Trehopr1 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 2:59 am
Those have always been pretty scarce here in the US. I've only encountered two in collections over this last 25 years.
...the females are as rare as hens teeth.
Rarities simply don't make it to USA. Doesn't matter what the collectible is, it's the same story.
First, you have more bureaucratic costs and paperwork to jump through. Those costs, risks, and delays are passed on the the consumer.
Second, the market simply isn't there. This has been studied in depth, and it comes down to two factors: (1) other things to do and (2) McDonalds mentality. In other words, Americans have more opportunity to (for example) go field collecting, and are cheap and/or non-selective. One only has to go into an aquarium store in USA, then same in Germany or Japan to figure that out. Or an art museum. And some areas- for example New England, are even more "McDonalds"- unable to discriminate between top quality and junk/ common.
So in USA, the selection just isn't there because importers/ retailers know more money is to be made from selling common stuff. So the top stuff goes to Japan (and more recently, China).
USA is rather unique though in what I call the "Hollywood" types. They collect stuff, and really don't even know what it is. They have virtually unlimited funds, and pay people to buy top stuff. They can't tell themselves whether it's a top item, but owning it is important. So in USA, buyers compete against them (and savvy sellers make a killing.)
That said, in USA there are top collectors for any given niche. Not all are rich- but what they are is well studied in the topic, and willing to drop cash for top material, and forgo the junk. But these are a fraction of the entire market in any niche.
ETA: The top collectible rarely make it to public view. Those who deal with high end collectives make a call and it's sold; if first buyer doesn't want it, seller goes down the list. Buyers are sometimes faced with paying high prices when offered lest they be dropped from the list. If you want really rare stuff, you need to know who's dealing in that niche, and be prepared to pay without hassles or delays.