Gus Lopez
xxxx
xxxx
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lopez@halcyon.com
February 28, 1998

Editor
Winter Haven News Chief
P.O. Box 1440
Winter Haven, FL  33882

Dear Editor:

I am a Star Wars collector who frequently writes about the hobby for 
collectibles magazines and have considerable background on the subject. I 
recently read Rick Kenney's February 23rd article titled "Collectors find 
the value of their figures deflating due to a secondary market" that 
appeared in your newspaper and through the Associated Press news wire.  
This article contained many factual errors about Star Wars collectibles 
and their secondary market, and many of these errors were direct quotes 
and opinions from Virginia Brooks, in place of substantiated facts.

Unpainted production Star Wars Micro Collection figurines (the 
collectibles from the early 1980's implied by the article) have sold on 
the secondary market for around a few dollars each for quite some time, 
contrary to Ms. Brooks' claims.   There has never been a drop in the 
secondary market value of these items as they have never been worth very 
much money.

The article seems to suggest that Ron Salvatore and the Earth, Inc. are 
involved in illegal activity.  Since publication of the story, I have 
spoken to Ron and the owners of the Earth (Daren and Kathy Murrer) and 
none of them indicated being contacted by Mr. Kenney to check the facts 
and accuracy of these outrageous allegations.  I have known Ron Salvatore 
and Daren and Kathy Murrer for several years, and I must say I have the 
deepest admiration and praise for their honesty and integrity.

A person going by the name of Virginia Brooks recently emailed me and 
accused me and other well-known Star Wars collectors of theft, 
conspiracy, and fraud with respect to the production of Star Wars toy 
prototypes.  She implied that she had "reported" me to the IRS, FBI, 
Lucasfilm, and Kenner for some imagined criminal activity.  In a short 
period of time, this person has managed to raise allegations of some 
serious criminal activity against a fair number of nationally visible and 
respected Star Wars collecting enthusiasts, all without even a shred of 
evidence to support her claims, in my opinion.

There is a real story here, and the story is about unconfirmed "facts" 
and poor journalism.  I feel that unchecked quotes from a person with an 
ax to grind as a substitute for researching the accuracy of a story is 
bordering on libel.





Gus Lopez
Seattle, WA

cc:	
Rick Kenney
Associated Press
Howard Roffman, Lucasfilm, Ltd.
James Kipling, Hasbro, Inc.