DARTH SABER
Master Member
Hey guys!
So, i was cleaning out my closet and digging through some of my boxes and I found my old 3 ring "star wars props research" notebook.
I flipped through the pages and found this printout of an old Ebay auction.
This was back when I had a habit of printing out my auctions ad proof of purchase.
It was my first flashgun win on Ebay.
This was actually what lead me to join the RPF....but theres a rocky story that goes along with it.
I remember it was late at night, my girlfriend was reading a book on the bed, and my computer was on the fritz so I was using "web TV" to surf the net.
I had recently purchased an Icons Luke ANH lightsaber and was itching to get Vaders ANH lightsaber.
I was looking for Star Wars stuff on Ebay searching for a Heiland.
I knew the MPP was used for Vaders saber but heard they were extremely rare and expensive, so i was going to settle for a Heiland.
A started doing in depth ebay searches for anything that would produce a flashgun, even if the actual name if the flashgun wasnt in the title.
Then i came acros this auction.
A silver sidebar MPP with dish for a Buy It Now price of $250.00....and it was still active!
I totlally flipped out and scared the crap out of my girlfriend.
I told her how rare they were and she screamed at me to buy it!
I quickly looked through all the photos and read the description just to make sure the seller wasn't just selling a PHOTO of an MPP or some other bait and switch scam.
After everything checked out I quickly hit the "buy it now" button.
I remember the internet was slow as molasses back then and Web TV didnt help either. It felt like an eternity watching the bar slowly crawl across the screen.
Then I had a moment of terror when I realized someone else could have purchased the MPP while I wad reading the description or while my stupid piece of crap webTV was struggling to deliver my purchase bid.
Finally the page refreshed and I was relieved to see "CONGRATULATIONS, You are the winner!"
The next morning I woke up and checked my email.
My box was flooded with about a dozen emails.
Back then you could actually contact other buyers on Ebay, im not sure if that feature is still around though.
Several emails were from other Ebay members who noticed the auction after it had ended and offered me up to $800 for the MPP.
One seller actually played it off as though he didnt know anything about the MPP being used as Vaders saber and claimed he had an old camera that required a flashgun and was willing to offer me $500 for it. He tried convincing it was just a worthless flashgun. I checked his buying history and virtually everything he had purchased was SW related.
Then i read one email that was from the seller of the MPP.
He told me that he was also flooded with dozens of higher offers from other buyers after the auction had ended.
I felt my stomach sink and expected him to say that was going to reneg on the auction and sell it to someone else.
Luckily he kept to his word and two weeks later my MPP arrived.
Another email was from a member of the RPF ( Cliff?) who congratulated me on the win and invited to join the board.
I later found out that a few of the people who made offers to the seller were members of the RPF. That caused a bit of drama on the board..but everything was smoothed out and they apologized.
Anyhow, thats my story.
What a blast from the past it was to find this auction printout.
Oh, It turned out that the seller had about 4 or 5 MPPs and over the course of the next few weeks he posted them up for auction.....this time with a Buy It Now price of $800.00.
So, i was cleaning out my closet and digging through some of my boxes and I found my old 3 ring "star wars props research" notebook.
I flipped through the pages and found this printout of an old Ebay auction.
This was back when I had a habit of printing out my auctions ad proof of purchase.
It was my first flashgun win on Ebay.
This was actually what lead me to join the RPF....but theres a rocky story that goes along with it.
I remember it was late at night, my girlfriend was reading a book on the bed, and my computer was on the fritz so I was using "web TV" to surf the net.
I had recently purchased an Icons Luke ANH lightsaber and was itching to get Vaders ANH lightsaber.
I was looking for Star Wars stuff on Ebay searching for a Heiland.
I knew the MPP was used for Vaders saber but heard they were extremely rare and expensive, so i was going to settle for a Heiland.
A started doing in depth ebay searches for anything that would produce a flashgun, even if the actual name if the flashgun wasnt in the title.
Then i came acros this auction.
A silver sidebar MPP with dish for a Buy It Now price of $250.00....and it was still active!
I totlally flipped out and scared the crap out of my girlfriend.
I told her how rare they were and she screamed at me to buy it!
I quickly looked through all the photos and read the description just to make sure the seller wasn't just selling a PHOTO of an MPP or some other bait and switch scam.
After everything checked out I quickly hit the "buy it now" button.
I remember the internet was slow as molasses back then and Web TV didnt help either. It felt like an eternity watching the bar slowly crawl across the screen.
Then I had a moment of terror when I realized someone else could have purchased the MPP while I wad reading the description or while my stupid piece of crap webTV was struggling to deliver my purchase bid.
Finally the page refreshed and I was relieved to see "CONGRATULATIONS, You are the winner!"
The next morning I woke up and checked my email.
My box was flooded with about a dozen emails.
Back then you could actually contact other buyers on Ebay, im not sure if that feature is still around though.
Several emails were from other Ebay members who noticed the auction after it had ended and offered me up to $800 for the MPP.
One seller actually played it off as though he didnt know anything about the MPP being used as Vaders saber and claimed he had an old camera that required a flashgun and was willing to offer me $500 for it. He tried convincing it was just a worthless flashgun. I checked his buying history and virtually everything he had purchased was SW related.
Then i read one email that was from the seller of the MPP.
He told me that he was also flooded with dozens of higher offers from other buyers after the auction had ended.
I felt my stomach sink and expected him to say that was going to reneg on the auction and sell it to someone else.
Luckily he kept to his word and two weeks later my MPP arrived.
Another email was from a member of the RPF ( Cliff?) who congratulated me on the win and invited to join the board.
I later found out that a few of the people who made offers to the seller were members of the RPF. That caused a bit of drama on the board..but everything was smoothed out and they apologized.
Anyhow, thats my story.
What a blast from the past it was to find this auction printout.
Oh, It turned out that the seller had about 4 or 5 MPPs and over the course of the next few weeks he posted them up for auction.....this time with a Buy It Now price of $800.00.