For me, I would like a newer looking unit and wouldn't even want to put any collectables on an old rusty rack or on my flooring for that matter. For those reasons I believe it would be simpler and cheaper to just buy a repro. and essentially have the same thing minus all the headaches. I guess what I'm getting at is that for this particular item, it being original isn't necessary like it would be say with a collector car. I don't collects comic racks, I collect comics and comic related items and if I had a rack in my space, I would prefer it to look nice.