Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

[NEFAN]

Re: Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=22619&highlight=Gino+Cappaletti

Is this the same helmet forger?

[aeneas01]

Re: Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

Robert, for me and I am confident for others too on this forum, thank you for helping keep our passion for collecting gamers true and clean of fakes. This continued manufacturing of fake gamers will taint a person's desire if he or she knows they have been 'burned.'

Education is key and with any purchase one must do their homework and ask the right questions.

Thank you Robert!

Tom

Go Pack! NC State 1981 graduate

tom - not only do fakes undermine the faith in collectors, especially those considering breaking into the hobby, but fakes also diminish the value of the rare pieces many of us have in our collections. for example, mears recently auctioned an extremely rare 1969 saints helmet - the thing was an absolute gem and the type of item that only surfaces once in a blue moon. within the next couple of weeks the ebay snot, flipsyr, listed a fake look-alike on ebay, claiming that it was authentic. for those that saw both helmets and believed in the fake's authenticity, they would most likely be left with the impression that this type of helmet isn't as rare as it truly is. in short, fakes dilute the true rarity of unique collectibles and by extension their value.

[island_style]

Re: Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

Robert,

Thank you so much for sharing this information with us. Your posts are always informative and educational.

It's amazing that this seller can modify the helmets and misrepresent them on eBay without getting banned, let alone face any criminal charges.

In any event, my thanks to you for your willingness to share your expertise on football helmets (not only the ones by the Subject seller).

Kind Regards,

Ron.

[aeneas01]

Re: Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

Robert, thank goodness you've issued this alert. I was really hoping you'd post about this... I almost had to avert my eyes when I saw that recent fake Redskins helmet sell for close to $1500... I feel awful for whomever it was that won that auction and paid that much for a bogus Redskins helmet. Tragic.

i think it's flipsyr's sheer audacity that bothers me the most - he's so prolific at ripping people off because he's been allowed to get away with it for so long, his comfort level is blatant and unsettling. as if to further turn up his nose at the notion of any repercussion, he also openly sells the same nfl decals and helmet parts that he uses on his fakes. over a year ago i challenged him in an email and he responded that those that are complaining are making too much out of it - i kid you not. now that he's bilking unsuspecting buyers out of thousands of dollars per transaction instead of hundreds, maybe he'll finally draw the attention of those that can put him out of business - we'll see.

[Vikingshelmetguy]

Re: Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

Robert, thank goodness you've issued this alert. I was really hoping you'd post about this... I almost had to avert my eyes when I saw that recent fake Redskins helmet sell for close to $1500... I feel awful for whomever it was that won that auction and paid that much for a bogus Redskins helmet. Tragic.

[spartanservitto]

Re: Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

Has anyone reported this guy to eBay ?!? These are federal offenses and he is ripping people off for 1000's. Well done on the information i want to see this guy stop.


-Tony

[Shipp_96]

Re: Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

Wow, unreal and sickening. Thank you Robert for the invaluable information. I thought they looked real! I try to buy direct from the teams or schools for this very reason.

As for reporting to ebay, I myself have seen fake NAVY and PSU "worn" helmets being sold, wrote the buyer and informed ebay. Nothing was done, the auctions were sold (thankfully for very low amounts, like less than a replica retail helmet amounts) and it just made me frustrated that people got burnt .

[commando]

Re: Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

Robert's records and photo libraries are second to none... He's just amazing.

[Skizzick]

Re: Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

Good work. It certainly helps to keep the integrity of the hobby when you can call people out. However, it is on all of us to report this fraud to ebay and see that he gets removed.

[punch]

Re: Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

Great thread!!! Learn something new every day.

[halzeus]

Re: Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

Robert,

I'm glad to see you posting again. The information you provide is priceless.

[tom1315]

Re: Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

Robert, for me and I am confident for others too on this forum, thank you for helping keep our passion for collecting gamers true and clean of fakes. This continued manufacturing of fake gamers will taint a person's desire if he or she knows they have been 'burned.'

Education is key and with any purchase one must do their homework and ask the right questions.

Thank you Robert!

Tom

Go Pack! NC State 1981 graduate

[cohibasmoker]

Re: Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

The Redskins helmet recently sold as did the Saints helmet.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-RIDDELL-ORIGINAL-RK2-RARE-HUSKY1969-WASHINGTON-REDSKINS-GAME-USED-/170773667897?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c2e76039

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&hash=item27c3839729&item=170783905577&nma=true&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&rt=nc&si=Jtxj%252FR3r2%252BmHF6WgWEGDbIg9hu8%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

And this one is currently on eBay;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-RIDDELL-ORIGINAL-TK2-RARE-1960S-AFL-BOSTON-PATRIOTS-GAME-USED-/170791678803?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c3fa3353

Jim

[Jeffredsfan]

Re: Ebayer Flipsyr - King Of Bogus Football Helmets

Damn!

[aeneas01]

i've posted about this character before, but that was when he was peddling his goofy homemade helmets for a couple of hundred bucks a pop, helmets that he described as authentic gamers. however flipsyr has since ratcheted things a notch by picking up authentic vintage helmets on ebay and turning them into nfl look-alikes - look-alikes that have been fetching over $1,000 each.

his m.o. used to be pretty simple: he would cobble together crude, homemade suspension units and glue them into modern helmets shells, complete with faux rivets. the result was a goofy mess but apparently good enough to fool inexperienced collectors. well now he has a new m.o. which is proving much more lucrative: purchasing authentic vintage gamers and dressing them up as nfl helmets from yesteryear - for good measure he adds artificial wear, often takes a stab at engraving the manufacturer's logo into the striping on the rear of the helmet to make folks think the striping was factory installed and, last but not least, he also cuts holes into the striping to expose the rivets to further fool folks into believing the striping was factory installed, hence authentic.

here are three of his recent ebay fakes - the redskins helmet sold for $1,425, the saints helmet sold for $1,452 and the patriots helmet is currently listed with a bin/bo price of $1,500..



here's a look at the back of the saints helmet that sold for $1,400 - note the amateurish stab at trying to reproduce the manufacturer's heat-stamped logo on top of the stripes. as i mentioned, this is done to fool folks into believing that this was done at the factory, i.e. that the helmet is authentic. also included are other examples of flpsyr's "heat-stamp" work.



here's a look at what he's shooting for:



here's a before-and-after look at a few of the better fakes flpsyr has sold on ebay - to the left is how the helmet looked when he purchased it on ebay months earlier, to the right is what it looked like after he was done with it. all are actual examples of his handiwork except for the last one, the redskins helmet. in this case flpsyr purchased a vintage washington state helmet from an ebayer who has sold a dozen+ during the last few years - in fact the photo to the left of the redskins helmet is one of washington state helmets the ebayer sold, very similar to the one flpsyr used.



last but not least, a host of other fakes described as authentic that flpsyr has sold on ebay through the years: