Saturday, July 9, 2011, 1:30 a.m. — It was like bringing a knife to a gunfight tonight on eBay as the “big boys” vied for a couple of T.R. McElroy’s nicest collectible keys.
I had been watching them, though knowing the auction ended on a Friday night insured there would be no shortage of buyers available. And what’s worse, the bidding on both keys was stalled for most of the week at the second or third bid level of about $99.99 — a sure-fire bet that the big-boy collectors are silently waiting on the sidelines to make their plays.
And play they did.
MCELROY S-600. The first key up was an S-600 Super Stream-Key bug in good shape (missing the finger and thumb pieces and had replacement weights). The last bid was 4 days or so back, and I knew it would go higher. The bid was $99.99 and with just 2 seconds left I submitted my bid of $111; what I didn’t know was that someone was waiting with a slightly higher bid with one second left in the auction — one helluva snipe if I say so myself.
I really didn’t want to go all out for this Stream key, though the price was reasonable. It wasn’t anywhere near mint — which probably is testament to the popularity of the teardrop-shaped S-600.
MCELROY 1935 MAC-KEY. The bidding on this key had been inactive also for four days — which again signaled to me that the major collectors were watching it. It’s a bit like being 
a U-boat captain … run silent, run deep, and strike without warning. Back in the days before eBay blocked the full name of the bidders, a bid by a known collector would signal other collectors that “hey, there’s something here worth looking at.” Not bidding makes the item look less interesting, lol! That’s the theory anyway.
The 1935 Mac-Key was in very good original condition; I decided to pursue this one, as I do not own a 1935 model. On this auction I was seriously outgunned — the winning bid was $405! I wanted the key, but not quite that much. The bid jump from about $99.99 in the last 3 seconds or so, and therefore my bid (of much less!) didn’t even get in because it was already too low.
Well, so much for my key collection tonight. There’s always tomorrow night!
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