To buy or not to buy... The Buffy Merch Chat

[ba|1]

UPDATE
Ill stick this thread on top, and invite everyone to post feedback about all kind of Buffy merchandise like Props, Textilies, Clocks & Watches ect.

To discuss Buffy/Angel figures please go here:
btvsfigs.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=angel2&action=display&thread=19090



So I was allready ripped off once buying a Becoming Sword Factory X Replica from a memeber of this board. Paid but never got anything... There was anohter one on ebay wich just ended this morning (european time). Starting bid was 350$, 4 hours before auction end I threw in a bid, but was outbid the next minute. Right after putting up my next bid I was outbid again... I took a closer look at the bidder... Since ebay changed his Terms of use a while ago the bidders are anonyme, but you can take a look at their feedback and what stuff they bought recently. The bidder had a new profile, 0 feedback, and was bidding on Buffy/Angel stuff only, and had a very high rate of bids on THIS sellers items... Told my boyfriend that Im sure it was the same person bidding her stuff up... And right this morning when I woke up I had an email from the ebay seller wich said : "Hi! The winning bidder is cancelling, saying their account was hacked. So if you would still like the sword, it is available for your top bid. Let me know, thanks!".... Erm yeah... Not sure what to do now. I sure do want this sword, its expensive I know... just wanted to know what you guys think? Or have you ever bought from ebay member buyblonde!? Her feedback is 100% positive tough...

[Shiloh]

sounds like a scam to me, be careful.....

[sunnydale]

Yeah, it sounds fishy to me too, like straight up shill bidding. If I were you, I would pass on this one.

[elee0031]

Well if the seller claim that the other buyer's account was hacked then any and all bids placed by that buyer are voided and it should retro back to any other bidder other than this person and you will only have to pay that amount. So if you and this person bidded on this item then you can get the seller's starting amount. If a third person like me had bid, then you would pay the next higher bid.

To be on the safe side I would pay this item through Paypal to be cover by their loss/protection policy, so if the seller doesn't ship your item out or claim it lost/stolen then you can get your money back.

As for eBay, sense you are not the highest bidder there is no obligation for you to complete the transaction. eBay would contact you or cancel the listing in general if they suspect something is wrong. I get those every now and then and they tell you not to pay the person. My advice is if you plan on buying this item make sure you do it through Paypal and if there's anything wrong do a dispute to get your money back - then you're covered both ways. My past experience is that when I get that cancel listing message and I have already paid the person I generally get my item in the mail, and the cancel these listing for something as stupid as not wording the item correctly or if the buyer offered alternative methods of payment like cash/check/money orders etc.

[ba|1]

I got a chance to buy that Sword for the highest bid I placed, yes. My point is that theres no way the account was hacked. Im not worried about not recieving the item as I pointed out that memeber has 100% positive feedback, besides that me as European using paypal only for international transasctions anyway. All the bids from the other member were made a few minutes after I was bidding. The first one was even made a few seconds after I placed mine. Also the seller contacted me RIGHT after auction end... so theres no way a hacker was bidding, and the real owner just logged in in time to cancel this transaction. To me it sounds fishy, and I after deliberations I decided to pass on that sword.

[Roadie]

Hmmm... well what you have to remember is that this person might be reliable generally with 100% but definitely is shill bidding here. It's pretty obvious. But I say if you do want the sword that badly, accept their offer and if they rip you off it doesn't matter too much because you can always report to ebay and/or paypal and get your money back straight
away. I've seen people doing stuff like this before and wondered whether to bid or not but I ended up bidding on something I really wanted and everything was fine because I received the item anyway even if I hadn't I would have reported to ebay/paypal.

[skytteflickan88]

You could always call them out on it and offer the starting price and not a penny more.

[elee0031]

Well sense you called it off.... I just wanted to inform you that on eBay I got my Xena Sword for a steal cause it was under $100 USD and that was including shipping. The seller tried to sway me by saying stuff like imperfection..blah, blah, blah - so I straight up told them I wanted the sword anyway and that I would even throw in some extra cash for packaging material etc. Long story short I got my sword, the only thing was I didn't get paper work or the original box it had came with. It does have the stamp on the blade with a production number on it. Some slight usage of normal wear/tear but it's freakin sweeet for the price.

[ba|1]

I passed on that sword and found another US seller who is willing to ship this overseas It doesnt have a Wallplug anymore but its in excellent condition, allready have a nice display idea in mind Anyways, Ill let it rest now, but really wanna suggest you guys better be carefull when buying from that person. Btvs Chosen said she had a great transaction with her tought, I also gotta admit she was very kind when answering my mails...

[elee0031]

Actually a few swords popped up in the 300$ range USD. So give it a look. A little pricey to me for a factory x sword.

[Joan-b]

As ba|1 said, I've bought Mr Pointy replica from buyblonde! recently (it's a replica she has done herself) I've had no problem with her she's a great seller and a nice person, but after reading again the thread I have to say that it's really fishy...

For the replica itself here is my point of view to have had it in my hands : I think it's a not as good as the Scythe, I've had it but resold it quickly, you can clearly see the traces/marks of the mold on the handle and it doesn't look like at all at the real sword used in becoming (where comes this purple handle from ?)

For more infos here is a link to BuffyProps : www.buffyprops.com/Pages/SwordsofBuffyandAngelus.aspx

[PJ]

It does sound a lot like shill bidding. I know you passed on the sword already, but if I were you...i would report it. That is EXTREMELY against eBay's policies...and if that ever happened to me, that would be the first thing I would do even if I didn't continue the sale. I mean it seems like they were just bumping the price up on another account as the auction ended and then just contacted you with the next highest bid that you left because the fake account won.

[ba|1]

Thats my point. I would kinda understand it if the price was very low, but +350$ for a used collectible is a quite decent price, isnt it? Anyways, I paid 149$ for the other one, allthough the wallplug is missing.

[ba|1]

Finaly recived my Factory X replica Becoming sword, I still dont understand why everyone is keep saying Angelus sword, as its clearly Buffys. Anyway, you guys were right, it really looks cheaply made. Between the pattern on the handle theres still some rests from casting, wich was just oversprayed with color instead of sanded down or cut out. Still kinda lovely. Might repaint the leather at one point.

Also just scored a NIB Anyanka Necklace on ebay for a nice price. Im a little bit dissapointed, not too much effort was put in this either... Kinda sad that the offical merchandise is so crappy... Id rather stick with my custom made stuff I think.

[Joan-b]

I've had the same reaction for the Anyanka Necklace, it's a pity that they do so bad replicas sometimes, and I thought it was going to be the same for the Gem of Amara so finally I didn't bought it...

For the sword as I told you, even if at first the idea of this replica by Factory-X was good, I had the same reaction too when I received it, the worse are the marks of the mold on the handle :/ For the pattern maybe you can use the same leather you used for the Scythe to hide it ?

And for the name you're right, it's Buffy's sword

[ba|1]

I recently got Waynes Urn of Osiris replica and absolutely love that piece! It looks amazing on display and I would recommend anyone, if you ever get the chance to buy one, get it!

Sorry, for the blurry pic, kinda hard taking pictures in the dark


Also had something on my tounge for quite a while now, but the time is right now I guess, so Ill give a little preview of my items I purchased from Paul, aka Buffyprops.

He used to be a member of this board while ago, Hes also a member of the Buffy Collectors Club on Facebook, where I quit my membership cause I was sick of his permanent bitching about how bad and inaccurate everything but his props is. Same goes for this board, but he quit his membership while ago.

Due some recent Facebook activitys and the constantly attack against loyal longtime-members ( probably stealing their recipies backwards, using for his own props ) I feel like showing of his professional "handmade" props.

I bought the Urn of Osiris and Jackal Knife prop replica he did while back.

This is how I recived my package:



You might think anyone who ships porcelain will put a little effort in wrapping that thing to make shipping as save as possible. Also the knife had some damage on the blade.

Lets take a closer look on the handle:
The color looks extremly off to me, you might think paul has seen that having the original thing right infront of his nose during the casting process.

The real thing looks like this:

A extra spray can with some black color or even some darker washes would have done it, even me as a noob knows that... but then again it would have been extra effort.

Heres some pics of the blade



Again, the paintjob was EXTREMLY shabby, it came with texture, Ill guess it was just put on a plastic bag to dry.
Obviously no time was wasted. I had to sand the whole thing down and resprayed it myself. If I had bought the Chinese fake called The Wolf (can be found on ebay for 20$) I would have saved myself a lot of money and trouble.

As for the Urn:
Well, of course it broke too, the only positive thing I can mention is that Paul replaced it immediatly. But then again, it looked nothing like the real thing, It was extremly inaccurate, the shape was awefull, and the paintjob wasnt great either.

I really didnt take a lot of pics from that urn (speaks for itself) so I had to use one of the many Urns that were available on ebay after customers have recived theirs.

Mine had 3 big tears of color running down. Again, no extra effort were put into these, while good pics and refferences were available:


Again I had to put hand on it, sand that thing down, do some painting and aging myself... was pretty simple with a sponge and a few washes of thinned white color:


Compared to Waynes:



Also the bottom of the Urn is extremly rough, and did scratch my furniture, thats why I decided that I dont wanna have it on display any longer.

I wonder why these props did end up like this, after all those researches, the sketches and meassures wich were taken on each Factory X prop to show off how inaccurate they were.
Example:


But how about these differences?



IMO it takes more to make props then just print a shirt, or a poster, its the details that makes a prop a collectible. I never recived anything from any customaker on this board with such a low quality, and would suggest to anyone think twice before buying one of this. Not impressed at all...

[elee0031]

Well the knife can very by the maker. I wouldn't call it a prop sense it is loosely based off of a real type of knife. For the urn, um what can I say. I don't own one so I couldn't tell you anything different from a Factory X to a custom. Haven't been one of those lucky ones to get a Buffy prop....yet... But something is better than nothing. At least it does bring out your collection.

[ba|1]

Well not exactly, I dont think its necessary to spend money for the same item twice. Its up to yourself to decide if you like those props or not. Pics clearly show there wasnt much of an effort put in those.

[elee0031]

To be fair you can kind of stick it in the garage and let it sit for a few years and it'll get the aged look or if you leave it outside it'll have that nice weathered look as well. The urns in the picture have 2 different type of design opening rims and the one to the left has more of an apple shaped body than the right. I'd have to go back and look at a picture where Willow was holding it up.

[ba|1]

Um, what? LOL. No way Ill pay for a prop and have it somewhere outside for years to let it age, lol. Wheres the sense in that? It can be easily done with some washes of color, dont want moos or mushrooms grow on it. Have you actually read my post? Theres also a picture of the "official" Urn included, see picture with blue background. My actual point is that the actual seller (a selfcalled professional ) keep diss products for being inaccurate and finish of his props like that.