Rare SF#5 Europa

[motorman]

Sadly I was not in a position to bid on this one as i had put a serious hole in my budget in the past 2 weeks acquiring some other tasty models. This was only the second #5 (No 'Superfast' baseplate) that i have seen for sale in the past 12 months. It was sold by a German seller and it was bought by, you guessed it, another German well known to us all

[Rob]

Thanks for showing Alex, a very rare item and not a bad price in my opinion.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

"another German well known to us all"

was he connected to a certain Caravan?

Ghosthunter.

[Idris]

I hope the new owner checks the glazing unit just in case it's been swapped.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

I hope the new owner checks the glazing unit just in case it's been swapped.

Hmm, good point!

Ghost.

[motorman]

"another German well known to us all"

was he connected to a certain Caravan?

Ghosthunter.

Not that German, it was another well known Matchbox enthusiast who was a member on lefora.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

"another German well known to us all"

was he connected to a certain Caravan?

Ghosthunter.

Not that German, it was another well known Matchbox enthusiast who was a member on lefora.

PHEW, THAT'S A RELIEF!

Ghost.

[Miller]

How do you recognice the buyers? In Germany the buyers names (for third parties) are encrypted, you only see 9***9 for the buyer in this auction. Ebay argumented, this would protect the buyers privacy. But the main reason is, that special tools were useless. One of my favorite tools of this time was one, which identified "friendly bidders". They don´t work anymore now with the encrypted names.

[motorman]

How do you recognice the buyers? In Germany the buyers names (for third parties) are encrypted, you only see 9***9 for the buyer in this auction. Ebay argumented, this would protect the buyers privacy. But the main reason is, that special tools were useless. One of my favorite tools of this time was one, which identified "friendly bidders". They don´t work anymore now with the encrypted names.

Roland, i appreciate that the buyers identities are encrypted, however it's the same encryption for the same bidder every time. I have been in competition with this bidder on many many occasions, (too many!!!), so trust me i know him very very well.

[Miller]

Ok MM, i understand your "way of recognition".

But to be honest, i don´t appreciate the encrypted names. When they still where visible, one could check the feedback and find out, if they are from the same area or if they dealt together before. Sometimes one yould find lots of feedbacks from the same seller and then find out, that all these auctions now are running again - typical for shill bidders. When their expectations weren´t reached, they officially bought the thing, canceled the auction and everything went on again. But Ebay loves shill bidders, because they raise their incomst.

This may not be the fact in Matchbox, but car part or especially alloy rim auctions are full with these %§!?%%§