Christian posted on RS that I had "balls of steel" for doing a deal with Dustin (China007) and Shaun (Dallasvintagetoys) recently. I got two peices that I felt were well priced and in all fairness the guys were very polite, quick to respond, and while one bubble suffered a crack both experiences were fine.

Now maybe I got lucky twice. Maybe since they both know who I am in the collecting circles they didn't try anything. Who knows?? I guess my question is, where do you all draw the line??

If I am sure WHAT I buy I do the same like you did.....bought i.e. from Billyboy and 1-5days last year

Well you need the experience to check if its the real deal, but i think for the longtimers I see no problem in that...you know your stuff...and you know your risk...therefore you may get it cheaper

The big thing dealing with shaun must be etic. that you dont wanna support a wellknown scammer. Nowadays when PP and ebay always goes the buyers way,the only big risk you take if you know what you buy can be alot of phonecalls and claimfillings

I've danced with the devil before, but have worn 2 condoms for extra protection " and you know your risk...therefore you may get it cheaper " I agree with this but I still feel 'dirty' sometimes I know some people may think less of me for compromising my ethics but I am proudly a cheapskate.

Didn't we talk about this once already?

I could've sworn we did... let me look...

I guess I'm in the minority. Shaun has had some stuff I've been semi interested in, but with his reputation, I just couldn't pull the trigger. I think I'd always have that thought back in my mind that the piece could have been tampered with just like how you wanted confirmation after buying your piece John. I did attempt one deal with billyboy on ebay a couple years ago, but it was only for a $10 item. I never got it and that reaffirmed that I should never deal with a known scammer. I also had the bad deal last year that cost me almost $200 that had a WO thread existed on them beforehand, I wouldn't have done the deal. A WO thread on that seller exists now on RS from that time and then later another one was created here. I would never recommend that seller to anyone no matter what they had.

I guess your views have changed since this thread from 2 years ago.

shawn_k wrote:

I guess your views have changed since this thread from 2 years ago.

Wow , I am NOT a creative thread starter!!! LOL

I honestly didn't remember that (ironic about the title too)

However, I guess I have changed since my needs have changed. The first part of my former reply was that I collected mainstream stuff so the avenues to buy from are more widespread. As I've seen my focus on foriegn items become my real niche' the avenues have really shrunk so now I need to deal with people I might not normally since the pool of sellers is so narrow.

Or I'm justifying buying from Dustin and Shaun.

Lol Shawn, John has pulled a real 180 eh!?

John, i think in your deals you wear 3 or 4 condoms where needed (you should get shares m8).

Personally, i think it would depend on the item as to how prepared i was to take the risk. I spose i've dealt with a few flakey guys recently (especially with coins), but things have gone ok, maybe because i have a little pull in that field these days? Strangely my worst problems were with a "well known & respected" collector.

Tank1252 wrote:

Lol Shawn, John has pulled a real 180 eh!?

John, i think in your deals you wear 3 or 4 condoms where needed (you should get shares m8).

Personally, i think it would depend on the item as to how prepared i was to take the risk. I spose i've dealt with a few flakey guys recently (especially with coins), but things have gone ok, maybe because i have a little pull in that field these days? Strangely my worst problems were with a "well known & respected" collector.

I took Shaun's TIG Rep down for pointing out my 180, so dont make me do it to you too

Ironic that the issue is with the "well known & respected" collector.

Amazing isn't it that as some peoples rep goes up, his respect for others goes down?

Darthberizing wrote:

shawn_k wrote:

I guess your views have changed since this thread from 2 years ago.

Wow , I am NOT a creative thread starter!!! LOL

I honestly didn't remember that (ironic about the title too)

However, I guess I have changed since my needs have changed. The first part of my former reply was that I collected mainstream stuff so the avenues to buy from are more widespread. As I've seen my focus on foriegn items become my real niche' the avenues have really shrunk so now I need to deal with people I might not normally since the pool of sellers is so narrow.

Or I'm justifying buying from Dustin and Shaun.

Whatever helps you sleep at night.



I feel that these guys don't deserve my hard earned cash and in most cases, if you are patient, another one will come up for sale from an honest seller. Another question I pose, is should a potential buyer know where the item came from when you sell on one of these pieces? I know I would want to know if a piece came from these guys since we're talking foreign MOCs that don't come cheap.

HA! Shawn found it! I knew we had chatted about it before....

Anyway, I'm just not sure I would do it. The trust simply isn't there.

I dealt with Shaun when I first joined ebay... back then one of his username's was Decade Toys. I bought a Blue Lightsaber Luke Jedi from him. And low and behold, after I did some digging and gained some experience I found out that both of my accessories for LJ were repros! Shocking, I know!

That alone should be enough to put me off. However, I don't want to offer them a dime to continue to do harm to other collectors and the hobby. I've read too many of Shaun's horror stories that I just don't want to support that second-hand. I think you also have to consider what Mark Poon did. You can't tell me he didn't fund his stormtrooper project with sales from his Rocket Fetts, Vlixen and collect all 79 posters. Sure, I thought his carded Rocket Fett was neat, and sure it was tempting on a couple of occasions, but looking back on it now, I'm really glad I didn't make the purchase. Look where we are now with that ass clown.

And truthfully, so little of this stuff we collect is 1 of a kind. I would think with a little patience you will be able to find a piece again... from a more trustworthy seller as well.

shawn_k wrote:

Another question I pose, is should a potential buyer know where the item came from when you sell on one of these pieces? I know I would want to know if a piece came from these guys since we're talking foreign MOCs that don't come cheap.

Good question, I've given you back TIG points ...

I think provenance is important and certainly worth asking about. I've "tried" to buy from reputable buyers or forums members but if it's not, and it's not AFA'ed, i'll ask about it's history. It does play a factor.

You made a great point that a person's name and rep can really impact. I'm a walking example with the Luke. If I bought it from anyone else, I wouldn't have had a single doubt. But Shaun being associated it did give it a patina of doubt.

RebelChris wrote:

sales from his Rocket Fetts, Vlixen and collect all 79 posters. .

Vlixen?? - Is he a Brazilian Reindeer??

I only did one deal with Shaun in the past for a PBP Greedo. It actually was as described, but was the COO actually legit? Not sure since it was the first PBP I owned. But would I do it again? Probally not, cause I know theres more than one of the items he has I want out there. Knowing his and Dustins rep lately, I dont think I would deal with them period. If they are willing to screw over one person, they are willing to do it to you also. Im willing to give anybody a second chance, but I dont want my cash involved in it. Ill hurt someone messing with my money.

If it were me I'd probably pass on dealing with someone who's had shady dealings in the past. Providing I know they were shady. One reson I almost always ask around when dealing with someone from the boards I've never delt with before. For the item you picked up I can see taking the risk. But the way you structured the deal was the best way to go about it.

I also like Chris' point of "not feeding the douchebag" in the case of Poon.

There are some items that I want/need for my collection, and if Adam B or Kim were selling them, I'd rather go without ever owning these items than get them from either of these two regardless of price. As for Dustin, I stated my opinion of him as a person in the thread on RS and while I stand by that assessment of him, as long as he were to ship first or ship to an agreed 3rd party before I paid, I'd buy from him. Neihiest is a tough one, as while he's scammed many that I know, he's never done anything to me. IF it were an item I could get elsewhere, even for more money, I'd get it from the other source. IF it were a one of a kind item, I'd likely buy it, if I had ebay/paypal buyer protection.

Cheers
Joe

Would I deal with the Devil?
No! I've been tempted once or twice, but if a seller has a reputation for screwing people on deals, I will always avoid them!
Like some of you, I may get lucky, but I could just as easily be the next victim!
By the way, I do not know, nor have I ever had dealings with the people named here, and I intend to keep it that way! So thanks for the heads-up!