Calling out a member

[rchatlin]

I'm all for truth in advertising, so it troubles me to no end when I see deceptive listings.

This is the start of a current auction listing.

Here is a Mego T2 8" body Batman. He is complete, in outstanding HIGH GRADE condition and ALL ORIGINAL vintage Mego with the ONLY exceptions being his boots, cape, gloves, belt and chest emblem, guaranteed. HIGH quality vintage Mego figure here, from head to toe. This is the the late 1970's version Mego produced with the dark blue cowl.

I think it would be far more honest to say ALL REPRODUCTION with the ONLY exceptions being Head, Body and outfit. The phrase "High Quality vintage" is laughable when a figure is more than 50% reproduction. Let's not even go into the described problems of what little vintage Mego there is, the bodysuit. High quality, indeed.

I don't think any member here would have the gall to list this figure in the marketplace and call it vintage "from head to toe" knowing that all the hard to find parts of the figure are reproductions.

Judge for yourselves from this auction, and others from the same seller.

Mego 8" scale T2 Batman * SUPERB * 100% Complete * - eBay (item 400175300132 end time Dec-06-10 18:00:20 PST)

There's nothing wrong with selling figures with reproduction parts,
but please, don't hide it behind hyperbole and superlatives that just aren't true.


r
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[david_b]

Sounds familiar.. I was selling an T1 Iron Man a few weeks back, getting practically no attention, when this other seller was selling his, with nearly 80% repo parts, getting all the bids.. Couldn't believe it.

So I had to resort to using a 'subtitle' and state mine was nearly ALL vintage ('cept the belt..), and add 'Why throw out good money buying vintage figures with mostly Repo parts..??'.

My hits went up dramatically after that..

Please don't get me wrong, I'm all for using repo parts if you have to. Just plainly state it.

david_b

[Hector]

Benbarb states what's original and what's repro.

Perhaps the way he words it...but he clearly states the product out in the open....regardless of the sequence of description.

I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with his auctions.

[BlackKnight]

Yeah ..., I dunno ... He state's in the Auction what is Origional, and Ultimately what is Not. As a Buyer, I would not think I was mislead into buying something That was Fake at all.

Also as a Buyer ..., I'd rather have that Batman, Than Some of the BS all Origional Beat-up 1's I've seen over my time.

Benbarb's got the Best Pics Ever.

[saucerful]

I hear ya, Rob.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away. . .

His Penguin auction also has me brow-furrowed -- described as clean, original and having no holes, when the bodysuit is trashed and the jacket is a reproduction.

Yo, BenBarb, who let the dogs out!?

[Hector]

Oh man...just seen the Penguin auction...lol.

[scifiguy94]

Have to a agree. That Penguin is definitely overboard.

[starsky]

might be a rare variant. the lower part of the costume looks vibrant tho.

[bondtoddbond]

Wow! There is some really great salesmanship going into each description. Buyer beware and read all the print. My only problem is if you see something you want, get excited and bid right away before you read all of the fine print, I've done this, then you're locked in for the buy, pretty much.

[megocrazy]

He's always listed his stuff that way. I can see both sides, if you don't read the description you could be swayed to thinking it was all original. But reading the description is the buyers responsibility. BB clearly states what is and isn't original. I feel he's done everything he needs to do to properly represent his item. He does list the positives before the negatives and he does word it extremely well from a salesman's point of view. Car dealers have been doing this for years, and they actually do use "small print". At least BB doesn't change the font size. His feedback statements are stellar so the buyers don't seem to have any issues either. I think he's a lot clearer than many sellers I've dealt with on ebay.