I have no idea of the circumstances of Larry's situation and I definitely appreciate how awful it is to lose a deal at the last minute. That said, it does appear that Verkman's auction rules allow for the kind of late bidding that took place. And if the item was tough and a bargain why is it so hard to believe that someone came in and topped the opener?
As for allegations of shilling by Clean Sweep, I've purchased numerous items in Clean Sweep auctions using max bids without my max bid being hit and haven't suspected any shilling on my wins or losses. Also, remember we have collectors across multiple time zones. A 12:30 a.m. EST bid is only 9:30 for me, 6:30 for the Hawaiian collectors on this board, so a very late bid isn't by any means improbable.
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