Hello, I never thought ebay was a place to make real "deals", with the meaning of buying great items at "low" prices.
Usually I can find some interesting M9s there, but their prices are not "low"...so I have to invest a lot of money to keep my collection growing.
Well, last week I saw a "strange" auction on ebay germany.
It was for a Phrobis "three line", but got almost unnoticed, as the word "M9" or "bayonet" was not used in the auction title or in the description...the latter was also written all in german (which I do not understand).
Using an online translator, I could understand (from the description) that the seller served in the army during the first Gulf war, and got this bayonet as a result of a trade with an US soldier. He added that the bayonet was marked M9/Phrobis III/USA.
There were two pictures, but from them it was impossible to tell how the blade markings were.
I didn't ask for more pictures, as I thought about buying the bayonet only to have some extra spare parts.
Well, today I opened the package and............................................... ..............................
the bayonet is a (used but) lovely Second Generation Phrobis "flat top "M"".
I guess this M9 was actually used in the field, as there is an US name written on the cover strap of the scabbard, and a number engraved on the pommell.
How much did I spent for the bayonet?.........67 euros, which are approximately 80 USD.
P.S. Too bad that I have to give back the camera I previously borrowed....hope to be able to post some pictures in the future.
P.P.S. I guess this was really a great deal. The scabbard is missing the top webstrap and the stone, but everything else is really in very good condition.
The bayonet itself is probably in almost the same condition than the one recently sold here
http://cgi.ebay.com/US-M9-Phrobis-II...QQcmdZViewItem