These prices did not include the 13% buyers premium on top of the winning bid.  After they add the 13%, they add 6% on top of that (incorrectly).  Then, you cross the border and you pay another tax (GST only?).  But then you can claim your MI tax and wait for it to be refunded.

So, a $1700 RFM = 1700 + 221 + 102 = $2023 out the door (and before the border).  You can buy an RFM in comparable shape at SB for a little more and you don't have to drive to the US and deal with customs and all that sort of stuff.  Of course, Detroit is always a pleasure to visit.  Not quite like Toronto.    

Of course, this was supposing that the seller would have let it go at 1700?  Obviously he wanted something higher.

After an item was sold, the price and bidder ID was written on the sticker (which was nice).  There was an indicator if the winning bidder was a consignee or just a person attending.  All those SBB's had that consignee indicator.  So if they weren't buy backs, then they were other consignee's (operators?) buying them.  Also, there were the same 2 bidding numbers on most of the machines.  Draw your own conclusions.

The SS side art was in good shape...just needed some serious scrubbing (along with the playfield). Most of the pins were dirtier than what we normally see at Starburst.

Yeah, your right on the RFM. Those additional costs do kill the deal

SS though if the pf was nice would have definitely been worth considering. That one actually did sell to a legitimate buyer for those numbers?

How was the parts situation?

Just to fill in some more detail on the Buy Backs.  There were 3 RFM's, 2 working (one with a dim CRT) that didn't crack the $1200 mark, and a nice condition RFM with serious switch matrix and driver PCB issues (game booted but wouldn't play.  Only the + button on the service switches worked, and there was an issue with the interlock that prevented play) which closed @ $1700!!  These along with the SWE1 project missing the glass and lockdown that didn't boot, and the Cham Pub among others were all bought back by the owner.  This was confirmed by many people @ the auction, supposedly the guy is a HUGE op in the US.  (his bidder# was 110)  I bid on one of the RFM's but quickly realized who I was bidding against, so dropped out @ $1050.

The SS was also a buy back, bidder# 124.  This person also bought back the working SWE1 and Shadow, along with a  few others.

The Radical, Rollergames and the Wh20 did sell.  I helped the new owner of the Wh20 move the game for disassembly. (he had his baby daughter in tow).  The Rollergames wasn't too bad.  Had a bad UDN6118 on the upper display, and surprisingly a perfect wall ramp (100% intact and no cracks!).  It had a full PF mylar and some magnet PF wear, but it would have cleaned up ok with a lot of work.

There were a few classic vids there, which was really nice to see.  The Tempest was in really nice shape and workiing 100%, there was a decent Berzerk that was working well (surprisingly), a working Congo Bongo, Missle Command, couple of DK's (one with a monitor in need of a cap kit went for $200), an almost brand new Nintendo Multi (Dk, Dk Jr etc) sold for $600 and wasn't a buy back if I remember correctly which was a good deal given the condition, a handful of Galaga's, a handful of really bad Robotron's, a working DL2 in good shape, couple of Asteroids, Cetepede...... Was a nice change from SB in that respect.

All in all, I would say a good experiance, something to check out at least once.  Unfortunately it seemed that the owners of the bought back pins were expecting to get TOP TOP $$ for games that clearly would not demand it.  (I was floored to see that RFM with major issues even get to $1700, so you can only imagine what the guy was looking to get for it, not to mention the working ones)

D.

The No Fear was not a Buy Back. I spoke to the consignee after the auction. As we watched the new owner trying to load it into the back of his Ford Explorer with the legs still on it, he said the machine was very nice and that the new owner wouldn't have any issues with it as long as he didn't wreck it on the way home.

DOH!  Forgot to mention in my last post....

BIG thank you to Cooke for putting us up for the night, not to mention the good company and selection of games.  Not sure about you all, but I had a great time and hope that some day I can return the favor!  Sub, Grau and DiamondDave rounded out the evening quite well.

Also wanted to throw another big thanks to Dave Jeremy... errr..... Ron Boyer. Nono, that's not right either.  DiamondDave! That's it!  For hauling my tired a** from London to Detroit and back, as this made the trip a little easier for me and the convo was great.

And MonkeyBug for being able to join me on the trip, even though it was a last minute decision.  The Crackberry GPS and his co-pilot skills proved to be essential while rollin' through London in the rain.  Just hope Cooke's neighbour @ #23 isn't afraid to answer the door anymore.

I had a great time, and even though the auction didn't live up to the hype this time, I would go again just so I could hang with the London crew.

D.

Yes, thanks to cooke for the crash space.  I spent way too much time trying to knock off your high score on Defender.  But at least I left knowing that I had spot #2 through 10!  I also was starting to worry around 1am about Menace when he started developing a weird twitch from too much Robotron.

And thanks for DD and his hot wheels for getting us down there and taking us for the guided tour of eight mile and the view of all the lovely real estate in the area.  I didn't realize the auction was so close to Devil's Night! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Night)

And thanks to Doug for letting me misdirect him around the streets of London, with a GPS in hand!  But at least we didn't take a wrong turn in downtown Detroit like Cooke did.