"Help me stop possible Ebay recaster" Topic

I believe I've found a someone selling a lot of recast figures on ebay & I'd like some help identifying the figure manufacturers so I can notify them. I won't name the seller yet since my suspicion is solely based on the number of times the seller has sold large sets of rare figures.

Ironically, I may have bought some figures from the same seller early in 2015. They were operating under a different ebay alias, but their previous feedback listing shows the exact same auction lots, with the exact same wording and misspellings as the seller I current suspect.

A link to some of the historical figures the seller currently has for auction is below. Please let me know if you can identify them & I will contact the manufacturers with the info.

Thank you

link

You had a post a couple days ago about this TMP link and the consensus seems to be that it is not worth our time.

Sorry,

(EDIT) I think you should let the market decide. If you are sure someone is recasting put notices up on various boards. The scrupulous folks wont buy from the individual. Recasting is only going to continue if the fellow can make money at it. Of course, be careful about calling someone a recaster because if he is not your posting could be considered libel.

Al

The first picture is Foundry, as you surmised.

Gladiator are also Foundry.

Germanic archers are Foundry.

Moors are Gripping Beast.

Roman Command are Foundry.

Roman Scorpion is Foundry.

Slingers are Foundry.

Spanish cav are Foundry.

Roman spear are Foundry, both sets.

I don't know about the aliens. Maybe Kryomek?

BC thanks for caring, It is very much worth your time in terms of helping manufacturers survive and prosper. I do not know what figures they are but an inspection by the real makers might reveal what is going on.?
If he/she is a recaster/pirate then similar lots will appear again and again, there was a chap in UK who had sets of 6 FOW painted trucks available each week. Not seen him recently.

thaks for your involvement

martin

Allen57,
Yes, most of the general customers said it may not be worth my time, but some figure manufacturers (Peter Pig, Black Hat, QRF) also responded and said they had been successful. So I figure I'd give it a try.

Also, unless you happen know what the rare figures are that the seller is selling large lots of, a general buyer probably wouldn't notice the possibility of recasting. So, I'm trying to gather info to allow the market to decide.

I'm not planning on reporting any concerns to Ebay myself since I'm a 3rd party that only has circumstantial evidence. But I will report my concerns to the manufacturers of the figures that are possibly being pirated, & allow them to address it since they have a legal standing to do so.

It is interesting to note that in the feedback of the seller, someone gave them a negative review because "the figures were bad recasts". So I'm not the only one with this suspicion.

I also realized I may myself have unknowingly bought figures from this seller earlier last year. It was under a different ebay alias. But based on both sellers' feedback, both sellers had/have the exact same lot names, with the exact same wording and exact same misspellings.

Thanks Pictors for the info.

BC, I think you're a good man and are doing the Right Thing. I hope anybody else that sees something like this won't let a bunch of cranky old farts on TMP tell them that "it isn't worth our time". It's obvious the manufacturers feel very differently, and I for one will support THEM and not internet thieves. I think it's sad for anybody to suggest otherwise.

Thank you

All you can, or should do is contact the manufacturer. They are the only one who can do anything about it.
In my case Foundry told me to mind my own business when I reported a suspected recaster. Now, this was Back in the Day when Foundry did not have… rational ….management.
Maybe things have changed.

It should be in the interest of a manufacturer to do something. Even if that manufacturer isn't bothered about a 'small' number of sales lost, bad recasts would reflect on their reputation for quality – if people buying them don't know they are recasts and they are then publicized as genuine.

Good points made, so BC, persevere in your pursuit.

I wonder if those willing to not support bringing a possible recaster to the attention of the manufacturers involved due to some TMP consensus would not pursue a thief who preyed upon them if the TMP consensus was not worth the time.

Agree, let the manufacurers know and decide.

Who said not to tell the manufacturer?

The aliens are indeed Kryomek Hellions

79thPA, quite right, should have pushed back on the "let the market decide" statement more clearly.

Good job, BC!

Well done, BC. Thank you for caring. And YES, it's definitely worth our time.

As for "rare", that's a whole different lie. Kryomek is still available. Foundry is infamously unpredictable.

80%+ of what the seller auctions is GW stuff, most of it is out of production. So that's the rate stuff.

The seller hasn't sold a lot of the historical stuff I posted the pictures of. But since it looks like they are recasting the gw stuff, I'd think there's a good chance they are recasting the non-gw stuff.

We tend to notice people (re)selling large quantiles of our stuff, especially when we check back and realise they are selling more of it than they have actually bought…

Only the copyright holder (manufacturer) is actually able to take action. If they choose not to do so that's up to them, but you should alert them to what you have found.

In the past we have replaced recasts (bought in good faith) with good product, then pursued the original supplier….