I am because we would all be chasing the same woman and that would REALLY cost some money.

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Birds like shiny new toys too.

I'm sorry but $75K for a sidearm is lunacy even for a very well heeled buyer. If'n I was a billionaire that gun ain't worth it, neither is a million dollar Bugatti or a $500K diamond encrusted Rolex. I bet the real joy coming outta that Python is in the seller's heart. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

I've done something similar before, but on a much smaller scale. I have a lot of collecting interests, some involving very esoteric antique sports photography. There are a few very obscure items that I know exist in very small numbers and will eventually show up but that I also know I may not see for three years, possibly as long as ten years. Let's say such an item shows up on eBay for a $500 initial bid and a BIN of $1,000, but the market value is more like $400 (it's obscure and valuable to me, but not to the entire market). If one other person places a bid, I know I'm in trouble, as they've already bid above market value. I would hit that BIN button so fast I burn off some forefinger skin.

On a scale more similar to this rare Python, I had a friend who was looking for a pristine 1927 Yankees signed baseball. When he found the one he was looking for, there simply was no outbidding him. If there had been a BIN at double what he paid, I think he would have paid it.

I have enjoyed hearing everyone’s opinion on this sock-knocker of an auction & result.

I’ll reiterate that I feel the buyer made odd moves to claim this revolver. I don’t understand back to back bids of $38,500 and then $75,000. What thought process says $38,500 bid makes sense and then immediately almost $40,000 more?

Why not a bid of $60,000? Why $38,500 and then directly to $75,000?

The $75,000 doesn’t seem mysterious whatsoever but the $38,500 is the one I don’t really understand.

If this were a Colt forum or better yet, a Python-specific forum, we could expect that some interested enthusiasts would be on the lookout for this same revolver to be offered again. I do NOT know the rare oddball Python market at all, but I would be surprised if the market supports this price if (or when?) exactly the same revolver is offered for sale.

Generally accepted definition of a colt is a young male.....

Someone with $75K to spend on a revolver likely doesn't care at all about what our opinions of his/her logic or motives may be. If I had that kind of disposable income laying around, and I wanted it, as soon as someone else started bidding I would have done what the buyer did.... end the game as the winner.

My god. Nice looking piece but 75k nice? Not for this cowboy...

?!
Who here even suggested that any of this discussion was to coerce the thoughts and feelings of the buyer...? It’s not like the buyer opened this discussion.

And if you think his $75k was “disposable”, why did he make ANY bids? Why did the auction run more than 3 minutes after he first saw it? He could have clicked the Buy-It-Now within moments of seeing it.

I wonder, since this particular gun sold for $75k, does that now increase the value of the gun? Does it became a "celebrity" since it sold for a ridiculous price and would someone else pay even more to own it now?

Rosewood

Could be that he had a question or three for the seller to answer before he hit the magic button.

I am hesitant to second guess anyone who has accumulated the means to purchase a 75k toy.

My guess is that the bidding started he bid a low bid, kinda making the territory. As the bidding goes on he said whats my top bid and how close to the BIN price? At that point, he probably said to himself that as the bidding goes up and closer to the BIN price the more likely it is to get sold via BIN. So, the heck with it let me pay a bit more and get what I want. Who cares about a few bucks as long as you get it, you may never have another chance to buy one.

Personally I don't see the value but others do and that's what matters.

I was waiting for Colt to offer new 3" RB Pythons $1499...

Just as many folks in this world who think paying $1000+ for a gun is crazy. Some of my friends think I'm nuts for dropping $5K at a gun show, while others friends don’t think I spend enough. It’s all relative; we all draw our “lines in the sand”.

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213th FBINA