Just found this ... a “1/360 Blushing Thomas” (a working hard Thomas from the Rainbow Bridge set in actuality) for $9999! This is one of the worst scams I have ever seen... even if the seller doesn’t expect that much for it, it’s still definitely not worth anymore than $50.
The description reads:
“This is an extremely rare piece of Thomas history. It is probably the single most rare item in the Thomas & Friends Motorized collecting world.
It was a mail in giveaway in Japan in 2012. Only 360 were produced but not all of them were claimed so there are far less than 360 that made it into the world.
It runs on one AA Battery (included) and comes with an Annie and clarabel from the original package.
According to both worthpoint & terapeak (eBay archival sites) there has never been one of these for sale in the secondary online market.
Obviously the price I have listed is not what I expect to get, but as it has never sold In a free market, there’s no market price for it. I am just placing a price on it so offers are able to be made. I encourage you to send me any offers you want. Also feel free to message.
I’m more than likely going to leave the train up for a while unless I get an offer I’m okay accepting.
If after a few months it hasn’t sold, I will run an auction and let the market fully decide the value.”
Firstly, this is a much more common “working hard” Thomas from another set that was released widely. Even if it was the Blushing Thomas, it is still not THE rarest motorized Thomas item in the world as stated. Secondly, how do you know that many were not claimed? Lastly, yes, there have been listings of the actual Blushing Thomas online before (several on Mercari JP, even one on eBay!)
I hope this seller is just ignorant and not actually trying to scam people for thousands of dollars, but please beware not to fall for this.
Update: The listing has been ended, I really hope someone didn’t end up paying a really high price for this
The description reads:
“This is an extremely rare piece of Thomas history. It is probably the single most rare item in the Thomas & Friends Motorized collecting world.
It was a mail in giveaway in Japan in 2012. Only 360 were produced but not all of them were claimed so there are far less than 360 that made it into the world.
It runs on one AA Battery (included) and comes with an Annie and clarabel from the original package.
According to both worthpoint & terapeak (eBay archival sites) there has never been one of these for sale in the secondary online market.
Obviously the price I have listed is not what I expect to get, but as it has never sold In a free market, there’s no market price for it. I am just placing a price on it so offers are able to be made. I encourage you to send me any offers you want. Also feel free to message.
I’m more than likely going to leave the train up for a while unless I get an offer I’m okay accepting.
If after a few months it hasn’t sold, I will run an auction and let the market fully decide the value.”
Firstly, this is a much more common “working hard” Thomas from another set that was released widely. Even if it was the Blushing Thomas, it is still not THE rarest motorized Thomas item in the world as stated. Secondly, how do you know that many were not claimed? Lastly, yes, there have been listings of the actual Blushing Thomas online before (several on Mercari JP, even one on eBay!)
I hope this seller is just ignorant and not actually trying to scam people for thousands of dollars, but please beware not to fall for this.
Update: The listing has been ended, I really hope someone didn’t end up paying a really high price for this
plarail for life