If you change your mind, I’m the first in line. Honey I’m still free, take a chance on me. But what if you don’t have time to make up your mind? A split second decision can be the difference between a phenomenal victory after a leap of faith, or an unmitigated and expensive disaster of bad judgement. If you’re into rare toys and once-in-a-lifetime vintage Transformers and pre-Transformers finds, the competition can be suffocating and intense. But occasionally an unexpected opportunity presents itself, and we are the first in line, but should we take the chance?

Leap Of Faith | Source Blog <- CLICK TO READ



All the best
Maz

 

Thanks Maz, another fascinating read.  

 

Great Article maz, its always been my dream to have a extremely rare Transformer/pre transformer fall into my lap alas it has yet to happen.

 

That's a cool art piece of Mirage.

 

Your articles are always a joy to read Maz.

I've made some bad judgment calls, the most recent one was not bidding on an MIB red Microchange Wagen. It only ended at around $100. *sigh*

I almost bid on some of those pencil drawings, I'm glad I did not.

 

I was looking at those pencil drawings on eBay as well. If there had been an Astrotrain drawing, I would have bought it. Good to know that they aren't authentic so that I didn't/don't waste my money.

Awesome read yet again - thanks!

 

been discussing the pencil drawings as well, didn't think they were real

 

I think all of us on some level or another can share in this kind of experience. Another great read, Maz  

 

Maz - Another great read. I love the articles that show new and rare variations/prototypes but these types of articles are refreshing. It's fun to be able to read them and have them parallel my own experiences. I know you're well aware of my "prototype" Cyclonus fiasco. Also the Springer hardcopy was a leap of faith. I just bought something he thought was a prototype and it turned out to be that. My biggest leap of faith was buying that Ultra Magnus part from the guy in the UK   . It's fun to reminisce and it's kind of like old "war stories" with your buddies.

Like a few others here, I had my eye on a few of those pencil drawings. It's a shame they are not authentic. There was something about them where I just couldn't pull the trigger. I think it's because they were so cheap...I don't know....

As usual keep the articles coming. I look forward to them!

 

Always--ALWAYS love reading these...Just someone with such a passion here..makes for a fun history entertaining lesson.

 

This was a very fun read into the mind of a collector. On a lesser scale, I've taken the risk many times on auctions, etc. Great article Maz.

 

It's cool to hear about the ups and downs to taking those risks and blind leaps of faith. Like you said, a lot of discoveries wouldn't be made if people did not take them.

Also, it's cool to me to read about them because I never do take them. I don't think I ever will either. I'm one who likes to know exactly what I'm getting up front, and if I miss out, well, there's always a next time. But I also realize I do not collect these super rare one of a kind things, and with them, there may not be a next time.

It's a different ballgame and you have to play by a different set of rules if you have a good hunch about something.

 

I seen those Sketches Maz, was it one of my canada goons those passed along the sellers info to you?

 

Take a chance take a chance!  

It was absolutely beautiful. I got a refund for all six pieces I bought but in fact, I do wish I had kept just one of them because the guy is a recognised 80's artist, and even if he never worked on Transformers, the drawing was of an iconic scene, it was Mirage, and it would have been lovely to display with my Mirage toys. Also, it was $20...I think I let my embarrassment at having been taken in and not researched enough colour my actions and ask for the money back.

So can we say 'It's better to have bid and lost than to never have bid at all?"  

There were things in their favour and things against. In all honesty, I felt a little silly for not doing my research properly and just diving in, that's how much I loved the drawings and MTMTE. I may collect pre-TFs but I'm happy to admit that without Transformers I wouldn't care about Diaclone, and Mirage is where it's at.

I still don;t feel I can 100% say either way of they are authentic or not, the seller had the following to say when I requested a refund and explained my reservations about their authenticity:

"Please call me- these are not fakes!
or email me your phone number.
We do back all of our auctions 100%. I will send a full refund but I would like to speak with you first."

I told him our time zones were too different, a conversation on this topic at my workplace was inappropriate and that I didn't have a home phone. All true. A colleague of his refunded me the full amount I had paid and messaged me saying:

"Hello Maziar, This is a refund for the item you purchased. Your issue was brought up to through, Steve Schanes I had a sit down meeting with Darrel McNeil . I will be presenting my findings to Steve later this week. I will cc you on it. Johnnie"

Followed immediately by:

"Here is the next part of your refund. I think you will be pleased with my findings on Darrel in the coming days. Thank you, Johnnie"

I don't know if he means I will be pleased because I was right and they are not authentic, thereby justifying my refund request, or pleased because they are actually authentic.

I did have your Cyclonus proto purchase in mind but I didn't know if I was at liberty to cite it or mention that, but Evolve and Brandon had given me the green light to speak about their good luck/ bad luck.

As for the Magnus waist part, you're a braver man than me  

My feeling thanks to my friend's findings and my own reading of the Jem forum and OTCA is that they are not authentic, along with just how new the paper they were drawn on felt, but I cannot claim to have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that they are not authentic.

Absolutely, and something I didn't get to mention in the article was just how much this kind of opportunism and risk-taking is involved in minibot and prototype collecting. DoubleClouder has mentioned some examples above, but Genetic grabbing a grey Cliffjumper with red face for the first time years back when none of us had ever seen or heard of it was a good example.

I have actually sacrificed a number of easy purchases which I really wanted in order to financially prioritise risks like that 100 Euro dud catalogue. I could so easily finally have a Masterpiece Sideswipe that I so desperately long for. I know now what would've made me happier.

But then you hit the jackpot with something else...

Yeah and to be fair the guy was really regretful that he'd led me to them, but I was honoured he thought to show them to me, it was entirely my responsibility when I bid, so absolutely no hard feelings.

Being one of your goons, does he also have carefree facial hair issues?

 

Thanks so much to all of you for the positive feedback and kind comments, really greatly appreciated and makes the hours spent on the work fully worth it  

All the best
Maz

 

The problem for me was that the seller has a lot of authentic stuff, and while I could have researched it before leaping in I chose not to cause I didn't want to miss out on some great pieces.

So I have a mixed lot of stuff now. A load of MOTU stuff which is genuine and the TF and GI Joe ones which are about as genuine as a $3 Rolex. As soon as I opened them I knew they were fake and then had to break the news to Maz which was pretty gutting....I mean, I've been ripped off plenty of times so it's nothing new, but I knew Maz was really excited about the sketches he bought.

What Darrell McNeil is playing at, I have no idea. To trade off his name by selling dodgy sketches as being legit is just shitting on his fans, and on collectors. He genuinely has worked in animation but to pull this crap is unreal.

Before I send the sketches back I may wipe my arse with them and include a note that just says, "How do you like them apples?"

 

I'm still waiting for that explanation I was promised, because even though I have been refunded fully I think it's really important that we get the truth about these drawings and the others like it. Has anyone had any further success?

All the best
Maz

 

I was promised I'd get a refund yesterday on the sketches...guess what? No refund.

 

I was waiting for a message on eBay to that effect, but they just went ahead and Paypal-ed me the refund without any notification on eBay which was how we were communicating. Give it a couple more days, as you say they are mega keen to avoid negative feedback.

All the best
Maz

 

Yup got it today. $200+ back thankfully.

 

Did you ever hear back from Steve or his crew about Darrell's feedback regarding the authenticity of the drawings, Morg?

All the best
Maz