Raggydoll Posted June 21, 2020 Author Posted June 21, 2020 9 minutes ago, Venus Rising said: I honestly can’t believe he sold 5 pieces of that ‘rare’ PCS art! Also, I actually didn’t even look at the price of the decks - holy doodle that’s nuts! Those reviews....ugh... “I absolutely love my tarot deck! Thank you! This one feels powerful.” Powerful, as in full of crap? 🤔 Some of those will likely be by friends of the seller.
truelighth Posted June 21, 2020 Posted June 21, 2020 I am so glad this topic and this scam has been brought to your attention here. I did blow the whistle on this guy on Facebook, but not the forums. But I am glad the word is getting out and spreading! Keep it up! This guy is a scammer! The paintings are not real. They are actually very bad too. He was on Ebay several years ago and I communicated with him then. The signature of Pixie is not right. I told him these were not by Pixie, but he is still spreading the same story and the same lie! He claims that Pixie has students. She didn't. It was a job she did on her own, we know that from a letter. So now he is on Etsy, selling the same paintings with the same bull story. And he has sold 3 times the High Priestess already. How can you have multiple original paintings? Right! About the decks he is selling, those are also fake! Counterfeit decks, probably printed in China. How can you tell: the lettertype on the cards is modern! Any deck from the '70's or that is vintage, will have calligraphy on them, not modern lettertype. So the claim that these are pre-copyright decks is absolutely nonsense! There are no decks without copyright that have the modern lettertype. So these are counterfeit. When you ask him for pictures of the deck you want to buy, he will not send any. That is also enough proof. So stay away from this guy or report him to Etsy. I did. I know more people did. BTW, this person TarotKat is not the same as PhotoKat who is also on Etsy and is an well-established member of the Tarot community and only sells real decks. PhotoKat is actually the one who brought this to my attention again. So please don't make the mistake of thinking they are the same person. TarotKat is a scammer guy from the UK, PhotoKat lives in Berlin.
Raggydoll Posted June 21, 2020 Author Posted June 21, 2020 54 minutes ago, truelighth said: I am so glad this topic and this scam has been brought to your attention here. I did blow the whistle on this guy on Facebook, but not the forums. But I am glad the word is getting out and spreading! Keep it up! This guy is a scammer! The paintings are not real. They are actually very bad too. He was on Ebay several years ago and I communicated with him then. The signature of Pixie is not right. I told him these were not by Pixie, but he is still spreading the same story and the same lie! He claims that Pixie has students. She didn't. It was a job she did on her own, we know that from a letter. So now he is on Etsy, selling the same paintings with the same bull story. And he has sold 3 times the High Priestess already. How can you have multiple original paintings? Right! About the decks he is selling, those are also fake! Counterfeit decks, probably printed in China. How can you tell: the lettertype on the cards is modern! Any deck from the '70's or that is vintage, will have calligraphy on them, not modern lettertype. So the claim that these are pre-copyright decks is absolutely nonsense! There are no decks without copyright that have the modern lettertype. So these are counterfeit. When you ask him for pictures of the deck you want to buy, he will not send any. That is also enough proof. So stay away from this guy or report him to Etsy. I did. I know more people did. Thank you for sharing this information! 54 minutes ago, truelighth said: BTW, this person TarotKat is not the same as PhotoKat who is also on Etsy and is an well-established member of the Tarot community and only sells real decks. PhotoKat is actually the one who brought this to my attention again. So please don't make the mistake of thinking they are the same person. TarotKat is a scammer guy from the UK, PhotoKat lives in Berlin. I am glad you pointed that out, we wouldn't want anyone to get a false reputation
geoxena Posted June 21, 2020 Posted June 21, 2020 (edited) I don't know how anyone could believe this scammer, and look at those drawings thinking an accomplished artist created them! And not for nothing, but after Smith died penniless and in debt (early 1950s, I believe?), her belongings were auctioned off to pay her debts. Therefore, how could there be some secret hidden file in a drawer? It's absurd and simply laughable. In the 80s, Stuart Kaplan flew over to England and placed ads in the papers where she had lived, offering to buy whatever of her things that anyone had. He does now own some of her hand-colored plates, books, writings, etc., but it was several decades after her death when he located them - so whatever Kaplan didn't find back then is more than likely lost. I'm really disappointed that Etsy allows so much of this kind of outrageous scamming to go on. Edited June 21, 2020 by geoxena
katrinka Posted June 21, 2020 Posted June 21, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, truelighth said: How can you tell: the lettertype on the cards is modern! Any deck from the '70's or that is vintage, will have calligraphy on them, not modern lettertype. Actually, USG did use font lettering for awhile in the 70's or early 80's (I don't recall exactly) for some silly reason: But that's ABSOLUTELY a fake deck. Look at the brighter blue on the Wheel - that's not USG. It's probably scanned from a University Books edition. 3 hours ago, truelighth said: BTW, this person TarotKat is not the same as PhotoKat who is also on Etsy and is an well-established member of the Tarot community and only sells real decks. PhotoKat is actually the one who brought this to my attention again. So please don't make the mistake of thinking they are the same person. TarotKat is a scammer guy from the UK, PhotoKat lives in Berlin. Yes, and there was a Hollywood Kat on ebay selling authentic vintage decks. I don't see her anymore, though. I bought a couple from her in the past. They're real. I was just looking for her, and I see that vintage offerings on ebay are almost ALL fake now. Look at this "Albano mini". It's a fairly uncommon deck. The person has "More than 10 available". They even scanned the box:https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1968-Albano-Waite-Miniature-Tarot-Card-Deck-New-Color-Deluxe-Edition/174152937612?hash=item288c52f08c:g:1twAAOSwn~BeGiUB If people are going to pull this sh**, at least make the Magician Greg Brady with a yoyo. We need a laugh. 🤣 Edited June 21, 2020 by katrinka
Rodney Posted June 21, 2020 Posted June 21, 2020 12 minutes ago, katrinka said: I was just looking for her, and I see that vintage offerings on ebay are almost ALL fake now. Look at this "Albano mini". It's a fairly uncommon deck. The person has "More than 10 available". They even scanned the box:https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1968-Albano-Waite-Miniature-Tarot-Card-Deck-New-Color-Deluxe-Edition/174152937612?hash=item288c52f08c:g:1twAAOSwn~BeGiUB I can't speak for that specific seller, but I bought a lot of decks off eBay several years ago. They were used for teaching purposes at a metaphysical school in Southern CA. The lot included at least 10 mini Tarot Productions Albano-Waites and three TP Giant Albano-Waite Majors-only decks, neither of which I even knew existed up to that point. Not all of the mini decks were complete, but I ended up with at least 7 complete decks if memory serves. So it is possible for one to have multiple copies of that uncommon deck. Again, whether or not that seller does, I can't say.
katrinka Posted June 21, 2020 Posted June 21, 2020 8 minutes ago, Rodney said: I can't speak for that specific seller, but I bought a lot of decks off eBay several years ago. They were used for teaching purposes at a metaphysical school in Southern CA. The lot included at least 10 mini Tarot Productions Albano-Waites and three TP Giant Albano-Waite Majors-only decks, neither of which I even knew existed up to that point. Not all of the mini decks were complete, but I ended up with at least 7 complete decks if memory serves. So it is possible for one to have multiple copies of that uncommon deck. Again, whether or not that seller does, I can't say. Thanks, Rodney. If it's authentic, $74 is a good price. There's another one currently listed for $179. What to do? I should read cards on it... 😁
gregory Posted June 21, 2020 Posted June 21, 2020 1 hour ago, katrinka said: Yes, and there was a Hollywood Kat on ebay selling authentic vintage decks. I don't see her anymore, though. I bought a couple from her in the past. They're real. I was just looking for her, and I see that vintage offerings on ebay are almost ALL fake now. She's still up there (it is she truelighth mentioned) https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/hollywoodkatsshop
katrinka Posted June 21, 2020 Posted June 21, 2020 24 minutes ago, gregory said: She's still up there (it is she truelighth mentioned) https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/hollywoodkatsshop Ah, good to know. Thanks.
DanielJUK Posted June 22, 2020 Posted June 22, 2020 (edited) I enjoyed that it's all dodgy fakes on that etsy and the final item is non-tarot related and buying access to his online broadcast of every UK top 40 pop chart since 1952 recreated with 78's vinyl records by him. I think rebroadcasting the charts (which are owned by a private company) for money and rebroadcasting / streaming the music without permission would be copyright breaches 🙂 Edited June 22, 2020 by DanielJUK
mhayed Posted September 29, 2022 Posted September 29, 2022 I saw this too. Glad I'm not the only one. I was horrified.
Tarot_John Posted October 9, 2022 Posted October 9, 2022 Wow! The things people do for money... Is it just me, or are there more bootleggers and scam artists in Tarot these days?
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