I actually expected it to go for a lot more. I had the distinction of placing the first bid-- I figured that way I could say I 'owned' it during the couple of days I was high bidder! . It actually went so long without an opening bid I thought maybe there had been a find and no longer worth what the books say, though I thought such would have been discussed here, and since there wasn't any record of such I thought I'd take the plunge.

Thoughts about the final auction price? I would have guessed closer to $5,000. Unknown seller with a less-than-perfect feedback rating; the limited (time) exposure of an eBay auction; and the fact that I think a high-end chip like this is still in somewhat of a collecting niche (I'd love it for my bicentennial collection, but I personally think the Golden Gate is the better looking chip, and much more obtainable) makes me think that it would have performed much better in a specifically advertized chip auction (Chip Chat; Convention; Heritage, etc.). The "The Casino" Bicentennials in the current Chip Chat and Convention auctions will probably similarly go for close to $2K, even though they "book" for less than the Thunderbird chip.

Of course, that is my $0.02 only, and my opinion's probably worth about that much.

Brent J. Jensen
R-8007
orbis non sufficit