The Fans Strike Back/Smithlord Creations Scam Alert.

[Yukface]

Just to get it out there, I want to share my experience with Chris Krahn and Smith Lord Creations/The Fans Strike Back...

It has been almost a year since paying for the Bantha with next to ZERO substantial updates on the progress of this piece. I asked the hard question about a REAL update and instead of being professional they turned off the comments and banned me from making posts.

I highly suggest staying away from these con artists. I asked for a full refund and I fully plan on contacting an attorney to hold them accountable.

Do not confuse these amateurs with Chris Smith of Stan Solo in England. They have been riding his coat tails from the get go and its obvious they do not have what it takes to be offering, and TAKING MONEY, for something they are not capable of.

 

[jimmii]

I've bought a few "in stock" items from their site, and everything was received in a timely manner. I do have a deposit down for their "Loose 13" that I placed about a year ago, and I just expected delays with the wuhan virus situation disrupting all manufacturing & shipping for everything.

 

[Yukface]

This isn't about delays(years!), its about "canceling" anyone who dares ask where their stuff is. Smugglers Den on Facebook has some pretty revealing post about them.

Chances are good you nor anyone else will ever see the 13 figures and if you do you will wish you didn't.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/smugglersden/permalink/3042921482632912/?ref=m_notif&notif_t=group_comment_mention

 

[jimmii]

This isn't about delays(years!), its about "canceling" anyone who dares ask where their stuff is. Smugglers Den on Facebook has some pretty revealing post about them.

Chances are good you nor anyone else will ever see the 13 figures and if you do you will wish you didn't.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/smugglersden/permalink/3042921482632912/?ref=m_notif&notif_t=group_comment_mention

I hear you yukface...that really sucks.

I did see Stan Solo post recently on etsy that he received the completed Bantha paint sample just the other day, so maybe the retail Bantha isn't far off? I'm trying to be optimistic, but I totally understand your dissatisfaction with being blocked. I've never had a facebook account, mostly because they were way too intrusive into personal data and full of narcissists from day 1, and now they are the Social Media King of Cancel Culture and speech suppression. Smuggler's Den apparently makes you have an account to see their content, so I could only see the top photo of all the Custom figures, which looked amazing! I couldn't see what they said, but I'm guessing it's not good. Maybe you can copy and paste it here so I can read it?

 

[Vulpy The Vulptex]

that's terms from tfsb. what kind of business changes the terms partway thru the project to that??? so weird. is tfsb purposely trying to worry their customers?!!

 

[Yukface]

I hear you yukface...that really sucks.

I did see Stan Solo post recently on etsy that he received the completed Bantha paint sample just the other day, so maybe the retail Bantha isn't far off? I'm trying to be optimistic, but I totally understand your dissatisfaction with being blocked. I've never had a facebook account, mostly because they were way too intrusive into personal data and full of narcissists from day 1, and now they are the Social Media King of Cancel Culture and speech suppression. Smuggler's Den apparently makes you have an account to see their content, so I could only see the top photo of all the Custom figures, which looked amazing! I couldn't see what they said, but I'm guessing it's not good. Maybe you can copy and paste it here so I can read it?

The Stan Solo bantha is an entirely different project, led by someone who can actually get these things done, Chris Smith.

Basically, the post I referred to describes how pathetic the results of the 13 figures are between extremely poor sculpts, bad paint choices, and, obviously, the time frame for getting the project shipped.

Anyone who has already paid for these need to realize your money has vanished into thin air. Now is the time to file a complaint with the AG of Pennsylvania. There may be no recourse on getting a refund but at least you can help others not become victim to their fraud.

Here is the "disclaimer" from the bantha project...

"Crowdfunded projects depend on backers in a community format. You are backing a project, not purchasing a product. Items shown are rewards, issued upon project completion. Rewards are not guaranteed. Committing to backing confirms your funds being allocated to project production, and are non-refundable, whole or in-part."

Read it a couple times and let it sink in... NOTHING, no product is "guaranteed". I would like to start a crowdfunded remodel of my house, and, if any gold bars are found in the process I will distribute the "rewards". Im curious how the PA judicial system will interpret his verbal diarrhea.

Hanging on in quiet desperation may be the English way but not here in America...

Submit a Complaint

www.attorneygeneral.gov

 

[Vulpy The Vulptex]

Here is the "disclaimer" from the bantha project...

"Crowdfunded projects depend on backers in a community format. You are backing a project, not purchasing a product. Items shown are rewards, issued upon project completion. Rewards are not guaranteed. Committing to backing confirms your funds being allocated to project production, and are non-refundable, whole or in-part."

i want to emphasize that that disclaimer is not what was originally there on the site. it's a recent "update"

the site use to say something about giving refunds if the project got cancelled

why pennsylvania? is that the state where tfsb is?

 

[Yukface]

Your spot on with the disclaimer, tos, whatever... I would guess, legally, you can't change that along the way. That is yet to be seen. There are screen shots of all variations of it.

Yes, PA, because that's where they are located.

 

[Vulpy The Vulptex]

i also want to emphasize that tfsb promised us in no uncertain terms that the 12 figures would be shipped to us in november of 2020.

well, the date passed obviously...and tfsb as far as i know never apologized or explained why they werent shipped in nov 2020. tfsb acted like the date was never announced...and anyone who asks about it on fb gets blocked/ignored or comment deleted.

 

[MondoFanMichael]

I was pretty hyped for those figures. Have the order in for a carded set…I’ve decided if I get them fine if I don’t fine. I think they will happen, I just don’t expect quality work at this point.

BUT big Stan Solo fan now. I will order whatever he makes on a card. No room for a bantha sadly. You can see the quality and his posts are very transparent. No round and round BS like TFSB.

Join Stan Solo’s Facebook page. It’s entertaining too! Just buy something from his Etsy.

 

[Yukface]

i also want to emphasize that tfsb promised us in no uncertain terms that the 12 figures would be shipped to us in november of 2020.

well, the date passed obviously...and tfsb as far as i know never apologized or explained why they werent shipped in nov 2020. tfsb acted like the date was never announced...and anyone who asks about it on fb gets blocked/ignored or comment deleted.

That's exactly what set this in motion. I noticed in Aug it will be a year since putting money down on the bantha. He tippy toed around questions about an update so I posed a hard question. The commenting was turned off and then I was blocked from the page. Thats not how HONEST people conduct business.

I can understand time delays and blah blah but you can't grease the squeaky wheel by "cancelling" them... that crossed the line and hopefully will set the wheels in motion to hold him accountable.

 

[Vulpy The Vulptex]

i'm baffled about why tfsb "updated" their site to this "rewards are not guaranteed" crap - which would only cause customers who have paid to panic. but maybe i have a guess about why...

maybe a lot of customers are starting to file chargebacks and fraud claims with paypal or credit cards...and tfsb doesnt want to - or can't because they don't have the money - give refunds. and tfsb thinks that the "rewards are not guaranteed" line will prevent paypal and credit card companies from giving refunds...i don't know. what do you all think?

 

[jimmii]

I gave them a $50 deposit towards the carded set. Hopefully, you guys didn't give the whole amount in case they don't come through. I thought they were a 3rd party that sells Stan Solo's creations in the US, am I mistaken?

 

[Vulpy The Vulptex]

I gave them a $50 deposit towards the carded set. Hopefully, you guys didn't give the whole amount in case they don't come through. I thought they were a 3rd party that sells Stan Solo's creations in the US, am I mistaken?

stan solos creations and tfsb are different companies.

 

[Yukface]

I gave them a $50 deposit towards the carded set. Hopefully, you guys didn't give the whole amount in case they don't come through. I thought they were a 3rd party that sells Stan Solo's creations in the US, am I mistaken?

You are extremely lucky to only be out $50.

Chris Karhn bought Smith Lord Creations from Chris Smith (Stan Solo Creations). Some of the early figures were Stan Solos work, and should be obvious from the quality. The 13 figures and Banthas and new crop of Boba Fetts(which are said to be horrific) are Chris Krhans. I dont pretend to know the ins and outs of all the details buts thats it in a nutshell.

If you want quality reproductions, Stan Solo on etsy.

If you want to get lied to and ripped off, Chris Karhn of Smith Lord /The Fans Strike Back.

 

[Yukface]

i'm baffled about why tfsb "updated" their site to this "rewards are not guaranteed" crap - which would only cause customers who have paid to panic. but maybe i have a guess about why...

maybe a lot of customers are starting to file chargebacks and fraud claims with paypal or credit cards...and tfsb doesnt want to - or can't because they don't have the money - give refunds. and tfsb thinks that the "rewards are not guaranteed" line will prevent paypal and credit card companies from giving refunds...i don't know. what do you all think?

I hope they are investigated to the fullest extent just to see EXACTLY where the money has gone.

I sat on a jury in a civil case involving someone raising capitol to start a business making man-made granite(or something similar). The only machine made for this or large enough was in France or Spain and needed to be shipped here obviously. The president of the company decided he needed/deserved an $800,000 house BEFORE bringing the machine into the country and actually making product. The time came to pay shipping cost on the machine and, guess what, he didn't have the money to do it! He used the funds raised for the business on personal stuff. One of the investors was the Police Federation... bad idea to screw over cops. Needless to say, the prosecution had a slam dunk case. Guilty!

 

[Lobotscomb]

Thess guys do live shows, and that legal mumbo jumbo wasn't in the fine print when i signed up. Therefore legally it would not apply. You really want to get an answer? Alert Michael French from Retroblasting. He promoted them with a discount code and everything. Michael is a stand up guy and would not stand his reputation being dragged through the mud.

 

[MondoFanMichael]

Update today. Not about the status of the 13 figures of course but about the recent scam warning posts. Comments turned off. Bad look for sure.

 

[Vulpy The Vulptex]

i am practically in tears over this because again there was no update provided about the progress of the 12/13 figures. what about the people who sent money to tfsb a long time ago who had nothing to do with the accusations tfsb is talking about on facebook???? i dont care about the facebook drama...i want to know about the progress of the products i paid for long ago. i am actually scared to send them a message because i am afraid they might ban me . Does tfsb have information about the progress of the figures? If so...why withhold it? Why is friday the only possible day tfsb can share a progress report??? I feel like i'm in an abusive relationship...and I cant leave because they have my money held hostage

 

[Vulpy The Vulptex]

Alert Michael French from Retroblasting. He promoted them with a discount code and everything. Michael is a stand up guy and would not stand his reputation being dragged through the mud.

is he a stand up guy? i've always thought so too...he always presents himself as a man of high integrity and a man who wont take no guff from nobody. as far as i know he's said nothing publically about all this...and one of the retroblasting videos promoting tfsb got taken down from youtube

 

[Yukface]

i am practically in tears over this because again there was no update provided about the progress of the 12/13 figures. what about the people who sent money to tfsb a long time ago who had nothing to do with the accusations tfsb is talking about on facebook???? i dont care about the facebook drama...i want to know about the progress of the products i paid for long ago. i am actually scared to send them a message because i am afraid they might ban me . Does tfsb have information about the progress of the figures? If so...why withhold it? Why is friday the only possible day tfsb can share a progress report??? I feel like i'm in an abusive relationship...and I cant leave because they have my money held hostage

This has nothing to do with the "accusations" on Facebook. This has to do with Chris Krahn taking hundreds of thousands of dollars and producing nothing but sandwich bags, hamster bedding, and $2.50 Kaybee stickers.

If this guy has your money it is gone. Come to accept that fact and then, at least, hold him criminally responsible.

ReportFraud.ftc.gov

reportfraud.ftc.gov

 

[Yukface]

Thess guys do live shows, and that legal mumbo jumbo wasn't in the fine print when i signed up. Therefore legally it would not apply. You really want to get an answer? Alert Michael French from Retroblasting. He promoted them with a discount code and everything. Michael is a stand up guy and would not stand his reputation being dragged through the mud.

I contacted Tony directly from Analog Toys... he had a whole lot of nothing to say. Apparently he is too busy creating "content" crying about buying some other dude toys and not getting the proper credit. Having his own action figure must be really demanding on his schedule.

I am starting to wonder if the YouTube guys are in on it.

 

[Yukface]

Mods... it would be really nice if this post could be a bit visible. People are still getting ripped off and will continue to be as long as their website is in operation.

If you have sent them money think about it this way... If you paid someone in full to build your house and they hadn't even finished the blueprints 2 years later... ITS CALLED FRAUD.

These products do not take this long to develop. The bantha is going on 2 YEARS AND HE IS STILL TALKING ABOUT THE PROTOTYPE.

ONE LIE AFTER ANOTHER.

 

[Yukface]

Thess guys do live shows, and that legal mumbo jumbo wasn't in the fine print when i signed up. Therefore legally it would not apply. You really want to get an answer? Alert Michael French from Retroblasting. He promoted them with a discount code and everything. Michael is a stand up guy and would not stand his reputation being dragged through the mud.

I sent this message to Michael... so far no response. Let's just see how "stand up" he really is....

 

[Vulpy The Vulptex]

I sent this message to Michael... so far no response. Let's just see how "stand up" he really is....

i would rather like to ask retroblasting why they removed their tfsb promotion video from youtube.

i would like to also know retroblastings opinion on the "update" to the 13 figures page with the disclaimer " Crowdfunded projects depend on backers in a community format. You are backing a project, not purchasing a product. Items shown are rewards, issued upon project completion. Rewards are not guaranteed. Committing to backing confirms your funds being allocated to project production, and are non-refundable, whole or in-part. "

that disclaimer was not there originally.

i would also like to know retroblastings opinion on the promised and obviously missed november 2020 date. it seems that date was a promise that was impossible for tfsb to keep or that tfsb had no intention of keeping. was there ever a statement from tfsb regarding this missed date???

but mostly...retroblasting promoted tfsb in a youtube video. now that video is gone. why????

 

[Yukface]

Send them messages!

 

[Yukface]

Edited because the video is available to watch.

 

[Vulpy The Vulptex]

Here are some important quotes from Michael in the retroblasting video:

Starting about 29:26:

"Chris Krahn is 2 years late on these toys. That is unacceptable, given how everybody else has been able to put out product. He needs to drop everything that he's doing, and go full on in on getting these products to his customers as soon as possible."

"He needs to finally put up or shut up and get these products to everybody stat. And if he can't, then the refunds have to happen, full refunds immediately."



Starting about 52:46:

"He needs to get those products done.
It's been too long.
And anybody who has asked for a refund should be entitled to get one.
And the language change on his website is wrong and shouldn't have happened."

 

[Vulpy The Vulptex]

More quotes from Michael.

10:43:
“They were saying that Chris [Krahn] was refusing to give refunds and blocking people from the Facebook page.”
“If a customer who wanted a refund and the response was 'no' and you're being blocked from Smith Lord Creations, then Chris Krahn is in the wrong, and he should be giving out refunds, and that is the wrong way to handle business.”


19:16:
“I acknowledge that looking up two years later, and we're now over halfway through 2021, it has been too long. It absolutely has been too long.”


22:42:
“Mistakes have been made.”
“And we're [TFSB customers] still getting photographs of stuff that's kind of in progress, but everything's glacially slow, and, yeah, it's a problem. It's a problem.”


26:56:
“The last message that I exchanged with Chris [Krahn] was about this change in language because the idea was is that we were pre-ordering and not through a Kickstarter system, but the language has now changed on the website to indicate that this is now some kind of Kickstarter thing where we're assisting in funding things and may not get anything for the money. And I immediately messaged Chris [Krahn] several weeks back, and I said, hey, man, this is a terrible, terrible thing to do. I said, this language is staggeringly tone deaf when it comes to your customer base after having waited this long.”


46:41:
“The guy [Krahn] has mismanaged several things along the way in this process.”