Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011, Thanksgiving Day — I normally follow a variety of eBay auctions, mostly for the entertainment value, and partly due to the fact I enjoy watching the sale prices of bugs and CW keys.
In the past couple of weeks, there have been some extraordinary deals pass through the portals of eBay. I suspect that there are many collectors like myself who just don’t need another mid-50s Vibroplex, regardless of condition. When I have the opportunity, I like to follow some of these auctions closely to see if I can snag a deal.
I’m not sure if I snagged this bug or it snagged me.
In the photo is a pristine condition 1959 Vibroplex Original DeLuxe. The key is missing the weights and the finger and thumb pieces, but otherwise is flawless — unusual for a key of this vintage that didn’t spend time in a carrying case or box. I don’t know any history behind this key and the seller offered none.
I was following this key’s auction, and it was stuck at $31 for the longest time … apparently several others were poised to snipe the key, because when I moved to snipe, I had competition; in fact, my winning bid was exactly the same price as the top dollar I entered in my snipe bid … honestly, I wasn’t expecting to pay top dollar (i.e., the top end of my bidding range), but that’s the breaks.
Fortunately, when I enter a bid on a key like this, my high-end is usually the highest amount I’m willing to pay in a normal auction and still feel like I got a “deal.” If you break it down like that, I’m way ahead of the game, as parted out, this key is worth considerably more than my final price. Of course, I’m not about to part the thing out! Adding weights, a paddle and knob is not a big deal.
Of course, did I really need another 1950s Original DeLuxe? I could — if I wanted — go through my collection and probably sell a couple of DeLuxes I have that aren’t as nice as this one. I didn’t need it, but do I need half the keys I buy?? DON’T answer that, please! LOL!
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