i beleive this is a stand up guy, but greed has gotten to him $15,000 worth of greed

I will stand corrected on this guy. I had a great experience dealing with him but in light of this new auction, I have to now say that he is not the "stand-up guy" that I thought he was.

However, I will say that this whole thing is the fault of people from the handcuff collecting community (myself not included). How many of you guys contacted him, trying to get your hands on these cuffs cheap??? YOU guys threw up the red flags on this item and caused him to pull the auction. Thanks guys.....now it looks like no one here will get them.

Amazing

Guys and gals,

I will be posting tomorrow about some Marlin things and other related stuff, but wanted to comment on this tonight.

I am never going to commit $15,000 of my my family holdings on a set of handcuffs/leg irons, or even 1/2 of that. Or even 1/2 of 1/2 of that. It's just a hobby. For some it's more. I'm not rich so when it goes into the stratosphere it's not fun anymore. Rich people don't care and goodies are more fun than money. If I was rich, I'd be the same.

That said, this was a breathtaking addition to a collection and I can understand the price. I think it is a legit item and probably worth the price, but not to us mortals.

You witnessed hc history on a never seen item at a price most of us can't imagine. Print a copy and go on and be glad you saw it. It ain't what most of us do.

Brad

Well, it is now obvious who made a private deal with the seller.....I was wondering why it was re-listed for such a short period of time. Congrats to the winner, the seller, all the phantoms who slammed me for no reason (BTW, I had/have NO interest in these cuffs....didn't contact the seller, I didn't bid on them......I had NOTHING to do with them), and most of all, congrats to the weasle/s who got the price jacked up. Greed.....it's as old as time, but it is as fresh and vibrant today as it was in the days of cave-dwellers.

Amazing

I'm the guy with the biggest collection according to Guinness and I have no idea what you are talking about or who you are or that you are entitled to see proof of the deal. I am one of the few collectors who NEVER contacts a seller to ask if I can buy something off ebay, and I never close an auction early when I sell on ebay. My concern with the high price paid for the leg iron is that it will drive away new collectors, and the way the ebay deal was completed makes it look bad for all handcuff collectors. Please don't use my name if you have no idea what you are talking about.
Stan

Anon, a quick note.

It wasn't "cuffs" who 'won' the auction. It was "cuffs." Anyone know who that is? I want to be in their will or have them adopt me.

B.

If you read his feedbacks, you'll see at least one person that posts here. No, it's not me.

I wish to congratulate "Cuffs." for his or her purchase. It is a wonderful item and certainly would be a great addition to anyone's collection.

Is the purchase good for the hobby? Some say no because it will drive up the prices. I say yes because it will bring even more wonderful items on to the market.

There are plenty of desirable items for sale at very reasonable prices. And often prices actually decrease. One thing we noticed at the Cannon's convention was that some cuffs have come down in price. For example Stotz cuffs are now more available and cheaper than they have been for years.

A show item like this one selling for a premium increases the interest in our hobby. Some people can afford to purchase more than others. That is true, but keep it in perspective. In the world of stamp collecting, 100 copies of the "Inverted Jenny" are known to exist. A single copy has sold at auction for $525,000. This is the first Marlin leg iron I have ever seen. It is totally beautiful. Surely it is worth at least three percent of a small scrap of paper printed by error.

So congratulations "Cuffs." Now all you have to do is find a Marlin thumbcuff and your collection will be complete.

Cheers to all
Joe

Hi,

I must tell all of you that I am surprised by all of the attention that I have generated by bidding on a super rare leg iron. I have been called an idiot and even worse. A few choice words actually had to be deleted from this forum. I have been told that I am ruining the handcuff collecting hobby by bidding so high and that future collectors will be turned off from the hobby by my action.

I will admit to you all that I did bid on the item and am pleased that I won it. There is no mystery man or fraud going on here. If you are into conspiracies, you might want to check out the guy with the umbrella on the grassy knoll. He probably tried to get the Marlin's too. As you know, the seller offered them on eBay and I bid on it...nothing more and nothing less. I will also admit that I have two eBay names and have bought cuffs from many of you under my secondary name so I could leave feedback that counts, so this is no surprise. The reason I used the second name on this auction is because I use a snipe service that allows me 5 free bids a week and I used up my weeks allotment under my more common name.

It is true that the seller ended the auction and restarted it at a high opening bid. I had no control over that. He decided to do that. I for sure did not ask for that to happen. Maybe the seller was swayed by the numerous emails and off eBay bids he received from many of you and figured that the gem he had could snag some extra cash in the deal. He also knew that his buyer was most likely at the convention and thought it best to extend it a day. He is a seasoned eBay seller and did what he thought he had to do. The last time I checked, I concluded that we still live in a free country. I was not happy with the way it all went down either, but all I can tell you is that my bid on the first auction was slightly higher than what I paid on the re-listed auction. On the second auction, I expected a competitive bid to come in, but no such bid came, so I ended up winning it.
This is a hobby for me. I do not have other expensive hobbies such as boating, flying, stock car racing, base jumping or recreational drug use. My wife is not into flashy jewelry, Gucci handbags, shoes or gigantic SUV's. However, I do appreciate your concerns about my children's welfare, so I will fill you in: I am putting one son through college and the other is in private school. Beyond having nice clothes to wear, both have 3 hearty meals every day, so please do not call Child Protective Services on me. If my finances are worrying you, let me assure you that my portfolio along with my eBay shares are doing quite well. By the way, look into Ameritrade or the Janus Funds for yourselves. So far this year I fared quite well with them. I work hard in a 7/24 hour business and can adjust my earning potential by taking emergency calls. I will have to bust my butt for a couple of months or so to pay for these gems, but it is worth it to me.
There have been Kimball's, Guiteau's, Houdini Mirror cuffs and others that were close to or exceeded the price of these cuffs, so I know for fact in this case I will not break the record for the highest paid cuffs. I will not have the pleasure of sharing the page with Stan and Joe M. under handcuffs in the Guinness Book of Records.

I am sorry if you were offended in any way. I know that I played by the rules by placing a winning bid and in return, I came away with an item that I am proud of. In any hobby, there are entry level pieces and we all started there in this hobby. Does the guy who buys a nice minty Duesenberg in an auction have to put up with being called an idiot and even worse, especially by some anonymous person who does not have the courage to speak out using his real name? Must he actually consider adding another complainer in his will or go through the motions of finalizing an adoption? I don't think so. Why must I? I try to help this community by answering questions that I believe I have an answer to and present questions to start an interesting thread. I feel like I committed a crime here.

Just the other day, a near-mint copy of Detective Comics No. 27, a pre-World War II comic featuring Batman's debut, was recently found in a Pennsylvania attic and was sold to a local collector. The value was placed at $250,000. Experts estimate there are between 20 and a few hundred copies known to exist. Some of you are handcuff experts. How many Marlin Leg Irons have you seen or estimate to exist? Did the buyer ruin his hobby by purchasing this gem of a comic book? By comparison, I think I got a bargain.

This auction sure bought out the worst in us. We are supposed to be like-minded hobbyists who try to help each other and enjoy learning and documenting the rarest of the rare. I must be all wrong about this and I will consider taking up baseball as a new hobby as you guys seem to think that I am already far out in left field. Oops, I can't do that either........I might have to pay $500,000 for the Barry Bonds ball and ruin baseball forever!

mark
O--O

p.s. Thanks Joe. You were the only person who took on a positive view in all of this

Forgot to add my name in the yellow box

mark
O--O

p.s. Thanks Joe. You were the only person who took on a positive view in all of this



I didn't say anything negative. Enjoy the cuffs. I'm still sticking with my Houdini junk myself.

Hi Kevin,
No, your reply was not negative. It was informative, but not negative nor positive...kinda middle of the road or non political.

I am sure you have in your collection a rare piece that cost you some bucks. I know that you are proud to own it and show it to those who are interested in it.

I hope you did not get bashed for buying it.

mark
O--O

Mark,

Sure do. Years ago I bought some signed Houdini postcards for $250 + $300 each and people thouht(knew) I was nuts to buy at the level. Needless to say, they sell today in the $2,500-$3,000 range. I enjoyed them all those years and might even make a few bucks when I sell them.

As for your cuffs, I had the same situation with a Houdini pitchbook. I never saw this title in person in 20+ years. Someone offered it to me to what seem to work out to about $100 a page. I bought it and never regretted it. Since I owned it for 10+ years, I have never seen another.

Keep collecting,

Kevin

MARK: you should not have had to try to defend your actions as those who are the complainers are just jealous... i think that you got a tremendous bargain as i believe that IF you were to put the MARLIN at auction thru one of the big auction houses that you would easily double your money.... easily !!!! up until this MARLIN i believe that i have been the only restraint collector person to have seen & HANDLED a MARLIN leg iron ( in fact 2 of them at the same time ) ..... i tried to acquire just one of them & had offerred $15,000 cash --- more in cash & trade items but to no avail.... this was in the mid 1990s !!!! had i got them & later decided to sell them, i would have asked a min of $30,000 & i believe that i would have gotten it too !!!!! so again, MARK - you got a super bargain !!! joe

Sincere congratulations all the way, Mark. Ignore the jealous and forever-offended naysayers and enjoy your purchase.

Thank you for your support, Monica.
I appreciate the kind words and for your time to respond to this.

mark
O--O

> you should not have had to try to defend your actions as those who are the
> complainers are just jealous...

I'll drink to that.

They are over my priceline, but they are worth what the seller can sell them for. That's how stuff gets sold.

Crazy? Sure. So is standing armpit deep in running water in the rain, trying to murder a fish that never did you any harm.

I wish you joy in your acquisition.

congrate's it's your money & you don't have to defend how you use it! i comend you & of course envy you BTW do you or anyone else reading this have a MARLIN 3 way, not looking to purchase just curious?

I also congratulate Mark for adding another highlight to his great collection!

The rumours that Mark might have brought the seller to end the first auction early and offer the cuffs again for this immense starting bid are total nonsense. Why should he? I am sure that Mark would have gotten the leg irons much cheaper, if he had placed a 15,000 $ bid at the last minute of the first auction.

Best regards,
Guenter

Dennis, LK, Guenter, and those that wrote or called,

I am comforted by the kind words, advice and concern.
I know who my friends are even though I may not know you yet.
I did not foresee any of this coming and wonder if this behaviour will continue on to the next rare item's auction winner. What ever and when ever this takes place, be advised that if you are the lucky winner, you may not feel so lucky. I should not have to explain or defend myself by placing a legitimate bid, but since I had nothing to hide, I responded.

Maybe the price would have been less if the first auction ran full term or maybe it would have been more. I will never know unless the other bidders decide to discuss the matter. Unless that were to happen, I can only hope that this case is closed!

Good luck to the winner if a Phelps Leg Iron happens to show up.

mark
O--O

Saturday evening, after the show at the convention, I was with two of the main bidders for the Marlins. There were about four or five of us trying to figure out what happened. None of us knew. We were trying to get on line to check on the listing. We heard that it was going to be relisted and assumed that the listing would be in a few days and run the seven day time.

It was my impression that none of us, including the main collectors had any idea on why the seller did what he did.

From the conversation I think the seller screwed himself out of a higher price.

It is interesting that I received a second chance offer to buy the Marlins from the "seller". I received the offer on my Yahoo email account and not through normal ebay channels. I should have offered $1.95 for this bogus offer.

Mark---enjoy,

Ron

What a great weekend. Not too often do you get to hold a set of Lorey's in your hands.

“look into Ameritrade or the Janus Funds for yourselves. So far this year I fared quite well with them.”




Ah… that’s how one becomes a handcuff millionaire…


Congratulations!

Jason