When is "Original" not "Original"

[Batman29]

Ok, most of us have had pieces where we get a statue and an accessory is broken and then replaced by the manufacturer. Example: My SS Exc Mary Jane #9 came with a broken table, but the table is replaced by SS. Most of us still consider this original (or do most don't, ex if you were to sell it would you classify this as original or original with replaced table)? Picky, I know, but keep reading ... .

Next level: Now some of us have gotten a statue or base, broken, and we get one or both of these pieces replaced. Is this leve still considered "original"?

Now we go a little deeper: A statue comes in, but base gets broken, and there are no replacements. You have a few choices. Choice 1: You get the base fixed, and this is officially considered as original base with repairs, and if the work is great you say not noticeable. Choice two: You have doubles of the same statue, one high number, one low number; the low number one is broken. You peel off both of the backs, and you professionally mount the low number backing on the mint base and the high numbered one on the broken base.

Is this considered original? Is it ethical to say it is original? If you were to get it replaced by SS you still have the same end result where the low number is the same but the base has been replaced. Is the term "original" appropriate? At what point is it not original?

I mean if you were selling the lower numbered piece later on and you had it replaced by SS, I believe most of us would not disclose that the base had been replaced, because we would not think twice about it. But what if you replaced the base yourself in the manner I described? Is this now in the same vein as having the replacement from SS or is it a repair? Or what the heck do you call it?

How do you say it if you were to sell it and you wanted to be direct about the statue's history?

Ok, enough yapping from me.

 

[Blackthornone]

Factory original,original, original restored.

 

[Shai]

You're too obssessed with your collectibles, in a bad way I think...

 

[JosephCPR]

Get a life man...before it's too late

 

[Blackthornone]

You're too obssessed with your collectibles, in a bad way I think...

Well, if they weren't worth any money, or they were unlimited in number, that would be true, but you can't on the one hand have something that is rare and valuable, and on the other hand not care about it's condition, when that condition directly affects the real world value of the thing in question. If you don't care how much something is worth, only then can you not care about it's condition. If you don't care about your reputation or your integrity, only then can you not care about the way in which you represent your things, because the way you represent or possibly misrepresent your things has a direct reflection upon your character. When these things become so cheap and abundant that they are easily replaced, it is only then that people can really not care about their condition. When things are measured in dollars, that is a hard reality that can determine feast or famine, and so it matters how much those things are actually worth, and how to preserve their value, unless of course you are so rich that you don't think you ever need to worry about money as long as you live, so you will never have to sell any of your stuff as long as you live. It must be nice to be so rich as to not worry at all about the value of your things. I think it's great that people want to be responsible enough to carry out due diligence when it comes to representing the value of what they sell accurately. I've been the victim of fraud quite a few times on the condition of things, particularly those that have investment value, and as a result end up taking a bath on such.

 

[Nick]

If you don't care how much something is worth, only then can you not care about it's condition.

investment value

Dude you are ^^^^ing batty. If you want to invest, toys aint it. Reply if you want but keep it short. Goes on :baicon6: and on :baicon6:
and on :baicon6: and on :baicon6: and on :baicon6: and on :baicon6: and on :baicon6: and on :baicon6:

 

[Batman29]

Too obsessed with my collectables? I am in the forum called SS Freaks right/, lol!

Blackthorne, you have a point about "misrepresentation" .

At what point does it become a "misrepresentation"?

 

[Blackthornone]

Dude you are ^^^^ing batty. If you want to invest, toys aint it. Reply if you want but keep it short. Goes on :baicon6: and on :baicon6:
and on :baicon6: and on :baicon6: and on :baicon6: and on :baicon6: and on :baicon6: and on :baicon6:

When an Iron Man comiquette originally sells for $249.99, and less than a year later sells for over $1000, you are clearly mistaken.

 

[RJMacReady16]

Jesus, give the guy a break.

That's an awful lot of energy being exerted toward making ***** out of yourselves.

 

[nash]

lower number vs higher number is stupid imo. who gives a ^^^^ what number it is, the statue will spend 99.9999% of its life sitting on the number anyway. The numbers game is for chumps....and I like taking their money when I sell something with a low number.

 

[Blackthornone]

lower number vs higher number is stupid imo. who gives a ^^^^ what number it is, the statue will spend 99.9999% of its life sitting on the number anyway. The numbers game is for chumps....and I like taking their money when I sell something with a low number.

The more a mold is used, the more it wears out. As such, the level of detail is gradually lost on molded parts, the higher the serial number. THAT is why low numbers matter.

 

[amarcord]

The more a mold is used, the more it wears out. As such, the level of detail is gradually lost on molded parts, the higher the serial number. THAT is why low numbers matter.

I have read once that companies also start from high to low number (no joke), or from the middle to both ways.

and don't you think they use more than one mold?

 

[nash]

The more a mold is used, the more it wears out. As such, the level of detail is gradually lost on molded parts, the higher the serial number. THAT is why low numbers matter.

lol, you think some chinese factory worker sits at the end of an assembly line and numbers each statue as they come out of the mold in numerical and chronological order? what happens if more than one statue is brought out of the molds at exactly the same time then?! will there be a tear in the time-space continuum? Use your brain please?

 

[p!tu]

lol, you think some chinese factory worker sits at the end of an assembly line and numbers each statue as they come out of the mold in numerical and chronological order? what happens if more than one statue is brought out of the molds at exactly the same time then?! will there be a tear in the time-space continuum? Use your brain please?

i have to agree!!!

 

[p!tu]

PLus the # is not even on the statue just on the base!! you think they have all the bases line up to to what nash said!!

 

[EVILFACE]

If the defective part was replaced by a original production part, I would call the item original.

And the lower number item being "worth" more is lame. I'd only pay more if it was a number that ment something to me.

 

[nash]

PLus the # is not even on the statue just on the base!! you think they have all the bases line up to to what nash said!!

I think someone ate too much turkey.

 

[Blackthornone]

Too obsessed with my collectables? I am in the forum called SS Freaks right/, lol!

Blackthorne, you have a point about "misrepresentation" .

At what point does it become a "misrepresentation"?

Well, as long as it is exactly as it came from the factory, with no damage, then saying it is in new condition is not misrepresentation. If something is broken, then it isn't new, because that isn't how the company made it to be. I say that it should be case fresh to really be "new" to meet the most concise definition of the word. When you deal with collectibles, there are a lot of people who are really picky about condition, because these are emotional buys with no real world practical value, and so its all about emotions. People can get really fanatical when it comes to things they are really emotional or passionate about. If you are a pro in the collectibles, or art business, you understand this. In most businesses in this world, that attention to detail is seen as extreme, because it exceeds the level of the practical, but then, the rules of the practical really do not apply to collectibles or art, since they have no practical value in the first place.
People not familiar with the collectibles business see people fanatical about condition as unreasonable people, which, as I said, in a sense, they are, because collectibles and art are not based upon reason, they are based upon emotion. There are oil paintings that people pay millions of dollars for, when you could have an exact duplicate made for a few thousand. That isn't a purchase based upon reason. It isn't reasonable to pay millions of dollars for something you could make for thousands. But you say, it's because its an original by a great artist. What makes the artist great? The quality of their work. Therefore, if you make an exact duplicate of their work, you have duplicated the quality and greatness as well, and thus, according to reason, it should have the same value, but alas, it doesn't in the art world. Reason dictates that a thing is worth what it costs to make and perhaps, to distribute.

Basically, to avoid misrepresentation, you have to describe the piece to the best of your ability, and use due diligence to research what you can about the piece, to ensure that you do indeed know enough about the piece to describe it accurately in the first place. If you know nothing about a piece, you simply say so. You say, this is the piece, it appears to be in x condition, and this is what I want for it. You don't know if it's original, or licensed or not.

 

[quadcent]

oh yeah, well i have one better, it really isn't even on the base, it's hand written on the decal, then it's stuck onto the bottom of the base.

 

[Blackthornone]

I have read once that companies also start from high to low number (no joke), or from the middle to both ways.

and don't you think they use more than one mold?

Well, the fact is that the more a mold is used, the more it wears out. Whether the manufacturer starts with high numbers or low numbers doesn't change that. The number of molds is irrelevant, because no matter how many they have, they all wear out. This is why the fit and finish of a lot cars of a certain body style towards the end of the run isn't as great as the first ones were.
But yes, if they start the numbers arbitrarily, then to the true connoisseur, they would have to find out what were the REAL low numbers, so if they started at 2000 instead of 1, then 2000 would be the low number, or maybe they started at 1500 and jumped all over the place. Basically,the desire for low numbers is based upon having what is closest to the first, because the first of something is always worth the most.