Dear Boys, Girls and Superheroes,
A quick note to thank the people who responded to my request here, for firepower.
We all have our "war stories", but I always feel that playing domains in the UK is unique. I was once in an auction at mastername.ru for a must-have name, with no English text on the website and no English email/phone support, and the auction went crazy, in rubles. Scary. I have had similarly disarming arm-wrestles with super motivated competitors at backorders.es, some years ago. But for all the things you experience as a domain tourist, I feel that it pails into insignificance when compared with the "who knows what will happen" environment that is the UK drop scene, when I am chasing a strategic .uk name.
Several of you responded here, which surprised me. Thank you, including to those who had the name booked already for themselves and could not help; appreciated, regardless.
A seriously big "hat tip" to DaveP for getting the job done for me - both first and second level.
And perhaps it is not inappropriate to give special mention here to Rob of domainview.co.uk. He is a pro: great service (email responses, faster than a speeding bullet), generosity (expertise, explanatory notes, and credits) and ethics to boot (he knocked back an offered fee on the basis that he could not deliver value for it - I would not have known).
Thanks again, to all.
Nic