Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

They just keep on coming.   Another over-priced, allegedly 'Very Rare' 7A28-7009 'Aliens' surfaces on eBay in the States. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/380904873875

Extremely rare collectable hard to find original Seiko watch, it is the. the watch is new never worn, we have replaced the battery few times and the watch has been sitting in our special collection showcase. The watch has no scratches on the case and band which is very hard to find specially with black case, the only minor scratch is in the case back due to change of battery. The pictures showing on this page are actual photos of the watch itself. Watch always kept time and runs good.

One thing's for certain - they're anything but extremely rare ! 

Ah but It's the extremely rare left hooker (pic 3) 

Well spotted, Brad.  You can probably tell I didn't even bother to look at the photos. 

It's reassuring to see these not-quite-so-rare 7A28-7000 black Aliens can still be picked up in NOS condition for reasonable prices.

I spotted this one listed on eBay Italy last week - the listing wasn't particularly well titled; hence why it didn't attract too much attention:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201100579715

The auction ended about 15 minutes ago. I didn't bother to watch the count-down - shows how much little I care for them. 

Sold for a mere 276.66 Euros (approx. £224.76) after 15 bids.

Damn, I'd have bought it for sure at that price, and maybe even something more.

Yes, Fabio - and I'm sure a few other members, like Daz, who've actually previously expressed interest in them, might also have done.

I suppose I could have posted something about it on the forum, when I first saw it, however that might have resulted in a 'free-for-all' snipe-fest. Worse still, it might have attracted the attention of a would-be profiteering reseller, like Kineticsinc2012. Not a good idea.

As it turned out, the winning bidder was a fellow Italian whose eBay ID shows as j***k (65). He was also the first person to bid on it.

I hadn't spotted it, but I have one already. In fact that is about the price I paid for my NOS one a few years ago. Be interesting to see if it is up for sale soon with an all new price. 

And still they keep coming. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121362016887

I must admit I found this one highly amusing. 

Note the seller's eBay ID: rubyginny. This is erstwhile forum member 'Mr. money no object, gotta catch 'em all', Stuart Lennard. 

I'd noticed him list a couple of NOS Seiko 6139-xxxx auto chrono's earlier this month. Looks like he may be thinning out his collection.

A slightly belated footnote to that one. Stuart subsequently reduced his 'pie-in-the-sky' BIN asking price of $1100 down to 'only' $880.

It made no difference - the 10-day listing ended with the watch unsold:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121362016887

During the course of the listing there were 9 offers (and possibly a counter-offer) made - all were declined:

http://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBidsLogin&item=121362016887

According to Goofbid's Best Offer history tool, the highest offer was equivalent to $745 (USD) - more than generous I'd have said.

Note the seller's eBay ID: rubyginny. This is erstwhile forum member 'Mr. money no object, gotta catch 'em all', Stuart Lennard. 

I'd noticed him list a couple of NOS Seiko 6139-xxxx auto chrono's earlier this month. Looks like he may be thinning out his collection.

Indeed - the same 7A28-7000 Aliens has since been re-listed with a NOS 7A28-7029 chucked in, presumably to sweeten the deal. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121375903409

Stuart Lennard (a.k.a. Rubyginny) re-listed his BOGOF special offer 3 times to no avail. The last re-listing ended 10 days ago unsold.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121399599326

No worries, there'll always be another grossly overpriced Super Rare common-as-muck 7A28-7000 Aliens to take it's place. 

This latest one appeared on eBay in the States a couple of days ago:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231311235753

The description includes the almost arbitary phrase:

LOOKS LIKE NEW OLD STOCK. WATCH LOOKS PERFECT EXCEPT SLIGHT CRACKS IN BACK OF PUSHERS. 

In case you thought I might have missed it, US eBay seller thewatchcollective ended that listing (above) for their grossly over-priced 7A28-7000 Aliens early, a couple of days ago - having run less than 5 days of the 30-day listing.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231311235753

The 'error' must have been their 'pie-in-the-sky' sci-fi asking price. 

They subsequently re-listed it as a low-start ($0.99) no-reserve auction: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321501055630

Bidding is currently at $395 with 4 days or so to run. It'll be interesting to see what price it actually makes in the 'Real World'. 

Prophetic or what ? 

No worries, there'll always be another grossly overpriced Super Rare common-as-muck 7A28-7000 Aliens to take it's place. 

Listed yesterday afternoon by Italian eBay seller valentinasex - for $50 less than the price that thewatchcollective were asking. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181507419698

US seller thewatchcollective's eBay auction for their SUPER RARE!!! (joke) 7A28-7000 ended in the early hours of this morning.

Bidding had stalled @ $500 earlier in the week. It didn't get much higher, finally selling for $510 (approx. £307) after 21 bids:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321501055630

No worries, there'll always be another grossly overpriced Super Rare common-as-muck 7A28-7000 Aliens to take it's place. 

True to form, there was already another lined up, ready to take its place. Listed yesterday evening by a UK eBay seller ....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181512587749

What's a collective noun for Aliens ?  How about 'Outbreak' ?  'Cos there certainly seems to be a lot of them on eBay lately. 

The description of this latest example listed by a would-be US eBay seller gave me a good laugh. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131290386614

As anyone looking for this watch you know how famous and coveted this watch is - prices vary but they all in this condition sell for over a $1000. We even have one on ebay as we speak trashed asking $900. And we have some NIB with tags and manual for over $2000 currently for sale one even wants $3250. I paid $1500 from a jewelry store in England when I was back there 8 years ago. I had bought one when the movie came out and it was stolen from the gym 6 months after the movie came out, so the quest to have this watch again became a passion of mine and when i say it in the window in London I had to have it! - This watch has never been worn and been in the safe ever since. The manual and tags are somewhere but can't find after hours of looking the box is worn from being in my suitcase coming home to the USA - but other than that exceptional - perfect to have as a collectible or to wear. Offering it at this price for a quick sale as I have a custom time piece being delivered next week and don't need all the watches I have.

Feel confident in dealing with me I have sold several watches on ebay and many for over 11k in value before.

The watch is as described. Good luck and enjoy.

If you need me ship overseas - email me with your address and I will let you know the shipping

Please note the "silver marks" on bottom right of watch are not scratches they are a reflection from the flash of the camera - the watch has no scratches on the buckle strap or case anywhere.

Quote: I paid $1500 from a jewelry store in England when I was back there 8 years ago.

Shop owner must have seen him coming and thought 'Dumb Yank with more money than sense'.

There's an old saying .... If at first you don't succeed - try, try, try again. Perhaps one should add 'Try reducing the price too'. 

I'd documented some of erstwhile fanatical Australian 7Axx collector Stuart Lennard's earlier failed efforts to sell his 7A28-7000 'Aliens' higher up this page (starting @ $1100 in Mid-June). Over the last month or so, it's become apparent that he is dissolving his 7Axx collection - listing them on eBay in batches of about 10, every other week. Overnight, he'd listed another batch of 12 - again a mixture of 7A28's and 7A38's. All were low-start ($1.00) no reserve auctions, apart from his newest re-listing for the 7A28-7000 'Aliens'.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121476516232

When I took that screen print about 9:00am this morning, there were already 8 people watching the listing.

Looks like someone caved in and hit the 'Buy-it-Now button around lunchtime:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121476516232

I haven't added any updates to this thread in a long time (mostly through complete indifference to this allegedly desirable 7A28 model). Nor for that matter have I written much on the forum - simply because lately I've been extremely busy at work; otherwise pre-occupied.

But last week, I did spot a reasonably tidy example of a black chrome plated 7A28-7000 'Aliens' listed by a UK eBay seller.

For once, instead of the usual 'pie-in-the-sky' Buy-it-Now asking price, this seller listed it as a low start (99p) no reserve auction.

The listing description included all the usual fallacies .....

WORN BY LIEUTENANT RIPLEY PLAYED BY SIGPURNEY WEAVER IN 1986 MOVIE

(The Ripley Aliens is the silver anodized version - the black chrome version didn't appear anywhere in the Aliens movie - at all).

.... and a few typos and spelling mistakes. 

However, I did place a lowball bid on it myself and added it to my watching page (more out of curiosity, than anything else).

The auction ended on Wednesday evening, with the watch selling for a fairly respectable £327 (approx. $511) after 31 bids.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161757944571

Meanwhile other eBay sellers continue to try asking grossly over-inflated 'pie-in-the-sky' prices for these non-Aliens 7A28-7000's. 

This used JDM example was listed yesterday by another well-known Cardiff-based profiteering re-seller, with a Buy-it-Now of £999:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221841753365

Very likely picked up on Yahoo Japan for less than half the price (though I've yet to check back through YJ history).

The would-be profiteering re-seller hi-beat is of course none other than our old friend Kinetic Stink trading under another new name.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ReturnUserIdHistory&requested=hi-beat

Is this a new record for greed and stupidity by our favourite Italian eBay seller ? I really can't be arsed to page back through the thread to check, but I spotted this NOS 7A28-7000 black chrome 'Aliens' listed recently with a ludicrous Buy-it-Now asking price of $2500. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181933969399

The seller's eBay user ID oldantiquestyle may be unfamiliar to some, but you only need to check their location of Firenze (Florence) and glance at the badly composed semi-literate description in bold red type to figure out that this is, of course, none other than our old friend Alberto Ulmi (of crazy prices notoriety), who previously went under the user more familiar ID's of goffre78 and valentinasex.

Here's the history on this user ID: http://contact.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ReturnUserIdHistory&requested=oldantiquestyle

It looks like goffre78 has retired (read banned): http://contact.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ReturnUserIdHistory&requested=goffre78