Ditto whizbang! I learned the rough and tough 
world of sniping through Sailormoon toy 
collecting (back when the market was GOOD). To 
place a bid any earlier than an hour before the 
auction closed was POINTLESS. Most people who 
were truly interested waited until the last day 
to bid. Watching the auction is an excellent way 
to gauge interest, and to watch your pocketbook. 
I mean, if you log on the last hour and said item 
is up to $80, and you KNOW you don't want to pay 
that, then you're disappointed, but not HALF as 
disappointed as if you'd bid early in the week 
and lost. By the same token, if you know you're 
willing to pay $100, you're sitting in decent 
shape, depending on demand and all that.

I love SM Stars. I want to collect cels from that 
season. The same cels that a *very* dedicated 
group of collectors also want to collect. Most 
everyone has more experience and money than I've 
got, but I'm dealing with it. You just gotta know 
what floats your boat and how much you're willing 
to pay. And you have to know the SECOND you see 
the update, or you are S.O.L., because the people 
in my group are HAWKS. They are *not* messing 
around! You can only pray that no one saw it 
before you...or they already have a cel from the 
sequence and dont' want it....

ky77