PhilJ W]

3 hours ago, Paul H Vigor said:

My late father told a tale of hitch-hiking home from Aldershot on leave during National Service. He was offered a lift by a test driver for Citroen driving a 2CV. Apparently they achieved 'the ton' on the A33 Winchester Bypass! I wasn't aware they were capable of such speeds. I assume this one had been 'souped up' a little?

 

23 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

 

It's quite possible to tune one to hit the magic ton and it being a 2CV of the national service era would have had next to no interior trim and canvas hammock seats, saving quite a lot of weight. The 1986 version my sister had was one of the bling models with more trim, but that would hit 80 with a favourable wind.

The police once stopped a driver doing 100MPH on the M11 in a Reliant Robin.

[MrWolf]

That wouldn't surprise me either, the little alloy engine can be tuned up to formula 750 spec. I'd quite fancy doing that with a Reliant Rebel or Reliant Kitten.

There's a lot to be said for a fourth wheel!

[The Johnster]

There was a version of the 2CV with 2 engines, the extra one in the back driving the rear wheels, 1250cc, which could easily do the ton.  It was intended for off-road use in the French African colonies, and did well a couple of times in the Paris-Dakar IIRC. 

 

Edited October 12, 2022 by The Johnster

[Hroth]

9 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

 

The police once stopped a driver doing 100MPH on the M11 in a Reliant Robin.

 

Didn't they get let off as a Robin patently couldn't do a ton and their speedgun must need recalibration?  Something similar is told about a cyclist pedalling furiously at well over the speed limit...

 

8 hours ago, MrWolf said:

That wouldn't surprise me either, the little alloy engine can be tuned up to formula 750 spec. I'd quite fancy doing that with a Reliant Rebel or Reliant Kitten.

There's a lot to be said for a fourth wheel!

 

Stabilisers are always useful!  Would a pair of unobtrusive small wheels, like enlarged castors, at the front of a Robin be illegal?