Movie Prop Collecting with Jason DeBord's Original Prop Blog Film & TV Prop, Costume, Hollywood Memorablia Pop Culture Resource

By

WPIX-TV (PIX11) News Feature: “NJ’s Attorney General Closes Case of Fraudulent Memorabilia”

PIX11-Expose-NJ-Attorney-General-Closes-Case-of-Fraudulent-Memorabilia-FI

Tribune Broadcasting’s New York flagship station, WPIX-TV (PIX11) in New Jersey, recently published a news report about the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office auctioning off memorabilia seized in 2007 – memorabilia that Prosecutor John Molinelli was warned  included fake autographs.  The report claims that a prior report revealed that the prosecutor’s office made false statements in an official document in order to get a no bid contract for their “handpicked” memorabilia authenticator.  Purportedly, these news stories lead to refunds being offered to the buyers.  One of the buyers subsequently filed a criminal complaint against the prosecutor which went to the Bergen County Policeand then to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Division of Criminal Justice; the AG’s office then sent a letter to people who’d complained and it said that their information “was received and reviewed…The matter is now closed.” [Read more…]

By

Auction Fraud at Center of FBI & Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Annual Report for 2009

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) issued their Annual Report a few months ago. Among the highlights is that auction fraud – a frequent topic in the hobby of collecting original television and movie props and wardrobe – was reported to make up one of four complaints made to the organization. [Read more…]

By

Auction Fraud at Center of FBI & Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Annual Report for 2008

FBI-IC3-2008-Annual-Report-Summary-Archive-Portal-x380

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) issued their Annual Report a few months ago.  Among the highlights is that auction fraud – a frequent topic in the hobby of collecting original television and movie props and wardrobe – was reported to make up one of four complaints made to the organization. [Read more…]

By

eBay’s “kellysheroesmilitaria” No Longer A Registered User

The account of “kellysheroesmilitaria” has been suspended on eBay, showing a status of “No longer a registered user” and “Not a registered user” (also known as “NARU”).  [Read more…]

By

The “Production Protection Program” (“P-3”): Retired?

Based on the transfer of ownership of Elstree Props (see Elstree Props, New Ownership, Announcement On Redesigned Website) and a near complete lack of evidence of it ever having been on the Internet, it appears that the “Production Protection Program”, or “P-3”, has been retired. [Read more…]

By

Anatomy of an “Original” Movie Prop Certificate of Authenticity (kellysheroesmilitaria Update 7)

This is a follow-up to previous articles (see kellysheroesmilitaria Original Props…, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Update 5, Update 6) in which “original prop” auctions by “kellysheroesmilitaria” on eBay were compared with non-movie prop matching items available for sale from online retailers, as well as non-movie prop purchases made on eBay by “kellysheroesmilitaria” and items that appear to match being offered for sale as “original props” from the same eBay account.  [Read more…]

By

kellysheroesmilitaria Update 6: eBay Third Party Reporting Case Study Conclusion

As noted previously (see kellysheroesmilitaria Original Props: Update 4, eBay Third Party Reporting Case Study), I had used the eBay third party reporting systems (see eBay & Third Party Reporting (Fraud, Violations of Policy) to alert eBay to problematic listings while testing the effectiveness of sharing material information directly with eBay through their public systems in an effort to help them to enforce their own policies.  This article serves as an update and conclusion, marked by the occasion of kellysheroesmilitaria relisting one of the primary auctions reported to eBay. [Read more…]

By

kellysheroesmilitaria Original Props: Update 5 – “item no longer available for sale”

This is a follow-up to previous articles (see kellysheroesmilitaria Original Props…, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3) in which original prop auctions by “kellysheroesmilitaria” on eBay were compared with matching items available for sale from online retailers, as well as non-movie prop purchases made on eBay by “kellysheroesmilitaria” and items that appear to match being offered for sale as original props under the same eBay account.  The subject eBay listing of the Update 4 article has been canceled by the seller for the following stated reason:

[Read more…]