Silver King Gum Machine

[nvmos2]

Flebay item number 281214969851 is an "Original Vintage Silver King Gumball Machine."

It has been painted, has no decal, and has the red hobnail glass top (which I thought were a little hard to come by).
The seller states he has "eight" machines just like this in either 1c or 5c denomination and has already sold 3 or 4 at what seems to be top dollar.
It seems strange that people would pay top dollar for a relatively common gum machine, maybe because of the glass top, but flebay is a strange place indeed..
It appears either this seller has a stash of the glass tops or someone is reproducing them.

I also thought the red hobnail glass top was only used on the Hot Nut machine.
When I asked the seller about it, he replied;
"It is original. The heating element frequently went out on these models. To replace them was very expensive so people just bought essentially a conversion kit for gum balls."

That sounds almost laughable.

Comments/insights?

[altort]

I have a silver king hot nut 5C machine in my collection, had it for a wile dont remember how much I paid for it, the heater is disconnected since I vend M&M's from it, I have seen them sell for way more than these ones have, I will look at completed listings to see what the average sale price is.

[nvmos2]

Seems to me a nice original Silver King gum ball should be about $150, certainly less than $200.
A nice original S.K. Hot Nut complete with heating element and red hobnail glass top with an attractor light under it should go for $300 or more.

The seller in the auction mentioned above is selling S.K. gum ball machines with a hobnail glass top, which I believe is incorrect to begin with.
The mystery to me is:
1. Why are the buyers paying over $200 for a repainted SK gum machine with an incorrect top? Perhaps they're paying a premium just to get the hobnail top.
2. Where is the seller getting all the hobnail tops to put these machines together, unless someone has started reproducing them?

[terick2104]

An original Hobnail Top will sell for $90.00 or more.