Ripped Off?

cscratch · Post by **cscratch** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:16 am

I'll let you guys be the judge on this one. I purchased an item from Ebay in August 2007 that was touted to be Chiho Saito's signature:

http://kittyfire.rubberslug.com/gallery ... mID=215952

In Jaunary of this year, the same seller posted a signature on ebay with almost the exact same image. I compared mine against the one on Ebay at the time and was a little wary, but I contacted the seller, politely asking about the auction. I provided a link to the item in my gallery & stated my concerns. The seller responded that they made a mistake & posted the wrong item for auction, not realizing it was sold. So I figured, no harn no foul & thanked them for their time. At the time, I did not save an image of the item on the Ebay posting unfortunately.

Now, less than a year later, this aution pops up on Ebay from the same seller:

http://cgi.ebay.com/UTENA-CONVENTION-AU ... 286.c0.m14

After comparing mine to this item, I can clearly see differences that suggest to me that it's probably a fake. However, I might be jumping to conclusions, so I'll pass the torch to you all if you have a moment.

Just in case the seller removes the item from ebay, here's a copy of what's on the ebay auction:

http://www.kittyfire.com/test/Ebay_sig.jpg

What do you guys think?

Zag · Post by **Zag** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:25 am

sorry to say, I think you bought a fake.
somone's mass producing them too,

here's her signature dated just 2 months after yours is:
http://www.chibijin.com/ourcels/misc/Utena-Utena.jpg

notice how smooth the loops are. even signing autographs for
an hour, her loops wouldn't show so many "stops-and-starts".

also, I've looked several places and can't seem to find a convention
she was at that took place in January of 2000.
Here's reference" http://www.animecons.com/events/calendar.shtml

cscratch · Post by **cscratch** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:42 am

Yeah - the "Start & Stop" was the thing I noticed as well.

I believe she & Ikahura were at AX in 2000, judging from Rheytarian's gallery:

http://rheytarian.rubberslug.com/galler ... temID=1064
http://rheytarian.rubberslug.com/galler ... temID=1063

beatrush · Post by **beatrush** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:50 am

Yeah that signature looks like it has been traced.

The pen strokes are broken and show stops. The loops in the signature look jagged and unnatural. Even the weight of the strokes are different in places.

Fake

Zag · Post by **Zag** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:51 am

but Anime Expo 2000 was held from July 7th to July 10th at the Disneyland Resort Hotel at Anaheim, California.

kitty's is dated 1.5.00

cscratch · Post by **cscratch** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:59 am

Ahhh, okay. I see what you mean - I didn't check the dates very carefully.

Well, this is unfortunate, although I obviously should have done my homework before bidding on the item.

Zag · Post by **Zag** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:23 am

cscratch wrote:Ahhh, okay. I see what you mean - I didn't check the dates very carefully.

Well, this is unfortunate, although I obviously should have done my homework before bidding on the item.

No dear, the sad part is that this person made doing homework before
bidding needed.

When in doubt, Google. When not in doubt, Google anyway, just in case.

cscratch · Post by **cscratch** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:10 pm

Well thanks for your help & opinions!

I'll go ahead & file a fraud complaint against this seller with Ebay so hopefully this won't happen to someone else.

ashenfairy · Post by **ashenfairy** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 1:39 pm

I saw those earlier and was interested but, then leery of them not being on shikishi boards and not looking like the signature I'm used to.(IE the lines in the hearts) Comparing them against a couple of what I know to be legitimate signatures I was pretty sure they were fake. But, I wasn't sure enough to report them to ebay. With all this extra information I'm positive now they're fake. I hope ebay actually pulls the auctions.

ReiTheJelly · Post by **ReiTheJelly** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 5:50 pm

Yeah...what reputable seller has FOUR Chiho Saito signatures for sale that start at $5 each?

RoboFlonne · Post by **RoboFlonne** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 5:58 pm

And the seller has her Feedback {Privated} !

I hope you get your money back!

moonrabitt · Post by **moonrabitt** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:07 pm

Fake, since the lines seem Wavy, not smooth like the other autographs shown, it means that the person took time to do it, and did not do a fast signature like you would expect....

Hope you get your money back!!!!!!!

cscratch · Post by **cscratch** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:23 pm

Looks like this seller is at it again, this time as kittie.rainbow instead of Pangya_star:

http://cgi.ebay.com/SAITO-CHIHO-SIGNED- ... 414bf31c2d

http://cgi.ebay.com/SAITO-CHIHO-SIGNED- ... 414bf31c2b

At least they are listing the drawings fanart this time, although they are stating the signature is real...

Beware this seller!

Nelia · Post by **Nelia** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:48 pm

That first profile one is ... wowfake.

The second? It looks almost real - which is dangerous, giving the person is selling fakes. :\

MidniteKitten · Post by **MidniteKitten** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:41 pm

This is the same woman who was selling the fake Sailor Moon douga not too long ago! She is a frequent person in the Sailor Moon community as pixel_mari on livejournal. It would seem she is more concerned with making a quick dollar off some scams then actually being constructive to the hobbies she's trying to sell :< I know I'll be avoiding her sales from now on just thought I'd pass on the info for anyone who also uses livejournal as a market