| Fake Lord of the Rings Movie Props Scandal
A couple of years ago, I wrote an article, concerned that I had seen what appeared to be fake Lord of the Rings movie props on eBay, and advising caution when bidding.
Another collector recently contacted me, saying he had been a victim of these same sellers. He was kind enough to let me share his letter:
I came across your "Fake Props" article from Nov. 16, 2007 and thought you might be interested in the following information. For about the past 7-9 months or so two eBay sellers "auctiondepotla1" and "auctionshopusa" were involved in the sale of thousands of alleged entertainment memorabilia, ranging from "Lord of the Rings", "Gone With the Wind", "Casablanca" props to items owned by various Hollywood stars (Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, John Wayne) and historical icons (Al Capone, Mark Twain, Albert Einstein). Unfortunately, it has been determined that all of these items are likely fraudulent. Just a few weeks ago, eBay suspended "auctiondepotla1" due to a number of complaints regarding the illegitimacy of these items. "auctionshopusa" voluntarily pulled their listings prior to that.
I thought you might want to make your site visitors and fellow fans aware of this matter as these items are plentiful and in circulation. All of these alleged pieces are accompanied by a Global Antiques COA which is sadly worth just as much as the paper its printed on. In fact, Global Antiques isn't even a registered business and is completely unheard of in the entertainment memorabilia circles. Here are a couple of LOTR props that have been debunked:
http://www.originalprop.com/blog/?p=2756
http://www.originalprop.com/blog/?p=2422
Additional information on this scam can be found here
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. This was a very unfortunate crime, but hopefully once word spreads throughout the internet other collectors will be able to make an informed decision and not be taken as so many others already have. As you will see from doing quick google search, the word has already begun to spread, but the more people that can be reached the better.
The fellow who emailed me gave me links to a fabulous resource, a website called OriginalPropBlog run by Jason DeBord, who permitted me to post the links on this page.
There is a detailed list of Jason's blog article/pages regarding the fake Ebay auctions at the bottom of this page.
Search his site for more information on the fake LOTR props auctions, as well as others. Comments from some of the props sellers, particularly those involving shill bidding and combining genuine studio COAs with replica props will just make your blood run cold.
And here is an excellent article from AntiqueWeek newspaper, August 11, 2008 edition.
In any event, I have since heard from two other collectors who were also caught up in the same eBay props scam. One says eBay requested him to return the fake props to them to evaluate to see if they'd consider refunding. It has been several months since he returned the items to eBay, and they have not followed up with him.
If you are collecting clearly licensed Lord of the Rings material,and decide you have a yen for something movie-used, please, please please use caution when bidding on or buying props.
Remember, other than the film-used weapons that were in the Hasbro contest (most of which are in the hands of one dedicated collector now) or auctioned on the New Line Cinema charity auctions (which provided winners with holographed COAs bearing the New Line logo), there are very few real Lord of the Rings props available out there. Those that are, are in the hands of collectors who are very unlikely to let them go.
Peter Jackson and Weta have made it very clear that they've held on to the rest of the props, so don't expect to find them on the open market.
A handful have made it to reputable props websites, and a few have been offered privately by people who were involved in filming in NZ (who prefer to remain anonymous because they don't want to jeopardize future possible jobs in the industry down yonder), but outside of that...........
Caveat Emptor!!!!!
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Collecting Lord of the Rings Press Kits