punkys dad,
i was the under bidder on the RP8888888, i bid very high and still could not get it..i wanted it badly cuz i have two 1954 $2 B-R, K/U & T/R8888888 , i also have the bird series $2 EGT8888888, i used to have a 1974 $2 88888888, which i bought from Don Olmstead about 18 years ago and paid only C$95 for it..then about 15 years ago i donated it to a charity for the old people here in Toronto (it was auctioned for C$500 back then), i was in a mood to get the 1974 $2 back so badly that i was willing to pay "a bit extra"....i figure out, since i paid my other solid 8s "very cheap"..( the EGT88888888, i bought from Ebay a few years ago together with the EGT9888889 and paid C$500), the other 1954 $2 #8888888 i paid about C$250 each back then (about 14 years ago)..so i figured out i "can afford" to pay a bit extra trying to have a complete set of $2 from the 1954 to the bird series with #8888888....we know we can never get a 1935 & 1937 $2 in #8888888
it is not a matter of "asian dude with $$ to burn"...in Hong Kong, the maximum income tax rate is 16% and no sales tax, cuz the government manage their $$ so well and has a big surplus, in 2008, all proeperty owners do not have to pay their property tax for 1 year, have 1 month hydro cost rebate, senior citizen can have an extra C$400 cheuque from the govt (apart from the normal benefit) this year..so the chinese have more "spendable income" sort of saying...
while in canada here, a normal person has to pay about 30% of their income after the Tax, Unemployment Insurance & Pension...not only that, we need to pay another 15% sales tax if we need to buy something...so the actual "spendable income" is only about 60% of his/her pay vs Hong Kong's 84%..
I am not going to argue which govt is better here, (every govt has its good and bad)...but supposed, this year the govt say to you that you dont need to pay so much tax and send you a big tax refund cheque, i am sure, you will be in a mood to buy more banknotes for your collection.