I did not see the listing when it went up, but was reading this thread and clicked the link. I was quite shocked by the last paragraph:"This drum kit's date and condition as listed above was verified by Richard Gier one of the world's foremost experts on vintage drums (especially Gretch's). He lives here locally and happen to be purchasing some hardware from me and looked this kit over and gave me all of the info on it as listed above. You can find out more about Richard on the internet. Thanks for looking."I did see the kit and talked with the Seller - once, sometime in the Spring. I did not know he had used my name in his listing. To say he has oversold my status is a massive understatement. All I can say is that he must have thought that an expert is someone who knows more about something than he does. I research about one aspect of Gretsch drums and now I'm one of the world's foremost experts? You have got to be kidding. Woe to anyone who thinks my assessment of his drums adds any value.That said, the snare and the floor tom are the best parts of the set. The wrap on most of the drums was cloudy and faded. The top snare hoop and throw were switched out. It should clean up ok, but the wrap will never look new. It seemed structurally sound. I actually bought a box of nickel parts from him, including the rail mount, which I needed for my Galaxy Sparkle set. Had I known he would sell just the snare, I would have bought it for that price. If I recall correctly, the Floor tom is 16x16 and from 1968, while the other drums were not date stamped but had serial numbers in the 72000 - 74000 range. Clearly the floor tom was a later addition.Gmaki - you did fine with it. Unless you really want a project, and have gotten some additional pictures to know what you are really getting, I would be careful before trying to buy the remainder of the set. He had the whole thing listed on cragslist recently for $650. http://kansascity.craigslist.org/msg/3174261271.htmlRick