I hear ya Trevlak. I figured I'd be straight with him and tell him that his kit was quite desireable and we, the bidders, could all do with better pics. I learned from my Ludwig Super Classic 'Trade Me' experience that it's better to just let the seller know that it isn't just a pile of crap he's selling. The thing is, you can tell from the bidders and question askers that it's the usual vintage drum suspects eyeing it up. They ain't going to be a bargain so may as well alert the seller so at least he might feel motivated to present them with better pics and description. Otherwise you get the stock answer along the lines of "they'd be good for a learner" and "I haven't got time to dust them off and take photos for a 100 buck kit" forgetting that it's an auction. All the bidders go nuts in the last couple of minutes and someone (potentially) ends up with an expensive kit needing more work than they ever dreamed of.

So, it's pretty disappointing that those pics are the best he can do after my little pep talk.

Trev, standard practice for these and other acrylic drums is – novus plastic polish

1,2 and 3. Works wonders. I agree andrew – usually you have to expect a number of un-disclosed disappointments when dealing with kits of this age and in particular New Zealand where the climate can absolutely monster chrome fixtures.

It looks like theres a fair bit of rust and pitting on that kit.

True Mark. It's ok if you get one for a great BIN price but when you pay up big it makes it pretty annoying that the seller couldn't be arsed finding a rag to wipe away some dust.

Even after a couple of us have told him his kit will make a bit of money if he can upload some more pics. His subsequent comment was "unfortunately quite a bit of dust on it, will look much better once cleaned up". Wow, that's the one thing I could tell from the pics. Honestly people, we are not all this lazy in NZ:)

That snare is also a King Beat. This is going to be interesting to watch. What is the link? I want to watch this one, and this idiot can't take a rag to them? What a numb-nuts. Maybe he is one of your neighbors and one of you go by for a look.

And the cymabals appear to be Paiste 2002 red labels...this is going to be a 700+ ending price and he can't be bothered to knock the dust off?

Yes Jonni, it may be interesting but i'll probably leave them alone. I'm not going to reward the lazy seller with strong bidding seeing as he can't be bothered making any effort himself. I also wonder whether, after closer inspection, he's discovered that they are cracked or badly scratched etc and has decided to stick to the ignorant seller line and stay economical with the info.

Here's the link http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=296464738

Looking at the pics I don't think the cymbals are 2002 paiste – they look like a really crappy brand available over here in the 90's called DX (they have a red DX logo). I would ask what make the cymbals are before assuming they are anything decent.

by the way andrew I think that is wise – we both know that it's like loto buying vintage in new zealand unless buying from a collector/shop. Things like cracked shells, missing parts, widened holes, extra holes, added parts, re-finished drums, severe pitting/rust are not considered 'a problem' to the average joe. Sometimes it is better to save your money and buy a kit in from the US.

Yep your right, this is one of those kits that could go horribly wrong! The thick layer of dust pretty much masks all cracks! If they were cheap and crap it'd be ok but once everyone starts bidding it's gonna go up and if your left with a lemon, it's gona be sour grapes! What was your ludwig super classic experience?

Agreed. Unless it's cheap it'll be a big gamble that probably won't pay off. And I've never got one single decent cymbal with all the old kits I've bought. The best deal I've had was my blue Pearl kit (below). It wasn't pretty but it was only $100 and is now a really good kit.

Nice restoration job! What model is that? There was a similar one on trademe last week in orange but they wanted way too much for it! What condition was the wrap in when you got it?

Here's the original thread on the luddy http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=8690. It came from your neck of the woods too. It's a great kit now and I use it a lot live but it was a learning experience. Quite costly too. In a nutshell, the seller thought it was a piece of crap and had a reserve of $100. When asked for more pics he couldn't be bothered and I (and the other bidders) didn't want to tell him what he had in a belief that we might all get a bargain. I didn't. $1200 later and i had what turned out to be a BD and FT with incorrect tom mount, extra holes, a rack tom that was wrong, no badges, hoops...

Here it is now.