FAKE hobbit minis

JamesR · **Posted:** Mon Apr 28, 2014 9:59 pm

You can also see that some of the models (such as Aragorn mounted) have messed up joins. They're cloned pieces

Oldman Willow · **Posted:** Mon Apr 28, 2014 10:32 pm

JamesR wrote:

You can also see that some of the models (such as Aragorn mounted) have messed up joins. They're cloned pieces

My originals have messed up joints. Be careful calling people criminals on such poor evidence.

Jamros · **Posted:** Mon Apr 28, 2014 10:53 pm

Second impressions leave me torn between piracy or legitimate. I'll take back my comment about being a different material--the models have evidently been basecoated Skull White after being stripped. I mistook the white coat for cheaper metal. He could just be a huge used miniatures stockist. I guess there would be no way of knowing if he's a pirate with what's shown.

I don't see why piracy would automatically bring bad feedback. If the seller produces quality models at affordable prices, I'm sure many consumers would be fine with giving him positive feedback. Not everyone feels the same way about piracy. Not that I support piracy!

Oldman Willow · **Posted:** Mon Apr 28, 2014 11:06 pm

Jamros wrote:

Second impressions leave me torn between piracy or legitimate. I'll take back my comment about being a different material--the models have evidently been basecoated Skull White after being stripped. I mistook the white coat for cheaper metal. He could just be a huge used miniatures stockist. I guess there would be no way of knowing if he's a pirate with what's shown.

I don't see why piracy would automatically bring bad feedback. If the seller produces quality models at affordable prices, I'm sure many consumers would be fine with giving him positive feedback. Not everyone feels the same way about piracy. Not that I support piracy!

One more thing to think about. GW has a policy that prevents e bay retailers that have stores from posting photos of GW figures. So if I had 12 of something I picked up from a bankruptcy or tax sale the best way to move it would be to ditch the box and prime it white.

Moj · **Joined:** Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:58 am **Posts:** 93

Jamros wrote:

I don't see why piracy would automatically bring bad feedback. If the seller produces quality models at affordable prices, I'm sure many consumers would be fine with giving him positive feedback. Not everyone feels the same way about piracy. Not that I support piracy!

what about cheaply made minis for cheap prices, disguised as legit gw products? it's deception, plain and simple. if i had known what he was selling i wouldn't have bought anything from him.

Jamros · **Posted:** Tue Apr 29, 2014 12:36 am

Moj wrote:

Jamros wrote:

I don't see why piracy would automatically bring bad feedback. If the seller produces quality models at affordable prices, I'm sure many consumers would be fine with giving him positive feedback. Not everyone feels the same way about piracy. Not that I support piracy!

what about cheaply made minis for cheap prices, disguised as legit gw products? it's deception, plain and simple. if i had known what he was selling i wouldn't have bought anything from him.

Ah--thus the "if." Of course you have a right to be angry. The guy blatantly lied and gave you a lower quality figure. But to be honest, there are actually some pretty good pirates out there. I read once about a group that was pirating Forge World models; the resin they used was reportedly better than FW's, and their prices were substantially lower. People also knew they were not official. If you have no qualms about the illegality of the knock-offs or little respect for the original producers, then naturally, you would feel pretty positive about the pirates, who are making a product you want much more affordable.

Again, I'm not supporting piracy! Seriously. I just understand why it has such a strong appeal.

Oldman Willow--does the rule not apply to just the use of actual GW photographs? I don't know, I guess I can't decide if this guy is a pirate or not.

Oldman Willow · **Posted:** Tue Apr 29, 2014 1:42 am

I am not sure but I do not think a photo of the box is allowed. The resin figures are most certainly copies. The are too many other possible explanations for the white primed figures to say they are copies from just the photos. The cost is not an issue. I can still get unopened Fellowship figures for pennies on the dollar. They did not do well in the US demand is low.

Moj · **Joined:** Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:58 am **Posts:** 93

jamros, i agree with you to a certain degree.
i want original minis, but then it's hard to respect gw with the prices they ask for, especially here in NZ, (of all places) where everything is extra expensive. thus, i turn to ebay, and look what happened.

from now on i will only buy from sellers i trust, and have bought from before.

SouthernDunedain · **Posted:** Tue Apr 29, 2014 5:13 am

I trust gw and have bought from them before...problem solved

Coenus Scaldingus · **Joined:** Sat Aug 17, 2013 9:14 am **Posts:** 1121

SouthernDunedain wrote:

I trust gw and have bought from them before...problem solved

Yeah, that's all great.. if it wasn't for the fact that they have been getting rid of a large part of the range in the past years, which makes ebay one of the few ways through which one can still buy those.

Gildor_Inglorion · **Posted:** Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:16 am

Jamros wrote:

cooper101183 wrote:

I do not want to cast aspersions on any body but I have for a long time thoughts these 'white metal' minis look very suspicious, particularly due to the low cost.
Perhaps those in the forum with more experience can clarify.
Here is the link.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310676414784?var=610196220837

Those, to me, look very much like pirated copies. The seller has rather large quantities of each model and is selling them for dirt cheap; the models also look to be made of a different material than a normal Citadel metal model. Packaging is not typical of used minis, but he would have no reason to have so many pristine figures for sale with no blisters or boxes of any kind. He bought 52 mounted Gandalfs and decided to remove them all from their blisters to sell them?

I've bought about 6-7 different things off this guy. For whatever reason theyre all undercoated white, but all the ones I've got are legit.

Moj · **Joined:** Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:58 am **Posts:** 93

Coenus Scaldingus wrote:

SouthernDunedain wrote:

I trust gw and have bought from them before...problem solved

Yeah, that's all great.. if it wasn't for the fact that they have been getting rid of a large part of the range in the past years, which makes ebay one of the few ways through which one can still buy those.

add to that the stupid price hike here in nz. I hardly buy anything directly from gw anymore.

MeatBoy1994 · **Posted:** Tue Apr 29, 2014 4:46 pm

But how come he has such a high feedback score???

Jamros · **Posted:** Tue Apr 29, 2014 5:03 pm

MeatBoy1994 wrote:

But how come he has such a high feedback score???

Your avatar is hilarious

Regarding the first guy, he does seem to be selling some genuine used miniatures, so much of his feedback may have come from that. The fake Hobbit miniatures he is selling are not great copies, but they are slightly cheaper, and may be making the miniatures available to consumers who would otherwise not have access to them (ie, Spain maybe?). It's also possible that many of his customers do know that the models are pirated, and are not as disappointed when their model is not official, or of a slightly lower quality.

Regarding the second guy, he sells popular models at very low prices. I guess we've all decided--there's no way to confirm that he's a pirate, so there's no reason his feedback should be low.

cooper101183 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 30, 2014 12:58 am

Jamros wrote:

cooper101183 wrote:

Those, to me, look very much like pirated copies. The seller has rather large quantities of each model and is selling them for dirt cheap; the models also look to be made of a different material than a normal Citadel metal model. Packaging is not typical of used minis, but he would have no reason to have so many pristine figures for sale with no blisters or boxes of any kind. He bought 52 mounted Gandalfs and decided to remove them all from their blisters to sell them?

Only One way to find out. I just ordered Merry crouching. I think the 52 refers to the total number of figures in the multi listing rather than each single figure, it shows 52 for each figure so it must be the total

mertaal · **Posted:** Wed Apr 30, 2014 7:19 am

I've bought from the "skull white primer" guy before. I'm not sure why people think he's pirating. He has a listing with 52 different figures. The only ones he has left are a few broken or unpopular figures Yes, they're cheap. That's why he's sold out of almost everything he had. If he were pirating he wouldn't be out of stock, would he?

I re-stripped what I bought from him. The skull white primer is to hide the fact that he's not done a fantastic stripping job. To properly strip a miniature you often have to spend 10 mins or so per figure with a toothpick, getting it all out of the tiny cracks. Selling for 1.50 a piece I imagine it's not economical for him to do that, so he just primes everything white after stripping.

Honestly, i think people should be a bit more careful about pointing the finger. It's a shame to see a legitimate seller lumped in with the obvious (and terrible) pirate models posted by the OP.

Moj · **Joined:** Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:58 am **Posts:** 93

I think he was selling legit items, some of his pics have metal showing under the white paint. it'd be very difficult to copy a mini in metal.

mertaal · **Posted:** Wed Apr 30, 2014 7:42 am

Not as difficult as you might think

.

Moj · **Joined:** Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:58 am **Posts:** 93

are the cloned minis made of metal as well?

mertaal · **Posted:** Wed Apr 30, 2014 11:42 am

I think they usually are, although I've not seen any cast-offs myself. Then again, I'm talking about LotR models rather than the Hobbit range. I guess it'd be pretty obvious they were fake if made in metal!

FAKE hobbit minis

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