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Thanks for the opinions, nice to know that some real collectors are still out their. Let’s look at something here on eBay, things that irritate me:

1. Swapping components to boost auction values & claiming that it is some kind of rare variation!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-Supe ... 7675.l2557

The donor…

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-Supe ... 7675.l2557

Oh look a rare red barrel, yeah right! Barrel is circa 1992 & sourced from a Peterbilt Cement truck.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-Supe ... 7675.l2557

2. Label swaps

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-SF-N ... 7675.l2557

Lost count of how many un-labeled Jaffa Mobiles I have seen on the market lately, a variation that was not known in the 1980s or 1990s… how many know the true origin of this one? I have never seen anything in print but I have been told by one of the veterans how these came about.

3. Wheel swaps

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-Supe ... 7675.l2557

Yes those bases just click out and the axle is swappable…

4. Chrome stripped models… yes the chrome can be removed without damaging paint.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-Supe ... 7675.l2557

Could go on & on just with this one seller yet it seems many are happy to spend the cash on these vandalised models

Scmcollection.

scmcollection wrote:Thanks for the opinions, nice to know that some real collectors are still out their. Let’s look at something here on eBay, things that irritate me:

1. Swapping components to boost auction values & claiming that it is some kind of rare variation!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-Supe ... 7675.l2557

The donor…

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-Supe ... 7675.l2557

Oh look a rare red barrel, yeah right! Barrel is circa 1992 & sourced from a Peterbilt Cement truck.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-Supe ... 7675.l2557

2. Label swaps

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-SF-N ... 7675.l2557

Lost count of how many un-labeled Jaffa Mobiles I have seen on the market lately, a variation that was not known in the 1980s or 1990s… how many know the true origin of this one? I have never seen anything in print but I have been told by one of the veterans how these came about.

3. Wheel swaps

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-Supe ... 7675.l2557

Yes those bases just click out and the axle is swappable…

4. Chrome stripped models… yes the chrome can be removed without damaging paint.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Matchbox-Supe ... 7675.l2557

Could go on & on just with this one seller yet it seems many are happy to spend the cash on these vandalised models

Scmcollection.

I agree with you on all these points and wish they were emphasised more in the listings. Believing that these vandalised toys are Lesney originals is like the Christian religion -either you believe or you dont - some respected members here honestly believe snap-on chrome stripped engines in SF34 F1 racers are as Lesney made them yet none were known prior to the advent of ebay and none have ever been found in factory sealed blisterpacks.

Hi

I love searching all kind of internet sides for rare and mint matchbox. I never have time to go to fleamarkets, toymarkets and other places where I have to be in person and spendt half a day on it. I work all week and have to gilrs that does athetic in the weekends so I only buy and sell online. I am mostly in it for the hunt, as soon as I have the model I will make photos and the sell it on. I only keep some 200-300 models that are my favorits, but one day I will sell those too.

When I buy online I never pay big money for the models, onless I know the seller from a forum or that I am 100% sure that it is real. I am rarely 100% sure and therefor I did not go for that lovly caravan sold yesterday for 500£

When I sell it is importent that I describe as I want other sellers to do, I hate a unsharpe photo and a decribsion that says look at photo on the other hand I have made some awsome bargains on that account.
For me it is also fun to find models for other collector and then offer them for money or swaps. I spend all the money I make on matcbox on rare models that I really love and those I never buy on ebay.

I have bought 4-6 fakes that I did not pay big money for, but still it pisses me off that I did not see it well some times it is also important to be willing to take a chance. But all the fakes out there will have glory days as long we alow them too, and buy there crap. (Im not talking about sellers that make nice restoration and sell them as such)

scmcollection wrote:Thanks for the opinions, nice to know that some real collectors are still out their. Let’s look at something here on eBay, things that irritate me:

...(message truncated)...

Scmcollection.

It irks me that sellers offer trinkets like that, but they are easily avoided. I can’t imagine the buyers are so uninformed they cannot see what they are buying is a tampered model? But what bothers me more is collectors are willing to buy them and driving a market for them, which I think is a fundamental shift in the Matchbox hobby. Rare models are hard to find for a reason, they truly are rare! Fakers of these cars have found a way to keep up with demand for these rare models by making their own, and they are much more refined than just some swapped plastic parts. Originality and provenance do not seem as valued by collectors anymore, and those things are of utmost importance to me. That is my reason for my disappointment with the state of the hobby.

You should have joined the discussion boards sooner. The particular seller, in the auctions you highlight, is a KNOWN FRAUDSTER and was exposed sometime back.

Some more things that really irritate me....

Swapping booms on Toe Joes & Transits to increase resale value and invent new variations. First of all the yellow body with white boom Toe Joe was never reported in UK Matchbox or Mica & owing to the large quantity of them on the market I feel it impossible that somebody in the early 1980s could discover a Team Matchbox in flat red sealed on a TP card at retail but not one of these now seemingly common Toe Joes. It should be noted that till this day I have yet to hold one of the legendary Team Matchboxes in my hand which at the time were reported in abundance!

The version in green with white jibs does exist but they are very rare indeed, in my opinion one that left the factory in this specification is rarer than the red body Toe Joe. The big problem is that the component is easily swapped from a Ford to make this Toe Joe thus when loose should be no more expensive than a standard issue & when carded treated with care as cards can be opened with solvents & then resealed, an expert once showed me how it is done! I would not pay anything extra for this variation (carded or loose) why should you when it could be made within 2 minutes?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No7 ... 35cfcc61c1

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No7 ... 35cfcc670a

This one is VERY rare indeed! Late 70s jibs on an early 70s model… how?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No7 ... 7675.l2557

Putting Brazilian, Bulgarian, Chinese Hungarian, & Macau models in English boxes, why? This is especially irritating with early Hungarian & Bulgarian models, how many yellow GT40s have been sold on eBay in the last 18 months packaged in Lesney boxes, its just not the way to do things as it buggers about with the provenance and confuses bidders, not to mention wastes my time in looking at it thinking I have found the rare one to discover its another Hungarian issue! I am surprised that these “spivvish sellers” didn’t think to put the plain yellow GT in a MP5 pack and go the full shebang!

Examples below with an Inbrima & a 90s Tetley Tea Promotional. The Horse Box should be in a blue window box, the Model A in a white mail order box. If its unboxed then its unboxed, don’t confuse the issue by putting it into a card box that pre-dates the toy by many years & hoping that maybe somebody whose first language isn’t English then mistakes it for a similar well known English variation & then overpays.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No4 ... 4d1669e074

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No7 ... 7675.l2557

More label swaps… this one is a pathetic attempt indeed!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No1 ... 7675.l2557

Component swap, this one is getting beyond a joke and those that pay a premium for it should be ashamed! At this rate orange cable trucks & red zoo trucks are going to become rare variations. Yes the Zoo truck can exist in a specific variation with an orange cab & chassis, it was reported in the last issue of UK Matchbox (Volume 8, N° 6 - page 207) & those that know their Matchbox will understand exactly what it “should look like” as far as I know the contrary version of a red cab and chassis / cables drums was never reported as being found in the 1980s at retail. Why anybody would spend more than the price of a standard model is beyond me.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No2 ... 35cf87a919

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No3 ... 35cf8f5dac

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No3 ... 35cf8f5c2d

Another component swap, 80s Macau boat on a late 70s Lesney trailer… It should be noted, the seller knows the difference a subtle shade makes but can’t seem to put his boats on the right trailers.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No9 ... 35cf7a4b21

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No9 ... 4d1637029f

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No9 ... 7675.l2557

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No9 ... 35cf7a4ca2

Wow look an ultra rare Gliding Club Jeep with US Mail tonneau… only 23 pounds, the buyer & underbidders need their heads feeling!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No5 ... 7675.l2557

Obviously no Acetone was used in the production of this one….

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No5 ... 35cf6a95b7

Look the rare version in G box, indeed very rare it would be if it was an original combination and look it’s the rare high visibility military version with ultra rare yellow plastic top. It should be noted most models offered by this spiv are rare.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No1 ... 35cf7e3de8

Look these Chinese are also into time travel, an early 80s cage slotted into a 90s cab & chassis gives you a pre-production look-alike, as always very rare – indeed 1 of 1 till you make another next month…

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superfast-No3 ... 7675.l2557

Bling as a NOUN, Expensive, ostentatious clothing and jewellery. As an ADJECTIVE, Denoting expensive, ostentatious clothing or jewellery, or the style or materialistic attitudes associated with them. It’s a ghastly word and when associated with toys can be rather chancy! Add a silly & for me this is the official rubber stamp of a spiv!

Hi Scmcollection

This is amazing how you explain this. I do not collect late superfast but I was not aware of this fraud. We have talked about these two sellers before her in the forum. Thanks for the great detective work and for showing I will look out more in the future if I want to start with late superfast

I have seen this seller's stuff, and there may be odd real models in there, but because of the fake stuff I cannot bring myself to even bid on the lower end common stuff.

My biggest laugh was quite a few months ago when one of his auctions had a 1984 promotional Pontiac Firebird SE in dark red with red interior and no labels in the auction. This model was only released in the dark red with red interior in 1984 as a part of a promotional item for a company called Maaco in USA. There was a large Maaco label across the front and 2 smaller labels on the sides. Oddly they had vanished from this one he was selling leaving a plain red Firebird. But then you scrolled down the listings and strangely enough there was a rare Maaco promotional BMW 5-series. Amazingly, a black BMW 5-series that Matchbox created and launched in the basic range in 1986 was sporting a label from a promotion that took place 2 years before Matchbox even created the casting. I actually burst out laughing at that. Although the worst part was, people were bidding on them both.

But because of stuff like that I cannot bring myself to bid on anything he sells. Even if it is a bog standard majorly common run of the mill model and is still only at 99p. When you show obvious fakes, even the real stuff becomes tainted.

All these faked non existent variations showing up for sale for me highlights the vital importance of good honest listings like Nick´s & Christian´s being available so that collectors are aware that variations not accredited by the respected elements of the collector community are most likely FAKES or CUSTOMS.
Most Danish & Swedish Matchbox collectors that I have met have no special interest in rare variations which they know could be FAKES or CUSTOMS - they prefer to own a standard example of the most well known colours in their limited to one of each model and colour collections merely to reflect the range as they knew it as kids. Like me they also tend to collect other brands with childhood significance so they have no need to obsess or dig deep collecting variations which are not so different from the common standard versions. It is useful to know which variation is which however those collectors who end up being deceived tend to be those obsessing over uncommon variations that they are unable to authenticate themselves from photographs which implies they are inviting a reaming in our money based culture where all profits arise from the different levels of knowledge + perceptions of value held by all potential buyers and sellers. Its like poker , dont play the game unless you are sure you have an edge or can afford to lose - we should only feel alienated from a game that we as individuals are not skilled enough to be playing profitably !

hear hear Mick