http://forum.rebelscum.com/t1076154/
http://forum.rebelscum.com/t1076090/




These are really too good to be true! really shocking news I think!

White perfect Stromtroopers....they will sell in really large numbers!

You can only indentify them in hands!
They have softer limbs and Im guessing they have no coo but I dont know!

They will get mixed soon. evilbay will be full of them and Im afarid that the limbs will get harder in time!

Im really shocked! You cannot buy for sure unbleached stuff anymore and now this!!

I really would like to know if this is legal. The old figures hav a copyright and Im not sure if LFL knows whats going on???

Another day where I will think good about leaving this whole hobby!

FS is closed on RS!

To me this doesnt make it better! I would rather see Mark coming forward with some pictures of the wepaons and the back of the figures.

And I would rather see him joining the discussion then hiding!

Finding a solution in public which all of us makes happy would be more of interest then not knowing what happens from now on at backdoors!!

I have put my thoughts down on the discussion thread, but a dark day for the hobby is looming for sure

Same here! Its a disgrace. Makes me think about selling up and getting out of this hobby

Wow. Just wow.

Like many have said. I think this batch of figures Mark has made have crossed the line. WAY over the line. I have nothing else to add that hasn't already been said better than I can. But I'll add that Someone like Mark knows how vintages collectors feel about repro crap. Why would he go this far?? To fill his wallet?? Probably. At the very least the figures should be marked witha big "REPRO" on the back somewhere. Just Wow.

This is bad news . Marks RF Boba Fetts I did not mind, but when I saw his Repro card backs for Boba with coins and stuff I thought how is he getting away with these, but now stormtroopers?
these are to far in my book.
Saying that if it was just the Shadowtroopers he was selling and the weapons were marked along with the figures then I don't have that much of a problem with him selling them as a custom.

Nothing wrong with custom figures but when these start to look like original items, they are simply fakes.

I hope the guy responsible will quickly realize this and will give these figures an easy recognizable....mark.

You know, these are a bad thing to the market if not marked properly as repro, but on the other hand, it could be usefull for army builders and making diorama's.

That beeing said, i like the tactic from Wolff, for trying to get more info on these and make Mark realize it's better to have them marked as repro. Problem is that so many people are bashing in to this guy (who is actually pretty forward in what he has for sale and had a clever idea with the soft limbs to "mark" them as repro without spoiling the look) and i think this will drive him away and sell outside the forums are either to people who contact them. you know these will hit the market, so why not try to collect info in a normal way instead off bashing him around before he even replied....

Anyway i don't care if these hit the market, but as others said before a "REPRO" coo would be nice to add (wich he can easily add to his mold). I can however appreciate the skills this guy has. if he wanted to fill his wallet, he would not have told anyone and just made these with hard limbs and a HK coo and sell them as minty Stormtroopers as singles or very small lots...

I hope for the community these still would be marked as "REPRO" as people will get screwed over time otherwise.

For those that aren't aware - Mark made a very public "leaving RS" post years ago (2004) because of concerns the RS community raised about his customs, the fact that he was asking for proof cards and hard to find figures at that time to study and then replicate pissed too many people off and he "left"..obviously he came back at some point..

Regardless of being a good cop or a bad cop with him over this particular issue he is and always will be a fan of making reproductions/customs whatever you want to call them. The fact that he makes almost perfect replicas is the worrying part for most of us and the fact that he doesn't seem to be able to stop himself pushing the boundaries. Of course it would be awesome to get him to wake up to things and be on our side but believe me he knows the communities reactions to his creations all too well and probably enjoys testing his skills to the limit.

Sometimes people are so proud of their work regardless of the general opinion they will show it off and think about the reactions later. I think he is a very proud and skilled guy but IMO this was just another "Mark Poon has gone too far" thread yet again gracing our screens.

When it comes to customs Mark's are the best and he has previously taken measures to ensure
they cannot be passed of as genuine.

I have been tempted on many occasions to buy a rocket fett.

I don't understand why he has wasted his talents on these, stormtroopers are not hard to find.
I'd rather see some of the modern figures recreated in vintage style.

Stargeezer wrote:

.....
That beeing said, i like the tactic from Wolff, for trying to get more info on these and make Mark realize it's better to have them marked as repro. Problem is that so many people are bashing in to this guy (who is actually pretty forward in what he has for sale and had a clever idea with the soft limbs to "mark" them as repro without spoiling the look) and i think this will drive him away and sell outside the forums are either to people who contact them. you know these will hit the market, so why not try to collect info in a normal way instead off bashing him around before he even replied....

Thanks for that! I apreciate it that people actually realize what Im doing in this case!!

This is SERIOUS guys. No matter what was done in the past (@ Joe_O I really didnt knew that) I think its best to involve Mark and not to piss him away!

All the forums...RS, TIG and others are only a small part of this whole collecting community. It helps nothing IMO to just bash on this guy! We are in charge IMO to bring him to the "light side".

The molds are made...the plastics are ready...and the spray masks are unbelievable good! What do you all expect he would do if we make him angry/feel execluded??? I mean....what does this effort cost you money???...its quite a LOT of money and we should help him getting these marked or whatever for the sake of this hobby!

...just my 2 cents

Hey if you can get through to him and in turn he marks these properly that is great Wolff (and co)

Maybe I am just a bit crabby about it all - given his history and his awareness of what is or is not acceptable in the community. He should know better and instead of throwing his toys out of the pram after people moan he should have stamped them correctly in the first place.

Markpoon will have his day, his day in court. I don't know if he realizes the severity of the issue, is he that naive? This is copyright infringement, this is no different than those who counterfeit professional sport jerseys, hats, designer labels, etc.

If he lives outside of the United States jurors diction , he'll probably go unscathed, if he does live in the US... Watch out. Selling these items as "customs" does not exempt him from copyright infringement laws. A repro label does not protect him from litigation. He's barking up the wrong tree.

My good lawyer friend does a lot of private investigations for organizations that have concerns of their products being "knocked- off." People dedicate their lives and careers to ending these operations. He's profited by selling his custom rocket firing Boba Fett, one recorded controlled buy will leave him with a hefty lawyer bill.

Counterfeits ruined the autograph hobby. It's obviously easier to counterfeit an autograph rather an action figure, but nevertheless, the integrity of the hobby may be jeopardized due to this type of ignorance.

If I were Mark, I wouldn't be parading all over the internet advertising copyright infringement. What he is doing is criminal and has truthfully left a really bad taste in the wrong mouth.

I read the thread on RS, but not all the replies here, yet. I just mentioned this in chat a min ago and was wondering if anybody else thought this. Even if he does do a Repro COO, what makes anybody think that some scammer out there wont take it and turn it into a No COO scarred one? I think Mark has went to the beyond with his latest shitstorm. Bad enough some people will go nuts over a minty white Stormie like they do with so-called variants out there, but for it to come out as a custom piece is the lowest of lows. And I seriously dont think Mark will be responding to that thread anytime soon since he's had plenty of time to do it while he was going back deleting his posts in it already. If he had anything to say to defend his actions on it, he wouldve done it, but he hasnt.

I still have not found a solution yet too! IMO thinking of recards etc it should even be recognizable from the front of the figure that it is a custom.

To me it doesnt matter if these figures have no leg markings at all, a repro stamp or a self made scar, because I know my coos and I would ofcourse spot it, so do many of us!
But its clear that it should be "readable" what it is for every collector in the world no matter how unexperienced he is!

Of course the letters must be negative in the plastic. If they are elevated they can be smooth away too easy!
That was my main point regarding the new revalT sabers! Its like stickers on custom crads marking these as customs but can be pulled away easily! So elevated marks would be worth nothing IMO.

I would like a "Repro 2012" stamped into the plastics and an additional marking from the front but I still dont know how??

mmmm, this is not good, as a fairly new vintage collector this is kinda sad because you never know if you have or will be scammed now.

It is good to help the hobby by trying to offer repros-customs to those who want them on items that are almost impossible to find but trying to mass market a common item just to try to make it pass as genuine and fool a lot of people and make tons of money is sad. One good thing is that he has been outed now so people know.


Ebay and auction sites should make it mandatory for people who sell figures to have people put more than one picture of their toys no matter what they sell. That ways at least you can "almost be sure" of what you are getting is pure vintage.

But no, at some point people have to be sure that they did not get scammed with their investment.

cheers!

I love how the community coddles this guy. He has been making repros(Vlix, packaging,repro IG-88 boxes) for years. They are repro's and not customs. As we all know, a custom is something that was never manufactured by Kenner. Everyone on RS is is saying "Let's give him time to respond"..."He's a good guy" etc. When it comes to any other person peddling repro's they burn them at the stake. This is my opinion, but he is no beter than the other guys selling repro weapons, cardbacks etc. He is just more highly skilled.

Damn, I was just about to start army building as well. This is not good news.

I would have to classify and products that are Similar or EXACT copies of a © copyrighted © product a bootleg.
Eg the Mexico boots and the Polish boots which are they same , albeit in different obvious colors.
Why is this product no different
A custom is something that has not existed before- like making a darth nunb or Han Stormtrooper, or making a sandtrooper out of a snow trooper.

It is not really a repro- if it has a ©, although it is a repro it is still a bootleg of a © product,

Its also in the intent.
If one sells these items as original that is naughty, naughty naughty even.. illegal.

LucasFilms Still owns the © on the products for 75 years in the US. This with our without a © is Illegal, as are all the bootlegs, other fakes, and repro items , weapons, figures, bootlegs, etc..

If one states repro it does not make it legal
It is a finer line with the packaging itself and Hasbro may or may not retain certain © on particulars of the packaging.

I know this because my Step father has made die cast toys for years, and has received on 2 occasions , the Cease and desist orders from Ertl on products which they carry in their toy line- even though his are much more detailed and had significant revisions.
best
Rob.

anyone know anything about the toltoys Jawa on the Bay right now
the seller responded after i requested a pix of the COO, "If you dont know what it is dont bid"
redflag ouchy, SMACK....

I wouldnt classify these with bootlegs. The reason is they were massed produced for those areas where the toys were not available. What Marks doing is a custom from the original toy to look like the original. Take one of his and a Polish bootleg side by side and you could tell the difference in them. Even if they were molded from the figures, the bootlegs are more legal than Marks. Besides, when have you ever seen a Leia with Tie Pilot limbs other than bootlegs?

I am shocked. Maybe we should contact Hasbro about this is legal ?

well it looks like he stopped everything and refunded everyone and went into some kind of hiding from what i read on RS. Maybe that is a good thing and he'll be scared enough and we'll have one less of these kind of seller on the vintage market.

cheers

I've been pretty quiet on the boards lately - still buying a few pieces here and there (including ironically one of my grail items - a loose Takara Stormie), but mostly taking a short break from collecting to get my mojo back.

This news makes me think twice about the hobby that I have been a part of for 18 years now (not counting the years I spent playing with them as a kid!)

As there are only certain harder to find figures left to get now, it seems everywhere you look there are question marks about what is legit and what might be a(n increasingly professional) scam. Red cape bib comes to mind as a classic example. Lets face it - the repros are getting better, and the guys making them don't give a fuck about collecting or collectors (otherwise they wouldn't be making them).

Now we're looking at actual figures being reproed...I'm in total disbelief. After years of collecting I've managed to put together a kick ass army for future dioramas I want to put together, and this just somehow cheapens that even though i know they are all 100% legit...


I'm just a couple of figures away from completing my Ledy run, and need just a few other variants to complete my current run of variants, but now am again wondering is it worth all the hassle of dealing with these repro making fuckers that are slowly but surely removing the joy from what should be a fun hobby. If only I could be locked in a room with a army of fake stormies and the feltcher that made them...he'd be shitting 'soft limbs' for weeks

Making your own custom figures out of original parts for your own collection use yes, but making fraudulent (possibly in mass) copies is a VERY BIG NO NO!! Does anybody know if these have hit ebay yet so we can report them? This is going way too far, unless they are really easy to spot but even so all the new collectors will still get screwed

& here you go...the sale begins

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Custom-Vintage-Star-Wars-White-Stormtrooper-Army-Trooper-Builder-Set-/160712479186?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item256b35d1d2#ht_1406wt_1270

I reported the item on eBay (it's a option on the page, report as counterfeit) & you should also!

& Tiefighterboy I totally agree with what you said.