Chris Howes' Sculptural Creations

[The Drizzle]

Okay, that made me *actually* laugh out loud. Hope I didn't wake my wife up.

 

[captdan]

Alright. Here we go. I'm putting this entire e-mail up for full disclosure to you all.

You all have money in this, and so i think you deserve to at least hear something that i have going on with chris communication wise, even if you are not getting a response yet yourself. (Too which i would say, do not give up. Keep trying, and hopefully eventually you will get a response from him. He's very overloaded, and clearly he still seems to be trying to make good on his word to finish the work. But obviously, don't hold your breathe either. I think it will take him a while. But at least with him not taking any new commissions here, he can focus on the ones he has outstanding, and hopefully complete them all)

I'd really love to see chris make some refunds when he can, and keep sending off work.
I know this e-mail is gonna stir crap up, especially since half the posts here come from the person named in the e-mail. Which i'm sure will cause problems too. But i think we all deserved to know about this, and at least take it into consideration. I'm not saying we should believe every word chris is saying. But read it, and make your own call. We should also be careful of listening to what the famous "recaster" has to say too.

I should have my sculpt in the next few days, hopefully by friday. I'll post pictures and review it asap, and let you know how it is.

This is my 7th exchange with chris in just a few weeks, and he has been very thorough and thoughtful in all of his responses. Even when he didn't answer my questions about refunds to you guys, he always still responded. So while there is no news on if he is going to follow through on those, at least he's still communicating and working. Good news for those of you who are going to patiently try and wait it out. Bad for those of you who don't want to wait, or want to take legal action. Either way, best of luck to us all. (i'm gonna sink in my chair now, since i know this e-mail is gonna cause some serious mudslinging..)

from C. Howes <[email protected]>
to Michael blah blah
date Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 6:16 PM
subject Re: Hello!

It on it's way, I promise!! USPS delivery confirmation number (I checked the number, and it is valid, and leaving from Ohio, and everything looks legit)

Sorry, been seriously distracted with the harassment and stalking issue..... It's Dale Van Slyke, AKA captdan, AKA Diver4 (NOTE: I checked that name and it came up on ebay with dozens of sculpts.. so this seems true so far), the most notorious thieving recaster in the business is trying to destroy my life through harassment and stalking. I've tried to resist exposing him, I have no interest in hurting him despite all the trouble he's caused. He's the one stirring up all the trouble on SSF. He's contacted my professional clients trying to ruin my relationships with them, posted my address and phone number on the net while encouraging others to harass me with frivolous police reports and lawsuits, even written a nasty letter to my elderly father. (which I think I already told you) It's crazy. All because I asked him to no longer recast 2 heads of mine and to not recast any other work of mine in the future. This guy is scary!! I'm worried he's going to show up at my door with a gun.

I'm going to be posting an open letter to him demanding he cease and desist. He's actually committing a federal crime by concealing his identity while harassing and threatening me and encouraging others to do so as well. Not to mention all the violations involving the 100+ stolen heads he's selling.

Anyway, I apologize, he's driving me to distraction. You should have it in 2 days since I sent it priority. I hope you enjoy him!

I REALLY appreciate your kind words of support, it means a lot. If you could let people know that you are satisfied (assuming you are satisfied!) with him and that I'm not a monster, or whatever you are comfortable saying, I would appreciate it. I really am working hard to satisfy people, but it takes a lot of time and hard hard work.

Oh, yes, it's drilled for a truetype small neck joint adaptor. It fit snugly on the one I have here, so you should be able to pop it right on. A drop of glue should make it permanent. I look forward to seeing the end result. I did try hard to match the prototype as closely as possible. Each one varies a little, but it's pretty close.

Sorry to hear you had to work on the Fourth. That does suck, big time! I slept in.... not something I get to do very often!

Take Care,
Chris

Oh this is priceless, so now I am an infamous recaster and stalker...Give me a break, I wish I did have the kind of power he is referring to but I do not. It's pretty simple really, all he has to do is make good on the stuff that people have paid him for or provide refunds and all of this will go away. He is the one choosing not to do so. He is the one that has lied over and over again about stuff being done and shipped etc....

I did not start the thread that got the ball rolling and exposed the magnitude of how much money he has taken from people. I only found this forum through a google search on him. Once I found the forum did I jump on the bandwagon with a vengeance? Yes I am guilty of that, I hate getting ripped off and when I saw it was not an isolated situation I felt something needed to be done about it. That is the only thing I am guilty of....

I am not going to re hash all of this over again but this is just another one of his lies to try and divert blame to anyone but himself.....Why is it that people who rip others off always blame everyone else but themselves.....

I am not this infamous diver4 recaster selling 100's of stolen heads nor am I Chris.....I am not the one that has taken 1,000s of dollars from people and have not sent them anything in return.....

If this were true then why doesn't he come on here and confront me about it, I am not afraid of the truth being told. I have nothing to hide, he on the other hand apparently does.....

I am going to publicly state again that after 15 months of putting up with this crap from him I just want a refund of my $320, plain and simple end of story.....

 

[captdan]

All because I asked him to no longer recast 2 heads of mine and to not recast any other work of mine in the future. This guy is scary!! I'm worried he's going to show up at my door with a gun.

As I reread Husker75's post this comment by Chris struck me as odd....

This recaster started all this because Chris asked him to stop recasting 2 of his heads? I was under the impression that recasters could care less about what people think and are not going to stop recasting just because someone asks them to do so....This comment makes no sense to me.....

So let me get this straight in my own mind, one guy is recasting some heads that Chris sculpted and he asks him to stop, the recaster goes berserk and tries to ruin Chris's life. While all of this is going on Chris is happily taking money from people and sending nothing in return.

Sorry but this does not ring true that one person has been the cause of all of Chris's problems because he asked him to stop recasting some of his heads and has been stalking him and making his life hell since..

Chris's track record and actions speak for themself.....

 

[EVILFACE]

I don't see what someone recasting heads has to do with living up to your obligations that people have paid for.

 

[Husker75]

I don't see what someone recasting heads has to do with living up to your obligations that people have paid for.

BINGO! lol..

I think that is important to remember. No matter what the hell (and i have no freakin clue what is going on with all of this crap) is going on, nothing is going to excuse the lies and screw ups that chris has made in handling this.

I personally don't care if capt dan IS the recaster, or if he kills kittens or anything else.. he has every right to see this stuff and defend himself. And at least he's here to do so, while chris just sends e-mails.. *grumble*

But seriously..

This is some screwed up

I just give up trying to understand it all.

 

[Husker75]

I had a successful email correspondence with him too today, trying to keep optimistic as I'd still rather have my stuff than a refund:

C. Howes
to me

show details 11:32 AM (10 hours ago)


Reply

Follow up message
My apologies. For some reason I didn't have you listed in my hand written notes, but I see you were the first order. I will get your heads and cane out post haste.


Take Care,
Chris

Hopefully I'll see my stuff soon.

It does seem like his communication is improving on a case by case basis. But a bit too little too late, huh?
If he comes through for us though, i'd have no problem (if satisfied) spreading a little hope around. I think a lot of us who still want our heads could use it. But that is a big if.
That tracking number he gave me sure did give me some hope though.

I think i'm so jaded though, i just expect a priority box to arrive with a paper and the letters I.O.U. on it..

*crosses fingers*

 

[captdan]

BINGO! lol..

I think that is important to remember. No matter what the hell (and i have no freakin clue what is going on with all of this crap) is going on, nothing is going to excuse the lies and screw ups that chris has made in handling this.

I personally don't care if capt dan IS the recaster, or if he kills kittens or anything else.. he has every right to see this stuff and defend himself. And at least he's here to do so, while chris just sends e-mails.. *grumble*

But seriously..

This is some screwed up

I just give up trying to understand it all.

I really do not have anything to defend and this lie he is spreading about me makes me even madder.

For the record I do not collect 1/6th scale figures (although after seeing some of the awesome figures displayed here I may have to start) I collect Star Trek Statues and have everyone that that was ever made as far as I can tell including some very limited edition ones. When Chris offered to sell me casts of the 3 statues that he sculpted I jumped at the chance since they were never commercially produced, now 15 months later I regret ever having heard his name.

I am still trying to figure out how one recaster can cause so much havoc as he claims. If (and thats a big IF) any part of what he says is true hell just ignore the guy and as long as there are no grounds for any of the trouble he is causing it will soon come to light and the troublemaker will be very quickly discredited.

That is not the case here, if anything Chris has caused himself more harm with all the BS russian spammer's and recaster stories. I have been contacted by other members that also ordered the Star Trek statues from Chris that have yet to receive them a year later. There are people that ordered his Joker heads that were supposedly completed (way before he started all the commissions) that have yet to receive them. Same with the Summer Glau heads and now the House heads. There are people that posted they commissioned Chris to do a custom head sculpt of their father (sorry forgot the member's name, RKE something I think) a year ago with no updates or sculpt as of yet.....The list goes on...

I have no ill will towards Chris I just want all the BS to stop and for him to send me what I paid for or refund my money. I do not have any ulterior or underlying motive other than that.

I am still confused about his comment about him asking the recaster to stop recasting 2 of his heads that set him off on a mission to destroy Chris. I would think that this recaster would want to encourage Chris to get the heads done so he could get one of them and start recasting them. Chris's excuse just does not make sense and to me does not hold water.....

I think that Chris has it set in his mind that I am the cause of all his problems and I doubt that I will ever see what I paid for, I have accepted that and am going to do what I can to either get them, get a refund or make sure he pays for ripping me off. If I do get them I will post here that they have been received (or I got my money back) and never say anything about him nor have any dealing with him again. It is not a difficult situation for him to fix but he continues to refuse to do so, not just with me but most people that have paid him.......

 

[galactiboy]

If it wasn't so jacked up it would be a funny ass read... Chris really seems to have some serious issues with accepting responsibility. He made this mess (intentionally or un) and pointing fingers at one person does not help one bit.

And as was said before, Captdan (be he Satan or Diver4) didn't start the initial call to action, so the logic of the email doesn't really hold up. Not to mention a board member (Mollins) receiving a House sculpt from an eBay purchase while the people who commissioned it are still waiting.

 

[Jendini]

this is Chris's ebay sales page. he's got the House head listed here.

https://shop.ebay.com/merchant/howie_howie67_W0QQ_nkwZQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZQQ_ipgZ

Thanks Morbo. Man, that's unbelievable.

I don't see how anyone can be holding out hope that he will do the right thing. Clearly, people who have already paid him are not on his priority list at all.

I've lost $160 and I'm really upset about it. That's a LOT of money for me. The ones I ordered are way down the list too. There's no way he'll ever make them. The only way I'll see that money again is if the authorities make him give it back. But I assume he's already spent it.

Recasters? Responsible for this? Not unless they smashed his studio and stole the boxes he was taking to the Post Office.

 

[Shai]

Howes deserve that recasters stole his sculpts.At least,those people may sell them and actually delivers to the people who bought them.

 

[thainer]

I just hope that Diver 4 gets his head. At least then I could pay ten bucks and get one as opposed to $45 and sweet F--- all. That being said I would prefer a refund but is there any point in emailing him and asking for one? I feel like I should jumpon the litigation band wagon and sue his ass cos I am just getting more and more angry as time goes by. Plus, my wife, who thinks I spend too much money on custom heads, is completely pi$$ed at me cos this scumbag ripped me off. Well, I am not doing much right now so maybe I will drop him an email. Wish me luck.
Mike

 

[Doom Saber]

I think the difference with Dan and Chris is that Dan's stories is more consistent where as Chris seems to first blame Russian Spammers and than accusin' Dan, who collects statues, as a recaster

If Dan was truely a recaster, he wouldn't make much money recasting Trek Statues since because they would cost a lot and I doubt there are a huge demand of unpainted ST recast

Besides, if recasters is the reason why Howes doesn't work on his hs, then why did he wanted to do 1/6 hs? If he is so scred of ppl recastin his sculptures, then he should do somethin else because recasters do also make copies retail things as well. If Howes made some recent toybiz toys, he should be concern of ppl recastin the hs of retail producst and sellin it on their site.

If one really wants to see if Diver and Dan are the same guy, lets ask Dan what state he is at.

 

[Cryoguns]

Howes deserve that recasters stole his sculpts.At least,those people may sell them and actually delivers to the people who bought them.

The sad thing is...if the last two Glau sculpts never get finished, I may have to track down someone with a bald one and ask if we can borrow it, then send it to another customizer to see if they can finish the last two versions that Chris hasn't been able to (Cameron and Cameron BD, both with sculpted hair). The base sculpt is incredible and he nailed Glau's likeness dead-on.

I really DO NOT want to go that route though. I'd like to think that with the base Glau sculpt done, Chris can get the last two versions finished. It's an absolute last resort if things completely fall apart.

 

[vader]

The sad thing is...if the last two Glau sculpts never get finished, I may have to track down someone with a bald one and ask if we can borrow it, then send it to another customizer to see if they can finish the last two versions that Chris hasn't been able to (Cameron and Cameron BD, both with sculpted hair). The base sculpt is incredible and he nailed Glau's likeness dead-on.

I really DO NOT want to go that route though. I'd like to think that with the base Glau sculpt done, Chris can get the last two versions finished. It's an absolute last resort if things completely fall apart.

Just a thought - maybe if people could be a little less hostile to Chris and be a little more supportive - just like people have been supportive of other artists here falling behind on their commitments due to personal life situations - it _might_ just happen.

I avoided chiming in on an already convoluted thread. But really - the insults and name-calling are unnecessary.

When Chris started here, everyone had but positive things to say about his work. People were starting "interest" and "commission" threads left and right - wanting Chris to tackle the job. Now that he's a few months behind because of "personal problems" he says he's having, everyone's calling him names now?

Don't get me wrong - I'm neither pro nor anti anyone here.

Just thought that it might not be a bad idea if people were a little nicer about this - just as they have been nice to the other artists who also missed their deadlines. Or does one have to be in the inner circle to be treated nicely?

Peace.

 

[Mollins]

Vader, I think it's beyond that now though.

People are complaining that they've been lied to and aren't recieveing their heads.

Now, I biught a house head off of eBay, and I've got it.

Nobody that was part of the original commission bar ONE person has theirs.

I really do think Chris needs to pull his head out of the sand, and live up to his cimmitments, make some updates, and actually ship things out.

 

[Commtech]

You know vader, I felt the same way at the beginning, but after all the lies, there's no way he's getting any support or tolerance from anyone.

 

[icruise]

Just a thought - maybe if people could be a little less hostile to Chris and be a little more supportive - just like people have been supportive of other artists here falling behind on their commitments due to personal life situations - it _might_ just happen.

Just thought that it might not be a bad idea if people were a little nicer about this - just as they have been nice to the other artists who also missed their deadlines. Or does one have to be in the inner circle to be treated nicely?

I can only assume that you haven't read the whole thread. I was saying much the same thing a while ago, but it gets pretty difficult to defend him when he makes no attempt to communicate with the people who paid him, and when he's immediately sending out heads to ebay buyers while making the original commissioners wait for months.

People aren't upset because he's a little behind. We understand that life happens. But as I said to Chris in an email (which he ignored), you have to communicate. He just ignores us. What are we supposed to think? I wouldn't be surprised if he's trying to make the situation worse, so he can feel justified in ignoring us.

 

[thainer]

Here is a copy of the email I just sent to Chris. Let's see what happens.
Chris,
Hi. How are things with you? Just a little background:I paid for a House head and cane set back in December of 08 when the commission was started and have been waiting mostly patiently since then. But several things have come to light (most notably the fact that people are buying off eBay and receiving House head and cane sets) that make me despair of ever getting my set. To which I would just like to ask for a refund of the money I sent you and then I will go my way. Thank you for your attention in this matter.
Mike Thain (thainer at SSF)

I guess my big question in this is not about the wait. It is why the F are people buying the House sets off ebay and receiving them in a week and I have been waiting for more than 8 months for the same thing. That was when things really went south for me.

 

[ProgMatinee]

once he gets a head cast he has a choice:

1. fulfil an obligation
2. get more money

Its clear that he'd rather have more money than fix his shoddy reputation.

 

[the vampire with soul]

Ok so he not makeing anymore head....THEN GIVE US OUR MONEY BACK!!!