Screw e-bay and squander, I have a lot more fun trading.
After a few exchanges of e-mails I agreed to do a trade with a friend in Italy. Off went two boxes of models and a big stack of ESM72s. Today his parcel arrived. Three Legato kits, one Special Hobby kit, two Broplans, six Dujins, two ESCI tanks, an Extra Tech armored car and an Armo APC. Postage was about $60, but the whole parcel was like an early Christmas.
On top of the good trade, which is ongoing, my friend is going to meet us in Florence during our visit next year. I trade with a dozen modelers worldwide and have met some of them. Always a pleasure.
As to the openng line, I have never used e-bay and only buy the occasional item on sale from squander. I realize that they are valuable sources for most of the hobby, but trading is so much more fun. :-)
Tom