Has someone been able to confirm the material from which the reproduction belt buckle is made?  I bought one from these guys a year ago for a low best offer suspecting something was not quite right.  It is definitely lighter than my 2 other pewter buckles.

Traditional remold rather than any new tech, I'd've thought. No expert here but the lack of definition in the high and low field and the "shadows" such as to the left of the face and the ribbon might point in that direction, as would the bodge job on the post/peg.
Just not quite obvious enough from the front, at the original resolution, although the finish should perhaps have given the game away sooner even without a better pic or the buckles in hand.

Anyone who bought recently will be protected via eBay/PayPal. Sadly eBay ignoring the forgeries (and those other probable forgeries still for sale) is par for the course: need to keep at them but also have to be wary that they don't remove the listings totally and they are currently "evidence"...
Anyone who made a previous purchase via PayPal using their credit card - who would normally be covered for fakes, etc. (for 6 years is standard over here) is probably not covered because PayPal acted as an intermediary; the final straw being that payment from there onwards was to an individual rather than a commercial entity.

I need to be getting in touch with the law enforcement agencies, too - thank you in advance to those who have already done so. Not sure how best to coordinate this but very much worthwhile noting that the total fraud is likely to be $10k+ (certainly $5k+), possibly quite a bit more. On an individual basis, I suspect I'm not the only person out of pocket by the best part of a thousand bucks.
The small claims procedure is very easy over here-- I may need to do some reading up.
I did contact the seller giving him an opportunity to address the matter but no further reply was received since his previous claim that the buckles were genuine.

Scott; is that really $100k+ for the FBI nowadays? I did help out legal-side with various matters in the US 15-20 years back and I do recall $10k+ at the time. Internet fraud may have "flooded" that end of the market since, however...

Thanks again; and for the updates. :)

faro wrote in Interesting eBay alert! TSR belt buckles:Scott; is that really $100k+ for the FBI nowadays? I did help out legal-side with various matters in the US 15-20 years back and I do recall $10k+ at the time. Internet fraud may have "flooded" that end of the market since, however...

The FBI (and other federal law enforcement agencies) usually benchmark what cases they'll take based on what the U.S. Attorney's office will prosecute.  Fifteen years ago, the threshold was around $50k.  Nowadays, with the FBI cherry-picking financial crimes cases (they concentrate largely on terrorism now), they probably wouldn't realistically bother with anything under a quarter million.  State and local agencies are a different matter, and may be willing to get involved for far less.

Foul

dragonsbreath wrote in Interesting eBay alert! TSR belt buckles:Well that was quick- I got Ebay's response to my claim tonight .

Here is the nitty gritty:

We're contacting you about the case you opened for TSR Dungeons and Dragons Belt Buckle (271847089106).
As a courtesy, we're covering your return shipping costs by providing you a prepaid label to return the item. It's important that you ship the item back in the next 7 days so you can get a refund.

Be sure to pack the item carefully and securely and to include all parts of the item. The seller must receive the item in the same condition that you received it for you to be eligible for your refund.

Attach the label to the box, and send the item back to the seller using United Parcel Service (UPS) shipping.

We'll enter the tracking information from the label into your purchase history page. Once we have confirmation that the item has been delivered, we'll refund you within 6 days for the cost of the item plus original shipping (as long as the seller hasn't issued you a refund).


I am actually pretty shocked that Ebay wants me to return illegal merchandise- disappointing but I think I will probably video myself packing them up just to be safe  PDT_Armataz_01_02

I will let you guys know when I actually see the money - I hope everyone gets the same result!

I've been tied up this week so I haven't had a chance to pop in here on this. I'm in the middle of this process right now. DON'T SHIP ANYTHING JUST YET. I haven't had enough chance to write anything detailed, but hold off --  My gut feeling is that they are using a fake return address in Texas. That address doesn't specifically come up using Google or Yahoo maps. I talked to ebay TWICE and told them that. Yet they still had me ship it out (in transit now). The address is linked to a housing project there. I'm guessing it's going to come up as undelivered, but we'll see hopefully soon.
They give you a week to print that label and ship. So I will tell you what's going on before that. The label you print out already incl postage, so you don't have to pay anything, but make sure it gets scanned at the postoffice by waiting in line.
I took photos too before it was shipped. I'll get back later with additional details.

The address is to Michael Pearson (not Joe Pendleton)

12 Greenway Vlg (or Village)
Gladewater TX 75647-2813

There is a "Greenway Village" apartments, but the address is on a different street from what I could tell.

This is what concerns me:

Once we have confirmation that the item has been delivered, we'll refund you

Since the package goes back to them first class, that shouldn't be more than maybe three or four days to deliver

faro wrote in Interesting eBay alert! TSR belt buckles:I need to be getting in touch with the law enforcement agencies, too - thank you in advance to those who have already done so. Not sure how best to coordinate this but very much worthwhile noting that the total fraud is likely to be $10k+ (certainly $5k+), possibly quite a bit more. On an individual basis, I suspect I'm not the only person out of pocket by the best part of a thousand bucks.
The small claims procedure is very easy over here-- I may need to do some reading up.
I did contact the seller giving him an opportunity to address the matter but no further reply was received since his previous claim that the buckles were genuine.

I think because both of these guys' names are on the accounts, they are both liable for repayment/damages so either venue probably will suffice. However,  I will get you some info from the Orange County Sherrif's dept or Santa Ana PD like a police report. For small claims court, I think it needs to be the person who was directly affected to file, but I think you can have representation. However, it has to be an attorney and not one of us/a friend (unless that person is an attorney). I will get you that info later in the week.

dragonsbreath wrote in Interesting eBay alert! TSR belt buckles:Ahh- OK - Thanks for the heads up - I will hold off until I see what happens with yours.  I had the same reservations about the process as you, but Ebay doesn't appear to care much.

yeah, they could care less. They just want you to follow their "process", but they are more than happy to have criminals working in their system. As long as it just pads their bottom line!
I'm glad that I documented stuff before I shipped out just in case these fools are trying the "undeliverable" trick. I wonder if that's Ebay's way of squirming out too?
I'm concerned for the person that bought the 13 buckles.

Lazerrus wrote in Interesting eBay alert! TSR belt buckles:Personally I am not sending mine back. Something tells me I would be out the buckle AND my money.
:(
I will frame it and hang it above my desk as reminder of "when ebay goes bad".

Stick it on a belt and use it!!

JasonZavoda wrote in Interesting eBay alert! TSR belt buckles:As a side note, in the miniatures community I have been hearing about a number of old expensive Games Workshop metal miniatures that have been faked by Chinese firms and are being sold as originals.

I'm surprised that they are trying to sell them as authentic.  But places in China and Russia have been selling reproductions of the Warhammer stuff for several years now.  They sell them for less than half of what Games Workshop charges (after shipping costs) and once they are painted up, you can't tell if was a real one or not.

I received a second "no refunds" message from Pearson via eBay today.  The requests must be coming in so fast he can't keep them all straight!!!   :lol:

misterspock wrote in Interesting eBay alert! TSR belt buckles:I should have included this in the package back to him


** expired/removed eBay auction **

:lol: