Second Harbert Boba Fett?! And much much more!

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Duskamp

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Collezione Star Wars Action Figures Vintage | eBay
In the middel there appears to be a carded Harbert Boba Fett! I compared it to the one authentic example and it fittet quite well. The only issue I found was the color behind the figure did not appear to be as bright a yellow as the card-back in the SW-archive. This could be a figure-shodw/image issue. I also compared it to two known repros of the piece, and it was vastly different in bubble and logo-color.
The zero feedback is an obvious bad sign, but would a high-end scammer ever really use an account with zero feedback?
(If there had been four cut Harbert logos from the other MOCs I would definitely be over the moon.)

I sent a question to the seller to see if I could get more images and make a hypothetical offer on the Fett. Before he answered the auction was canceled and I got this reply: unfortunately I received a very high offer for all the collection.

What do you guys make of it?
 
If it seems too good to be true it usually is, but who knows. There has been alot of things popping up lately that turned out to be the real deal.
 
hmmm im not sure to be honest..
its the only one out of the lot thats beat up more than the others.

and another thing i dont get is if people have something that valuable why do they just throw it in the pile i would get an afa style case and seal it up
but each to their own
 
I dont know anything about harberts....but like fatigues I like to go with my gut initial impression, and those look real.

What would a lot like this be worth if legit? $50-75k?
 
As I didn't get the chance to bid, I kind of hope it's fake. (I know very well that is a stupid self-centered attitude.)
But to be honest, my gut feeling says it's a very good chance to be legit.

The auction was on italian ebay whith no international link, and there is a local pickup in Milan.
If leget, I'm afraid this goes right to a collectors secret tomb for the next 30 years, and we'll never know.
 
Astonishing auction.

IIRC the last public sale of a Harbert ESB Fett (which I think was sold by a certain Mr Gallo) went for $10,000 on eBay.com and didn't hang around for too long. That example was graded (60?) and had a large surface tear in the top RHC.

Amazing collection including a couple of the 2nd series SW figures - very sweet.

Regards,
Christian
 
This is certainly an interesting auction. There are a couple of red flags popping up for me, but I'm a pretty suspicious person. Especially when it comes to extremely rare MOC's. And the Fett isn't the only rare figure in that auction. ;)

But before everyone crowns this auction as totally authentic and amazing, please take a look at some of these threads.

http://forum.rebelscum.com/t1009581/

and

http://forum.rebelscum.com/t978745/

There has been some known scams going around in the past with regards to Harbert MOC's. So combined with the red flags on the auction and the known history of a few fakes floating around, I think approaching anything like this with a little bit of caution is a good thing.

That's not to say there hasn't been some amazing finds in regards to Harbert figures. But those have been pretty well documented and publicized.
 
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Thanks for the insight ChrisB! Yes I think your observations are right, and those are more likely repros/scams than authentic. The only thing that struck me was the appearance of the Fett card. I've seen some repros and non of them nailed the color, design, and placement of bubble as this one. As it's only one carded and two other known loose cards, it must be quite the challenge to reproduce it as the design of the card is unique for this figure. The available images online are so low res and bad quality, that it takes a very very good graphic designer to have nailed a reproduction. (But I must admit it's much more probable than to find an authentic one.)

I hope for the buyers sake he lives in Milan to take a closer look himself before paying €10K++
 
Chris - those were some shocking reseals and fakes. Thanks for highlighting what has been peddled in the past.

However, FWIW, if I'd caught this auction in time I'd probably be on a plane to Milan by now with my brother who fortunately speaks fluent Italian! If they turned out to be crud (which they certainly do not look like it to me) then Milan is one helluva place for a night out :)

Cheers,
Christian
 
That would be a nice trip Christian! I would do the same, but my italian is as good as my klingon.
 
The seller was trying to peddle the lot on a forum/marketplace. Someone offered to buy the Fett on its own. I sent the link to that thread to a boardie yesterday - I'll post it here. It's in Italian so I'll post the link in an English translated form...
 
Here are the close-up pics from that thread

collez10.jpg


star_w10.jpg


star_w11.jpg


star_w12.jpg


empire11.jpg
 
So here's my take. Milan is a part of Italy with known affluence. However Italy generally is also a part of the world with which I have refused to sell in the past, especially when I was selling high-end electronics, due to frequency of online fraud that occurred from that part of the world. And this is coming from someone of Italian descent. Apart from this, I've got my full-on squint in this particular situation because he claims in that marketplace thread to not be a collector, and not having any real attachment to the items. The problem however is the "too good to be true" angle and methods this person went about selling this lot screaming buyer beware, and my advice to anyone who bought this would be to make sure these are picked-up in person before any money is exchanged.
 
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Thanks finestcomics! They look good to me, but I have no PhD in Harbert toys.
The thing that strikes me is that the Boba Fett has a price sticker. Didn't it sell as a mail-away for four cut Harbert logos? Could be a resale from some stor, but still...
 
Superb pictures Allen - thanks for posting those up. Well my initial feelings are now confirmed - all genuine. Also, and perhaps more interesting, is that I believe this sale also dispells the previously held knowledge that the Fett was only a mail away. Clearly not with that retail price tag as per the other ESB mocs.

Still gutted to have missed the original posting - I wonder if Cord got in there early???? Or is the Fett heading to the US Allen????? :p

Cheers,
Christian
 
Duskamp said:
Thanks finestcomics! They look good to me, but I have no PhD in Harbert toys.
The thing that strikes me is that the Boba Fett has a price sticker. Didn't it sell as a mail-away for four cut Harbert logos? Could be a resale from some stor, but still...
Click to expand...

LOL - jus goes to show how long it takes me to write a post with the kids running amok in the background and Mum being out!
 
:D I think you might be right on that they might have been sold in stores, if the italians didn't bother to send in their logos why let 100 figures go to waste. Would be nice if some italian guy could find out if the price on the sticker is retail for that era or some later second hand prices. Look at the lifting on the Boba. It's very very much like the other in existence. It's hard to fake that. Damn.

Christian said:
LOL - jus goes to show how long it takes me to write a post with the kids running amok in the background and Mum being out!
Click to expand...
 
Yeah that fett objecetively looks identical to the AFA graded example. Not sure if discriminating against the items because theyre from Italy makes sense....I would think it adds legitimacy since theyre Italian figures :)
 
I'm talking about the manner by which these were listed. The guy posted in a marketplace with no forum history (if you read the thread, he stirs controversy on that very point). Then after he's tossed the bait out, he takes the deal off eBay.

A collection of Harbert MOC's of that size, being sold by someone who has no interest in them or knows nothing of their value, but knows the perfect way to bait the hook seems to me to be the "if it's too good to be true.." perfect storm scenario.
 
Thanks for the close up shots.

I had my doubts at first, but on closer inspection with the better pic's, I'd say they all look legit. Yes we all know Fett is uber rare and I'd say this 2nd example is in better condition than the first to surface (which has the tear on the front).

Not only excited about the Fett, but Han Solo as well, there aren't many of those around, seen more Yoda's than Han's. Pretty sure Han is the 2nd rarest Harbert
 
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He had it up on Kijiji Italy as well - 8th listing from the top. Pretty impressive marketing savvy considering they're a zero feedback seller.
 
finestcomics said:
I'm talking about the manner by which these were listed. The guy posted in a marketplace with no forum history (if you read the thread, he stirs controversy on that very point). Then after he's tossed the bait out, he takes the deal off eBay.

A collection of Harbert MOC's of that size, being sold by someone who has no interest in them or knows nothing of their value, but knows the perfect way to bait the hook seems to me to be the "if it's too good to be true.." perfect storm scenario.
Click to expand...

I agree he does come across suspicious in that aspect but what probably happened is someone sent him a back door offer and he sold it off of ebay. I mean for that low of a price, I would have jumped on it and I am in Ohio. I probably would have sent him a offer of say $3000 if he would ship it or hold it. This is most likely the case as someone coaxed him with a higher offer but still very low and he jumped all over it. Just my opinion from high end deals where the seller does not know what he has. It always gets "taken off" ebay and miraculously shows up later on down the road from someone else.
 
I manage to give a bid of €4000 for just the fett before the auction was taken down. The seller apologized that he could not sell me the Fett as he received a "very high" offer for the whole lot. So I suspect the person who got it didn't get it at a steal price.

Cody_F said:
I agree he does come across suspicious in that aspect but what probably happened is someone sent him a back door offer and he sold it off of ebay. I mean for that low of a price, I would have jumped on it and I am in Ohio. I probably would have sent him a offer of say $3000 if he would ship it or hold it. This is most likely the case as someone coaxed him with a higher offer but still very low and he jumped all over it. Just my opinion from high end deals where the seller does not know what he has. It always gets "taken off" ebay and miraculously shows up later on down the road from someone else.
Click to expand...
 
I agree there are definitely some red flags....but in the face of items which look 100% legit, they become more like "yellow" flags you know?

I honestly hope it didnt go for a steal price. Thats a sick collection and the sellwr deserves to get paid. I mean, if a VCJ with a palitoy logo on the card can go for $50k, then that Fett should go for just as much imo. I know which one I'd rather have on my shelf :)
 
Just an opinion but in my experience Italians have a slightly different mentality to 2nd hand items and collecting, i used to buy a lot of vintage bicycle components and have several friends that buy vintage Vespa and Lambretta scooter parts - they couldn't ship it out fast enough. I don't think they collect like we do but i think times are changing yet i could still see that lot going virtually unnoticed there.
 
Given the Fett was a mail away offer, i would not expect it to have a price tag on it. Some Harbert repros have looked amazing over the years that i've seen. Its really hard to say here....very interesting.
 
It struck me. Why has the confirmed authentic one a tear to the card? The bubble is almost perfect and the edges are good.
Most obvious answer: it had a sticker to it as well.

Toltoys_Employee said:
Given the Fett was a mail away offer, i would not expect it to have a price tag on it. Some Harbert repros have looked amazing over the years that i've seen. Its really hard to say here....very interesting.
Click to expand...
 
FWIW - I sent an offer of 10,000 euros. Didn't even get a reply. I'd think it would illicit a reply at least if it was a legit seller.


Also - The description tag is "used" . If these are all unopened, wouldn't you choose "new"?
 
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DarthBerizing said:
FWIW - I sent an offer of 10,000 euros. Didn't even get a reply. I'd think it would illicit a reply at least if it was a legit seller.


Also - The description tag is "used" . If these are all unopened, wouldn't you choose "new"?
Click to expand...
I guess he got dozens of offers and they are used.
 
I spoke to the seller, Did not make him an offer, but just tried to gain more info, but he replied:

Hi Dennis, thanks for the intrest but it's too late. I already sold the collection
Regards,
Francesco

guess he had many offers offers and mails John and thats probably the reason why he missed to reply to you.
 
Ok, new info. The seller got the lot from the son of a former Harbert Merketing Manager. He was cleaning out his dads house and found them in a box.[FONT=arial, sans-serif] I've got close up pictures on every MOC and they're[/FONT] 100% legit.
The sticker is without VAT and that indicates it's from a wholesale. It all points to that Fett's were sold on Italian ESB cards to/in toy stores. May not be many of them produced, but IMO there is a good chance more of them will turn up.
 
That's some great info ! Wonder when some will come up for sale !

Thanks

Vince
 
I offered the guy 60k as a joke and he replied saying he sold the lot for 66k.That's some big bucks if it's true.
 
Sheesh that is some serious loot. BUT a pretty good deal if theyre all legit and minty looking like that, no? With the way ebay has been what would a high grade AFA fett like that go for? $50k? The rest would bring in a ton if sold individually.
 
Who knows. I think many people who were into star wars as kids are entering the period of their lives where they begin to earn serious amount of money (at least 5% according to statistic). These ultra rare key pieces of SW-figure collecting will likely be harder and harder to get.
Say there are 2000 serious collectors in the world (I have no clue if that is close or laughable). 5% of that is 100 people. If 20 of them going after the same Item on ebay, like a DT Vader MOC, it can turn out very interesting. Deals on the back-room is often to prefer.
 
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