Junk from an Ebay seller?

[Oldcarfan27]

I've been browsing the 'bay in the junkyard model cars & parts section, and I keep running across this particular seller that keeps posting butchered cars for buy it now prices.

They are photographed in front of the same building backdrop, they are various types of cars, some vintage, some not and all have been hacked into 4x4 trucks and look like they've been built by a 4 year old and brush painted with a broom. They're atrocious! They're not even good enough to restore or use for parts. What I can't understand is he's been posting them for quite some time and pricing them anywhere from 23 to 60 dollars. Who buys these things?

Whoever is building them doesn't look like they're getting any better at it, and it frustrates me because there WERE ones that I would have liked to buy if they hadn't been so completely ruined. 

If it's a proud parent selling his child's creations, then somebody needs to wake him up and tell him his kid has a LONG way to go before they will ever be considered ProBuilt! But then again, if he has sold any, then his kid is a professional and I need to hang it all up!

Has anybody bought any of this stuff and if so, is it as bad as it looks on Ebay?

 

[Fat Brian]

I've seen that guy, the worst thing I ever saw posted was a "tractor" made out of an empty 20 oz soda bottle and some you wheels slapped in it. It was but it now for like $40. Some of the builds look dirty enough to be old but some of the kits are pretty recent, I have no idea what's going on.

[Lordmodelbuilder]

I too have seen this seller and wondered where he gets so many models that all look like BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH. Way overpriced!

[Oldcarfan27]

2 hours ago, Fat Brian said:

I've seen that guy, the worst thing I ever saw posted was a "tractor" made out of an empty 20 oz soda bottle and some you wheels slapped in it. It was but it now for like $40. Some of the builds look dirty enough to be old but some of the kits are pretty recent, I have no idea what's going on.

I saw that one! Most absurd thing ever.

It would be fine if it was built as a joke, but the joke is this guy is trying to sell it!

I've seen countless kits of his built with toy wheels and parts. Some with no chassis at all. And all look like they were assembled with wood glue and pieces of sprue for the suspension. Oh, and aluminum can pull tabs for trailer hitches. Is this guy serious?

What bugs me most is the casual observer will flip through this listing of disasters and see the prices and think his kids' projects are collectors items!

Public perception makes it look like modelers are desperate to buy ANY model cars from anybody selling them - no matter how bad the condition is.

It's happened in the 1:1 car world, Barrett Jackson and all these other auction sites have escalated the prices of any car into the stratosphere and farmer Joe now thinks his rusty, beat up 87 Ford F350 dump truck is worth a fortune, even if it doesn't run.

 

[Spex84]

I frequently search for junkyard parts and lots...but lately it's been window-shopping, because prices have become beyond stupid. $150 here....$99 there...$299 for this pile of 20 roached-out 90's re-issues of 60s muscle cars, complete with thick Testors brush-painted on everything including the windows, missing the frames and engines. $30 for a gluebomb body with no other parts attached....It's nuts right now. I assume people are buying stuff for pennies at estate sales and then trying to flip it for hundreds of dollars to justify their "effort". If was all unobtainium Johan parts or something, I'd maybe understand...but a lot of it is just run of the mill junk. Then add shipping and convert it into Canadian dollars. Ha!

/rant over. In short: it bugs me too.

 

 

[jeffdeoranut]

ive seen this guy too.  I hope those models were built by a child...if so I bet he had a blast doing all the pick up/4 wh dr conversions.  while surfing ebay last nite I saw lots of current kits priced in 150-200 $ range. I guess they figure some fool will pay these outlandish prices.

[mikemodeler]

I have seen it as well, get my chuckles and move on. I also see on Facebook people asking stoopid prices for kits, like a 66 Suburban for $30 + shipping! Really? That kit can be had for less money at online retailers with a reasonable ship fee to boot! If you have a Hobby Lobby nearby or even online, you can get 40% off of the $29.95 MSRP.

[Mike999]

2 hours ago, Spex84 said:

It's nuts right now. I assume people are buying stuff for pennies at estate sales and then trying to flip it for hundreds of dollars to justify their "effort".

Yep.  I see "eBay Fever" all the time at the big local flea markets with model kits.  A guy with a random collection of estate-sale junk has a promo, heavily damaged, bumpers broken/missing, warped like a banana.  Or a common glue-bomb kit, apparently built by a 6-yr-old with no hand-eye coordination in a waterlogged original box. The sales pitch usually starts with something like "$75 on eBay!!!" and "you'll never find another one!"  I sure hope not... 

I took a quick scan thru that seller's stuff.  He's selling a (badly) built Foose Custom '56 Ford pickup, with the usual "Lowrider 4 junkyard Diorama parts restore"  sales pitch. For $39.99!  That kit was only released, what, about a year ago? Why on earth would anybody pay that?  His price is higher than retail at most places for a mint, unbuilt Foose pickup.  Mind-boggling. 

Oh well.  As we usually get reminded in these eBay threads, people can ask whatever they want.  There are still plenty of knowledgeable people selling model stuff for reasonable prices.  I'll buy from them, and use the other guys for entertainment.  

 

[Lunajammer]

I don't begrudge the person for building how he likes and offering them for what he wants. What breaks my heart seeing what happens to collectible Johan kits and vintage promos.

Edited May 7, 2018 by Lunajammer

[Oldcarfan27]

1 hour ago, Lunajammer said:

I don't begrudge the person for building how he likes and offering them for what he wants. What breaks my heart seeing what happens to collectible Johan kits and vintage promos.

I totally agree! What I think is hilarious is he posts them with the statement "for parts or restore " 

Restore what?! There's nothing good left. 

You'd think with that many builds under his belt, his skills would improve.

Nope!!

[iBorg]

I'm missing the fun. Can someone PM the seller.

[Oldcarfan27]

1 hour ago, iBorg said:

I'm missing the fun. Can someone PM the seller.

It's all on Ebay, bud. Just go to "junkyard model cars and parts". And enjoy the carnage!

[John Pol]

Just check it out what a joke

[Tom Geiger]

"junkyard model cars and parts"  (exact quotes in "")  brings up zero found in all of eBay

junkyard model cars and parts  (without quotes in automotive models) brings up a few random lots, nothing expensive

[Oldcarfan27]

Type in junkyard in the search box, then there will be choices for subcategories. Click on Toy models & kits, Go to page 20 - 25. When you start seeing monstrosities like this.....

You'll know you're there.

Here's just a tiny few to wet your appetite. 

And here's the tractor we talked about earlier. Yours for only $23.99!

But wait, there's more...

Now how much would you pay?

If you order now, we'll include this as your gift, just pay shipping and handling. (Which happens to be the same price as the car itself)

Sorry kids, no refunds ?

Edited May 8, 2018 by Oldcarfan27

[iBorg]

Oh my.......what did those poor kits do to deserve that?

 

Mike

 

[Tom Geiger]

There is no possible coherent response to those photos!   

[Fat Brian]

Another thing that gets me is that the diorama is pretty good so where do these horrible builds come from?

[iBorg]

Maybe the diorama was a barn find and the build ups a yard sale find from a pre-school.

[Oldcarfan27]

And this doesn't even scratch the surface, there are dozens more of these. I just don't know why they're for sale. I can't imagine any model builders who'd buy a box full of these even if they were dirt cheap, let alone $30 bucks each!

[iBorg]

What's scary in the completed listings, the great majority of his listings have sold......I guess I need to sell my kits as junkyard or close my eyes, paint them and sell them.

 

[Russell C]

But is it art?

[peteski]

20 minutes ago, Russell C said:

But is it art?

Art? It is more like f-art!

[slusher]

2 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

There is no possible coherent response to those photos!   

Totally agree Tom....

[Oldcarfan27]

35 minutes ago, iBorg said:

What's scary in the completed listings, the great majority of his listings have sold......I guess I need to sell my kits as junkyard or close my eyes, paint them and sell them.

 

I checked other stuff posted around the same time, and he also sells other cars too (the one's photog'd on the washing machine) so he probably SELLS regular stuff. I just can't fathom that anybody who's sober would pay good money for this tripe.