WARNING: Counterfeit Cels

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that one of the RS members has a bunch of very likely counterfeit cels from the Sunbow GIJOE and TRANSFORMERS cartoons. The seller in question is Guardians Of Good.
http://guardians.rubberslug.com/gallery/home.asp


He had a bunch of Gijoe cels recently posted in his gallery that I firmly believed to be fake. I believe he has about seventeen gijoe cels that are counterfeit. The cels themselves didn't match up correctly with their screencaps. There were many differences. The colors were off. The production lines were off. Shadowing was off. Non matching backgrounds. Etc.,. I confronted him about these as he was just starting to try and sell them . He argued with me otherwise and stated they were his to sell if he saw fit. I told him I was going to warn other collectors about this and he has since removed most of the cels in question from his gallery. I also believe he has a few Transformers cels that are also counterfeits.


I just want everyone to be aware of this if you deal with him.


There's actually a Snake Eyes cel from Gijoe up on ebay right now that came from this person. I believe it to is a fake. It does not match it's screencap as well. It has a non matching BG.The character even has the wrong colored belts and armbands. They should be black not gray. The cel is from episode five of the "Revenge of Cobra" mini series.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270711825496&category=1532&_trksid=p5197.c0.m619


Please take note if you plan on bidding on this auction. The seller is ebay ID drbarker.

If anyone has any questions please ask.

I just wanted to vouch for the quality of character of the Guardians of Good member. I have dealt with him many times, in trading cels and merely comparing notes on cel hunting.

He is a good person and has always dealt with me fairly and usually I got a good deal too. I never got the feeling he was in it just for the money. He was always very knowledgeable about the cels he has, where he got them, and if they were legitimate.

Take this warning with a grain of salt please. This is just one person's comparisons of tv frames vs cels. There are big differences.

Anyhow,
Adam

I appreciate your reply Adam. Anyones thoughts on the matter are welcome.


Just so you know, I have about fourteen years experience collecting animation cels. Specifically Transformers and Gijoe cels from Sunbow. Which is what this matter concerns. Plus i'm sure i've had a longer history with "Guardians of Good" than you have as well. I know what this person is capable of. I know the tricks he pulls.


I don't understand your comment of there being big differences of tv frames vs cels. Could you please elaborate? In all my years of experience my answer to that is, ummm not really. Every so often a cel might show up that was a cut cel or something. That does happen. But pretty much the cel you have should match exactly whats on the screen. If it doesn't then you've got problems. And when you have literally seventeen to thirty cels like that. You've got major problems. Which is what is happening here.

As long as the item isn't being sold as having its original background when it does not, I fail to see what the issue is. A lot of members, including myself, have scanned our cels with non matching backgrounds.

It sounds to me that you're taking issue with collectors displaying their cels with non-matching backgrounds. As most items on RS are not for sale, could you please explain as to why this practice bothers you?

Ok, i'm not really sure how you're coming to that particular conclusion. Having a non matching background is only one of the things that I listed as being wrong with the cels. I'd actually say that the other reasons I listed are more pertinent. I mentioned the non matching backgrounds because it's one of the problems with the cels as a whole. No where did I say that was the only problem with them.


For example...The Snake Eyes cel on ebay I mentioned. Yes, it has a non matching background. BUT, if you watch the actual scene from the cartoon the character is supposed to have a BLACK belt,visor and armbands. That cel has them all colored GRAY. Something isn't right there.


This particular person has quite a few cels that are like that. And he is now trying to sell or trade them as being originals when I believe that even he knows they are not. Thats my problem.