Here a supposedly letter on some site from the guy who bid that much for the tape and his story behind it.
After this piece ran around the internet for a few hours, a VHS collector named Bill Neil contacted me and wanted to set the story straight about this auction. With Bill’s permission, I am running the original email that came in to me, so that all of us can have better insight as to what the heck was really goin’ on with this incredible analog happening. So without further ado, here’s the story, straight from the guy who lived it:
“So I was involved in the $13,000 tape Ebay thing. Here’s the lowdown …
Before I tell you the story, let me preface by saying I am a limited VHS collector. I only collect the titles and issues of tapes I remember while growing up. There are not many I want, but when I find one of those gems from my childhood, I do everything I can to acquire it. Sometimes this means paying too much … way too much for a tape. In your article, I read that some tapes go for $1200 – I didn’t know others have bid that high! So, anyway…
I have spent the past 4+ years trying to acquire the original release of HALLOWEEN on MEDA … not the same box with MEDIA on it, but the FIRST with MEDA. Every other day I have checked eBay and got nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. I went to Comicon. Nothing. Tried other sites. Nothing. Tried the Pasadena flea market. Nothing.
I got sick in Feb of this year (around the 16th) and didn’t check eBay for a week. Guess what? A MEDA copy of HALLOWEEN was auctioned and SOLD!!! Aaaah!!! I think it went for a little over 200 bucks. A lot… but, for me, I would pay it! This lit a fire under me! I MUST get this tape. I was willing to pay A LOT more.
Cut to: March 15th, and I see a seller has put up for bid HALLOWEEN and he listed it as MEDIA… but upon close inspection of the picture I see it is the MEDA release! ****! I bid $500!!!! There was no way I’d lose…. but I did. An eBay user with ZERO feedback came in and outbid me by 20 dollars. Well, now I was really hot! So, when I see the MEDA tape for bid 2 weeks later, I bid $1,000!!! Crazy,yes … but I have addiction issues and it seemed “the universe” was telling me to do it!! I would never pay this much for any other tape.
And then, within one day, some ZERO feedback user outbids me by 20 bucks. I could NOT believe anyone else had this much disposable cash and would want the tape like I did… and then I slowed down and looked at the picture of the tape. It was THE SAME picture as the auction I lost 2 weeks prior. And then I see it is the SAME seller… and on the auction he writes that the picture IS the tape he’s auctioning. How is this possible?
I write to the seller and he responds that the person who outbid me 2 weeks ago “didn’t come through with the money” and that if this new high bidder doesn’t come through, he will sell it to me off eBay for $1000. I respond that this is fine, but I say it is weird all these people offering so much money for something that is not worth this much.
Now … I THINK this made him nervous, because suddenly a bunch of different eBay users WITH ZERO FEEDBACK start upping and upping the bid. I contact eBay and tell them my concerns and I ask to retract my bid cause I just think this all stinks at this point. I also write to the seller and say I am retracting my bid. I guess 12 hours after I spoke to eBay, the auction ended several hours sooner than it should have. I say “I guess”, since I couldn’t “see” the auction anymore. I figure when you retract a bid, they erase your bid from history and block you from watching the item (but I could be wrong about that).
Anyway, all this is to say that I think NO ONE paid anything for this tape. I’m pretty damn sure this was a scam … pretty much on me.
I know people are reposting that link, and I hope it doesn’t make others think they can get that much for a tape since it is all a fraud… and I sadly hang my head to you that I am one of those that spends too much on these tapes (albeit it really is only this ONE holy grail tape that I am willing to go broke for!!).
I should cover my ass and say I can’t be ONE HUNDRED PERCENT certain this was a fraud, but if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck …
So, my search continues ..
 |