Why do Merlin Kits go for such ridiculous prices on ebay

[darkstar]

I just seen a Merlin Hawker Osprey Kit sell for over £30 pounds on ebay. I don't understand why anyone would pay that kind of money let alone enough to bid it up to that price. I bought the Aeroclub Osprey a couple of weeks ago on ebay for less than a tenner which is superior in all respects and for about £15.00 you can get the modern Amodel kit which is not a bad representation. I really can't imagine anyone wanting to build the kit, I have owned and disposed of a number of Merlin kits over the years which I have bought in the hopes that one might be buildable. I only one I ever built was a Gloster Grebe which has now been replaced by the superior Aeroclub version. I could understand buying them when first issued as they where all that was available but with nearly all of the Merlin range now available in the form of modern toolings which don't require a hacksaw to separate the parts from the sprues they can't being bought by builders so it must be collectors but why? They have no intrinsic value, they not good representations of the planes, the boxing is not pretty and there not especially rare (either that or the same kits are being auctioned again and again when buyers realise the mistake they have made buying one in the first place).

[peebeep]

Perhaps they're adjudged as so naff as to be cool.

Seriously, this is undoubtedly collectors filling gaps in their collections, with no intention of ever building.

peebeep

[JamesPerrin]

I'm hoping to flog my Lightning P1 to a collector, more fool them! I bought it "new" from Telford a couple of years back for a reasonable £6.

Quality of the mould is a very minor requisite if at all to a collector. If you are putting together a collection of Airfix bagged kits the fact that the nose of the Defiant is completely inaccurate is immaterial.

[PaulBradley]

Welcome darkstar - please take a few moments to properly introduce yourself in our Welcome section.

[KIWI]

I have bought a few over the years , it was the subjects that appealed to me , I always hoped that they would improve . I built the F8 Meteor and the T11 Vampire , both required huge effort for very mediocre results . I do not really know why these kits achieve their high prices in auctions but guess collectors are responsible .