To All, I have seen the comments of the past several weeks regarding high prices fetched by some items on ebay mirrored in other areas. I collect old road maps and the same thing happens there. Those people that I have known call it "auction fever". There is a sense in which the item sold at auction is not worth the price that it brings. The sale price goes up simply because two or more people want it badly enough to fight over it. Each bidder makes a succession of bids thinking and hoping that the other will lose his nerve. The result is a high bid that is, in a way at least, inflated. But at the same time it does tend to influence the overall market bringing prices on similar items up as well. Solution? None. The hobby becomes more expensive and more difficult to pursue if you don't have deep pockets.
Paul Patzkowsky
"you got to know when to hold them and when to fold them when the dealins done."