Guys, please ... I have no desire to get into a pissing match with anyone, regardless of our point of view.
Actions speak louder than words, and in rare occasions, people just leap into the holes they dig.
I think I have a good reputation for being an honest, open, and very helpful person in the hobby.
I have also been fortunate enough to help, and contribute to several collecting books and magazines
over the years, and I have done everything for the sole purpose of trying to be beneficial, and share
things from my collection. I genuinely love collecting, and this hobby. If the only thing I cared about was
making money, I would take my site down and make everyone buy the information via a price guide, or collecting reference.
I have lost count of the number of people I have helped over the years authenticating, and reviewing various DT sabers
and/or rare Darth Vader pieces.
I also post a lot of this information freely on my site, and anyone is welcome to read it, and ask me questions at any time:
http://www.sithtoys.com/DTsabers.html
Todd - I really don't know what to tell you. We obviously look at things from two very different perspectives, however
I apologize for making a statement that offended you. I also followed up a statement to clarify things. I can assure you
that if you knew me personally, you would also know that I'm not the type of person to insult, or degrade anyone.
I have no collecting "ego" or anything of the sort. However, the only thing I felt/feel I "deserve" coming here, and trying
to help, is a little respect. What in my original post have you any sort of idea that I was being snobbish, or degrading ?
In terms of my "RS" backers, or people defending me out of hand - here is my profile on RS:
http://threads.rebelscum.com/showprofile.php?Cat=&User=857
I've been there for close to 10 *years*, and I barely broke the 1k post mark. I like to contribute as I feel, or on subjects I
enjoy, which is one of the reasons I wanted to join here. Unlike some people, I don't have any skeletons in my closet or things
to hide. I'm fairly easy to research on google under my name, or my site name "sithtoys.com"
~ back to the subject at hand. To put this in perspective, we are looking at a potential fraud/scheme on a level that even
some of the "older" collectors have never seen. Money-wise, we are talking about more than the price of your average American
HOUSE. So I think it is more than a matter of conversation to discuss this, rather I think people need to do everything possible to
uncover suspect pieces, and help bring justice to the people that are effected. In many cases, the effected parties are getting
double-shafted, by either having to refund other collectors directly, or have sold high-end items to back the purchase of one of these
fakes. The only people that are doing the right thing at the moment, are the collector's involved.
I am not trying in any way to create "drama", or inflame people's emotions. I'm simply offering information to the people which are potentially
effected, and offer an objective opinion based on my experience in the hobby. If anything, I am trying to soothe people's nerves on the subject,
and extend myself in any way possible to help. I have been in contact with Chris G. and Tom (Derby) who are doing the real nuts and bolts on
these pieces, and I will gladly help anyone get information to them, or contact them.
Bill