ChFalkensteiner wrote:tjlglass wrote:The original caravan that was discussed had crimped axles and was a genuine pre pro...
Just to make that perfectly clear: in Hardy's opinion that model was
not a genuine pre-pro. As he told me he thought the axle had been crimped by somebody by hand after the wheels had come loose due to heavy play.
I am not in a position to judge whether this assessment is valid or not, but I can confirm that this is Hardy's view of that model. And this explains why he sold it on cheaply after he had removed the glazing unit.
Did he think that someone had spun the rivets down (on the glazing) because it too had come loose during heavy play? How did the window glazing get riveted into that early model if it was NOT a prepro? How does he explain telling Christian that he traded the off the glazing unit (possibly inside another model) to someone for some other prepros when it's obvious that his auction model has the glazing unit in question? Why is there no disclosure of the tampering involved in the auction model?
We've already seen that Hardy's opinion isn't worth squat. When a person places a disclaimer into every auction, which assures buyers that each and every item they sell is genuine, then offer a tampered home made model ... that's called Fraud. When a dealer makes up a story about the disposition of a tampered model and then that model turns up in their auction, being offered as genuine; that's lying to cover up fraud. Once this sort of thing happens, it does not really matter what said person says next as too many lies have already been exposed.
Hardy told another member that the window glazing was loose inside the model and that he (Hardy) removed it out of fear of further damage. Those holes in that window glazing are drilled to excess. I've taken apart many models and never had to drill into window glazing to release it from rivet posts. To me, that indicates the window was very secure inside the previous model. That glazing survived 55 years of rough play and the only damage I see is a small crack at the rivet post. That crack can happen two ways: 1) When the glazing is riveted in place. 2) Due to pressure from the drill bit that's drilling off the rivet post. We will never know the answer and can now never trust any answer hardy might give.
No one else who's seen the original model in hand thinks that it was anything but a prepro. No one who's commented on all the photos shown (past and present) has posted an opinion that comes anywhere close to Hardy's. Since Hardy is standing fast on his personal opinion that he "thought" the model was NOT a prepro ... what value can the collector world assign to his opinion?
We've seen this exact situation unfold time and again with Fraudsters and Fakers: Too much untruth, non-disclosure of serious tampering and constant assurance that they sell only genuine original models. That combined with creating a false back story about where the removed glazing went is what pretty much comes to light every time some Faker or Fraudster is caught red handed.
kwakers
