I had reached an impasse in building a miniature circus, stopping after getting a menagerie tent and filling it with cages and animals. At age 73, there seemed to be little time left, nor available materials to complete my O (1/4") guage show. Then, I went on E-Bay one day and found myself in Circus Heaven. For almost a year, HO (1/8") models -- most of them long out of production -- have poured into the "Circus Model Trains" catagory. These, Walthers, Preiser, etc. were originally released when I was working at two to three jobs to make ends meet raising a family of four. I had given up hope for them long ago -- trapese and tight rope rigging and figures, animal arenas with stands and animals, wagons of every description. including side show bannerline wagons I never knew existed. At first, sheer excitement governed my bidding, which was erratic at best. Often I was outbid. The solution was to set a goal of a specific show with so many tents and wagons, to mostly purchase finished things as the smaller scale was much harder to manage in terms of building and construction. I noticed that almost everythng I was interested in became available repeatedly, some with lower costs the second or third time around. I learned that it was best not to bid until the last thirty minutes and then to bid the maximum I could afford. Initially, I had started low, which drove up the bidding and increased the price, and usually resulted in being outbid. A late maximum bid would often stop the bidding as others gave up. However, there were some items others were willing to bid to the moon if they had to. I also had to learn to let go, not bid out of my ability to pay,get desperate, which only led to depression and misery. It is foolish to throw money around, which eventually will leave you with a few very expensive pieces, a sparsley filled lot, and bad representation of the wonderful railroad circuses of long ago. You need to shop/bid with the cold-blooded, shrewd, and careful skill of a John Ringling North, or Bailey or other powerful showmen. Because you're dealing with miniatures, you need to keep up with your circus, assembling and constructing your equipment as fast as you acquire it. For a while I piled up kits and boxes, buying things with the obsession of a "Citizen Kane", filling every corner of the room with boxes and kits. It can very quickly get out of control, too much work to do to ever catch up. Assemble your show as you buy it. Enjoy it on display. And, hardest of all, stop when your list/plan is complete. This should be a hoppy, not a compulsion. And, more than anything else, it should be fun, which is what circus always has been about.