Warning: Fraudster on eBay Selling Counterfeit Eltangs, Possibly Castellos Etc.

jarit · Nov 17, 2013

The seller http://www.ebay.com/usr/benandci, sells pipes of dubious origin.
A member on another forum noticed some iffy looking Castellos, and I thought the Eltang pipes he sold didn't look right either. I contacted Tom, and he just confirmed that the pipes are not his, but counterfeits. He also said that this wasn't the first time he's seen his pipes being forged.
Fake Eltang #1 and Fake Eltang #2

The two pipes above have been confirmed as fakes by Tom Eltang himself.
A couple of questionable Castellos:

These auctions are still running: Castello #1 and Castello #2
Look trough seller's sold items and you'll see plenty of pipes that, in my opinion, are obvious forgeries.
Two "Beckers":

The sellers Silver Castle and Golden Age pipes are apparently made in Hong Kong, so I wonder if they make these better brands there, as well.
Jari

ssjones · Nov 17, 2013

I saw this referenced on another forum. Those Castellos sure look wrong to my eye. I don't know enough about Tom Eltang to comment but it appears that he does confirm they are not his pipes.

papipeguy · Nov 17, 2013

Caveat emptor.

craig94yj · Nov 17, 2013

Thank you for sharing jarit.

petes03 · Nov 17, 2013

It never ceases to amaze me what people will counterfeit. If you watch shows like Pawn Stars and American Pickers, they are constantly running across the strangest things that have been faked. It's hard to trust anyone these days, and for good reason! I mean, someone went through an awful lot of trouble to make those pipes, and they're pretty good looking ones at that! Why not stamp their own makers mark on them and sell them that way? I'm sure they'd make some decent money off of them. Maybe not as much as they'd get for an Eltang, but decent.

peckinpahhombre · Nov 17, 2013

This is the same seller who was selling the "Jess pipe" I posted about a couple weeks back.
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/a-jess-pipe

pitchfork · Nov 17, 2013

his is the same seller who was selling the "Jess pipe" I posted about a couple weeks back.

Indeed. That one actually looked genuine to my non-expert eyes. I want to take another look at the pics, though.
Those "Beckers" cited above are atrocious. Look at the stem face and the tenon -- looks like "Silver Castle" to me. I'm not saying the Silver Castle folks are into counterfeiting, but it's that same low quality and rough edges that soured me on Silver Castle. Plus, there's no "b" on the stem. Bizarre.

flakyjakey · Nov 17, 2013

Peck gets this week's 'MLC Sherlock Holmes Award'!!

peckinpahhombre · Nov 17, 2013

I have a number of Paolo Becker's pipes and the ones show above clearly don't display the craftsmanship that a true Becker pipe does.

peckinpahhombre · Nov 17, 2013

The nomenclature on the Castellos looks strange as do the stems. One of the two doesn't appear to have any white bar or diamond on the stem. On the other one you can see a white bar but they don't give you a clear shot of it.

pitchfork · Nov 17, 2013

One thing about that "Jess" pipe is that there's no pic of the slot and stem end. Anyone familiar with his pipes would be able to determine whether it were genuine or not based on the shape of the slot. I couldn't, but collectors who own his pipes have talked about his distinctive stem work.
It's hard not to think that was a "Jess" pipe after all, and not a Jess Chonowitsch.

peckinpahhombre · Nov 17, 2013

Pat, gas up the Sanford & Son truck and get the Old Cajun ready as we may need some muscle to solve this one.

tbradsim1 · Nov 17, 2013

Peck we have to abort, someone filled the diesel truck with Gas, must of been that Damn Harris, never trust a man that runs a pool hall my Grandmother said.

peckinpahhombre · Nov 17, 2013

Let's be frank here, Bradley, the only reason Harris is on the team is because we need some eye candy to get ratings. He is clearly a bumbling buffoon, but he does look great in a cocktail dress. That Rad Davis is one hell of a craftsman.
PS - The mechanic says it looks like the tank was filled with some form of Champagne. They are pumping it out now.

crazypipe · Nov 17, 2013

I have never trusted Ebay :twisted:

misterlowercase · Nov 17, 2013

Thanks for pointing this out.
My spidey-sense was tinglin' with this seller from the get-go.
The Asian market would pay more for such pipes, he's located in China, why is he trying to sell to the NA market?
He's had success sellin' all of it too.
Damn sad.

mrjerke · Nov 17, 2013

Not questioning that these are fakes but then how does this person have perfect 100% positive feedback?
Has no one realized what they are buying? You would think with high end pipes that the buyers would know their stuff...

fishingandpipes · Nov 17, 2013

Maybe they do and just aren't buying these, leaving them to the dudes who only know the names and little else.

peter70 · Nov 17, 2013

The Asian market would pay more for such pipes, he's located in China, why is he trying to sell to the NA market?

Would you rather sell forged items to somebody, who could knock on your door, or to somebody, who is located thousands of miles away and from a nation generally disliked by your state powers?
Kind regards,

Peter

jeepnewbie · Nov 17, 2013

I agree with Petes that they should have used their own label, the pipes to me also look pretty nice. Again I know nothing about the ones they are counterfeiting so I would be in the blind if I every forked out the money to get one.
Thanks for posting this gonna be sure they are not on my buy from list.

Warning: Fraudster on eBay Selling Counterfeit Eltangs, Possibly Castellos Etc.

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