aeneas01
09-08-2007, 07:46 AM
my first interaction with ebayer vintageksusports occured in november of 2006 when he listed what he claimed to be a "vintage game used university of michigan helmet" which he said he had obtained from a "very reliable source". however, i immediately recognized the helmet - it was in fact a vintage university of delaware helmet that had sold on ebay six months earlier.
the original seller had offered a very detailed item description - he stated that he had attended the university of delaware and, as a member of the delaware booster club, had obtained the helmet directly from the team. along with the vintage delaware helmet, the original seller had also included in this auction other delaware football trinkets such as booster buttons, a pennant and a program.
when i confronted ebayer vintageksusports about his listing he responded with a nasty email telling me to mind my own business. i responded to this by contacting his bidders, many of whom withdrew their bids. vintageksusports then ended his auction early and relisted the helmet using ebay's bidder privacy feature - he then sent me the following short email:
===========================================
----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Scanlan
Sent: Wednesday, November 08, 2006 9:36 PM
Subject: Re: Question for item #260047034019 - 1970's Michigan Wolverines - Marietta Football Helmet
I will tell you what buddy.........you have now started something that I am going to finish. Good luck to you and all your future auctions!
===========================================
vintageksusports at this moment has several more helmets listed on ebay - two of which i again immediately recognized.
http://cgi.ebay.com/1966-1969-Atlanta-Falcons-Football-Helmet-NFL-AFL_W0QQitemZ260156177093QQihZ016QQcategoryZ86828Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/1968-Virginia-Tech-Hokies-Macgregor-Football-Helmet-NFL_W0QQitemZ260156175287QQihZ016QQcategoryZ86828Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
one of these helmets he claims is an "authentic game used atlanta falcon's football helmet" - a helmet which he says he has owned for the last 12 years. interesting considering he purchased this very helmet on ebay in december of 2005 when it was specifically listed as a child's atlanta falcons' helmet which was worn by the seller's husband when he was a child. i was recently able to track down the original ebay seller (texanny) and point her to vintageksusports's listing - she remembered the helmet well and responded:
"It definitely is the same helmet. I was able to enlarge my screen image to compare serial numbers and it's the same number... I sold it on ebay in December 2005 and it was most certainly not used professionally. The helmet belonged to my husband, who is 48 now, as a child. He wore it to play Little League in Lynbrook, NY. No grown man could put that helmet on his head that's for sure."
texanny later informed me that she had just contacted vintageksusports with the following email:
"This is the helmet that I sold on Ebay in December 2005. It is not an authentic Atlanta Falcons helmet. It was not represented as such when I sold it either. My husband wore it as a child playing football in the neighborhood."
given my previous experience with vintageksusports, i decided to create a new ebay account in order to ask him about the provenance of this helmet, just to see what he would say - i posed as a naive and eager buyer new to helmet collecting and prepared to spend thousands for the "real goods". had i questioned him using my reguar ebay account name he would have recognized me immediately and the gig would have been up. here, in part, is what he told me:
===========================================
----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Scanlan
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 7:09 AM
Subject: Re: Question for item #260148960120 - 1968 Virginia Tech Hokies Macgregor Football Helmet NFL
Good Morning XXXXX:
Michigan & Atlanta Football helmets:
I got these two helmets at the same time and from the same person. I lived in Houston, Texas from 1993 to 1998. Back in 1995 I met a gentleman (John Rutherford) down there who owned one of the biggest Sports Bars in Houston. He and I became pretty good friends mainly because we both shared an enormous interest in vintage sports memorabilia... These two items were in storage along with an enormous amount of other stuff that he either had collected or had given to him. I know that he said that many of the game used items that he had were donated to the Sports Bar either by players or collectors who frequented his place. I never asked him where they came from, I just knew that they were authentic as soon as I saw them. So I have had these helmets for about 12 years now and I have decided to sell them to focus on my collection of Vintage Big 8, Big 7 and Big 6 Conference stuff. That is pretty much the story on these two helmets.
note: the michigan helmet he is referring to in this email is not the same one that i mentioned above which was actually a delaware helmet - this is another michigan helmet which he currently has listed on ebay.
===========================================
another helmet vintageksusports currently has listed is a vintage game used virginia tech lid. what he failed to mention in his ad and what he failed to mention in his email response to me when i was posing as a newbie buyer is that, although indeed authentic, it was previously made into a lamp - as such, the facemask has been altered having a drill hole which was used to mount the helmet to the lamp base. he makes no mention of this.
and while this may not be as blatantly dishonest as the previous two cases i wrote about, i do think it's worth mentioning because imo it further illustrates the true nature of this very shady ebay huckster.
for the record, vintageksusports purchased the virginia tech helmet from forum member shawn kennedy of goldensportscollections.com who had purchased it as a lamp from the original seller. but unlike vintageksusports, when shawn listed this helmet on ebay without the lamp parts he made certain to specifically point out in his item description that the helmet was once a lamp and the facemask showed a drill hole. same helmet -one honest seller and one very dishonest seller.
here is what shawn emailed me when i pointed out this auction:
----- Original Message -----
From: "shawn kennedy" <deaconshawni@yahoo.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2007 3:26 PM
Subject: Re: michigan helmet
I'm aware of him. He bought my Virgina Tech that I listed as once a helmet lamp. He didn't mention it.
the original seller had offered a very detailed item description - he stated that he had attended the university of delaware and, as a member of the delaware booster club, had obtained the helmet directly from the team. along with the vintage delaware helmet, the original seller had also included in this auction other delaware football trinkets such as booster buttons, a pennant and a program.
when i confronted ebayer vintageksusports about his listing he responded with a nasty email telling me to mind my own business. i responded to this by contacting his bidders, many of whom withdrew their bids. vintageksusports then ended his auction early and relisted the helmet using ebay's bidder privacy feature - he then sent me the following short email:
===========================================
----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Scanlan
Sent: Wednesday, November 08, 2006 9:36 PM
Subject: Re: Question for item #260047034019 - 1970's Michigan Wolverines - Marietta Football Helmet
I will tell you what buddy.........you have now started something that I am going to finish. Good luck to you and all your future auctions!
===========================================
vintageksusports at this moment has several more helmets listed on ebay - two of which i again immediately recognized.
http://cgi.ebay.com/1966-1969-Atlanta-Falcons-Football-Helmet-NFL-AFL_W0QQitemZ260156177093QQihZ016QQcategoryZ86828Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/1968-Virginia-Tech-Hokies-Macgregor-Football-Helmet-NFL_W0QQitemZ260156175287QQihZ016QQcategoryZ86828Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
one of these helmets he claims is an "authentic game used atlanta falcon's football helmet" - a helmet which he says he has owned for the last 12 years. interesting considering he purchased this very helmet on ebay in december of 2005 when it was specifically listed as a child's atlanta falcons' helmet which was worn by the seller's husband when he was a child. i was recently able to track down the original ebay seller (texanny) and point her to vintageksusports's listing - she remembered the helmet well and responded:
"It definitely is the same helmet. I was able to enlarge my screen image to compare serial numbers and it's the same number... I sold it on ebay in December 2005 and it was most certainly not used professionally. The helmet belonged to my husband, who is 48 now, as a child. He wore it to play Little League in Lynbrook, NY. No grown man could put that helmet on his head that's for sure."
texanny later informed me that she had just contacted vintageksusports with the following email:
"This is the helmet that I sold on Ebay in December 2005. It is not an authentic Atlanta Falcons helmet. It was not represented as such when I sold it either. My husband wore it as a child playing football in the neighborhood."
given my previous experience with vintageksusports, i decided to create a new ebay account in order to ask him about the provenance of this helmet, just to see what he would say - i posed as a naive and eager buyer new to helmet collecting and prepared to spend thousands for the "real goods". had i questioned him using my reguar ebay account name he would have recognized me immediately and the gig would have been up. here, in part, is what he told me:
===========================================
----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Scanlan
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 7:09 AM
Subject: Re: Question for item #260148960120 - 1968 Virginia Tech Hokies Macgregor Football Helmet NFL
Good Morning XXXXX:
Michigan & Atlanta Football helmets:
I got these two helmets at the same time and from the same person. I lived in Houston, Texas from 1993 to 1998. Back in 1995 I met a gentleman (John Rutherford) down there who owned one of the biggest Sports Bars in Houston. He and I became pretty good friends mainly because we both shared an enormous interest in vintage sports memorabilia... These two items were in storage along with an enormous amount of other stuff that he either had collected or had given to him. I know that he said that many of the game used items that he had were donated to the Sports Bar either by players or collectors who frequented his place. I never asked him where they came from, I just knew that they were authentic as soon as I saw them. So I have had these helmets for about 12 years now and I have decided to sell them to focus on my collection of Vintage Big 8, Big 7 and Big 6 Conference stuff. That is pretty much the story on these two helmets.
note: the michigan helmet he is referring to in this email is not the same one that i mentioned above which was actually a delaware helmet - this is another michigan helmet which he currently has listed on ebay.
===========================================
another helmet vintageksusports currently has listed is a vintage game used virginia tech lid. what he failed to mention in his ad and what he failed to mention in his email response to me when i was posing as a newbie buyer is that, although indeed authentic, it was previously made into a lamp - as such, the facemask has been altered having a drill hole which was used to mount the helmet to the lamp base. he makes no mention of this.
and while this may not be as blatantly dishonest as the previous two cases i wrote about, i do think it's worth mentioning because imo it further illustrates the true nature of this very shady ebay huckster.
for the record, vintageksusports purchased the virginia tech helmet from forum member shawn kennedy of goldensportscollections.com who had purchased it as a lamp from the original seller. but unlike vintageksusports, when shawn listed this helmet on ebay without the lamp parts he made certain to specifically point out in his item description that the helmet was once a lamp and the facemask showed a drill hole. same helmet -one honest seller and one very dishonest seller.
here is what shawn emailed me when i pointed out this auction:
----- Original Message -----
From: "shawn kennedy" <deaconshawni@yahoo.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2007 3:26 PM
Subject: Re: michigan helmet
I'm aware of him. He bought my Virgina Tech that I listed as once a helmet lamp. He didn't mention it.