yes folks, Bruce did indeed email me Thursday night after the auction
and said he believed it was a fake
I had actually inquired humorously about the piece and it caused
Bruce to look at the item.
I've seen some of these fakes.. they are very talented pieces, so it
doesn't surprise me that people have been fooled by them especially
considering that in many cases, most people have never seen original
posters on these titles.
I applaud Bruce for coming forth right away, just as I applaud others
who have made similar mistakes
Rich
At 06:54 PM 11/16/2009, Bruce Hershenson wrote:
I see I made a couple of typos, so I will correct those, and add yet
another mistake we made that was discovered today:
Sorry, Charlie. Yes Sean "made this known" (without ever e-mailing
us), but that was only because we felt it was only fair to make sure
the consignor heard from us before "going public", as we were about
to do, whether or not Sean had ever e-mailed).
As I stated, the morning after the auction closed, I e-mailed the
high bidder telling him the auction was cancelled, and I auctioned
the consignor telling him why I cancelled the auction, and I
e-mailed Rich Halegua, who had inquired about the auction.
30 hours later Sean posted to MoPo apparently thinking I was unaware
it was fake, but in fact I was simply waiting to hear back from the
consignor before I responded, so he wouldn't learn of this from MoPo.
But 2 months ago I clearly stated that I had looked at the fakes
sent to me by Grey, John and others, and I had concluded then that I
might well have been fooled by the better ones.
What makes eMoviePoster.com a "fake-free" zone is not that we have
never and will never sell fakes, but that we guarantee that we will
make good on any item that proves to be fake, even if it is
discovered years later, and that we will always reveal what occurred.
We make mistakes all the time (at least once a week on average,
sometimes two or three). When you auction 2,000 items a week it is a
certainly this will happen.
Just today Jeff Rosen e-mailed us about some Empire Strikes Back
mini-lobbies that he thought might be fake, and we took them out and
they clearly looked questionable, so we ended the auction and will
return the items to the consignor. Had he waited until two days
after the auction closed to tell us, would that have ruined out
reputation? I hardly think so. If those mini-LCs had gone
undiscovered, and they had been sent to the buyer, we would have
refunded his money any time he returned them to us as questionable.
Also just today Harry Caul from the MoviePosterForum e-mailed us
that a Matrix poster we listed was a repro, and we verified what he
said and ended that auction.
Both those items (like the Son of Frankenstein LC) were prepared for
auction while I was in New York helping my mom. If I had seen them
before the auctions, would I have caught some or all of them? I
can't say for certain, and it really does not matter. What
distinguishes us from other auctions is that we go to far greater
lengths to not sell any fakes, and we maintain a database of fakes
(and how to identify them) so that we almost never make the same error twice.
Bruce
On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 8:27 PM, Bruce Hershenson
<<mailto:brucehershen...@gmail.com>brucehershen...@gmail.com> wrote:
Sorry, Charlie. Yes Sean "made this known" (without every e-mailing
us), but that was only because we felt it was only fair to make sure
the consignor heard from us before "going public", as we were about
to do, whether or not Sean had ever e-mailed).
As I stated, the morning after the auction closed, I e-mailed the
high bidder telling him the auction was cancelled, and I auctioned
the consignor telling him why I cancelled the auction, and I
e-mailed Rich Halegua, who had inquired about the auction.
30 hours later Sean posted to MoPo apparently thinking I was unaware
it was fake, but in fake I was simply waiting to hear back from the
consignor before I responded, so he wouldn't learn of this from MoPo.
But 2 months ago I clearly stated that I had looked at the fakes
sent to me by Grey, John and others, and I had concluded then that I
might well have been fooled by the better ones.
What makes eMoviePoster.com a "fake-free" zone is not that we have
never and will never sell fakes, but that we guarantee that we will
make good on any item that proves to be fake, even if it is
discovered years later, and that we will always reveal what occurred.
We make mistakes all the time (at least once a week on average,
sometimes two or three). When you auction 2,000 items a week it is a
certainly this will happen.
Just today Jeff Rosen e-mailed us about some Empire Strikes Back
mini-lobbies that he thought might be fake, and we took them out and
they clearly looked questionable, so we ended the auction and will
return the items to the consignor. Had he waited until two days
after the auction closed to tell us, would that have ruined out
reputation? I hardly think so. If those mini-LCs had gone
undiscovered, and they had been sent to the buyer, we would have
refunded his money any time he returned them to us as questionable.
Bruce
On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 6:44 PM, Smith, Grey - 1367
<<mailto:gre...@ha.com>gre...@ha.com> wrote:
I beg to differ, I believe it was Sean Linkenback who made this
known! There is no "fake-free" zone!
On Nov 16, 2009, at 6:27 PM, "Steven F. Poole"
<<mailto:stand...@ll.net>stand...@ll.net<mailto:stand...@ll.net>> wrote:
This just goes to show how deeply the "virus" of these fakes have
permeated the market and the hobby. When a highly respected
operation like Bruce's can be taken in (at least through the
duration of the auction) there really does not seem to be any
absolute venue for purchasing Universal horror material without some
concerns. I applaud Bruce in making this known in a transparent
public way. It certainly does not give eMovieposter a black eye, but
it does underscore the necessity for vigilance in this sector of the
poster world.
I'm curious if anyone who collected the Universal Horror material
has backed off since the problem of the fakes arose.
Steve
----- Original Message -----
From: Bruce Hershenson<mailto:brucehershen...@gmail.com>
To: <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>
<mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU<mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 11:08 AM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] Bruce and restoration
The card is almost certainly fake. I was waiting to hear back from
the consignor before posting publicly about it, because I didn't
want him to learn of it in any other way than directly from me.
I have not heard back from him, and I have posted the explanation of
what occurred in my latest club message.
For those here who are not members, here is that section of the club message:
I went away for an entire week on family business, and
eMoviePoster.com<<http://emovieposter.com/>http://eMoviePoster.com>
ran just fine without me!
Last week I went to New York, because my mother is ailing, and I
needed to help her move into an assisted living facility. Needless
to say, this was a stressful time for everyone concerned, and my
first thought was to have no auctions during the week I was
traveling, but I knew that my 23 employees were completely able to
run not only the auctions, but every aspect of the business (except
for these club messages, which I prepare personally), so we
conducted "business as usual", and just about everything ran
smoothly in my absence, which is a real tribute to the skills of all
the people here!
There was one problem that would NOT have occurred had I not
been traveling. Just as I was leaving, a new consignment arrived
that included a lobby card from Son of Frankenstein. Since our next
lobby card auction will not be for several months, I told my
employees to include that card in the auction of single lobby cards
that was just about to start, even though I could not examine the
card. I knew that I was returning just as the auction was ending,
so if the card proved to be one of the infamous "Universal fakes" I
could cancel the auction and return the card to the consignor.
I returned Tuesday night as the auctions were ending, and I
looked closely at the card, and it is almost certainly a fake. It
has all the tell-tale signs of the fakes (it appears to be restored
on the back, but it was NOT paperbacked), and when you look
super-closely at the back, you can see defects on the back that do
not perfectly match up to defects on the front.
So as soon as the auction ended, I e-mailed the "buyer" to tell
him I was canceling the auction (and why), and I also e-mailed the
consignor to alert him to what had occurred, so that he could
contact the person he bought it from, and get a refund (if
possible). The high bidder was understanding, and I have just heard
back from the consignor that he purchased it from an English
auction house, so one would certainly hope he will get a refund
just as soon as he returns the card to them.
This makes me conclude two things:
1) I need to continue to personally inspect and grade ALL restored
items
eMoviePoster.com<<http://emovieposter.com/>http://eMoviePoster.com>
offers for auction. I made an exception this one time because of the
unusual circumstances (and because I knew I was returning as the
card ended), but I won't make any exceptions in the future, and I
will continue my policy of not auctioning ANY items where I have ANY
doubt as to its authenticity.
2) Given that this item turned up in an English auction, it shows
that the fakes are spreading all over the globe, and ALL restored
expensive items (especially Universal horror) must now be
scrutinized EXTREMELY carefully to be certain of their authenticity.
On Sat, Nov 14, 2009 at 3:47 PM, Sean Linkenback
<<mailto:slinkenb...@comcast.net><mailto:slinkenb...@comcast.net>slinkenb...@comcast.net<mailto:slinkenb...@comcast.net>>
wrote:
Speaking of restoration and lobby cards.
If the winner or consignor of the Son of Frankenstein lobby card
that was sold in Bruce's auction this past Thursday is on the list,
I would be interested in talking to you.
That particular card was sold 3-4 times by Kerry Haggard to
individuals and all turned out to be fakes. The one Bruce had
looked exactly like the one that Haggard used to make his fakes, and
I would be very interested to learn where it came from.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Conway"
<<mailto:treasur...@earthlink.net><mailto:treasur...@earthlink.net>treasur...@earthlink.net<mailto:treasur...@earthlink.net>>
To: <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>
<mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU<mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2009 3:16:56 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central
Subject: Re: [MOPO] HERITAGE, linen.......
I wanted the Abbott & Costello Meet Frank lobby cards but the
restoration on all of them detered me.
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael B
Sent: Nov 14, 2009 1:18 PM
To: <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>
<mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU<mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>
Subject: [MOPO] HERITAGE, linen.......
i am hesitant (meaning that i usualyy don't buy) linen posters
because images cannot show the repairs/damage. heritage's images of
linen make it hard to see the repairs, even when you enlarge. don't
think i am anti-heritage: in the last year, i purchased about 10
good pieces, unrestored. condition was excellent on each, just as
the pics showed.
check out heritage's THE THIRD MAN 3 SHEET on
linen:
<<http://movieposters.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=7014&Lot_No=89469>http://movieposters.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=7014&Lot_No=89469>
http://movieposters.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=7014&Lot_No=89469
was this a good buy? the winner appears to have been at the auction
live. this THIRD MAN sold for less than the one sheet.
their NOW, VOYAGER one-sheet on linen didn't get a lot, although
this is a highly-sought after title.
are linen pieces decreasing in value? you all know my
anti-restoration thoughts, but nearly all three sheets have been restored.
michael
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