Recaster Alert - scifihorror08 on ebay

[Jack T Chance]

Bought a Howard Studios Hellboy bust from scifihorror08 on ebay. I got it in and found it to be a recast, warped and in bad, bad shape. I contacted the guy who said he did in fact know it was a recast and it was too bad. Watch out for this guy, you can see by his feedback what he is doing as well. He also told me if I spread the word, he would get back at me. Buyer beware!

Thanks for the heads up! I'll have more advice farther down...

Yup, what he said. Paypal WILL side with you and you'll get the funds back. I had a similar experience. It's creepy how easy it is to get a refund from Paypal if your a buyer.

Not always true. There's a scammer that came to light on eBay about a year ago. Some of you may know him, or at least know OF him. Original ID his Green Lantern rings were sold under was coldfuel. Then coldfuel came down with "health problems" and "turned the business over to" seller ID metalphene. Then metalphene had several deals where he didn't deliver, and received negative feedback. He stopped selling them, and "the business was taken over by" seller ID topringz, who also sold the rings under the names GLKING (on the Green Lantern Corps Message Board) and metalwerks (on his own website.) Again, it was the same crap as with metalphene... initially, he filled his orders like he should, although sometimes taking a couple weeks longer than promised. I received the rings I ordered, but they were a month or more late, for instance. Then he just stopped filling orders at all. There is speculation that "topringz" is just "metalphene" operating under a new user ID. The pattern of the way he scams people makes it abundantly clear that this may be the case. :thumbsdown

I've talked to several people online that never received their rings and had to file appropriate reports with both eBay and PayPal. At least one person was told by PayPal that they would NOT receive a refund because "the seller's PayPal account is empty." :confused

So, while one always hopes PayPal will issue a refund, it's not always a given. That's where it's to your benefit to fund the transaction with a credit card, rather than a checking account/check card, because you can always dispute the charges with your credit card company, who will likely reverse the charges, even if PayPal has refused to do so. :thumbsup

Bummer, looks like he re-casted JRX too

H

www.howardsstudios.com

add my ns-4 head to his recasting hands

http://cgi.ebay.com/i-robot-movie-prop-ns4-head-movie-prop-will-smith-movie_W0QQitemZ270348211515QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item270348211515&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

-z

You 2 should try to get together with Howard Studios, and pursue appropriate legal action, including but not limited to filing criminal charges, against this guy. It's looking totally justified in this case. :unsure

 

[Too Much Garlic]

You 2 should try to get together with Howard Studios, and pursue appropriate legal action, including but not limited to filing criminal charges, against this guy. It's looking totally justified in this case. :unsure

How can they when they don't hold a license to the characters they sculpted?

 

[Jack T Chance]

How can they when they don't hold a license to the characters they sculpted?

I will freely admit that I do not know all the ins and outs of the appropriate laws in regards to copyrights, trademarks, intellectual property, etc. However, it has been my understanding that if someone is producing a one-off work of ART, or even a very small, limited run of "hand-crafted" items, even if said items are "fan art" of characters or intellectual properties they don't own the rights to, then their right to make that work of art is supposedly protected by law. However, the person recasting it and passing it off as an original would be guilty of counterfeiting, and should therefore be able to be brought up on criminal charges.

Again, though, I don't know all the ins & outs of the laws in various jurisdictions, so I could be wrong and/or misinformed. :unsure

 

[zorg]

heres his reply i just got (if you can read it)

"you should speak with the people you do bussn with, i got this from some one whi got it from you look to the people you call friends first, then looking other places, they still make then for me today."

he deserves a TWAT comment for that.


anyone i know who knowingly buys recasts of my stuff wont be dealing with me in any way in the future. i think thats fair.

 

[defstartrooper]

Didn't JRX sell his master and casting rights for his Palpatine bust a while ago ?
I recall him ofering it for sale i've no idea if it ever did though.
I doubt this loser bought it so there may be some other poor sap that's being ripped off too.

 

[Qui-Gonzalez]

heres his reply i just got (if you can read it)

"you should speak with the people you do bussn with, i got this from some one whi got it from you look to the people you call friends first, then looking other places, they still make then for me today."

he deserves a TWAT comment for that.


anyone i know who knowingly buys recasts of my stuff wont be dealing with me in any way in the future. i think thats fair.

Zorg, he sold a 3PO head back in January. I would not even know what to look for, but here is the link. I hope it is not one of yours. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270306437126

 

[GuntahKela]

What a douche bag. It's always the people with the least talent the ones with the biggest egos and the brainless ones with the most talk. Blocked!

 

[FISHZILLA]

Yep, he recasted my Howard Studios Pinhead too.

 

[Houston Robocop]

It's too bad you got scammed and thanks for the heads-up.

I've seen Howard's Hellboy bust in person when he first finished it at Wonderfest a few years back.

BTY, if your in the Houston area you should come and show-off you busts at out club (Houston Figure modeler). It's mostly painter and sculptors with several garage kit heavy-wight. We get together about once a month and hang out.

Good Luck.... Nick

 

[zorg]

Zorg, he sold a 3PO head back in January. I would not even know what to look for, but here is the link. I hope it is not one of yours. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270306437126

it doesnt look like one of mine. sort of looks like dp recast. thanks for asking though:thumbsup



oh yeah ebay member brackenchevy should be added to your blocked lists as well, he offered me a recast of my own ns-4 - the twat!

 

[zorg]

just checked out his feedback and it looks like recaster brackenchevy has bought 8 items from him...........spreadin the love.

there is also another recasters name i spotted in his feedback.


-z

 

[SG Merc]

When are we going to get a community list together of these people? Ebay names, real names, states/countries.

A website, blog, a thread, a something.

Even if it didn't help us from keeping our props out of their hands, at least it could educate prop buyers so less people buy stolen goods.

 

[rollerboi]

I think part of the problem is the risk of libel or defamatory information. Though it may be true, whoever hosts this information would need to run it like an "information clearinghouse", much like a certain ex-member lawyer used to put together, with nothing but verifiable facts.

 

[SG Merc]

I agree completely.

The list would have to rely on threads like this one proving each case of recasting. Probably with at least a page of testimonies and photos to give that verifiable evidence.

I also see no reason why the accused couldn't be involved in the process in an official way as well. Before putting anyone on a public list, they would have the opportunity to offer evidence that they were not involved in recasting.

And if it can't be proved that a certain prop had been recast then the accused stays off the list.

 

[defstartrooper]

There's been a section on the RPB where people list both good and bad sellers for years with no problems legally.
And not just about recasting it's anything, late delivery,non delivery, you name it.
I also like the fact that you can get feedback on good sellers too, it's nice to know who to go to aswell as who to avoid.
And anyway it's not like anyone will be posting anything in this section that doesn't already get posted elsewhere on the board it's just it will all be in one handy place for reference.

 

[zorg]

if we had a list of recasters and recast work then goldenarmor would take up many gigs of webspace alone :lol

numpty

 

[takevin]

I messaged him on ebay and gave him my .02 cents. Sent me a reply what a tool, his name is Tony Ramirez and he said he has been a member on here for several years. :unsure