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

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jarit

Can't Leave
Jul 2, 2013
333
4
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
zB8OUNc.jpg

RfGBdh8.jpg

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


5uGBUdS.jpg

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":

ZfBPgnO.jpg


GB8d7LN.jpg

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

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,317
11,070
Maryland
postimg.cc
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.

 

petes03

Lifer
Jun 23, 2013
6,212
10,653
The Hills of Tennessee
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.

 
Dec 24, 2012
7,195
456
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

Lifer
May 25, 2012
4,030
605
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.

 
Dec 24, 2012
7,195
456
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.

 
Dec 24, 2012
7,195
456
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

Lifer
May 25, 2012
4,030
605
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.

 
Dec 24, 2012
7,195
456
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.

 
May 31, 2012
4,295
34
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

Lifer
Jun 10, 2013
1,323
29
Midwest
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

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 24, 2013
654
48
Maybe they do and just aren't buying these, leaving them to the dudes who only know the names and little else.

 

peter70

Starting to Get Obsessed
May 24, 2013
175
1
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

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 12, 2013
952
156
Byron
www.facebook.com
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.

 
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