Subject:      Re: Trouble Afoot from prototype owner and Hasbro legal
From:         ewiser@iglou.com (Ed Wiser)
Date:         1998/03/08
Message-ID:   <35028464.556658503@nntp.iglou.com>
Newsgroups:   rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.misc,rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.vintage

:This is an Email that I recieved this morning for our Miss Brooks.: 

I see you guys are very far behind on the news.  My figures have
already been sold.  I won't give the details because you guys wouldn't believe
the amount I actually did get for them.  As far as 4 up hardcopies and
prototypes, unless your friends have a release from Kenner, then they
have Kenner property in their collections.  I even had to get a release
from Kenner before I could finalize the sale of my figures.  Tell Gus to
call Jim Black in Cincinnati and ask him if my letter of release really
came from Kenner. I can assure you that Kenner knows exactly who has their
property and how they got it.   As far as my figures go,  I must have
found one of those very, very, very limited numbers of people you were
talking about because they are sold.  I am thrilled with the offer they made.
What newspaper are you talking about??  As far as I know, it's been quite
time since there was anything written.  I know my  buyer didn't go public
because part of the conditions of the sale was for her to remain
anonymous. Which as far as I know, that has been honored.  They were sold 
almost 4 months ago.  I didn't need Gus Lopez or any of the others  who
consider themselves to be experts for that matter because of the class of
people that this reached.  They weren't interested in anything anyone had to
say other than Kenner and the Original Engineer and all the documentation.
My real beef is the money people are losing for buying the unproduced
micro figures.   They are being falsely advertised and sold via the Internet
to people who believe what they are being told by these persons who claim
to be experts.  When everyone has the opportunity to see all the
documentation there is,  they will never believe all those top authority people
again.  On top of that they will all be demanding their money back.  As a
matter of fact, there is a group of people considering a class action suit over
those unproduced figures right now.   These guys brought it on themselves. 
Different people tried to tell them and they wouldn't have it.  It
certainly had to have been worth one phone call to put the matter to
rest.  They consider themselves to be experts and they probably have seen a
lot of collectibles,  but they didn't have to be so close-minded without
seeing any of the documentation.   All their proof is what Kenner employees
and ex employees have told them.  Those guys couldn't authorize anything and
they certainly did not have access to the original engineer's records.  If
they did they would have been able to tell you the whole story instead of
bits and pieces of which I might add isn't exactly accurate.  Going back to
those 4 up hardcopies and prototypes, one idiot tried to convince me
they came from a sale at Kenner in the early 90's.  I called Jim Black at
Kenner and he said that was completely untrue.  They never sell to the public
and the only thing they sold at that sale was model kits and to a company
named Ertel.  Mr. Black said they would never sell molds, 4 up hardcopies or
prototypes to the public.  That they are Kenner property and should
have never left their facility.   That  sale would probably be believable
to people who have no way of calling anyone at Kenner to verify that
fact. Kenner is  also aware a lot of their new stuff is walking out the
door.  They have had an investigation going on to put a stop to this and some
other things as well.  Actually there are two investigations going on,
one inside Kenner and one outside to make sure the one inside isn't biased
for any reason. 

V. Brooks