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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?

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.

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?

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