Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-toys

[JosephY]

Pablo Artesi/ Mariana / Uru-toys on Ebay, weeba weeba here on RS are ALL the same person/ people working together and are absolute scam artists. Pablos sketchyness has been legendary in that his connection with Mariana and Uru toys started with him claiming that she was someone he didn't know but had recently met, to someone he knew that lived close to him, to him later saying that she was a relative, to now, recent dealings show that his paypal acct and hers are the same.....Funny how that works. His sketchyness also is connected to the "Billiken" line of bootlegs which for years many have suspected that he made to sell to bootleg collectors. Not to mention that he's been just about the ONLY source for the PPL "bootlegs" also making their legitimacy questionable.

He also thru the years has scammed many people such as an Uzay DSD that supposidly went missing when a US collector shipped it to him, only to show up in his collection pics at a later date. Recently in my dealings with him, I agreed to buy a carded Hungarian Fett from him. I paypalled him the money and waited....and waited....and waited. It got close to the deadline for me to make a Paypal claim, and he finally contacts me,claiming that he shipped it and trying to offer me other pieces to not file a claim. I tell him that if they can be in my hands before the deadline, then I would. Nothing ever arrived.I filed a claim and Luckilly Paypal sided with me and I recieved most of my money back (1489 out of 1520). He has also recently scammed another collector on a MT Leia Hoth. Sadly he was able to stall beyond the deadline for a claim with this collector. All the while he has been selling on Ebay thru "Marianas" account. Uru-Toys. I recently won an Uzay Vader from him/them on Ebay, figureing since I got my money from the Fett back, and this transaction would have Ebay protection, that I'd likely recieve my figure. He sent me an email refusing to complete the transaction.I'm fileing a claim with ebay about that situation. This seller and person/ people should be avoided at all costs based on my experiences dealing with them. There is a LOT more info that other collectors have compiled about Pablos actions. Hopefully they'll chime in and help rid the hobby of this waste of space.

Cheers
Joseph

 

[skye]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

I've heard rumblings about Pablo in the past, but this is by far the most clear outline of the issues surrounding him. He is definitely a member here, so I hope that he takes care to defend himself.

Just to be clear on the billiken, was he the ONLY source for those, or "just about the only source" as that makes a huge difference.

Also, has he been previous accused of fabrication of items? My hungarian cared originally comes from him and I was wary of its authenticity when I was thinking of buying it. Having it in hand assuaged my doubts, but if he was good enough to create a line then he is good enough to imitate those terrible cardbacks.

 

[HeroSolo]

I had wondered about this guy on here as well as Ebay?.I have avoided him,as something just did'nt seem right about him.I just could'nt put my finger on it.I'm sure there has either been bad feedback about this guy or something on here somewhere?.
I think he was trying to sell a TT Jedi Luke on here a couple of weeks back?.

Gary

 

[Joe_O]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

There was some speculation a few days ago about an Irish 3 pack that was for sale by Uru-toys containing the Tri Fett variation, and Christian explained it is pretty much fact that out of all the possibilities of figures a Tri Fett is not one of the possible combinations (the archive doesn't raise any red flags on this from the one featured here though : Irish 3 pack including Tri Fett )
I also noticed in some of the auctions the items are said to not be from his personal collection but that they were being offered for sale by him on behalf of "other" collectors.

Edit- if that is the same seller Gary refers to above, weren't some of those items for sale here featured on the archive?

 

[JosephY]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

I've heard rumblings about Pablo in the past, but this is by far the most clear outline of the issues surrounding him. He is definitely a member here, so I hope that he takes care to defend himself.

Just to be clear on the billiken, was he the ONLY source for those, or "just about the only source" as that makes a huge difference.

Also, has he been previous accused of fabrication of items? My hungarian cared originally comes from him and I was wary of its authenticity when I was thinking of buying it. Having it in hand assuaged my doubts, but if he was good enough to create a line then he is good enough to imitate those terrible cardbacks.

I believe that he and Mariana (before they were connected) were the only people selling these, other than people that had previously bought from them, reselling.

As for Pablo making decent fake Hungarian cardbacks, he actually did. I saw them at CE, he had sent them to Adam and they, looked pretty good, except for the top layer of copy seperating from the cardstock.

J

 

[skye]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

As for Pablo making decent fake Hungarian cardbacks, he actually did. I saw them at CE, he had sent them to Adam and they, looked pretty good, except for the top layer of copy seperating from the cardstock.

Hmm...interesting.

leaves computer; runs upstairs; opens closet door; takes down Hungarian bootleg; wishes understood better what Joe meant by top layer of copy; figures it actually looks okay; goes back to computer

That is pretty serious about the Billikens. How many is it estimated were sold by them?

 

[jedge2000]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

As for Pablo making decent fake Hungarian cardbacks, he actually did. I saw them at CE, he had sent them to Adam and they, looked pretty good, except for the top layer of copy seperating from the cardstock.

Just to keep everything transparent here - if you're talking about the yellow cardback - I actually sent that to Adam, Pablo didn't. It had been sent to me as a freebie and having no interest in cards at the time I passed it on. I can't honestly remember if Mariana sent it to me or not..it is possible. I just want to keep Adam's involvement crystal clear.

I did however sell a blue hungarian cardback to Mariana once.

 

[JosephY]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

As for Pablo making decent fake Hungarian cardbacks, he actually did. I saw them at CE, he had sent them to Adam and they, looked pretty good, except for the top layer of copy seperating from the cardstock.

Hmm...interesting.

leaves computer; runs upstairs; opens closet door; takes down Hungarian bootleg; wishes understood better what Joe meant by top layer of copy; figures it actually looks okay; goes back to computer

That is pretty serious about the Billikens. How many is it estimated were sold by them?

I meant if you look at it from the side/edge of the card, the top layer (the printed layer with the graphics on it) was peeling up a little bit, showing that it was a lazer copy and not the real thing.

As for how many Billikens. I have no idea. I could guesstimate that they sold 10 to 20 sets + singles. A lot of the sales were not on Ebay, so its harder to track just how many went out the door.

J

 

[DarthBerizing]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

He had the carded Blue Stars here a few weeks back. I thought it looked a little odd but figured if its on RS it's legit. A fellow scummer told me to be weary and I backed off. I am so glad I didn't pull the trigger on that one.

 

[Adam_Burges]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

I still have a pic of those cardback, in all honesty I thought they looked ok but i'm no expert on carded hungarians and like Jason had no interest in them at the time which I why I passed them on to you and John, I had no idea they were not legit at the time, were they both crooked? I remember talking with John about them and he mentioned the bubble wasn't right on the red one which indeed came from pablo with a Hungarian Wicket, I thought it might have only been re-bubbled...

To be honest the only real dodgy looking cardbacks I had seen are the ones with the different style typeface.

 

[Adam_Burges]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

He had the carded Blue Stars here a few weeks back. I thought it looked a little odd but figured if its on RS it's legit. A fellow scummer told me to be weary and I backed off. I am so glad I didn't pull the trigger on that one.

In all fairness I'd say that particular Bluestars was ok.

 

[JosephY]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

I still have a pic of those cardback, in all honesty I thought they looked ok but i'm no expert on carded hungarians and like Jason had no interest in them at the time which I why I passed them on to you and John, I had no idea they were not legit at the time, were they both crooked? I remember talking with John about them and he mentioned the bubble wasn't right on the red one which indeed came from pablo with a Hungarian Wicket, I thought it might have only been re-bubbled...

To be honest the only real dodgy looking cardbacks I had seen are the ones with the different style typeface.

They both were 1000% fake.The red one looks real until you check the sides out. Definitely could fool a lot of people.

Where are the offset type ones from....wasn't there an Ebay auction with a few of those about 6 months ago or so?

J

 

[Adam_Burges]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Well sorry about that Joe, my intentions were good and sincere with giving those two the both of you, like I say I wasn't aware the cardbacks were bad.

Anyway the Hungarian cardsbacks are the same font as the ones that were on ebay a while back, a wicket, snowie and 3PO were sold weren't they? This Han pic I found whilst scouring the net, I also have pics of 3po, fett, luke, chewie and snowie, they were found on a Hungarian website.

 

[JosephY]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Well sorry about that Joe, my intentions were good and sincere with giving those two the both of you, like I say I wasn't aware the cardbacks were bad.

Anyway the Hungarian cardsbacks are the same font as the ones that were on ebay a while back, a wicket, snowie and 3PO were sold weren't they? This Han pic I found whilst scouring the net, I also have pics of 3po, fett, luke, chewie and snowie, they were found on a Hungarian website.

Adam, we never thought you were trying to pass anything bad off as real. And you trying to hook us up with them, if they were real or not, is definitely appreciated.
I mentioned them here because Pablo did make some good fake cardbacks and that just lends to everything that I've brought up about him.
I'd like to see the other pics of the different printed Hungarians. Could you email them to me? I really would like to see one of those up close at some point, just not enough to spend "real" money on something that still may proove to be fake.

Cheers
Joe

 

[ThorOakenfelder]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

I'm having a hard time remembering and couldn't find the original thread, wasn't that name Pablo Artesi asociated with Fake Ledy overstock and new fake bootlegs.

 

[JohnA]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Christian explained it is pretty much fact that out of all the possibilities of figures a Tri Fett is not one of the possible combinations (the archive doesn't raise any red flags on this from the one featured here though : Irish 3 pack including Tri Fett )

That's because there's no reason to raise a red flag. Ron has owned that for probably about 10 years. It was one of the first I ever saw and he still has it to this day. I saw it a few days ago when I went to visit. If there were reason to raise a red flag the Archive would.

John

 

[JosephY]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

I'm having a hard time remembering and couldn't find the original thread, wasn't that name Pablo Artesi asociated with Fake Ledy overstock and new fake bootlegs.

I don't think he was ever involved in any of the Ledy overstock fiascos. The Billiken "bootlegs" are linked to him and there is much speculation that he was involved in making them.

Cheers
J

 

[JohnA]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

As for Pablo making decent fake Hungarian cardbacks, he actually did. I saw them at CE, he had sent them to Adam and they, looked pretty good, except for the top layer of copy seperating from the cardstock.

Hmm...interesting.

leaves computer; runs upstairs; opens closet door; takes down Hungarian bootleg; wishes understood better what Joe meant by top layer of copy; figures it actually looks okay; goes back to computer

What Joe means is the yellow cardback that Adam posted a pic of looked legit to both Joe and I. The bubble was obviously NOT real but we thought the cardback was. Something about it bothered me though. Looked a bit too glossy and w/o a real one in front of me felt a hair too thick. I kept looking and looking and then I noticed a small piece that was seperating. I picked at it and it came loose. Turns out it was a hi rez scan glued to a piece of cardboard. Once I looked even closer I found a staple hole in the image that didn't go through all the way. Turns out it was only a scan and nothing more but it had us both fooled for a few hours.

John

 

[Joe_O]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Christian explained it is pretty much fact that out of all the possibilities of figures a Tri Fett is not one of the possible combinations (the archive doesn't raise any red flags on this from the one featured here though : Irish 3 pack including Tri Fett )

That's because there's no reason to raise a red flag. Ron has owned that for probably about 10 years. It was one of the first I ever saw and he still has it to this day. I saw it a few days ago when I went to visit. If there were reason to raise a red flag the Archive would.

John

Ok thanks John, I don't doubt the Archive and I didn't personally say there was anything up with it, I just mentioned that Christian had stated that the tri fett wasn't a figure that could be found in this 3 pack and as it conflicted with the Archive information I included the link for someone to clarify ( which you have )
Maybe Christian will explain the reason for his doubts on that item when he reads this discussion.

(here is the link to that particular discussion by the way, Lafos also raises his concern in agreement with Christian : Irish 3 pack starwarsforum.co.uk thread )

 

[skye]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Thanks John and Joe for the clarification. My red backed Chewie doesn't seem scanned, though perhaps I still don't quite have the eye to see it yet. The most troubling thing about my Hungarian is that it has the EXACT same wear as the red card that Adam showed. It is not the same card, but it has the same distress points (chewed rounded right corner, slight lifting on the bottom left) I don't think it is the same cardback, but it looks like the same "distressing techniques"

Did any of his fakes have numbers written on the back of them?

edited for clarity

 

[JosephY]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Thanks John and Joe for the clarification. My red backed Chewie doesn't seem scanned, though perhaps I still don't quite have the eye to see it yet. The most troubling thing about my Hungarian is that it has the EXACT same wear as the red card that Adam showed. It is not the same card, but it has the same distress points (chewed rounded right corner, slight lifting on the bottom left) I don't think it is the same cardback, but it looks like the same "distressing techniques"

Did any of his fakes have numbers written on the back of them?

edited for clarity

I'd have to find the fake one that I ended up with and check. I'll do that when I get home from work. If it's the red one I'll send it to you so you can compair it to your Chewie.

Cheers
J

 

[HWR]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Sorry to hear that Joe. I never though Pablo "weeba weeba" Artesi was a scammer, so this comes as a bit of a surprise to me.

I bought a couple of TopToys figures from him back in 2005 (loose Chief Chirpa and loose Logray with damage cardback and cracked bubble), they seems to be ok. Later the same year I also bought a loose TopToys Yoda from him, which was sent to me from Allan_B in Australia for some reason, that one was the real deal too.

Gary, you're right about that TopToys Luke Jedi, it was sold to Kenneth_B and I can assure you, that he was most displeased with the condition of this "carded" TT Luke Jedi. I will let him know of this thread, so he can chime in.

 

[Mattias_Rendahl]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this to post one thing thats related to Pablo. I had almost forgot about it until I recently started to unpack my collection.

Some years ago some clean TopToys proof sheets surfaced via Pablo (I’m really not sure about the whole background story about these so please chime in here if you know more), they looked like the TT presentation board seen on the Archive but it was clean without any markings. Pablo supposedly made some color laser copies of a clean genuine proof sheet and then sold the copies. I bought one of these copies from another collector at CE.

But my laser copy that came via Pablo is definitely a home made piece which I discovered during CE. If it truly is a copy of the original proof sheet, then there doesn’t exist any Top Toys proof sheets. If you know what to look for it was very obvious cardbacks were scanned, retouched and put togheter and then the texts was changed in the name plates in the wrong typeface, a typeface which didn’t look like that back in the 80’s. The black colors were off too. And there are several more things thats reveal that it’s fake. So I’m 100% sure it’s a home made fake piece.

After this I even doubt there actually exist a clean TT proof sheet, has anyone ever seen or owe the actual proof sheet that these copies supposedly are made from?

And I dont even want to get started on the so called TT MOC prototypes that also originally surfaced via Pablo.

For the record I’ve made many great dealings with Pablo and everything has went smooth. But after this "discovery" it’s very obvious he’s been involved (in some way) in shady business. Of course he could have been fooled by the original owner of the proof sheet (that maybe dont even exist), but with his history and the recently deals with Joe and the Hungarian cardbacks etc, I doubt he has nothing to do with all those fake items.

Mattias

 

[Tim_Z]

I've been in discussion about Pablo with a few people before. I first raised the 'Mariana'/Pablo when I found Pablo's email address on a payment to Mariana aka URU toys. It's quite significant that he never mentioned he knew her despite the fact their addresses are within 1km (just over half a mile) of each other!

Other interesting developments include these two being the only source of the PPLs. Pablo suddenly found some after a number of us (Pablo included) had been discussing their authenticity, thereby 'authenticating' those that had only appeared from 'Mariana' up to that point. That's the 'Mariana' he didn't know whose Paypal address has his name and telephone number on it and who lives only 1km away from him!

The PPL figures themselves in some cases bare some very interesting similarities to Top Toys figures. Now guess who once owned some Top Toys molds... Pablo! I'll let others fill you in on more specifics. Does anyone know who first located these molds ?

I also have some doubts over some Model Trem figures he sold. In my mind it is somewhat convenient that Pablo has sourced 3 to 4 EACH of the very rare Klaatu Skiff, Ree Yees and previously one of a kind AT AT Commander (all in a matter of months) and by the sound of it at least 2 (previously unknown to exist) Leia Hoth's. Some have told me these look legit although I would like to see some other examples myself to compare.

Other info on the Trem's is that Pablo sent the same picture of figures to me that 'Mariana' sent to a friend.

I've also heard about other figures going missing in the post only to reappear in his collection pics!

Alot of shadyness and more questions unanswered.

Tim

 

[Christian]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Christian explained it is pretty much fact that out of all the possibilities of figures a Tri Fett is not one of the possible combinations (the archive doesn't raise any red flags on this from the one featured here though : Irish 3 pack including Tri Fett )

That's because there's no reason to raise a red flag. Ron has owned that for probably about 10 years. It was one of the first I ever saw and he still has it to this day. I saw it a few days ago when I went to visit. If there were reason to raise a red flag the Archive would.

John

Apologies to JoY for taking this slightly OT but I know for certain that I wouldn't touch any Irish 3-pack that included a Fett (any 'flavoured' Fett for that matter). I also know that many collectors, especially from the UK & Europe, would also avoid such an example like a bad case of the trots.
That all said and done - we all should know well enough by now boys 'n' girls:

[waving arms like a conductor] Only buy rare pieces from trusted sources with provenance [/waving]

Now the question is: If Ron offered his example for sale would his reputation and long term ownership of the 3 pack negate my concerns? Answer: No but for others probably... each to their own.

...Some forethought is apparent, however, in choosing which figures came packaged together and most are grouped together according to a particular unifying charactersitic. Some feature Cantina aliens, for instance, while another might have droids.

Not sure what characteristics unify Anakin, Hammerhead & Fett: Repack an Irish 3-Pack Anyone wanna give it a go?

I thoroughly enjoy reading and learning from the Archive but just because it is in the Archive doesn’t necessarily mean it’s 100% accurate 100% of time….. only 99.9999%

To extol JohnA's mantra - research is everything - the more you do the more you learn and the better you can avoid being burnt. AAAAAAAAAAAAmen.

Merry Christmas.

Christian.

 

[baldylox]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Not sure what characteristics unify Anakin, Hammerhead & Fett. Anyone wanna give it a go?

Pffttt.... that's so easy. Anyone who knows the black market on Tatooine knows that Hammerhead deals in Tabana Tea and he gets his tea from Fett. And Fett is the ringleader on Tatooine for the Tea market. And who do you think runs Fett and gets him the goods? That's correct, Anakin AKA Vader. Vader had his hands in everything evil based on Tatooine so that little triangle is easy to spot.

Sheesh, don't you guys read any of the EU stuff?

Billy

 

[HeroSolo]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

I don't want to divert this thread either but the irish 3 pack is probably one of the easiest to change the figures in.I had one where the card had seperated perfectly (due to heat i think).So you could lift it up,take the bubble out and move the figures around.(or even change them) if you so wished.

I would be interested to hear what Kenneth-b has to say about the TT Luke Jedi he bought?.


Gary

 

[Kenneth_B]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Henrik,

thanks for the thought of contacting me but it's not necessary, since I have just read the posts of this thread with greatest interest!

Here is my story and relation to Pablo:

On the 11 of November I paid Pablo/weeba_weeba us$900 for the carded TT Luke Jedi on a TT Luke Jedi card (no Stormtrooper miscard), which he had for sale in the classified section. At the same time Uru-toys had a carded TT Yoda for sale on ebay with a "Buy It Now Price of us$900 or best offer! I contacted Pablo in order to find out, if he was the seller of that Yoda as well? He got back to me claiming, that the Uru-toys ebay account belonged to his good friends Mariana and her husband. Then I got a long story about a house, which he was building for them.. Botttom line is, that we agreed about a price of us$ 1600 for both figures, which I transferred to Mariana's e-mail/PayPal adrress on the 11 of November.

Except for Pablo being a little slow to reply to my e-mails at times, I was quite satisfied, and I did receive the pacakage on the 24 of November. First I pulled out the TT Yoda, which was saftely protected in a star case with packaging material. Card and bubble was intact! Then I pulled out the Luke Jedi from the box. Protected in a star case with packaging material like the Yoda figure BUT loose outside the bubble!! Before completing the deal Pablo did inform me, that there was a little bubble lifting at the bottom. I was however very dissapointed when receiving a loose Luke Jedi, when it was supposed to be a carded one, which is near impossible to track down..

I of course got the impression, that the bubble had been very little attached to the card when he shipped it, but I could not prove it - and besides that things get broken in the mail from time to time.. I wasn't too concerned though, since Pablo had promised me a full refund, if I wasn't completely satisfied with my purchase. I therefore contacted him the day after having received the figures, and told him about the incident. I even e-mailed him 6 pics of the Luke Jedi card/bubble/figure as docomentation, that I was telling him the truth. He replied to me, that he was not resposible for damaged items in the mail, but of course stood up to hos promise of refunding me the us$900 - I just had to return the figure to him prior of getting the us$900...

In normal circumstances I would have done so, but all ready at this point some of my faith in him had dissapeared. I therfore asked him to refund me the us$900 before returning the figure to him. I also told him, that I would send it with recorded mail with a tracking number, as soon as I had received the us$900. I even offered him to buy the Luke Jedi at a price of us$ 400, because I actually wanted to keep the figure - and perhaps this proposal could minimize his losses as well? I would gladly have offered him us$500 too.. I however wrote to him, that I totally understood if he wanted me to return the figure, in case he wanted to run a "compensation" case against the postal service.

Pablo was silenced for a few days, so I gave him my offer once more. At that point I was beginning to realize/fear, that I might never get my money back. Then he finally got back to me claiming, that he didn't have the money to refund me, but that he was selling some high priced items on ebay. He asked me to give him a couple of days to get these items sold, so that he could pay me. I saw no other choice than accepting that, since it was obviously my only chance of getting my refund. After 3 or 4 days I still hadn't heard anything from him. I e-mailed him again asking for my refund. Now the suggestion of his to solve the case was, that since he had received an offer of us$700 for the loose Luke Jedi, card and bubble from another RS member, I needed to send the figure to him first.. The other member didn't (of course) want to pay for the Luke Jedi, before Pablo had it in his own hands. When I could document, that I had shipped it, he would then pay me us$250, which was all he got in his Paypal account at that point, he claimed.. I was truely upset, but I asked him to transfer the us$250 to my Paypal account at once. Then I could accept giving him more time to raise the remaining us$650. The "high priced" items he was going to sell on ebay, I never heard another word about..

My last correspondence with Pablo was on the 8 of December, where I sent him an e-mail with an ultimatum: "Either I have the us$250 in my PayPal account tonight, or I will be forced to warn the Rebelscum society against you later tonight". I have not heard from him since, and I have received NO money of course.. I have this e-mail and most of our other e-mail communication and PM's saved.

Now I feel decived, but have accepted, that I have lost quite a bit of money! A loose complete TT Luke Jedi with card and bubble is no where near worth us$900. Further more this Luke Jedi should be the "pearl" of my complete carded TT collection, and I had been looking for one for almost 3 years...

My mistake is, that I made this deal based on my faith in Pablo from a previous deal a few years ago - and on the fact that I had heard other people dealing with him without any troubles at all.. I'm just glad, that I didn't agree to send the Luke Jedi back before receiving any refunds at all, as Pablo wanted me to do from the beginning. Then I would "probably" have lost us$900 and have no TT Luke Jedi.. Now I just hope, that the TT carded Yoda is not a reseal?

It doesn't look to be, said in all fairness..

I truely feel very sorry for those of you, who have lost money or have bad trading experiences with Pablo!!

Kenneth

 

[JohnA]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Christian,

With all due respect, you really didn't say anything. You said, they don't exist and left it at that. I'm sorry, but if you want to disprove something proof is needed. If you can supply proof I'd be glad to listen as I'm sure Ron would since he owns it.

As for needing provenance, nobody preaches that more than Archive staff but to suggest that over something like an Irish 3 pack is a bit silly to say the least, especially since Ron has had it so long he probably didn't even pay that much.

Anyway, to go along with my comment about needing facts that's why I've stayed out of this argument now and why I
ve stayed out for over 2 years, since that's how long I've been doing research to try and prove that PPLs, Billikens, and the Top Toys FSs and 2nd wave of carded samples are all questionable. There are red flags but I've never been able to prove that they are 100% fake or that Pablo ever had any knowledge of this. I don't go after people's reputations in good standing without reason and I did not want to harm Pablo's if it was all coincidence. All I can say is that there are a LOT of flags. I can also say the part about UZAY DSD is pretty shady as is his relationship with somebody he didn't know, Mariana. Who has been a stranger, friend, and most recently a relative. I'll also say he had a boxed vehicle, maybe a Landspeeder, that he claimed was lost in the mail and later appeared in his collection pics. He made the seller pay him back too even though he took pics later. Same with the UZAY. He demanded payment and later had one that he never toook pics of but quietly sold it to a friend of mine. I'd question any of the Top Toys miscards that only he turned up too. I remember Ben, Han, and maybe a Leia. All of them turned up on Stormtrooper cards just like the carded samples in question. Let's just say these figures are notrious for bubbles falling off clean. In fact, I have one. Guess which figure. Come on, guess. Yep, a Stormtrooper. It's all circumstantial but far too coincidental for me. Problem is the hardcopies and molds he turned up are perfect and the 1st wave of carded samples look perfect too. No flags at all. They look old and they make sense. Proceed with caution is all I'll say.

John

 

[AllanB]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

I bought a couple of TopToys figures from him back in 2005 (loose Chief Chirpa and loose Logray with damage cardback and cracked bubble), they seems to be ok. Later the same year I also bought a loose TopToys Yoda from him, which was sent to me from Allan_B in Australia for some reason, that one was the real deal too.

Yup, that figure & all of it's accessories were definitely genuine TopToys. I bought the figure from Pablo, but was returning it to him after inspection only because the condition was not as described. Pablo then asked if i could send it straight to the new buyer rather than returning it to him, which i did.

And i'm very sorry to hear about the situation with Pablo. Someone better email Nathan/Saelt.

- Allan

 

[Christian]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Christian,

With all due respect, you really didn't say anything. You said, they don't exist and left it at that.

Hello John, not quite sure what you mean about not saying 'anything'

In both this and the thread on SWF I am, or at least I feel as though I am, expressing my opinion backed up with my experience that the Irish 3 pack is notorious for being tampered with and thus I wouldn't touch one that included a Fett, especially a Trilogo Fett. I have seen far too many examples where the figures can/could have been swapped out with ease. I had hoped that stating my concerns would have been of benefit to the community hence bothering to respond here and on SWF.

..I'm sorry, but if you want to disprove something proof is needed.

I can categorically state now that I do not have ANY concrete proof that the Trilogo Fett was ever packed in on a Irish 3-pack. However, I will never buy one that does and continue to ward people off from buying one because, again as stated clearly on SWF, IMHO they are dodgy. I am not alone in this thinking.

As for needing provenance, nobody preaches that more than Archive staff but to suggest that over something like an Irish 3 pack is a bit silly to say the least, especially since Ron has had it so long he probably didn't even pay that much.

Well at least we agree - I think that's the 3rd time in 6 years or so - over one thing: provenance. As for requesting provenance on a piece that might have cost $600+... well I'd want to know who had previously owned it etc for my own peace of mind - I wouldn't call that 'a bit silly' but more rather common sense. I also believe that I was referring directly to the 3 pack advertised on evilBay rather than Ron's piece which he knows is genuine cos he bought it off the peg whilst on a trip to Dublin in 1986... now I am being silly

Proceed with caution is all I'll say.

Good grief that's the 4th time in 6 years...

Apologies again for verring slightly OT.

Cheers,
Christian.

 

[JohnA]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Hello John, not quite sure what you mean about not saying 'anything'

In both this and the thread on SWF I am, or at least I feel as though I am, expressing my opinion backed up with my experience that the Irish 3 pack is notorious for being tampered with and thus I wouldn't touch one that included a Fett, especially a Trilogo Fett.

Nobody is denying they can be tampered with. In fact, BWA bought one here a while back that is known to have been opened at one time by the previous owner's son and then closed again by the father.

Point is, just because they can be opened doesn't mean that no Fett was ever included or that all have been opened. You stated your opinion as fact and it's clearly not. You are entitled to it and you can warn people all you want but there's no basis in fact. You're saying something like the one on eBay that was $600 but my point is Ron bought it so long ago he probably paid next to nothing. Those things weren't expensive years back. Why swap out figures if you're still not getting a lot? Should collectors only buy ones that contain crappy, low dollar figures just to be safe? How do you know a focus collector didn't swap a crappy figure in?

As for agreeing only 4 times in 6 years, I missed that the first time. It's your choice not to agree but I am right a lot so maybe you should more.

John

 

[JosephY]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Christian,

With all due respect, you really didn't say anything. You said, they don't exist and left it at that.

Hello John, not quite sure what you mean about not saying 'anything'

In both this and the thread on SWF I am, or at least I feel as though I am, expressing my opinion backed up with my experience that the Irish 3 pack is notorious for being tampered with and thus I wouldn't touch one that included a Fett, especially a Trilogo Fett. I have seen far too many examples where the figures can/could have been swapped out with ease. I had hoped that stating my concerns would have been of benefit to the community hence bothering to respond here and on SWF.

..I'm sorry, but if you want to disprove something proof is needed.

I can categorically state now that I do not have ANY concrete proof that the Trilogo Fett was ever packed in on a Irish 3-pack. However, I will never buy one that does and continue to ward people off from buying one because, again as stated clearly on SWF, IMHO they are dodgy. I am not alone in this thinking.

As for needing provenance, nobody preaches that more than Archive staff but to suggest that over something like an Irish 3 pack is a bit silly to say the least, especially since Ron has had it so long he probably didn't even pay that much.

Well at least we agree - I think that's the 3rd time in 6 years or so - over one thing: provenance. As for requesting provenance on a piece that might have cost $600+... well I'd want to know who had previously owned it etc for my own peace of mind - I wouldn't call that 'a bit silly' but more rather common sense. I also believe that I was referring directly to the 3 pack advertised on evilBay rather than Ron's piece which he knows is genuine cos he bought it off the peg whilst on a trip to Dublin in 1986... now I am being silly

Proceed with caution is all I'll say.

Good grief that's the 4th time in 6 years...

Apologies again for verring slightly OT.

Cheers,
Christian.

Christian,
While I'd definitely be leary of an Irish 3 Pack from a non trusted seller, that had a Fett in it, due to the ease that these can be tampered with. I also believe that IF an Irish 3 pack were to have a Fett in it, a Tri Fett would be the correct figure based on the facts that the Irish 3 packs were made using Palitoy overstock, and that there are ROTJ Palitoy carded figures with Tri Fetts on them. It works out and makes sense that IF a Fett were in an Irish 3 pack that it should be a Tri Fett.

As for the Irish 3 pack offered by Pablo, having both a Fett and Anakin in it,and based on the sellers history I highly doubt that it's not altered. But of course because of my lack of trust in Pablos honesty, my view may be a bit skewed....

 

[skye]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Not to be a jerk, but maybe we should open up a separate Irish 3-pack thread. I find it really interesting, but this thread could be turn out to be very important and switching out 3-packs is nothing compared to the allegations here (though it is still major).

So, what came out of Argentina that did not come from Pablo? There are an astonishingly large amount of foreign pre-prod items that come from Argentina, so what is untouched by the weeba-stink?

 

[JohnA]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

So, what came out of Argentina that did not come from Pablo? There are an astonishingly large amount of foreign pre-prod items that come from Argentina, so what is untouched by the weeba-stink?

Weeba-stink is a bit harsh. Again, I have red flags but nothing that I can say is 100% fact.

AFAIK the steel molds are about the only thing that did not come from Pablo. Some of the photocopies of the clean proof, mine included, also came from another seller.

John

 

[Todd_Hudson]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

From day one I have shared my feelings about Pablo to John and Joe and a few others many many times. I even remember when the Bilikens came out asking a couple of work mates who where born and raised in Argentina if they ever remember seeing them..they always said no but remember the TT stuff as well as Kenner stuff. That was really enough proof but a couple of years back when Marina and Pablo where sharing the same paypal account I really became very sketchy of dealing with him. I never once bought the Bilkens because of that.

I have been in touch with the ex-VP of TT and had made a deal for some prototype TT items which I firmly believe where real..since there was at least 3 sources on TT prototypes I would imagine a good portion of them are real.

I still have the ex-VP on MSN and talk with him every once in awhile and can ask questions if someone needed me to. He never dealt much with Pablo or at least claim to so I hope iot wasnt just one big scam...maybe Adam B. or Matt can chime in as they have dealt with the TT line as well as Pablo a few years prior to him joining Rebelscum.

-Todd-

 

[Christian]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Hello John, not quite sure what you mean about not saying 'anything'

In both this and the thread on SWF I am, or at least I feel as though I am, expressing my opinion backed up with my experience that the Irish 3 pack is notorious for being tampered with and thus I wouldn't touch one that included a Fett, especially a Trilogo Fett.

Nobody is denying they can be tampered with. In fact, BWA bought one here a while back that is known to have been opened at one time by the previous owner's son and then closed again by the father.

Point is, just because they can be opened doesn't mean that no Fett was ever included or that all have been opened. You stated your opinion as fact and it's clearly not. You are entitled to it and you can warn people all you want but there's no basis in fact. You're saying something like the one on eBay that was $600 but my point is Ron bought it so long ago he probably paid next to nothing. Those things weren't expensive years back. Why swap out figures if you're still not getting a lot? Should collectors only buy ones that contain crappy, low dollar figures just to be safe? How do you know a focus collector didn't swap a crappy figure in?

John - you've so nearly interpreted what I have said correctly that it is scarily close to us singing from the same hymn sheet.I agree that 'just because they can be opened doesn't mean that no Fett was ever included or that all have been opened' but MY point is that these pieces are so easily altered that it almost invalidates any potentially legimate pieces in existing collections. That coupled with never having personally seen one (a legitimate 3pk inc. Fett) in hand and years of community doubt (especially within the UK & Europe) over the very existence of a legimate example.
I hope that my opinion didn't come across as fact as my intention - albeit negative towards the piece in question not Ron's - wasn't to tar all Irish 3pks with the same brush but advise (see above) due care and attention whilst advocating a widely held belief re Fett's in 3 pks.

As for agreeing only 4 times in 6 years, I missed that the first time. It's your choice not to agree but I am right a lot so maybe you should more.

John

Naaaa... it because I've only bothered to read 5 comments of yours over the years - so what's that ... 80% I agree with - not bad at all chap considering I am an argumentative old sod at the best of times... but then again so are you

Christian,
While I'd definitely be leary of an Irish 3 Pack from a non trusted seller, that had a Fett in it, due to the ease that these can be tampered with. I also believe that IF an Irish 3 pack were to have a Fett in it, a Tri Fett would be the correct figure based on the facts that the Irish 3 packs were made using Palitoy overstock, and that there are ROTJ Palitoy carded figures with Tri Fetts on them. It works out and makes sense that IF a Fett were in an Irish 3 pack that it should be a Tri Fett.

Jo - I agree however I'd probably say 'could' be a Trilogo rather than 'should' be. I believe that more 'normal' coloured Fetts were packed on Pal cardbacks than the Trilogo version. The seemingly endless proliferation of Tri Fetts on Palitoy cards is due to a find of sealed cases a number of years back. I myself had few semi-MOC examples as the bubbles had lifted down one side. Hmmmm.. not sure that even Toytoni has got any left these days...???

Anyway, I sincerely hope that anyone affected by Pablo's actions gets the resolution they seek.

Cheers,
Christian.

 

[Christian]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Not to be a jerk, but maybe we should open up a separate Irish 3-pack thread. I find it really interesting, but this thread could be turn out to be very important and switching out 3-packs is nothing compared to the allegations here (though it is still major).

Whoops sorry Skye I added the last post without having had read yours quoted above - good point.

Christian.

 

[Kim_Zoll]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Rergarding the PPLs, back when they first surfaced I was the one who got the first the was put to sale on ebay as far as I remember.. I spend alot of time trying to track others on latinamerican auction websites and found ended loose and carded PPL star wars auctions that had been for sale there, by different sellers.. before they surfaced on ebay.. they could have been planted there, but I seriously doubt it...

I havent been the most active SW collector the past couple of years due to family, business and other hobbies. So I havent had my finger on the pulse regarding this bad news about Pablo. But I thought it best, to chime in regarding my past discoveries with the PPLs.

 

[JosephY]

Re: Bad seller, scammer: Pablo Artesi/Mariana/Uru-

Update:
Pablo/Mariana are trying to fight my complaint (and negative feedback) on Ebay. They outright refused to complete the transaction. He is claiming (to Ebay) that I recieve items then chargeback to get the items for free and that's why he won't complete the transaction. I hope Ebay suspends his acct for this BS. While I've been known to back out of a deal here or there when I'm low on funds, I've never tried to screw anyone over to get my stuff for free.

It's a shame that Pablo hasn't shown his face in this thread to try to defend himself. But then again when you're 100% wrong, there's really not much to defend, is there?

Joseph