How much are old hop ups worth?

[Quailane]

I know some older or special kits sell for a lot of money. But for old hop up items? It seems that even the rarest ones don’t seem to exceed about $100, and from what I’ve seen NIB vs used for these rare parts doesn’t seem to make a difference. I’ve been tempted before by some old rare hop ups that were selling for about $50, and that seemed a bit high compared to the price of a rare complete kit. But then a couple of days ago I saw Tamiya part 53866 new in the package. A few years ago I thought it was super cool and wanted one, but hadn’t come across it until now. The guy wants $100 for it. What do you do to determine the value of rare items like these that may not come up for sale often? Do you think that you will pay whatever price it takes to get it, or do you have certain limits?

[Frog Jumper]

From my perspective, as a Frog/Blackfoot guy, it depends on a few things, and I’ve learned a few things...

Depends:

Rarity drives the price up and of course rarity makes the hunt so much sweeter...  but it comes down to functionality for me. A custom blingy thingy that’s over priced better work as advertised!

Lessons:

Patience.  That part will come up again. One day. Hopefully. And it will be cheaper. Or you get to explore other avenues in our hobby like finding someone to 3D print it, or adapting available parts to do the same thing...

Terry

[catman79]

i think as terry mentioned above, 

the hop ups are only worth what they are worth to you, the key with these sort of things is to be patient, they do come up, sometimes rarely, but ultimatly at some point you will get what you want for the price you want (ish). however some people with deep pockets and little patience will pull the trigger on almost anything.  for example i wanted a set of lightened wishbones for an old yokomo i have, been looking for a couple of years, watched a few pairs go for well over £100 a pair, and almost bought them myself, then a few months ago, i sourced a set of front and rears and paid just under £40 for the set.. its just a case or right place right time sometimes.