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09-09-2010, 03:49 PM | #1 |
Telecommunications
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Queens, NY
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Has anyone ever bought any vintage figures on Ebay only to find out once you've opened them and examined them that they've been "re-furbished" in one way or another.
Now I don't mind if someone replaces the o-ring or screws in an ARAH Joe figure, but I do mind when they repaint them, especially with magic markers. Last week I purchased 4 ARAH figures on Ebay. They were as follows... 1983 Clutch (swivel arm) 1983 Snake Eyes (swivel arm) 1983 Grunt (tan) 1985 Tollbooth The Clutch and the Snake Eyes I got from the same seller, but the other 2 figures came from different sellers. I received the Clutch and Snake Eyes first. The Clutch figure looked as if their might have been some touch-ups on the areas which have black paint. Other than that the figure was in great condition so I didn't mind it as much. The paint touch-ups were not mentioned in the auction, but maybe it's just me that thinks it's been painted over in some spots. I will give the seller the benefit of the doubt in this case. As for the Snake Eyes figure it had loose lower legs and scratches on his back near the screw hole. This was actually mentioned in the auction, but I must have missed it when I was using Ebay mobile on my phone. I paid around $17 for him and he came with his filecard and correct "non accessory pack" weapons, so I guess that alone was worth the price. In this case it was my fault for not paying better attention to the auction. The second figure I received was Tollbooth. He looked pretty flawless in the auction pictures. When I received him and opened the package something didn't look quite right to me. The black paint on his gloves and the brown paint on his boots looked flat instead of the glossy paint I'm used to seeing on these figures. Does anyone have Tollbooth? If so please let me know if his gloves have flat or glossy paint on them. I saw a pic on Yoe Joe of him and the paint on his gloves did appear to be flat, so maybe that's how he was made. In any case the figure is in great shape besides the paint issues I've just mentioned. Today I received the tan Grunt figure. This is actually the reason why I'm posting this. When I opened the package he looked great. I then went to put his helmet on, and as you know with Grunt it's always a tight fit due to his huge head. When I finally put the helmet on I noticed a black smudge on it. I wiped it off, but then I noticed a black smudge on his chest. I wiped that off as well, and then I checked my hands. I had black smudges on my fingers. The funny thing is that I just washed my hands before I handled the figure. I do this all the time before opening anything. So I decided to wash my hands once again. Now I know the black smudges are gone. So I went back to handling Grunt and once again I'm getting black smudges on my fingers. This time I decide to wipe the black painted areas of Grunt with a white cloth, and sure enough the white cloth had black marks on it. I think someone used a black marker on this figure to touch-up the paint. The rest of the figure is fine though with tight joints and non rusted screws. The thing that pisses me off is that the seller had it listed as C9 and didn't mention anything about the paint be re-touched. Now things like this has happened to me on Ebay before. I have never left negative feedback though. I usually just don't leave any feedback in these cases. I have never even complained. I figure that the seller could just say that they bought them like that from a garage sale or something. I'm sure pleanty of us have many second hand items in our collections which we don't exactly know where they came from, or how many people owned them before us. The problem is that for the last few years I've been trying to replace my stolen 82-86 ARAH collection with the best quality figures I can find. I try to find C8 or better. I think I'm only missing about 8 figures now... 82-83 Breaker (swivel arm) 82-83 Steeler (swivel arm) 1983 Grand Slam (silver pads) 1983 Viper Pilot 1984 Stinger Driver 1984 Thunder 1985 Heavy Metal 1985 Keel-Haul These are some of the harder ones to acquire, especially in decent condition and complete. The Viper Pilot and Heavy Metal's mic alone sell for big bucks. Now I wouldn't mind buying a fake Viper Pilot or recasted replacement mic for Heavy Metal to save some money, but I want to know that they are indeed fakes before I decide to buy them. There are too many people on Ebay who try to pass these fakes off as the real thing. When it comes right down to it what is the best way to project yourself from things like this? Is it better to purchase hard to get figures at shows instead of online?
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CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 3 & BLACK OPS II = HISS CLAN Scoop's PS3 PSN ID: Nightwing1975 Scoop's Feedback Thread Last edited by Scoop; 09-09-2010 at 03:54 PM.. |
09-09-2010, 03:53 PM | #2 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: ....
Posts: 22,619
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man that sucks i would be pissed off.
btw i might have a stinger driver if your interested lmk |
09-09-2010, 03:58 PM | #3 |
Banned
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: On the 50 Dollar Bill
Posts: 2,120
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It's happened to me. I bought a lot of 3 Cobra Commander figures, years ago. The faceplate and hooded versions were both slathered with silver and gold paint. The battle armor Commander was in practically mint condition and complete. Not only that, but I'm fairly certain the seller was driving up the bids on his own auction, until it reached my maximum bid and then he stopped. I'm not sure if that part can still happen on ebay. But, over the next few years I finally scrapped together enough of the two figures to finally get one of each that are in great shape. It seemed like 50 bucks for all three versions of Cobra Comander was an alight deal, until I got them and saw they were covered in that cheap metalic paint marker mess. Even after the auction ended and I found out I'd paid the entire max-bid amount, I wasn't that irritated. But the partial finger print left on the faceplate in cheap, caked-on marker juice really bothered me.
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09-09-2010, 03:59 PM | #4 |
Telecommunications
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Queens, NY
Posts: 3,340
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Quote:
I still have the Cobra troopers you sent me, but I think that I still need to pick up the guns for them on Ebay though. Thanks again for them. You helped me to cross one more figure off my list. Actually I never owned one of them as a kid, so it's cool to have them now. I only had the Cobra Officer way back when. He was my lone blueshirt.
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CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 3 & BLACK OPS II = HISS CLAN Scoop's PS3 PSN ID: Nightwing1975 Scoop's Feedback Thread |
09-09-2010, 04:01 PM | #5 |
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Did the figures match the pictures and/or item descriptions? I would request my money back in each of those situations unless they said that they "were touched up."
I have sold a number of figures from bigger lots and while I will replace the o-ring and screws (if applicable) I will NEVER attempt to touch up the paint, etc on them.
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09-09-2010, 04:04 PM | #6 |
#voteblackjack
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Northwood, NH
Posts: 35,747
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You know, I've been wondering this lately myself...
Alot of people here 'mod' figures. To me that kills the resale value because if I buy a 'vintage' (and the 25th/ME will be vintage someday) figure, then I want it just as it was out of package.
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09-09-2010, 04:08 PM | #7 |
Banned
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09-09-2010, 04:22 PM | #8 |
Gone Fishing
Join Date: Nov 2007
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Tollboth has noticeably flatter shades of paint on his black gloves & brown boots.(he was right beside me )
You're good.
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09-09-2010, 04:28 PM | #9 |
Telecommunications
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Queens, NY
Posts: 3,340
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Quote:
I never owned him as a kid so I wasn't sure. I also don't think that I've come across many ARAH figures which had flatter paint than the rest. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
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CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 3 & BLACK OPS II = HISS CLAN Scoop's PS3 PSN ID: Nightwing1975 Scoop's Feedback Thread |
09-09-2010, 04:32 PM | #10 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Classified
Posts: 8,376
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baby oil removes the marker easily. i had a mainframe i got from ebay show a plethora of marker touchup when i gave him a little oil polish. (then remove the oil with rubbing alcohol.) it really makes joes look spiffy new. i highly recommend it.
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