Hi all,

 

I need help...

 

Boought a devestator off ebay (pic looked ok, emailed seller - assured G1..)

 

yet i think it may be at least partially fake... :tdown :tdown :tdown

 

any sites out there that can help me see what is fake or not? :redface

 

Help!

 

Thanks

There are a number of ways to spot the fakes.

First, is the hook on Hook's crane arm chromed or just green plastic? Are the stickers metallic or just plain glossy stickers?

Are there rubsigns on any of the toys?

Is Mixmaster's front grille metallized or left the same color as the windshield?

Did you get all of the small hand guns with the individual constructicons?

Do each of the constructicons have the Takara/Hasbro copyright stampings?

 

If you post a link to the auction you won, I can look at it and see if I see any immediate indicators or their authenticity or lack thereof.

or help on where on each fig i should be able to find the © hasbro/takara symbols

damn its a mix of both...

 

some (from further inspection) are old metal based fake

some are new plastic fake....

scrapper is takara 84

 

 

still havent left feed back...

 

thanks

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...item=5909905042

 

Oh well , you learn something new every day...

contact the seller and tell him he sold you bootlegs and that you are unhappy with the item.

Just done it:

 

He's already left me good feedback (which is good - he can't get funny and ruin my 100%)

 

"hi, Got a bit of a problem with the item I am afraid... 5 of the 6 transformers that make devestator are fakes (of varying ages) The digger (scrapper) is real, his canopy not. Everything else looks to be fakes. There are no hasbro/takara markings on any of it. there are places where chrome should be present & its not.( I can provide better details if needed) In short this is NOT a G1 devestator. I would probably be happy to pay about £7+p&p for this item as is. I WONT leave negative feedback, how can we sort this problem out? Thanks"

 

hopefully its a genuine mistake.....

Well even if it is a fake what can you do? Well it is a fake right? but still... arent ebay auctions rather um... final?

The item I recieved was not what was described. Hence the contract has not been honoured and thesale is not final.

 

At no point did the seller say 'sold as seen,' or i think its G1. he said this:

 

in ffact in an email I sent him to check they were g1 before bidding, the reply I got was this:

 

"yes they are all original g1 items no repos iv had them for almost ten years thanx from mike"

 

now he claims:

"devastator came to me as you got him dan im no expert on trans fomers i only presumed its real g1 as it came in a box lot wioth many of the other items that i have for sale it had the rub stickerts like the others and from wot i was told only the g1 items had those. i dont no wot we can do about this as all sales are final"

 

I've stopped being nice and just asked for a refund. If not I'll log it at square trade tomorrow. (and ST do have a category for item different to description).

 

Currently I would have to say

'BUYER BEWARE of trader TIGISBK, UK ebay seller'

I got burned on a set of constructicons myself on ebay. I learned exactly what to look for in photos after that. If they list the devestator as complete and there are no handguns, that's an immediate warning sign. After that, every green bootleg set has the unchromed mixmaster grille, which is unually visible in the photos and easy to spot. Also, Hook's hook is not chromed and that can sometimes be spotted as well. Even when the chrome wears off, the plastic on the originals is not green, it's purple. Only the knockoffs use green plastic for the chromed parts.

What makes matters worse regarding telling bootlegs apart from the real thing is the huge overstock from Mexico sold (on Mexican cards by official Mexican Hasbro licensee IGA) in Europe ca. 1990. The Mexican toys are ususally of cheaper quality than the regular American/European ones (my "purple nose" Skywarp has plastic wheels etc.). Mexican toys can be identified by a "blocked" place of production on the otherwise untouched copyright markings.

However, Mexican Hook and Mixmaster also have a chromed hook and front grille.