Jeff - the newer Luds have bigger keystone badges, probably twice the size of the vintage badges. These are also smaller sized drums (the two up top ar 10/12 respectively) so it's probably making them look bigger than they actually are also!
Dutch - they are indeed Pearl mounts, and don't worry, I've already got some Ludwigs on the way to replace them. haha
Yeah, initially I had considered the restain because I was looking for a black/grey kit and from the description on Ebay, it sounded as if they were not in good shape. It was their loss, these are in really good shape, with exception to the ply seperation on the bass which is easily fixable. I think perhaps they didn't want to deal with disappointment from the winning bidder if it got real high.
They ended up with about a $800 loss on this one, since I snagged them for $200! If you're selling on Ebay, never have the auction end in the middle of a day on a Wednesday! No one will bid on them then. Except me, racing home from a meeting on my lunch break to catch them with 6 minutes left.
The winning verdict is: They will stay green.
