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Vampire Killing Kits on Ebay

Here we go - a little more rambling than Miss W's, and covering much of the same ground (except for the dagger). Hopefully by posting it I'm increasing the chance that the terminally credulous might come across something to make them think twice about spending their hard earned cash on something as pointless as this.

Having said that, I really quite like the ones that have been sold at auction by that paragon of ethical standards, Sotheby's - quite the conversation piece, and a much higher calibre of utter cobblers all round :)



Not quite worth $4000-$12,000 though.
 
Huntsman said:
Maybe we could rationalize it somehow?

How about:

"We're only taking money from non-skeptical woos, and that money goes to good skeptical causes. That way, we promote skepticism and take away money that would otherwise be spent to promote woo."

I dunno, that still feels too oily.
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Hmm... Where do you get skeptical liquor and fast women?
 
I emailed the EBay link to a friend of mine who is a doctor in real life,and portrays a Civil War Surgeon in my renneactment and has spent a great deal of money collecting authentic CIvil War era medical equipment.He will find the bottles very amusing.
The amount of faked Civil War crap out there is outrageous,and what is more outrageous is the number of suckers who will spend thousands of dollars on phony "Authentic Confederate Cavalry Sabres" without requring any proof of authenticity.
BTW there is a difference between fakes and authentic reproductions. A authentic reporduction makes no claim to be a actual antique,it is just a faithful reproduction that will work and look the same as a real one. All legit repros have a stamp and or engraving showing they are reproductions,not "real" items.
Sadly,getting rid of these marks artifically "aging" the Sword/Gun/whatever ,and then selling to some sucker as a "authentic period antique from the CIvil War" has become a thriving business. A expert can expose a fake in about two minutes,but too many fools just buy it without any attempt to authenticate it.
 
I have more than a passing interest in Fountain pens, and the number of fake Fountain pens on E-bay is astonishing. Even more amazing are the number of people selling junk pens as rarities or describing respectable but quite ordinary pens as rarities and getting huge sums. And occasionally one sees a true rare pen go for almost nothing. What's most disturbing is that I am far from a pen expert, I get all my info from specialty boards and sites. Posting a link to that kit on various collector sites would set you straight in a few minutes, yet it still sold for $2000.
 
Big Les said:
This being the case, I'm conflicted. On the one hand my sceptical and anti-woo side says "that's just as bad as any other fake artefact" and that something should be done. But as a student of history and an ebayer, I can't help but think this is just a tax on stupidity, and although it's presented as genuine, and even assuming the buyer believes in vampires (!), they should still be aware of the existence of fakes, and the need for provenance with antiques and historical objects.
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I'm in the same boat here. It's hard for me to get too upset over EBay items that claim to be "haunted" or cursed or whatever when it's really up to the overly credulous as to whether they want to buy or not. Then again, the exact same logic could apply to the Sylvia Browns and the Kevin Trudeaus of the world. Yes, they are both definitely scumbags, but at what point does personal responsibility kick in? The big difference, IMO, is that the Browns and Trudeaus are exploiting those who are emotionally susceptible and/or physically ailing so conning the victims deprives them of far more than just money, while the EBay hoax items are primarily a monetary loss (unless the customer likes what they bought and are happy with it I suppose).

Speaking of unusual collections (like poison bottles), I have a friend who collects Victorian surgical instruments. And speaking of which Necromance is a really cool store that carries both real antiques and reproductions of odd items like surgical instruments, lenticulars, and my favorite, bell jars! Fantods sold separately....

Last time we visited they had a pair of antique foot binding shoes from the late 19th cent. And Hitler stamps.
 
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