There's a "Columbian Boy pony" on ebay...can anyone give me more info?

[Princess Locket]

I dont think at first it was to scam people, but to sell ponies as a profit.

Sadly when you are talking about making this amount of money I think it can make people do things they might not normally. Just of of curiosity how did he know a columbian my little pony was worth money and to look for them? (sorry if that's been mentioned but the thrread is getting sooooooooo long!) When i started collecting I was stunned that ponies also came from Italy, Greece etc I just assumed ponies were the same around the world

Hi everyone.
I'm really devastated and i have seriously thought about quitting collecting ponies after this.
I'm super sure that we will hear soon more bad news about this.
thanks everyone for the support.
M!

*big hugs*
I really hope you don't end up quitting over this. I know its so awful but don't let this terrible experience ruin something you enjoy! At the least you've got a great community of people to support you

 

[Midnight Fireflies]

Ok so Mr. Pink sold for almost $1,400 on ebay... wonder if the buyer is on the TP?

 

[thebeth]

yeah I noticed that... I certainly hope not- I feel like everyone here was very skeptical about the authenticity of this pony.

 

[thebeth]

We found these ponys door-door.. searching in the very poor parts of the city. We searched with the poor people selling items dug out of the trash.. selling these items on the sidewalk for food.
I have provided pictures of us searching these places...

Colombia dosent have anything that resembles a thrift store...

Colombia is not like the USA.....no garage sales either.

The people dont throw away things because the dont buy anything they dont need (typicaly). If a person has a pony the might have it in their home more as a decorative item.

The rest of the story is soon to be reveled... and will completely explain why I have found a special connection that provided me with excellant pony's.

I dont restore pony's... I have no interest to restore pony's and sell them as origional. I have some origional hair from Colombia and would like to find a person who could restore pony's for me... but only if it would be at a profit. You see I am not a collector; I am a business person.

that seems very weird...

something seems fishy about the factory... it seems that it may play a huge role in all this. along with the prototypes.

I agree... I feel like the factory may have to do with the something "soon to be reveled..."

 

[Loa]

Hey guys,
Please don't forget the transaction in question did not happen here. If you have any issues with Arena policies, please contact the mods there. What you are questioning, we can not answer for you here (as I've stated the transaction did not happen at the TP). Thanks!

However, in saying that, we are doing what we can behind the scenes, so while the TP is not involved in this transaction in any way, its not fair to our mods team, or as Satin Slipper said "our community", to have members come and attack or heartily debate our choices.

As we've all explained to Lars, we are a tight knit, upstanding community, so lets not point fingers!
SoSilver has my deepest sympathies, as he is a sincere, passionate collector (love you Marco!), and Lars did not see the communities passion coming!

So if you do have an issue or concern resulting in what the Arena's mod team has decided, please feel free to ask any of our mods, as we smell good and are approachable! (... I have showered today!)

 

[Sindel]

Hmm... he didn't even bother to answer my question.

 

[babyblueducky]

wow. what a difference 24 hours make. i missed out on so much. good to see others showing interest in this topic. weird how it started out asking about the mr. pink pony to this debate about the authenticity of the pony and its owner.
so is the auction over? i never got around to looking it up. if it is, can someone post it so i may see it.

 

[Alli]

Heres the auction link:

My Little Pony Colombian Pink Boy Exclusive rare

 

[babyblueducky]

ok, here is a post he has made at the arena regarding pics of the pony showing inside his head and body. so i guess he decided to remove the head before the auction ended to prove he isnt lying about it being a rehair.
Do these pictures display genuine or fake boy pony?

i was starting to think it has its original hair, it was just washed and carefully groomed. but the symbols are what stands out the most being restored.

 

[space]

i know he was told that restoring them would decrease their value, so if he did send one to be restored... it would be in his best interest as someone interested in the money and nothing else, to withhold that information.

i'm not really buying the miscommunication card, because he asked so intensively about restoring, has the hair, and took time to look into it. but he totally avoided using the term restored... in that new post. instead he claims it's been called "fake" ... is he clueless, or cunning? that's that question.



i can't believe he cut the head off the pony, though. the person who bought it on ebay may not be too happy about that. and it just adds something else to the list... it seems he's not really aware of what exactly he's doing business wise. he lacks so many basic business skills. but, scammers often do lack business skills.


and... yeh... how'd he even know about ponies? how'd he get into selling them? does he have a story somewhere?





as a side thought:

i'm waiting for some country that still owns the old molds to catch on and start producing the old ponies. every time i see a fakie in an original mold, i think... maan... that looks like some of the ponies you all call nirvanas... throw on the correct symbols, and a factory could milk that market until people caught on. and at $1000+ a pony, that's REALLY scary. obviously hasbro had no control over the markets in these small countries, because the ponies characters are not preserved the way they are when released in the common countries.

i think this issue is especially interesting to me because i always wonder where nirvanas actually came from. since hasbro admits they sold the molds, and it's not uncommon to sell a license to a company to sell a product. i could buy the rights to create a monkey based on a character and then sell it officially using the official logos and such, as long as i follow the basic guidelines the company provides. but artistic license is up to me, within reason.

is there info on those details?

 

[Sindel]

Perhaps someone needs to settle the issue by pointing out the "spot the difference" pictures. If there are two ponies, clearly one of them has at least had the symbols restored.

But that may just give him the option to say there are 3 of them.

Personally, I know this may sound harsh but I'm glad he's being given such a hard time over this. He doesn't deserve to get off scott free with how he treated SoSilver, and now that it's known he did a similar thing to someone else... let him sweat over these accusations.

I hate to think how much he and his girlfriend are offering those people in Columbia for these ponies. I think it's very different to finding a Punzie in a thrift store. A thrift store you go back to, buy other things, even donate to their cause. They sell plenty of things and raise money for them.

But for example, to pay a poverty stricken person even $1 for a plastic toy you will then sell for over $1000... that is just robbery. I'd like to think if I were so lucky I would give the person a decent amount of money. Now we don't know how much he gives these people, but he hasn't really shown a lot of morality with how he treated SoSilver - it was all about the money. Fancy offering to make up for it by offering to sell him another pony for $2000? That's disgraceful!

Sorry to rant, but it really makes me angry that people like this exist and take advantage of our passions and possibly other's poverty. I get angry when I see a common pony on Ebay with a $40 buy it now price. This is taking this to the extreme.
Feel free to edit my post if you wish mods.

 

[Gypsydancer]

Okay. I think this needs to be said.

Not everyone treats collecting the same. Some are not as sentimental as others about their collecting and selling. As such some people do think of it as a business. When treating it as such you'll have your gamut of business people and their ethics. Not all business people are unethical, it's a person to person thing just like collecting. I think people should keep this in mind.

As far as how much he paid people in Columbia for their ponies, it does not directly matter. What matters is if people are willing to buy the pony for the high amounts he's placed on them. If there is no market, he gets no money for his Colombian ponies. We set the price ultimately, not him. If you don't want to support him, simply do not buy. End of Story.

In regards to the way he's being treated or is treating others. That is first of all a personal matter. Communication is between two people firstly. Him and his buyer. If that is lacking, then it's time to approach with a mediator. Getting other people involved does not help an already messy transaction. If there are enough communication problems that bother you as a buyer before finalizing the transaction, do not follow through. Bow and take your leave if you feel that is best.

People are people, they are not all the same and not all with get along. This being said not all transactions are smooth, polite or amicable. I could do a transaction with X person and have everything go smoothly and then my friend can have a transaction with X and have it end being disappointed and put off from working with them. It's a personal transaction on these boards. This was why they were created. If you don't like the person, their policy, their price, their attitude, whatever.. You don't have to buy it. It's your choice.

Also, just like advertising making a big fuss over this only fuels the situation. Good or bad advertising is still advertising. If you don't want people to pay attention, don't give them the advertising. Please understand, I am not saying to brush it under the rug and pretend it didn't happen. Proper information and documentation will help any people who are willing to look for that information in the future. Being informed is important as a buyer, a collector and a seller. I know we are a community and look out for each other. This is a wonderful thing. I'm merely saying, making a fuss makes a bigger fuss if you are not directly involved.




With all that being said I am not here to support any particular person. I am not a personal friend of lars or of SoSilver. This is my opinion on the matter from a Marketing Perspective. I just wanted to give people a bit of information.

This whole incident is unfortunate. I am sorry that is happened to any person who would invest so much money into something that means a great deal to them.

 

[SoSilver]

Hi Gypsidancer.
I'd like to pint out that i liked Lars policy, price, attitude and "whatever" until i made the payment.
The trobles emerged only after i sent him the last part of money.
I didn't wanted to make any big fuss. I have just posted my problem in a feedback section of a forum just to leave a feedback about a seller.
thank you.

 

[Gypsydancer]

I am well aware of what has happened in your case, SoSilver. I just wanted to point that out as general information to anyone when making transactions. I'm terribly sorry for what did happen to you and hope you sharing your information will help others.

 

[Pikabubba]

i can't believe he cut the head off the pony, though. the person who bought it on ebay may not be too happy about that. and it just adds something else to the list... it seems he's not really aware of what exactly he's doing business wise. he lacks so many basic business skills. but, scammers often do lack business skills.

I asked him to remove the head and to take clear pictures of the end of the tail inside and the hair plugs inside. I said clearly to him that heads pop off easily BUT If there's any difficulty taking the head off (glued or just generally stuck) to let me know. It was his call to break out the scapel and cut around. To me the pictures aren't clear and I can't really see too well what's going on in the insides. From what I CAN see, it looks like a finished custom of mine once the glue has dried inside the head.

As for the arena issues, again, please keep arena policies to the arena or PM the mods directly. Thanks

 

[BlitzN]

How horrible for the buyer that he removed the head >_< It totally affects the value in my eyes esp when we're debating authenticity.

And likely tried to restore it (sounds like he will say whatever needst ot be said to make money so I wouldn't believe his claims otherwise). For that much money I would hate to get a poorly restored pony, and one abused/decapitated on top of it, but it sounds like it worked. People may have bought into its apparent mintiness.

 

[Skeen]

I asked him to remove the head and to take clear pictures of the end of the tail inside and the hair plugs inside. I said clearly to him that heads pop off easily BUT If there's any difficulty taking the head off (glued or just generally stuck) to let me know. It was his call to break out the scapel and cut around. To me the pictures aren't clear and I can't really see too well what's going on in the insides. From what I CAN see, it looks like a finished custom of mine once the glue has dried inside the head.

That's what I thought! Whoo, I hope whoever dropped that kind of money on a possibly-restored pony doesn't mind its head having been hacked off! If I was the buyer, I'dask for a partial refund - the pony the buyer gets was altered after the pics were taken for the auction, so what he bought isn't what he's getting. I hope the other side of the head isn't damaged by lars's chop-job.

Several customizers can imitate factory weave, so it's not like that's the only deciding factor. People, myself included, can also re-use the original metal tail clips if they choose. So basically, blurry pics of the inside of a head and tail are not enough to prove this isn't a complete rehair. If lars has the original hair from the factory it would be a really simple matter to find someone to replicate the factory weave and reuse the tail clip.

 

[Pikabubba]

heads can be glued on as easily as taken off. I didn't take the second look but I'm hoping the neck stem was still there so he could put the head back on. Honestly if I was the buyer I would take the head off anyways to investigate to find out if it was a rehair. I'm guessing he tried his best to *prove* that it wasn't a rehair but it's too hard to tell.

Other than admitting to using a knife, I'm not sure if anywhere in the auction did it say the head was sealed tight so actually unless a buyer is a member they won't know either way.

 

[BlitzN]

Payapl won't side with the buyer on the decapitation/restoration issue. They don't care about the apparent value of items,they only care about clear cut issues so you have to prove it quickly and beyond doubt. I ran into the same issue once asking for a partial refund when I got scammed like that, and paypal closed my claim within a day--they didn't even think twice about it.

EDIT: The neck seam provides evidence as to rehair/authenticity (ifor example, look into reverse Gusty custom glue, and many other instances), and more evidence regarding "untampered" claims. But in this case he beleved he was doing nothing wrong regarding the decapitation, and what's done is done, but for future reference it's always best to leave head intact for the buyer to investigate or decided what to do. Some people remove heads as common procedure, but I beleive less is more and like original qualities.

 

[tealslippers]

Okay. I think this needs to be said.

Not everyone treats collecting the same. Some are not as sentimental as others about their collecting and selling. As such some people do think of it as a business. When treating it as such you'll have your gamut of business people and their ethics. Not all business people are unethical, it's a person to person thing just like collecting. I think people should keep this in mind.

As far as how much he paid people in Columbia for their ponies, it does not directly matter. What matters is if people are willing to buy the pony for the high amounts he's placed on them. If there is no market, he gets no money for his Colombian ponies. We set the price ultimately, not him. If you don't want to support him, simply do not buy. End of Story.

In regards to the way he's being treated or is treating others. That is first of all a personal matter. Communication is between two people firstly. Him and his buyer. If that is lacking, then it's time to approach with a mediator. Getting other people involved does not help an already messy transaction. If there are enough communication problems that bother you as a buyer before finalizing the transaction, do not follow through. Bow and take your leave if you feel that is best.

People are people, they are not all the same and not all with get along. This being said not all transactions are smooth, polite or amicable. I could do a transaction with X person and have everything go smoothly and then my friend can have a transaction with X and have it end being disappointed and put off from working with them. It's a personal transaction on these boards. This was why they were created. If you don't like the person, their policy, their price, their attitude, whatever.. You don't have to buy it. It's your choice.

Also, just like advertising making a big fuss over this only fuels the situation. Good or bad advertising is still advertising. If you don't want people to pay attention, don't give them the advertising. Please understand, I am not saying to brush it under the rug and pretend it didn't happen. Proper information and documentation will help any people who are willing to look for that information in the future. Being informed is important as a buyer, a collector and a seller. I know we are a community and look out for each other. This is a wonderful thing. I'm merely saying, making a fuss makes a bigger fuss if you are not directly involved.

With all that being said I am not here to support any particular person. I am not a personal friend of lars or of SoSilver. This is my opinion on the matter from a Marketing Perspective. I just wanted to give people a bit of information.

This whole incident is unfortunate. I am sorry that is happened to any person who would invest so much money into something that means a great deal to them.

I disagree. You want to be in our community making sales? You are expected to behave respectfully and honestly. If someone wants to be a scummy seller, he or she can do it on ebay and not in or near our communities. I don't think we need a "mediator" if someone is deliberately misrepresenting items. In the real world, the person could be criminally charged with fraud and a civil case would likely also ensue - the buyer and seller wouldn't go to mediation.

This isn't a flea market where anyone and everyone can sell stuff if they buy a table - this is a community which requires membership. Since this guy has already proven he will lie and scam for money (SoSilver) and suddenly has 16 versions of Columbian Apple Daddy or whatever, has been asking people about restoring Nirvanas - I think his membership should be revoked. He can take his little scam shop to ebay and we can continue warning people.

As for "not making a fuss" - if no one does, then scams continue. I think it is absolutely within the rights (and obligations toward each other) of collectors on the Arena and the TP to question. I would have never known about this issue if the members didn't talk about it - I don't regularly read the feedback forums - how many other collectors are the same? I'm sorry if people talking about it make Lars uncomfortable, tough luck - he wants to sell here and behave dishonestly? He's going to be made to feel uncomfortable.