I knew it would. It is amazing but also kind of sad, because old kettles are no longer a fun thing to find and restore. It is now cutthroat business for well-healed collectors - some even outside the US - who will pay some stratospheric prices for the rarest versions. But even slightly more common old kettles are getting higher and higher.
My idea is to promote collecting Weber Qs instead! Paint the lids some interesting colors that are available and you can have your own multi-color collection in even less space than kettles require and for a LOT less money. And, there are already a few idiosyncrasies and "unicorns" in the Q world to make things interesting. Just like kettles, there are LP gas, electric, and the slightly rare CharQ charcoal version. And with low hood vs high hood models and already two generations of designs there seems like there is enough to make collecting interesting for people that have to have one of everything
!
I was inspired by the "Pontiac blue" Q repaint posted in the Q section here, so I am going to try that and maybe pickup some more old Qs and try some other colors. They even have
yellow engine paint, so maybe I should try putting a Q with that in a wheelbarrow
!
https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?76471-Q-lid-repaint/page3