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Just noticed this little York:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-Silver-J-Ma ... dZViewItem

It looks like a compact Eb -- has anyone else seen (or played) one like this?

Not compact, just the "short bell" model. They're not bad. Some have made pretty good F tubas out of them, but that requires a valve block transplant and time with a torch. There's a Holton model that's very similar.

At the IWBC conference, Yamaha had a little tuba case there and I was excited and ran up to the guy saying, "Is that an F tuba?!" because I wanted to try it out. As it turned out, however, it was a mini-BBb tuba. I played it, and it was pretty neat, but I don't know why anyone would buy it except for little kids or something...

Sounds like the mini-Yammie might be a nice horn for:

(a) road trips
(b) "stand-up" gigs (Dixie, German band, etc.)

I'd been thinking the same about the York -- could be a very useful instrument as is (with any needed restoration done, but in its original configuration).