Alleged Screen Used Hero TOS Phaser up for auction (now the aftermath)
- Thread starter Anakin Starkiller
- Start date
We seriously need the put together evidence of every questionable piece and present it to HA. Their research department just seems to accept everything upon face value and upon the word of the seller, and they aren’t even bothering looking into anything further.
That’s seems to be their M.O.: “let’s write the discrepancies into the description with some BS reasoning, and hope people buy it”.
Looking on eBay, there is a whole slew of Top Gun patches that match even better. The person who put this together didn’t even try once they found the correct flight suit, lol. But you can find the incorrect patches for sale….
Maybe it’s a prototype, or maybe it was damaged on-set, sent back to the costume department for repairs, and never returned before the production ended. Sounds perfectly reasonable.
Check for “Goose” droppings on the suit from the pivotal death scene…
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Just like the phaser emitter, where the HA Hero doesn't match known heroes but DOES match eBay available replicas, then the patches on this suit matching the replicas off of eBay instead of known hero patches, confirm that it is a fake.
If these fake items didn't match the readily available replicas on eBay, then you might be able to write them off like HA does, but when they match the replicas on eBay, there is no writing them off. Matching to a known fake, means it is also a fake.
If these fake items didn't match the readily available replicas on eBay, then you might be able to write them off like HA does, but when they match the replicas on eBay, there is no writing them off. Matching to a known fake, means it is also a fake.
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This whole thing needs to be a Dateline Investigation episode. LOL
Have this become a national story and put HA on blast so people don’t pay hundreds of thousands on fake items.
Have this become a national story and put HA on blast so people don’t pay hundreds of thousands on fake items.
JMSupp
Well-Known Member
At a quick glance, 17 of the costume lots don't match the screencaps provided by the auction house. That's not to say they aren't authentic costumes, they just don't match the photos. That's not necessarily a deal breaker, but it doesn't inspire confidence in their scholarship.
I'm not a "Top Gun" collector, so I can't say for sure, but I'm told all the other flightsuits read "Maverick" in sharpie (as is my experience in production) - not the actor's name in ball point pen:
Yep.
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...just so we're clear, this statement is pure, weaponized sarcasm.
It's a niche market, though. And it's likely that coercion, bribery, and other fun methods are happening, behind the scenes.
Money ruins everything. And these items go for big bucks, like that fake phaser. People with ill intent are no doubt constantly raking in the cash. I mean, how easy would it be to fake a tribble? And provide a first-glance screen-match? And a reasonable story to go with it? And so on.
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All jokes aside, all of this collectively with their video game shenanigans, etc. seems very news-worthy.
Would make one hell of an episode of Last Week Tonight...
Let’s take a step back, here.
A hero phaser prop from the original STAR TREK is one of the great Holy Grail props in this hobby. Few props have been as obsessed over and desired. As with the Jein hero and the Alpha communicator, the authenticated discovery of such a rare and iconic prop would be huge for this community.
Yet, just this year, a rather obvious forgery sold for a quarter-million dollars. Just as various forged midgrades had sold before it, over the years. But this hero forgery takes things to a new level. We here were able to figure it out, despite being outside the situation. HA, on the other hand, ostensibly had access to industry professionals and investigators, and could also have reached out to fan-community experts for authentication, if needed. Instead, we saw a smokescreen of misdirection, sloppy (or nonexistent) research, and perhaps even outright lies, bribery, and threats of litigation.
The successful sale of this forgery is a Big Deal. This was allowed to happen, and the truth was covered up at every turn in favor of making money. And it’s almost certainly not the first time.
It is abundantly clear that persons at HA—or perhaps the company as a whole—are not interested in the truth, or in making honest sales to their wealthy, niche clientele. This all screams of a circle-jerk of scammers and unethical businesspeople being more than happy to rip off the idle rich.
I would not put stock in ANYTHING they have up for auction. Ever.
A hero phaser prop from the original STAR TREK is one of the great Holy Grail props in this hobby. Few props have been as obsessed over and desired. As with the Jein hero and the Alpha communicator, the authenticated discovery of such a rare and iconic prop would be huge for this community.
Yet, just this year, a rather obvious forgery sold for a quarter-million dollars. Just as various forged midgrades had sold before it, over the years. But this hero forgery takes things to a new level. We here were able to figure it out, despite being outside the situation. HA, on the other hand, ostensibly had access to industry professionals and investigators, and could also have reached out to fan-community experts for authentication, if needed. Instead, we saw a smokescreen of misdirection, sloppy (or nonexistent) research, and perhaps even outright lies, bribery, and threats of litigation.
The successful sale of this forgery is a Big Deal. This was allowed to happen, and the truth was covered up at every turn in favor of making money. And it’s almost certainly not the first time.
It is abundantly clear that persons at HA—or perhaps the company as a whole—are not interested in the truth, or in making honest sales to their wealthy, niche clientele. This all screams of a circle-jerk of scammers and unethical businesspeople being more than happy to rip off the idle rich.
I would not put stock in ANYTHING they have up for auction. Ever.
I [like many here] make replicas. But while I might be knowledgeable about some of those aspects, I wouldn't count myself an expert.
But, if someone who is NOT an expert can see that these are FORGERIES, then an expert can not claim to NOT see that. Anything that is so poorly done that it is obviously a fake to a non expert can not be mistaken as genuine by an expert. HA customers are, indeed, being scammed in at least some of their sales.
But, if someone who is NOT an expert can see that these are FORGERIES, then an expert can not claim to NOT see that. Anything that is so poorly done that it is obviously a fake to a non expert can not be mistaken as genuine by an expert. HA customers are, indeed, being scammed in at least some of their sales.
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