Recently I saw an old ad on Gunbroker on a "limited" edition, only 2500 made, Commemorative Victory Model honoring the Allied Victory of WW II. This special presentation revolver was the Taurus Model 80 with a very extreme make-over! First, the gun came in a beautiful hard wood case with a glass window for viewing purposes. It was advertised as having a velvet lined inside for looks and protection. The background of the case honors our WW II veterans, including the S&W Victory Model, which was used by us and our allies during the war. This was definitely an old ad that I had never seen and apparently some owner had been trying to sell it on gunbroker. It was advertised as a 45th anniversary commemorative putting this post 1990, which was nearing the production end of the Taurus Model 80. The 80 was discontinued by Taurus in 1996 after a 25-year run (1971-1996), with the 1970's being its most productive and sought after time period. It was a money-maker for Taurus for many years and had a (somewhat) similar outside appearance to the WW II S&W Victory Model. The Taurus Model 80, like the S&W Victory Model, was a six-shot fixed sight revolver with no frills, bells, or whistles. In other words, a great sixgun for civilians, cops, security guards or any homeland defense forces which would come later, that had need of a reliable .38 Special. The 80 was less expensive than the Model 10 and "always" went bang when the trigger was squeezed! As it evolved over the production years the Model 80 was at its zenith in 1990 in performance albeit the sales were falling off due to the advent of the semi-auto pistol. It seemed back then that everyone wanted a high capacity 9mm Pistol including Hollywood, and once the high capacity 9 became a movie star, "that did it", for sixgun sales, in numbers once enjoyed! Anyway, this advertised commemorative Victory Model Taurus was all decked out in a gold plating and gold-inlay with one of the finest, deepest blue finish I have ever seen. The hammer, trigger, and a lanyard were all gold-plated. The gold lettering on the left side of the barrel along with five gold stars on the frame was spectacular! This was a real-firing real McCoy that the Taurus Company really put a lot of great craftsmanship into the cosmetics. Was going for 1299.00 dollars and had already been sold! The Model 80 deserves a better epitaph than it got when discontinued in 1996. It made so many paydays possible for Taurus employees back in its heyday. Probably a lot of Taurus people are not aware of its significance to the very Company they are employed by. There is no data, by Taurus, on their own beginning and the guns that made that start possible. Thanks my friends. David