[drh4683]

Bent over fins like this is not uncommon in the color sets. If you look, there is not a row of fins like you'd see in the roundies and earlier sets. That would be a little more objectionable if that were the case and they were still bent up. These fins may not necessarily be intended for cooling purposes. I highly doubt that this is malicious activity from a technician. I remember as a kid I would try to bend them back straight as it bothered me but seeing it on TV after TV proved to me it was a factory deal and I left it alone.

Actually, you can somewhat figure out the process how the transformer gets the black coating. You can see the outline of the diamond grating on top of the trans. Most likely there is a pool of the substance and the transformers get dropped down into it and brought back up leaving residual coating material stuck to the transformer off the grating when they get pulled off.

As for estate sales, I only go on saturdays and the average for me is usually 6 or 7 sales for any given weekend. Sometimes more, sometimes less.