I realize that there are many of you who really dislike Richard, but here is the sum of my experience with him.

I was one of the victims of his questionable bidding practices. I won two auctions from him. The first was a set of all four the Flamingo (Kansas City) strikes. Although Babe bid it up to over $40, that darn Steve Zacchi came in and bumped me up the rest of the way, so I am not too bothered by that item. A week later, I was bidding on 5 Sam's Town (Kansas City) strikes. My last bid was at $35 or so when Babe came in and bumped it up to $54. I ended up winning it for $55 and didn't think much of it. To be honest, I thought it was a good deal for 5 strikes at $11 each. I bid on a few more of his auctions and so I asked if I could wait on payment until a few other auctions came up. He said that would be fine. That was the day before the bomb hit. Needless to say, I was not too happy about having my bid run up like that refused to pay him, but I offered him a deal: I would buy the strikes at my last bid (before the shill) and pay the postage specified on the auction item, but only AFTER I received the items. Richard replied and said that Babe is his ex-wife who collects strikes and he has no control over what she bids on. He also said that he would send the strikes and didn't care whether I paid for them or not. I know some of you might jump on that "or not" part, but I had already told him I would pay him and I have. This was last Friday night and I received the strikes on yesterday (Tuesday).

All in all, I don't know what to think or believe about Richard. I have not been collecting that long and I have only been reading the Strike Point for about the last two months, so although I dislike the tone of many of his posts, he has been a source of some amusement and a few strikes. Plus, he has been prompt when sending me my strikes. Would I ever bid on one of his auctions again? If it's something I need and the price is right, sure, but I would be very suspicious of any late bidders with low or no feedback.

Like I said, this is just the sum of my personal experience with Richard, so please don't flame be too badly for dealing with him.

Wilson
SS-542