eBay item number:201234940945
Strategy seems to mean everything on eBay, but I never imagined that people would jump into bidding on an obviously bugged (really) slot machine. This crumbling and disrespected Columbia actually has a bug in it: a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB)-- an invasive, produce-sucking agricultural pest recently arrived from Asia, and known as a "true bug" among entomologists-- can be seen in at least three of the posted images crawling up the second reel as if it had already finished off the cherry and was heading directly toward the juicy orange.
Oddly, the appearance of this destructive vermin has not deterred any bidders on the machine: 10 bidders and 12 bids so far, less than halfway through the auction. The gavel could fall at over seven or eight hundred dollars, according to my calculations... even though the veneers are peeling off the base and the cabinet is clearly infested. Is this good or bad news for antique slot aficionados?
Presumably, farms in the states of Alabama, Connecticut, Hawaii, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Tennessee are safe for now. Oops-- I guess a few of those states have already received free trial shipments of BMSB via UPS, FedEx, etc.
How will you know whether or not you've got BMSB's in your bonnet? Because they smell like sour watermelons when you step on them-- that's how.
[Added note 12/13/14: Whoops! I sure called the closing bid way-off... the item went for just below $500. The bidding trajectory for these Columbias is odd lately; lots of bidders jump in right off the bat (already, a nicely repainted/reconditioned machine posted only yesterday has 24 bids, up to nearly $800) but very few are holding out and sniping the price up 50-100% in the final minutes, as seems so often the case with coin-op listings on eBay when a dozen or so interested parties converge on an item. It's as if they think getting their highest bids in early is some sort of strategy for getting the item. Hell, maybe it is?!? I'm so confused ]