Congratulation to Coca-Cola for yet another die-cast VW coup...the
latest Coke/Matchbox 5-pack features the first New Beetle convertible (that I'm aware of...) in the Mattel family of cars. Coca-Cola and Matchbox have teamed up many times to bring us some great VW die-cast cars. The MB 62 VW Beetle was first released (at least in my part of the country...) in the Coca-Cola colors.
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The New Beetle convertible is an extremely nice casting with particular
attention having been paid to the interior piece. This is an interior that
begs for detailing, so I hope this one will be released soon in a blister
pack, or I'm going to have to take some of these Coke VWs apart for
some serious customizing. The headlight are a piece of the clear
windshield piece and are a welcome relief from the usual
same-color-as-the-car paint-overs seen on some VWs. (On the other
hand, the taillights could have used a spot of red paint to avoid having
fallen into the afore-mentioned same-color-as-the-car paint-overs seen
on some VWs.) This windshield piece has had the 'frame' of the
windshield painted the same color as the body, another nice detailing
touch.
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If there is the slightest flaw or overlooked detail to this otherwise
excellent VW toy, it is this; all the previous Matchbox/Coke VWs have
been produced with the rubber, 'real rider type' tires. The Concept Beetle
coupe/hardtop, the 62 Beetle, and the 67 VW Bus with Coca-Cola colors
all had them. Leaving them off this version seems a shame, but I guess
they don't do rubber tires on 5-pack cars. I can only hope it will get
released as a single Coca-Cola model or as one of Matchbox's Premiere
Edition VWs with the rubber tires.
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I felt I was lucky to find this new Coke 5-pack when it first came out, as
the new releases always seem to arrive in southern NY well after the
rest of the country. These 5-packs seem to be plentiful at this time, at
least in this area, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. My opinion is that the
scalpers and hoarders can only afford to buy so many 5-packs, especially
when there is only one 'new' or 'hot' car in there. This is my opinion
because I have still never found one of the Matchbox "67" VW Busses on
the pegs. (Don't get me started again with the scalper/hoarder crew...) I
have one of these VWs only through careful and judicious trading. I
haven't taken it out of the package yet...maybe when I get a second bus I
can open one. (I'm still hung up on this MOMC thing.)
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By the way, I put the '67 in double quotes so I wouldn't forget to bring up
the most common complaint from VW collectors about this particular
casting. Those rear corner windows were never available on the '67
models. Having said that, I'll add this; call it whatever they want to, I'm
glad someone in Matchbox's corporate ranks had the foresight to OK this
casting. I feel that Matchbox has done more to add to my VW collection in
the last year and a half, than any other company in a long time.
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Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Hot Wheels VWs, I have almost all of
them (not including all the variations of each release, and unfortunately,
not one Beach Bomb yet...sniff...), but when I think of all that Matchbox
has done over the decades to keep VWs well represented on the
die-cast front, well, my hat's off to MB. I don't think there is even a VW in
the Hot Wheels line this year, is there? Please let me know if I'm wrong. I
know there hasn't been a regular line VW from HW in a while, but I've
been very happy with their series cars VWs. At least both lines are under
one roof these days.
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Next time, more Volkswagens from Matchbox...hopefully, I'll be able to
operate the camera a bit better. I'll see you then.
.
JP
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PS...Seen these ones yet? They are from the new Matchbox 5-pack
called Storm Trackers. Thanks to Jan for letting me know they were
out, I was EXTREMELY lucky to find one the day after I learned there
were new versions of the 62 Beetle and the 67 Bus in it!

March 5, 2000

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When I was first invited to write for CB's Diecast Museum, I had thoughts of writing articles about the love of my (automotive...) life, VWs! Instead it seems that I have focused on some aspects of this hobby that were not the best side of it; the scalpers, corrupt toy store employees, Ebay rip-off artists, etc.
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The recent death of Jon Brecka, Hot Wheels collector and columnist at Toy Shop and Toy Cars & Vehicles, has made me realize that there are better things to focus on then the unpleasant things in life. So, from now on I will be concentrating on writing along more upbeat themes. I named my column "What's Buggin' JP?" because of my love for Volkswagens. I will be featuring some of the VWs from my own collection, as well as current VW castings, in future writings. I will also be trying my hand at a few customs that I want to share with everybody. Of course, most of the customs will be based on VWs!
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So, come back soon and enjoy my take on the people's car!
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See you then,
JP
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Hello again, it's JP here. How many of you thought I was dead or something? Well, I'm not…let me explain what's been happening before I tell you what's buggin' me this month.
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Last October I was injured on the job and had to take some time out for tests, physical therapy and too many doctor appointments to even count. I had torn a cartilage in my shoulder which aggravated some herniated discs that I didn't even know I had. My orthopedist recommended arthroscopic surgery almost immediately.
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However, the good people at worker's comp thought it would be better to have some alternative treatment first. I had to undergo three epidural (which means into my spine…) injections which were VERY painful and only gave temporary relief from the pain. To make a long story shorter, I finally received authorization for the surgery that my doctor had requested 7 months earlier. I had this surgery in May and have been recovering nicely, thank you, and will be going back to work this Monday. (If I ever get hurt at work again, I will go home and say I got hurt at home and get treated under my normal health insurance. I would have been done with this months ago if I had only known!)
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While I was out, I started visiting the newsgroup rec.toys.cars. I read the posts from people all over the country and some from around the world. I posted some comments of my own, won a couple of contests, made some trades, and made a couple of friends. I also saw a side of collecting these little die-cast cars which I had no idea even existed. That's what's buggin' JP this time…
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If you have never gone to a newsgroup, I highly recommend it. Just be willing to suspend belief for the time that you are there. Or at least take some of the stuff you'll read there with a grain of salt. Oh sure, it's a great place to go and find cars you may need for your collection, make some trades, and even learn things about this great hobby that you never knew before. Some of the most knowledgeable people in this hobby contribute to this particular newsgroup…and some of the weirdest people are lurking there as well.
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There are people who run contests and give away cars. I won a Treasure Hunt T-Bird Stocker in one of these contests, a few First Editions in another. There are folks looking to trade cars or sell them. I found a couple of VWs that I really needed for my collection on this newsgroup. Be warned though, there are also people looking to rip you off! I lost a couple of cars this way, but the benefits I have received have far outweighed these incidents.
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The posts that I found most intriguing were threads that would sometimes run for a week or two between a few of the regulars at RTC. (rec.toys.cars) Some of them would get quite personal and even obscene. You see, there is a small group of people there who have set themselves up as experts on everything concerning Hot Wheels. If you question their answers, be ready for some serious flame wars! I have seen people call each other's mothers names, post every day that so and so is a scalper, even threaten to go to a person's house and tear them a new…well you know!  To read some of these posts one would think that these people personally have manufactured every Hot Wheels car in existence. If you dare to question their "authority", be prepared to endure a string of flames that would make a sailor blush.
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From the frequency of the posts, it would appear that some of these people have no jobs. No matter what time of day you post a question or propose a trade or sale, these same people are there within minutes with their replies. Sometimes quite scathing replies.
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Many of these fine folk hide behind the "cause" of ridding the world of scalpers. They seem to believe that if they keep a vigilant watch over this little corner of the internet, they will catch every suspected scalper and expose them to the world for what they are; the scum of the earth! Some of these guys (and ladies…) take this business quite seriously, some a little TOO seriously. If the world of die-cast car collecting is to survive, it seems, it will be because of these ever watchful Hot Wheels vigilantes.
Some people post ads selling recently released cars for a dollar or two more than they paid for them, and Oh Boy, do they come out of the woodwork then! And God help them if they try and defend themselves against the onslaught of flames…that's when the really degrading insults start to fly! It seems that they forget that they are posting to a forum that a lot of little kids might be reading, looking for that certain car for their collection.
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I have seen people post that they are looking for a certain car that they can't find in their area, or, perish the thought, one that hasn't been released yet. These people who are innocently looking for a car or two for their collection get blasted as well. One of the regulars told one such seeker that he was basically helping the scalpers stay in business. He was told that by asking for help in finding these cars, he was ensuring that the asking price would go way up because, "now the scalpers know that the particular car was in demand and would therefore go clean out all the toy stores of this particular model". A short time later this same self-appointed watchdog was seen posting his own list of cars he was looking for. Of course, HE wasn't contributing to any rise in the prices on the secondary market. (Just a LITTLE sarcasm there…)
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Of course there are people who are on this newsgroup for their own gain and don't try to hide it. They post regular ads listing all the cars they have for sale at seriously inflated prices. These people always seem to have an endless supply of all the hard to find and limited edition cars. They all attract more than their fair share of the flames. Some of them ignore them and go on with their selling, some take the bait and get drawn into long drawn out flame wars. These are, at times, some of the most entertaining threads on the RTC newsgroup.
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Sometimes the scalpers are exposed as the same people who post so vehemently against scalping. To have several ID's (or email addresses…) and to pretend to be a different person under each ID is not unheard of. There is even a group of traders/collectors/scalpers who post under the same name. You never know which one of them is posting at the time.
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Now, don't get me wrong about this. There are plenty of RTC regulars who are extremely knowledgeable and very helpful. These guys can answer the most obscure questions about variations, production numbers and dates, new releases, you name it and someone there has the correct answer. And…without the attitude that some put forth.
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Some people will send a car to you for free just to save you from paying too much to a scalper. Others will pick up an extra car or set for you if you can't find it in your area, and give it to you for cost plus shipping. No profit taking with these fine fellows (and ladies…).
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There are some that seem to have an "in" with Mattel. They post stuff about upcoming releases of limited editions, new sets, case codes, and inside information in general.
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This newsgroup is not solely concerned with Hot Wheels either. If it's die-cast, someone out there can help you find it, sell it, or just learn about it. Matchbox, Corgi, Racing Champions, Johnny Lightning; you name it, you will find someone to answer your questions or help you find it.
The best thing, and I saved this for last…, the best thing I have seen on the internet in a long time, the best thing I have EVER seen on the rec.toys.cars newsgroup, happened a couple of months ago. One of the posts suggested a Toy Cars Collectors Week on RTC. This week would be all about the cars, collecting, and having fun. There were no flame wars, or at least not as many of them, and it was great. It went like this; the premise was to have a kind of die-cast state fair in cyberspace. Some people set up virtual game booths where you could throw virtual darts, spin a virtual wheel of fortune, throw virtual balls at a virtual dunking booth, and win prizes at each of them.
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I have never seen so many people come together like this before. At least on the Internet anyway. People wrote in describing their virtual trip to the "fair" and told what they were seeing and doing. There were songs around the campfire each night, trading booths, elaborate descriptions of the Hot Wheels cars and trucks that each person "drove" to the event, stories you wouldn't believe; in short, it was an incredible and very successful idea. I'm sure that hundreds of cars were won as prizes, hundreds more were traded or just given away. Many people wrote and said it was the best thing to ever happen in the RTC newsgroup and I wholeheartedly agree!
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This newsgroup, rec.toys.cars, is like the rest of the Internet; it has it's share of the good, the bad, and the ugly. It's hard to find any aspect of life that doesn't. But this event, the Toy Cars Collectors Week, made sure that I, for one, will always keep one eye on this newsgroup. When this happens again, and it will, I want to be there.
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As for the rest of the group, I will still visit from time to time. I will bring my sense of humor, an open mind, and a grain of salt. Maybe I'll see you there…
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Bye for now!
.
JP
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Well boys and girls, so much for saving the world from scalpers…at least
at the toy store level. I f you'll recall, my last writing proposed the notion
of going into the toy stores where our favorite die cast cars are sold, and
confronting…er, that is, interviewing the managers of these stores in an
effort to find out why certain cars never make it to the pegs and shelves.
Some of you wrote supporting my mission, I received a few suggestions
for leading questions, and I actually went out to the stores in my area to
get the "big scoop"!

And that's about as far as it got. It turns out that none of the store
managers in my area had any interest in being asked things that
ultimately called into question their managerial skills and abilities. I was
laughed at, ignored in one case, and in general, asked for proof that any
of what I had proposed was actually going on in "my store". (Some of
these guys are awfully possessive of a building!) Nobody wanted their
name used and none of them wanted to be quoted on anything. I have to
add, that I am somewhat familiar with the "regulars" in the Hot Wheels
aisle in most of these stores, and they have all hinted at having an "inside
source" in their respective store. Of course none of these folks wanted to
go into any detail about this either.

So ends the short-lived career of a wanna-be investigative journalist!
Dateline, 20/20 and 60 Minutes have nothing to fear from this corner.

Well, you may be wondering, where does JP go from here? I have
decided to start writing about what got me into this hobby to begin with.
The Volkswagen miniature in its many shapes and sizes. It's time to go
over my collection of VW's and come up with an article or two. Now, I
don't pretend to be an authority on miniature Vdubs, just an avid collector.
I have about 600 in my collection at the moment. I say about, because I
haven't seen them all together in years. Right now, most of them are
packed away in boxes up in the attic. My current abode doesn't have the
space to display them all, but Cait and I have agreed that when we finally
buy or build our house, there will be space set aside for them. Probably in
the basement, right Cait?

I also have a couple of custom VW's in the works. For now, in the works
means collecting the various parts I'll be using and making some
tentative drawings of the final products. When they're done, I'll dust off the
old Kodak Brownie and post some pictures.

Until next time, take care & Happy Hunting!

JP
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JP,
I am also a collector, and have a lot of the same philosophies you have concerning collecting and have dealt with the exact things you are talking about. I know a few stores in this area will not tolerate employees going into cases etc.. In fact I have known stores that fired people for doing so. But the easy way for stockers to get around this, is to have a partner or
two who do not work in the store and the employee hides the hard to find and TH's, then when the store opens the business partners go in and get the hidden cars, I know I've foiled a few of these by mistake because I have seen the hiding game all to often. I am 6'6" tall and can pretty
easily reach top shelves which seems to be a favorite hiding spot. Now  the question I would have for a manager would be, why do they put all the cases out at one time instead of spreading them out over the day, the scalpers are always the first ones in the door, so if you have three identical cases with hard to finds and TH's one person gets them all. To me this does not make any sense from a business standpoint. I am more likely to go back to a store for other higher dollar items I may need, like auto supplies or CD's etc. if I have some luck with a certain store, so it goes far beyond the few cents they make on the HW's to try and make more customers happy than one or two. Of course this mainly applies to stores other than just toy stores. In general why not try and satisfy 20 or more customers who might spend allot more money, rather than a few bottom feeders who spend nearly nothing on merchandise that has
little profit margin.
                                                                Thanks for letting me vent
                                                                Jerry
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Jerry,
Thanks for responding to MY venting. If more stores would come down on their employees like that, the rest of us would have a better chance looking for the cars we want. It's the same with any collectible that becomes really popular, Beanie Babies, Tamagotchies, Furbies, etc.
Unfortunately, some managers see it as a sort of perk in a low paying
job, others don't care as long as the merchandise moves out of the
store.
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I agree with you about the amounts of money spent by the scalpers who
only visit these stores for one thing, and the money the same stores
don't realize they are losing from customers who would spend more on other things they need anyway. Good luck in your future HWs searches!
JP
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Well, well, well…Who is this JP person? His name has been on the site for a little while now. You read the biography, right?
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Well, I guess it's high time that I actually said something around here. Maybe give Trish a break…start to get to know everybody out there, and let you see what I may have to offer in the way of suggestions, opinions, and all around remarks. I guess a good old-fashioned introduction is in order.
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I am JP after all. I have been asked to come aboard the CB's masthead and see what I can see, say what I can say, and basically hang out and have a good time. I hope I can provide some info concerning this hobby, but I am more likely to be learning on the way.
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I used to write in TO CB's , under my real name, to vent my frustrations at scalpers and some of the store managers they were in cahoots with, at the prices on eBay, and in general at any scalper/hoarder with a scam who had reared their ugly head that week. I used to go out to the usual store and try and make friends with the people who stocked the pegs with Hot Wheels. This usually would cost a dollar or two to "obtain" these friendships and they were only good for that one "visit". When I would go back again, the friendship ceremony had to be performed again…a few more dollars. I won't go into the various ploys used by the people who have access to the back room. I'll save that one and write about it another time.
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When I was asked to write some stuff on a more full time basis FOR CB's, I JUMPED at the chance! I then almost immediately injured myself at work, and have been at home unable to type for any length of time. Well, I've started receiving steroid injections into my neck to hopefully help my herniated discs, and I'm going to physical therapy a couple of times a week to try and strengthen my torn shoulder cartilage before I under go arthroscopic surgery. These procedures are slowly bringing me around to at least semi normal so I can start writing again. A little at a time mind you, it may just take me a few days or a week to put something together, but this will be better than going to the CB's web site and just seeing that JP hanging out with nothing to say for himself.
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I have several things planned for this space. Some of these will be revealed over some time and some, I will just come out and ask/tell. For instance…a while back I was in one of the local TRUs and I noticed that the cars that had been rare up 'til that time were starting to show up in greater numbers. There was just one problem…every single cardboard blister pack had been mangled beyond worth. I mean if you are like the Stoneman and open everything you buy, it doesn't really matter. But some (a lot…) of collectors keep their cars MOMC, mint on mint card. So, it seemed that someone in this particular store (TRU remember…) had taken it upon themselves to crumple, mangle, and otherwise bend the cards and leave them in a very undesirable state, to say the least. This was the time when the Dairy Deliveries could only be found on eBay, the 40 Ford pickups were even harder to find, and anything really new never even made it out onto the sale floor. In my paranoid mind, it was clear what was going on! This person had hoarded all the latest models as they came out…and they DO come out slowly at first. This hoarder was probably stuck with a bit of a stockpile at home when along come the same cars in the new cases. More than ever…more than they could handle. (You've probably noticed I'm not saying HE was stuck, or that SHE was stuck…another thing I'll get to at another time is that sex/gender doesn't matter in this game…) So, anyway, the way I saw it…(paranoid…remember?…) this person would mangle the cars that were still in the store, while maintaining or even increasing the value of the ones already held.
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I sought out a manager and asked him if he was aware of this. First of all he seemed to think I was nuts! He didn't think too much of my idea concerning why the mangled cars were like that. He pretty much just wanted to get away from me. I just couldn't imagine a manager in a toy store like that who was as clue less about collectibles as he seemed to be. Especially since there has NEVER been seen on those particular pegs, any sign of a Treasure Hunt. Not even the fake Viper TH.
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So this whole thing got me thinking…why not do a "real" interview of store managers and ask them questions about how Hot Wheels are doled out in that particular store. I've already come up with the following obvious questions:
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Why are there no THs ever in this store?
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How come the occasional cases that come out of the back are already opened and gone through? Again, no THs…?
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Why does it take so long for the latest cars, which we KNOW are being shipped, to also make it out of the back room?
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When some people have taken the time to track down the code on the side of a case and they know exactly what should be in those cases, why is it that these are the very cases that come out already opened and missing a certain few?
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How come you have all the same 30TH anniversary cars that all the other stores have but nobody (nobody who doesn't work there…), nobody has ever seen the BUS?
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I would like your help to compile a list of questions like this that will be edited and printed up and brought along on these interviews. My future brother in law is going to lend me his video camera to lend an air of authenticity to this attempt. I will also print up some "official" Press Passes from CB's
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Who knows? Maybe I'll get some honest answers…maybe I'll get thrown out on my *derriere. Maybe I'll get some small sound/video byte that can be made into a small file online with the manager's picture along side it. I plan to get a release signed before any of these interviews start just to make it official. (and legal…)
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So, let me know what you think. Do you have any questions you've been dying to ask? Want to know why some things are like they are? Let me know. Send me your questions and I'll try to select the most appropriate ones for the job.
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OK…that's my first assignment to you. Before I go though, I'll tell you a little more about myself. I am more into Volkswagens than any other model. I have a lot of the Hot Wheels VWs but not all of them. Every now and then I'll pick up some new or hard to find cars that I don't particularly want or need and I'll try to trade them for the ones I don't have, especially the VWs! If you see a new VW model come out, I don't care who made it, please let me know where it is and how much it goes for. I have to have it! (Within reason of course…)
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Well, think of some questions and I'll talk to you again soon.
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JP

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