Maybe several bidders had a large proxy bid in an effort to win. Then the bids got high enough for the max bids to kick in?

One did. He got pushed up by a bidder who came in in the last hour and placed a series of ever-increasing bids before giving up. Who knows what the winner's upper limit was. It does seem questionable, even if he has the resources.

In the early days of eBay I won a few HO pieces from a Lionel collector in Thousand Oaks. He told me that when he saw a Lionel item he wanted, regardless of value, he placed a $1000 proxy bid. Claimed that was a cost-effective tactic - you might pay too much for a few items, but once the other bidders learn you won't be outbid, they stop competing with you and you get things for a lot less. But with eBay bidders having their identities concealed these days, it seems a foolish tactic.

Tom Madden, who didn't bid on that item.