Good price so far, but I would still hesitate to pay that much for something in an online auction without seeing it up close first. Even pictures can hide some defects, and in neither one of our links has the sellers provided multiple angles and detailed pics overall. As it is the ebay listing you linked to would be great for parts if it did end up having a problem, but I wouldn't pay more than what is now bid ($300) without seeing it first. I'd like to know how she had access to "all unbreakable rods" since they alone would be worth the current bid if they were Merkels (well, along with the men, anyway, since I don't think Merkel does ALL the rods).