Don't fake it baby, lay the real thing on me...
This is the start of a regular look at eBay items that, judging by the very positive response we've had to our Bowie Collectors series, may interest many of you. (05.09.2008 NEWS: THE BOWIE COLLECTORS - VISITOR & 04.07.2008 NEWS: THE BOWIE COLLECTORS - PMFWOODS & 03.02.2008 NEWS: BOWIE 45 SELLS FOR $3,550 ON EBAY - THE BUYER TALKS)
The main idea is to attempt to guide you around the pitfalls of buying items that are perhaps not quite what they seem to be. First up though is a quite legitimate copy of that little troublemaker, Liza Jane.
This was a demonstration sample (see label above) and it fetched a very respectable £1,470.00 GBP, (approx. US $2,908.40) in an auction that ended a few days ago.
Even without having the luxury of inspecting the record up close, it's obvious from the well-taken pictures that accompanied the description that this was the real thing.
Everything looks right, from the correct and intact centre and machine-stamped matrix, to the narrow run-out groove and original paper sleeve. It was clear from the outset that the seller had a genuine pressing backed up with very good visual evidence.
I'm not sure the same can be said for the next item, which has been poorly presented on eBay and certainly looks like a fake.
Several copies of this questionable item have sold so far. Here are five that I could trace the history of for May alone, including an ongoing auction that ends on the 31st...
Item number: 180238564870 = May-03-08 - GBP 310.00
Item number: 180241220075 = May-10-08 - GBP 132.00
Item number: 180241977647 = May-12-08 - GBP 577.00
Item number: 180245013734 = May-21-08 - GBP 205.00
Item number: 180247716139 = May-31-08 - DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!
I find it remarkable that people continue to be conned into paying such high prices for something that should immediately be ringing alarm bells. It seems that this is not quite the 'mega rare' item that the seller has described it as...even if "Mega rare album on red vinyl" is the only description given.
It's clear from the prices people are paying that they believe they are buying a bona fide release, so £577 GBP ( ) for something that's probably worth little more than a tenner doesn't seem quite right.
I know somebody who has been in direct contact with the seller to ask about the legitimacy of this album and just how many copies they have. This was the response:
"The Low red vinyls have been sitting in a warehouse in Romania for a while as I understand, I bought some of the stock as a collective lot. I'm not too sure of the country of origin, it could be the UK or Romania. It doesn't come with a sleeve. The vinyl itself has the UK RCA International labels and the vinyl is very thick and deep good quality cut grooves. The matrix numbers are stamped, I have thirty copies."
Well, I have no reason to doubt the seller's word, but allegedly the same seller also sold a test pressing of Low and white vinyl copies (and a test pressing) of Reality. Very likely all from the same source. Tony Visconti is pretty sure that Reality was never cut for vinyl officially.
If the Reality white vinyl is anything to go by, the record was pressed by a UK manufacturer that specialises in cheap short runs of coloured vinyl...and they machine stamp their own matrix!.
Also, if the Low red vinyl label is anywhere near as bad as the Reality one, then it's no wonder the seller is keeping things hazy. If it was truly a legitimate Low red vinyl, wouldn't it be presented something like this...
Finally, another eBay member is selling the set of replica mini sleeve CDs below. They are counterfeits.
With the excellent Japanese re-issue of the back catalogue as min-sleeves recently, I don't really understand the attraction of these.
As shown below, they come with poorly reproduced colour sleeves which include a colour lyric booklet and a replica lyric inner sleeve which houses a CD aping the original Orange RCA label.
Why would people want these? It's not like the sound will be better than the officially released versions and there are no extra tracks.
If you've bought a set of these, please do write in and let us know what the attraction was. Don't bother if you're a completist that simply MUST have absolutely everything bearing the name Bowie...that's perfectly understandable.
