Autographs

I'm still looking to add autographs to my James Bond trading card collection.  So I frequently peruse eBay to see what's out there, as lots of new listings appear all the time.  And there's definitely some autographs that I would like to get.  Unfortunately, there are lots of other people who would also like to get them.  Take today for example.  There were a couple of Daniel Craig autographs I was interested in whose auctions were ending today.  

So I added these to my watchlist - but then you get to see that there are over 40 other people who also have these autographs on their watchlist, so the competition is fierce.  Then I do some research to see how much similar autographs are going for - not so much how much other buyers have them for sale, which tend to be at inflated prices, but to see how much similar autographs have gone for in recently concluded auctions.  Obviously Daniel Craig is a big name, so these are not cheap.  And so I set myself a limit for how much I'm prepared to pay (in this case, about $350).  Then I go online about an hour before the auction ends, and find that the current bid for both autographs is already above my maximum bid.  So no new autographs for me today.  And it's interesting watching the price shoot up in the last 10 seconds of the auctions as people put in their last second bids, and the autographs end up going for way more than I was expecting ($425 and $470 respectively).  It's not so easy to get a good deal!  There's also an Ursula Andress autograph being auctioned which would be great to add to my collection (I already have a couple of Daniel Craig autographs, but I don't have an Ursula Andress - so this is very desirable), but that one is also already way over what I was prepared to pay (currently at $680!) - and that doesn't end until Monday, so I'm curious to see how much that one finally goes for.  

It just goes to show how strong the James Bond market is, and will continue to be (he says, desperately trying to justify all his James Bond purchases as a good investment!).