A Rude Awakening

Joining a diecast forum, I figured it was all about sharing one's passion for his hobby with others similarly inclined. Of course, there are trades and deals and exchanges made, but I never figured someone would try to scalp me on the forum.

Well, somebody had a go at it, all right.

It was my fault, I suppose, for parading as my "sig" my two favorite diecast finds: my twin Shelby GR-1s, calling them "my greatest finds." Well, I was barely a week on the forum and somebody tried to peddle me a black GR-1, one of the two I don't yet have, saying "if you like, I can sell it to you for P300" which is basically what I paid for the first two cars.

I would have leapt at his offer, were it not for the fact that I almost immediately sensed that he had not paid that amount for the car he was trying to peddle, and was basically trying to make money off me.

I'm clearly not stingy when it comes to diecast; in less than a month I've spent what may be considered an unconscionable amount just acquiring the things, especially in view of the fact that I have two kids to take care of.

But the thought that even on this forum where everyone is clearly passionate about this hobby, someone would try to peddle something to me at what clearly seemed like more than what he paid for it (otherwise I really doubt he would have let me have it) just rattled me. It left me pissed off, more at myself than anyone else for wearing my heart out on my sleeve and being such an ostentatious jerk.

Of course I politely declined, more out of principle than anything else. The funny thing about it is I don't feel the slightest tinge of regret at having done so.

Incidentally, when Theia broached the sinister (and admittedly quite paranoid) possibility that this "seller," whom I didn't know from Adam, was nothing more than a charlatan posing as a collector who would stick me up as soon as we met, I smacked my head and said "I hadn't thought of that!" Well, it is the kind of thing one could expect after showing off his two cars and saying "does anyone have the black and red ones?"

Maybe the guy was the real item; maybe he wasn't. It doesn't really matter. I rather loathed the idea of paying even a peso more for that car than he did, but more than that, I hated the way he made the car sound so...disposable. "I have this but I'm not really interested because I'm into another line of cars, but you can have it for what you paid for the others (even if that's not what I paid for it)."

Most of all, I balked because the whole thing just went against the spirit of the hunt. As someone who trawled literally over thirty stores to find a Shelby Cobra, I didn't really feel like handing my money over to someone who sounded suspiciously like a scalper. I feel bad enough having bought two of those overpriced Hot Wheels Ferrari F430s.

God, I feel like such a fool. At least I changed my sig to something a little less showy (a nice 2005 Ford Mustang GT, with the text "stangs rule!") If anyone tries asking me how much I paid for the cars in the sig I'll just tell them all I had to do was sleep with the proprietress of the store...lest someone say "tell you what, why don't I give you mine for the same price?"