They weren't just red eye decals outside of the U.S. I have three of them: One a red eye, one lotus and the third Tiffany/Gingerbread. Wonderful machines, very forgiving, and what a stitch! If they had reverse they'd be perfect.
I have a theory as to why all the second hand 66s are missing the base plates: People find them and can't work out how to remove the base plate. They pull really hard on it, it comes off, and they can't put it back on (because they're trying to put it on the wrong way), therefore it must be broken. What do you do then? Throw it out of course!
Anyone have experience of this? I'd really like to know why they're all missing it. My local sewing parts shop keeps them in stock because there's that much demand for them!