Caveat Emptor - Let the Buyer Beware

[niankhsekhmet]

It came to my attention, through one of the many PotC related groups that I am in, that a supposed prop from the movie, nothing less than Captain Barbossa's hat, as worn by Geoffrey Rush in the movie came up for sale on eBay. You can see the auction HERE.

There were all sorts of red flags raised. The hat for sale was not really black, it was gray. There were too many feathers, there were erroneous pheasant feathers that were not nearly crumpled enough, and what about that visible two inch gash on the left hand side of the brim that was visible? Where was it now? Things did not smell right, and the folks over at the one of the pirate groups I belong to, were pretty much in an uproar. One of our pirate bretheren in this particular group, works for Disney - and is ever so careful about her associations, but she put the definite cabash on the seller, the auction and gave us this little reminder.

Q. Can I list scripts or props?

A. No. As a general rule, scripts and many other elements used in producing motion pictures and television shows remain the property of the producer. You should be very careful before listing or buying any props or other elements, such as scripts, which are stated to have been used in production. If you are interested in purchasing scripts or props, legitimate scripts and props are offered by Disney on its Disney Auctions site at www.disneyauctions.com from time to time.

V. For More Information About Disney

The Walt Disney Company
Corporate Legal/Intellectual Property Group
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, California 91521-0640

Email: Filmed.Enforcement@disney.com
or
Email: Product.Enforcement@disney.com
or
(818) 560-3300

http://members.ebay.com/ws2/eBayISAPI.dll?...erid=disneyvero


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Needless to say, this bloke is in BIG trouble! Between the lawyers at Disney, the Bruckheimer organization and eBay, I wonder if he won't have his account suspended in very short order. None of the above play around when it comes to this kind of thing.

A word to the wise - DO NOT be fooled. I know of a couple of friends now who through the love of the movie have bought things from this seller (and others) and now it is apparent that they most probably were ripped off through deception. Those of you who know me, know I buy most everything on eBay and I sell stuff there, too. I can think of no better place to buy my saris and really cool items. But whenever something like this happens it gives that community a black eye. The community is really good at looking after itself and making sure that sellers are legitimate.

Comments

[zahrah.livejournal.com]

probably will suspend the account. everyone is soo damn sue (sp?) happy!!

they need to get over it. just kick the fucker off of ebay. make sure he can no longer activate any other accounts.

that just sucks because it happens alot! people actually believe the shit and sometimes without photos!

we have an ebay store online that's private from ljers. it's hard to want to make deals for friends.

it's bad enough we have people who log in as another user in their married person's name and bid up a price higher to get more for something. you don't know how many times that happens to us. it's easy to figure out.

no we're just all stupid and nieve...

let me know what happens to this guy if you ever find out.

[henkuyinepu.livejournal.com]

I've seen a bunch of movie props for sale on ebay, though the only ones I'd trust are (the ones that Sony Pictures put up) pieces of the Spider-Man 2 movie costume. The same ones are also listed on the Sony auction website. People should know better than to try to pull off something like this anymore. I don't understand how more buyers aren't more careful when buying things like that, especially online.

[niankhsekhmet.livejournal.com]

The studio that made Cutthroat Island last year donated the entire inventory of that film to a LA charity that helps underpriveleged kids. Last year a ton of costumes and props came up and the costumes were REALLY nice. I mean you would be hard pressed to make anything so nice for like an SCA event, etc. The costumers for that film were just completely anal about workmanship and period authenticity. I think one of the dresses that Gina Davis wore, the lighter ones, weighed about 18 pounds by itself - and that is just the fabric. Most of that stuff is gone, and it didn't go for very much at all. I am currently bidding on some of the last remnants, a poster that was in the Port Royal scene. I mean there is good stuff out there, you just have to really check it and be careful.