The one that 'got away'

subzero

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I'm sure pretty much every person on here has a horror story of missing out on an amazing deal at some point in their collecting years?

Iv'e had a couple of occasions where iv'e seen an amazing deal on a figure listed up on ebay only 2 or 3 minutes ago, literally clicked buy now then only to find out when I go to check out that somebody quickly snapped it up seconds before I did, resulting in lots of shameless crying and sleepless nights ( just kidding :lol: ).

Maybe you got something at an amazing price only to have it cancelled by the seller, or decided not to buy something and quickly regretted it afterwards because you know you'll never see one again at the same price, or maybe it was something you was about to buy then had another guy snap it up from underneath you for a higher price, or you spotted an incredible deal but didn't have the cash to pay, or maybe your great deal just 'vanished' in the post.

What was your one that 'got away' and how did it happen?
 

StarWarsFan

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A Yak Face for £50, a box of vintage figures for £30 at a car boot sale was well pissed off about that!
 

subzero

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In about 89 / 90 I remember seeing a large bin/basket outside a hardware shop FULL of MOC figures for 99p each, I wasn't old enough to think to buy any and if I did I would have opened them all anyway. But it's still one iv'e thought about for years as being one that 'got away' and always wished I could go back. :cry:
 

palitoyjunky

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I once missed out on an unused BD X-Wing by Palitoy in a near mint Empire box :!: Seller listed it starting bid £30 or BIN £100. Naturally it was snapped up at the BIN v quick :(
 

Jez

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Richard_H said:
Pretty much every purchase I've nearly made on ebay to be gazumped by a TVR guest such as Marc Hockley and the £180 12" Ledy TR.

Lol, Rich you so need to...
 

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bosk70

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Mentioned it before but at a boot sale about 1992 just getting back into collecting and buying some ewoks out of a box for 20p each but leaving the yak face, barrada and some others as I did not recognise them as sw but bought the yak face staff as I liked the look of it in with the ewoks for 40p total :) and the blue snag that was on a stall about the same time, the seller told me what it was and it was a harder to get fig :) for £16 and thought it was too expensive :lol: live and learn
 

edd_jedi

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I'm sure there are loads but one that stands out is seeing a boxed AT-ST in the window of Oxfam on a Sunday when it was closed. Went back the next day and it was gone. This must have been in about 2000.
 

Awl Skulkerkey

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For me it will always be a 'Boxed 12" Boba Fett' at a carboot me and my sister were doing. I had it in my hand but hadn't got the money which was with my sister. I agreed to come straight back with the dosh but when I returned it had been snapped up by an Action Man collector!? He bought a shed load of action men and the Boba too... :x
 

Stubbs

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I have had about twenty big regrets but the biggest bye far was in about 1994 at bursledon car boot sale in Hampshire. A woman selling old toys was there every week and had a couple of trays of star wars figs so I was always straight in there. I noticed a vinyl caped Kawa complete with weapon with £2 on the bag I begged my mum but she was not shifting on giving me any cash.

I know it sounds awful but I wish I had just taken it.
 

pizzathehutt

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Bloke at my local carboot a few years back had a table with all the ships boxed, playsets and a darth Vader case full of figures. I bought all the figures, boxed Wampa, boxed landspeeder, boxed falcon off him for £60

Gutted I couldn't buy the rest as that was all the money I had and it was the the end of the month. He wouldn't keep the rest for me and wanted it all gone that day.

I missed out on x-wing, rebel transport, tie fighter, interceptor, turret and probot, snowspeeder, taun taun, b-wing, at-at plus some others all boxed
 

Pomse2001

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12 years ago I had the chance to buy a dt saber vader and a dt saber kenobi for £1000 each and a glasslite vlix for £500 Today I wish I had bought them, but I said to myself that I would find them again another day to a cheaper price :roll:
 

gammoguard

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Popped to a local indoor market and was checking out the loose SW figures that he had up for sale. Nothing in particular stood out but the guy selling them asked if I'd be interested in some 'other' SW figures that his son had bought the previous day but hadnt yet bought them to the stall.
The figures were at the house (literally around the corner from the market) and did I want to check them out - naturally (& tentively) I said yes. The guy had 14 of the last 17 in a box and, as they were his sons, didn't know anything about them.....which was confirmed when he asked if I'd be interested at £30 for THE LOT !!!!! To this day I can still imagine what his sons face would have been like when he'd have come home to price them for the stall (if you're on this forum then sorry)
 

spoons

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Mine is a Han Hoth 65 back proof for £135. Thought it was pricey at the time :cry:
 

x-pack

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A shop called Nightingales in Chorley had shelves full of old shop stock well into the mid nineties. I bought loads of brand new mini rigs, couple of speeder bikes and a few plush ewoks. But that was the tip of the iceberg of what they had.

I should have bought the lot as it was just at the old shop prices. Not marked up at all. In fact I should have asked what they had in the back and could they get any more. Just didn't think like that back then.
 

pizzathehutt

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A minor one for me was going to an outdoor collectables fair every year in may in hemel Hempstead in the mid 90s, one of the stalls always had a box of loose figures. I can remember pulling out an amanaman that was £1 and thinking "err idiots! why is this in here? this isn't from star wars" and throwing it back in the box :roll:
 

Dr_Ball_MD

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Orange hair Luke Farmboys & VCJ's going for around £350 about 3 years back.

I hesitated on paying that much back then. I have a VCJ now (just over twice what it was back then!) but still regret not getting a ginger Luke.
 

TheJabbaWookie

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I know it's not a historic example but I've been after a mint loose set of Sy Snootles and the Rebo Band for a while. Recently one turned up on eBay. I duly set my alarm on my phone and promptly fell asleep in a different room only to wake up and see it had sold for £59. Probably worth double that. Absolutely gutted. The trials and tribulations of eBay.
 

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Palifan

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An empty Palitoy VCJ card back with bubble still attached that was on Australian eBay years ago. It was in great shape with the top sliced open and had a starting bid of around 250GBP on it. I was so tempted to bid on it but just couldn't take the chance on something that had yet to be discovered unopened at the time so let it go. It went for more or less the asking price and there's nothing to say that I would have won it anyway as who knows what the winning bidder had put on it but it's a shame I didn't bid on it at the time.

This card back is with one of the members here (or at least used to be), so at least it's somewhere it will be cherished.

Ian
 
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