Long Time suspected FAKE baggies scam / seller

Frank just posted this over on SWFUK. I think it's important for everyone here to know about a potential "Baggie" scandal that is coming to light. They are still waiting to hear from the accused.

They have asked that you comment in the thread on SWFUK, so that all the information is together.

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Hopefully everyone can still see the thread, even if your just a guest.

Thanks for posting this Clint. This is pretty massive and interested to see what comes from it. The seller is a huge source of baggies in the UK and if it is true, then a lot of people have been stung, including me.

This is what I wrote on SWFUK:

Thanks Frank and everyone else for posting about this. Must have been a massive amount of work.

While I can't comment on the veracity of the claims, I have always been a little suspicious about the seller's seemingly endless supply of certain baggies. I bought a couple of baggies from him in the past off eBay so I need to check if these were on the list.

I can only hope that the seller was also duped because he seemed like a nice enough bloke to me.

Christian

Thanks for posting the link, not all pictures in the thread are accessible if you are not a member but the pictures and infos on the first post are visible. Apparently and judging from 2 links posted in this thread, that thing has been going since at least 2014 when the guy was caught selling fakes. Now whether he's been making them himself or he got fooled himself as well by his baggies provider, it seems he knew since (at least) 2014 about some of the items in his stock being fakes...

I personally only own one bagged Tie Fighter Pilot that came from the US, but I'm going to take a look at it this weekend.

The Vintage Rebellion podcast have just released a quick episode about this issue:

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Thanks for the update Christian. I've just started listening to it.

I've tried to see if any of the other vintage Kenner lines are affected. Like Super Powers, M.A.S.K., etc....

Hello there Tantivians

As you can see the work for the most part to confirm fakes being sold is done, though I have a lot more evidence I am slowly going through.

Can I please request that if any of you have dealt with Jeff over the years to cross check all your baggies & contact me or post on here confirming what you have (only the fakes) & provide some evidence in way of screen shots on payments etc, as now the hard task starts in earnest - trying to figure out what the real numbers tof fakes are that are in circulation & the even more difficult part - removing them from circulation so future collectors are not also scammed.

If we all work together we can remove this scourge from the hobby & return to baggies being a fun area to focus on.

Many thanks in advance

Frank

Thanks for the update Frank. I've been watching the thread over at SWFUK fairly closely. I only have 2 baggies in my collection. One is a C-3PO RL, that I picked up in a local collection. The other is a Toltoys Ackbar, that is from an overstock mailer, that I bought locally as well.

Maybe you can tell me. Do you think this will affect some of the other vintage Kenner toy lines baggies, like Super Powers or M.A.S.K?

Thanks for posting updates here too!

Thanks for the update Frank.

I'll check my two Luke XWPs this week that I bought from him.

Commander Clint wrote:Thanks for the update Frank.  I've been watching the thread over at SWFUK fairly closely.  I only have 2 baggies in my collection.  One is a C-3PO RL, that I picked up in a local collection.  The other is a Toltoys Ackbar, that is from an overstock mailer, that I bought locally as well.

Maybe you can tell me.  Do you think this will affect some of the other vintage Kenner toy lines baggies, like Super Powers or M.A.S.K?

There has just been huge uproar on one of the face book groups with someone selling other toy line baggies & mailers that he's been resealing, he got found out as someone sold him some loose,one of which had a easily recognizable stain on in, the following week same figure was offered up for sale in a sealed baggie I think, action force maybe.

Sorry but I don't follow of collect other toy lines Clint so thats all I know TBH, but if there's value in items you know the fakers are never to far from the honey hole.

ChristianC wrote:Thanks for the update Frank.

I'll check my two Luke XWPs this week that I bought from him.

That would be most appreciated Christian, I know he has put out fake LXW pilot baggies as I have one myself

Ahhhhhh crap............

frunkstar wrote:There has just been huge uproar on one of the face book groups with someone selling other toy line baggies & mailers that he's been resealing, he got found out as someone sold him some loose,one of which had a easily recognizable stain on in, the following week same figure was offered up for sale in a sealed baggie I think, action force maybe.

Sorry but I don't follow of collect other toy lines Clint so thats all I know TBH, but if there's value in items you know the fakers are never to far from the honey hole.

Thanks Frank. That's what I was afraid of. I will let my nephew know, as he collects vintage Kenner Super Power figures.

Thanks for all the updates Frank. As you can see, I've been following the thread as well, evidenced by a few posts here and there.

The only baggie I own myself is a Rem. Limbs C-3PO, that I actually got over a decade ago from here in Canada. Not likely to be a fake, but I will look at it just in case.

Ian

Ian_C wrote:The only baggie I own myself is a Rem. Limbs C-3PO, that I actually got over a decade ago from here in Canada.  Not likely to be a fake, but I will look at it just in case.

Ian, maybe the next time we meet up, we can compare our RL-3PO's? I have one that I picked up locally as well.

Commander Clint wrote:

Ian_C wrote:The only baggie I own myself is a Rem. Limbs C-3PO, that I actually got over a decade ago from here in Canada.  Not likely to be a fake, but I will look at it just in case.

Ian, maybe the next time we meet up, we can compare our RL-3PO's?  I have one that I picked up locally as well.

Just dug mine out Clint. It looks identical to Frank's ROTJ-c version in his guide, with an almost greenish tint to the lettering. None of the telltale smudging or sloppy text the fakes seem to have.

I'll try and get a pic up tomorrow.

Ian

Ian_C wrote:

Commander Clint wrote:

Ian_C wrote:The only baggie I own myself is a Rem. Limbs C-3PO, that I actually got over a decade ago from here in Canada.  Not likely to be a fake, but I will look at it just in case.

Ian, maybe the next time we meet up, we can compare our RL-3PO's?  I have one that I picked up locally as well.

Just dug mine out Clint.  It looks identical to Frank's ROTJ-c version in his guide, with an almost greenish tint to the lettering.  None of the telltale smudging or sloppy text the fakes seem to have.

I'll try and get a pic up tomorrow.

Ian

No need no point faking them as there are literally 1000's of them in circulation Ian, it's not a baggie even worth faking as genuine one go for as little as $15 though it is the most commonly faked baggie on the market as folks use them for figure swaps with a more desirable / expensive figure - see fakes section of my baggie guide for full details on page 8, so you can rest easy on that one.

Also much appreciate your input on the thread on SWF, not looked yet but I hear Jeff has just made a statement on SWF, so going there in a mo to see what he is saying.

Thanks for the input Frank. I just used the guide last night to verify mine. Awesome resource, just hadn't used it before as it's not my niche. I knew mine was common, and that's no problem.

Jeff has indeed made a comment. You can see it here (and this goes to anyone interested, not just directed at Frank).

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I have to say, after reading his response, I call bullshit. He claims he has never sold a resealed baggie - but the photographic evidence is overwhelmingly against him. And he has been "gracious" enough to offer full refunds to anyone who bought a suspect baggie - until January 30. A week and a half? Does that include postage time? Yikes.

Ian

Yes the only till 30th January is a HUGE cop out IMHO, many folks may well not even be aware of this till well after that date, does it also allow for increases in market value so you get what the baggie would cost you now rather then say 4 years ago when you bought it & grade costs if it's since been graded &&&& the variables are pretty diverse & a cash back really does not cover it by half IMHO

For me the biggie is my SW-a lando,I spend many years & several thousands of pound putting a full run of all 6 insanely rare baggies together in SW-a's for the esb mock up stand, I sold my other as it had a hole in which was genuine (I can't get it back at any price & will most likely never get a chance of another), so even if he gave back 10 times what I paid for it at open auction (ebay) it would not come close to covering the damages on just this single item.

It's not the refunds, thats a very small part of this, its the overall damage that is being done to this area of the hobby due to this& for me on a personal level many years of very hard work comprizing thousands of hours invested putting the baggie guide together - no way of putting a price on things like that is there.

Read his response and it's no-where near good enough....

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  Chris, your Vader Baggie with no text on it (ESB-h I think ) came from Jeff, so you need to check it mate (If there is anything wrong with it send it to me and I'll get it sorted(I've got the PP invoice), it was part of a secret Santa couple years ago)

I agree with you Frank. The monetary part sucks, but the bigger issue is what this does for that aspect of the hobby. Your Lando example is a good one. The after effects of Toy Toni are still hurting those cards, and no reason to believe this will be any different.

I can't believe there are people even today posting with their support for him. That's depressing.

Ian

Nico wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  Chris, your Vader Baggie with no text on it (ESB-h I think ) came from Jeff, so you need to check it mate (If there is anything wrong with it send it to me and I'll get it sorted(I've got the PP invoice), it was part of a secret Santa couple years ago)

Thanks for the heads up Andy PM sent buddy.
This is indeed another sad time for the hobby

Wild story. I've only got one Baggie that I bought in Halifax lol sadly it's a taped R2 sensor scope so it's gonna be open at some point no matter what anyway. Nice looking loose R2 atleast lol