Snake America Thirty-Six and a Half
Snake is a bi-weekly magazine about for-sale eBay items, mostly. This week--some sold items.
eBay: Sold Nike BAMA Bruin shoes, size 10, $465: This model Nike fronts the rare cotillion of hazy early-80s models with unspecific names. Are these Bruins like the auction says they are? Blazers? All Courts? Up for debate, These Nikes with BAMA on the heel counter were likely for a player or athletic trainer at the university or maybe a booster. Bear Bryant coached there through 1982 and these shoes have a 1981 production date. Did Nike make them for him? It would be sick if (football) Coach Nick Saban bought these, since he doesn't have to pay a mortgage anymore. Lord knows I would.
eBay: Sold 'Ultimate Stoner PS4 bundle including cereal, $650: My friend Greg found this one. Some guy from Chicago--people selling stupid bundles are always from Chicago--successfully auctioned, before Christmas, a used PS4, with one Dual Shock 4, which is a controller, GTA V, the car video game (which features an IDM channel on the soundtrack and Redd Kross' "Linda Blair" on the enhanced soundtrack), a PS4 camera (not sure if it's portable), 4 DualShock4 [sic] analog grips, a Storz & Bickel vaporizer (in "Classic Volcano"), Wu Tang: Enter the 36 (USA 1995, CD only, no jewel case) and a "Fresh unopened box of Reese's Puff Cereal." A convenient and thoughtful package, but is it a deal? A cursory Google search reveals that brand of vaporizer to run about $400 new--I'm guessing it's maybe half that used(1). A used PS4 is about $350, depending on its storage capabilitiies, (the seller doesn't specify). Used GTA V for PS4 goes for about $50, the camera $40. The controllers go for $40 each, too, sometimes less. The cereal, if you go to Kroger's, is about $4. If you don't it might be $4.50. The CD can be charitably appraised at five cents. Shipping is free. The package here saves the buyer about $30 and an afternoon's worth of errands-running. I'm a bigger fan of auctions where the seller lists a PS4 box the day after the PS4 comes out, but only mentions box once, in 6-point font. Someone has bought one of those boxes for $400 on eBay every time a new console gets released. The winter it stops is the day this newsletter shuts down.
eBay: Sold Nike Ball Shoe soccer-ball colored 1985 fake cleats, <$465: A traditional soccer-ball-colored children's only shoe in size one (1?) with an appropriate buy it now price that sold to a lower offer. Never seen these before. Per the auction, they were only made for kids, which is as insightful an indictment of the American capacity for soccer 30 years ago as I've seen. Or it could just be the design, since it's pretty loud. I am guessing someone bought these for their archive and not for their baby, but it would be a great shoe for a baby in which to stunt. I think 10-year-olds wear size 1 shoes? I picture these shoes having been worn on a Reagan-era baby who wanted to play soccer but their parents were too busy reading piecemeal news coverage of the World Cup to go outside and kick le ballon d'or around. I bet the people babies who owned these shoes are like the charter subscribers to Bill James' newsletter--a fraternity that will be discussed for longer than we will be alive.
eBay: Sold Nike Air Jordan onesie track suit, $125: Yeah, I am not sure this is real. I saw this pop up and put in an offer and the next day someone bought it. Clicking around on the photos it at first seems legit--the logo on the chest, the blue Nike tag--but further evidence ... I'm not so sure. The red on the back of the calves doesn't match up with the pattern on sanctioned windpants. The material also looks weird. Searching some forums, I don't see a reference to this outfit. I've never read about it anywhere and it's not in any pictures. It's a great piece of clothing and wearing a Jordan onesie is tremendously disrespectful. I hope it's not real, because if it is...I may have made the worst eBay mistake of my life. But I will never Buy anything Now. It's just a rule I follow. That said, I've spent $125 since Monday and only have fresh fruit and a couple of magazines to show for it. What a mystery.
eBay: Sold CHarles Schultz auto'd Snoopy in Fashion Japanese book, $125: Not sure what the deal with this Snoopy book is, and now I'll never know.
eBay: Spiderman Amazing Fantasy 15, not sold, taken down, $?: My friend Sam says there was a debate last week on some comic book forums(2) about whether this one comic, Spiderman "Amazing Fantasy" #15 (USA 1962) was real or not. I guess it wasn't because eBay took it down. Some presumably real ones of various grading quality are on auction for between $6,000 and $28,000 Buy It Now. My friend Sam also reminds me of the time some guy bought an Action Comics #10 for nothing and sold it for five figures.
Someone else did that with original Jordan 1s in like 2002, for maybe $30. It makes me sick, sometimes, how much better a site eBay is than every other one put together.
Always looking for suggestions or questions. Send 'em my way. Thanks for reading.
Snake.
Last Snake: Dee Cee chambray, East German sneakers (sold; ended)
Snake before that: Marines ring sweatshirt; Nike Trainer Posites (relisted; active)
(1) Could be way less... I am ignorant here
(2) ComicBookForum.net, Comicnet.com, ForumComics.com, and Comnetcomics.tv/index/forums