ModelCellar
A Fixture
Hello,
I hope everyone is having a good year and getting excited for the upcoming holidays.
A new company operating as “Vargas Scale Models” in Visalia, California owned and operated by Luis Vargas has been recasting and selling my timber (MC35115) and wicker (MC35116) trench supports on EBAY and on their own website. They have been pirating and packaging the recasts as their own products, items R3D-006 and R3D-005.
I discovered this from a post on Armorama.com announcing them as a new company and showing their new products:
http://armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=30428&mode=thread&order=0
I immediately recognized the first two photos of the three sections of timber trench supports as my own product. The Armorama post says their website is in progress but you can order directly from them on EBAY. A quick search on EBAY revealed not only were they recasting my timber sections, they were also recasting my wicker trench supports. The Vargas website is now up and running and they are listed on his website as well.
I was able to obtain one each of the timber and wicker trench supports to investigate whether or not they were pirated copies of mine. After close inspection, sadly, I can confirm they are in fact pirated recasts of my pieces. I have attached some pictures below showing side by side comparisons of an original Model Cellar piece (in the yellow resin) with the Vargas recasts (in the dark grey resin). The third light colored piece in the photos is the master which was hand sculpted in sculpey over a piece of bass wood. The dark grey resin castings from Vargas are an exact one for one match of my pieces. The front, the top, the side, and the partially detailed back. The pirated castings even capture the wood grain of the bass wood of the master.
Not only do I have the pirated castings, but I also have the paper trail from the EBAY and PayPal transactions when Vargas sold them. Plus, I have the shipping envelope with Luis Vargas’s return address in Visalia.
In addition, I searched my sales records and discovered he actually purchased them directly from me (along with my interlocking sandbag sections). I have the sales receipt from PayPal for the sale, the postal receipt from me mailing it, and the tracking showing it was delivered to him in Visalia. He ordered them in mid/late September. I shipped them in early October, and by the beginning of November he was recasting them. There is absolutely no excuse for this.
Pirating and recasting is the most egregious act in this business. Pirating affects the entire hobby. Not only is it stealing from the manufacturer, it is also stealing from the artist that produced the master, the painter, etc. and everyone else involved in creating a product. So, please be aware that Vargas Scale Models in Visalia, California is pirating my products.
Thanks for your support,
Paul
I hope everyone is having a good year and getting excited for the upcoming holidays.
A new company operating as “Vargas Scale Models” in Visalia, California owned and operated by Luis Vargas has been recasting and selling my timber (MC35115) and wicker (MC35116) trench supports on EBAY and on their own website. They have been pirating and packaging the recasts as their own products, items R3D-006 and R3D-005.
I discovered this from a post on Armorama.com announcing them as a new company and showing their new products:
http://armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=30428&mode=thread&order=0
I immediately recognized the first two photos of the three sections of timber trench supports as my own product. The Armorama post says their website is in progress but you can order directly from them on EBAY. A quick search on EBAY revealed not only were they recasting my timber sections, they were also recasting my wicker trench supports. The Vargas website is now up and running and they are listed on his website as well.
I was able to obtain one each of the timber and wicker trench supports to investigate whether or not they were pirated copies of mine. After close inspection, sadly, I can confirm they are in fact pirated recasts of my pieces. I have attached some pictures below showing side by side comparisons of an original Model Cellar piece (in the yellow resin) with the Vargas recasts (in the dark grey resin). The third light colored piece in the photos is the master which was hand sculpted in sculpey over a piece of bass wood. The dark grey resin castings from Vargas are an exact one for one match of my pieces. The front, the top, the side, and the partially detailed back. The pirated castings even capture the wood grain of the bass wood of the master.
Not only do I have the pirated castings, but I also have the paper trail from the EBAY and PayPal transactions when Vargas sold them. Plus, I have the shipping envelope with Luis Vargas’s return address in Visalia.
In addition, I searched my sales records and discovered he actually purchased them directly from me (along with my interlocking sandbag sections). I have the sales receipt from PayPal for the sale, the postal receipt from me mailing it, and the tracking showing it was delivered to him in Visalia. He ordered them in mid/late September. I shipped them in early October, and by the beginning of November he was recasting them. There is absolutely no excuse for this.
Pirating and recasting is the most egregious act in this business. Pirating affects the entire hobby. Not only is it stealing from the manufacturer, it is also stealing from the artist that produced the master, the painter, etc. and everyone else involved in creating a product. So, please be aware that Vargas Scale Models in Visalia, California is pirating my products.
Thanks for your support,
Paul
