Arrowhead Militaria - any experience?

[pengbuzz]

I will only add this to the story guys.
When purchasing such items never give away you are a Star Wars fan.

My email even has Darth in it.
I used another email to chat with the seller and when showing interest.
I told him I was a collector and that it was going on display.
It was only after the purchase and after I received the grenade that the owner of Arrowhead took an interest in me because I am female.
He thought apparently ‘how unusual it was to see a female collector’ so he looked me up on Facebook, little creepy you could say.
He then found my interest in Star Wars and that was when I didn’t receive the next grenade.
This is exhibited above with his distain for Star Wars collectors, so I am not at all surprised to read he ripped off others,
It was of course by this time too late and since I sent the money as friends and family I was not covered.
I hounded him for months and eventually was sent a box of grenades worth nothing to me as a sorry.
I still have them to this day.
Moral of the story guys just keep your interests in said items as a collector and never as a prop collector.
I truly believe that most collectors of these items, for the items they are and not for the props they make, hold such hatred for people like us (some of them) because they believe that that the item in question will be damaged in our hands, for the most part this may be partially true, but not all of us are like this.
It’s why I haven’t damaged my Graflex to drill a D ring into it, or glued my grips on, they are held on with double sided tape.
It’s also why my grenade where it enters the Graflex clamp has masking tape around it, I have kept all the parts from the grenade not used in my display and in perfect condition.
I even battled with drilling my Armitage shanks tap wheel for the D ring, but I allowed it since I own two others.
Where the brass weather vein section is clamped for the balance pipe bracket I put felt to cushion it against the screw fitting.
Every year my Graflex is sprayed with WD-40 inside and out, just given a gentle wipe and then popped back on display, to help keep it protected.
My grenade as my Graflex can be returned to a state that would be a show piece for their retrospective collectors, that to me is what it’s all about, keeping, protecting and preserving, for years to come.
I want to own it, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to damage it.
It’s well looked after.

Just wow. To think folks out there are that petty.

Sorry you and others went through this nonsense, DarthBra. Some folks out there clearly have more issues than a newsstand! O.O

 

[DarthBra]

Just wow. To think folks out there are that petty.

Sorry you and others went through this nonsense, DarthBra. Some folks out there clearly have more issues than a newsstand! O.O

Thank you, as tragic as it sounds truth be told I was holding on to a degree of resentment for many years after, even almost to the day. Having said that, reading this thread has certainly made me feel a heck of a lot better.
I had thought it was personal, clearly I can see it was not.

Also Fox is right that banned guy that claimed to be a friend of the owner,
sounded very much like the owner himself in how he responded and conducted himself.

 

[pengbuzz]

Thank you, as tragic as it sounds truth be told I was holding on to a degree of resentment for many years after, even almost to the day. Having said that, reading this thread has certainly made me feel a heck of a lot better.
I had thought it was personal, clearly I can see it was not.

Also Fox is right that banned guy that claimed to be a friend of the owner,
sounded very much like the owner himself in how he responded and conducted himself.

Yeah: sounds like a classic case of the owner going incognito to speak as if they were someone else in their own "defense".

As for dealing with people such as them: they do have a nasty habit of trying to make it feel personal, as if its' only the ones they are trying to rook that have a problem. But the truth is that they do that to anyone and everyone they encounter whom they feel they can get away with it with. We had a similar incident happen here on RPF not too long ago with someone who was claiming to be doing a 1/537 U.S.S. Excelsior kit and had gotten pre-orders from folks, only to rook them and try to make it out as if everyone was "wronging them". They used the exact same tactic of coming on RPF claiming to be "someone else" so they could speak in their own defense and try to further gaslight folks.

The good thing about the folks here at RPF DarthBra, is that many of us have been through this and know what it's like to get ripped off. We also band together when that happens and try to help one another, and support one another through those times. We also get word out so that fellow members and artisans and sellers can (hopefully) avoid those pitfalls and keep them from the same mistakes we made at one point or another.

Lastly, I forgot to mention: welcome to Replica Prop Forums (belatedly)! We're glad to have you here (even if you've been here for a while!).

 

[DarthBra]

Yeah: sounds like a classic case of the owner going incognito to speak as if they were someone else in their own "defense".

As for dealing with people such as them: they do have a nasty habit of trying to make it feel personal, as if its' only the ones they are trying to rook that have a problem. But the truth is that they do that to anyone and everyone they encounter whom they feel they can get away with it with. We had a similar incident happen here on RPF not too long ago with someone who was claiming to be doing a 1/537 U.S.S. Excelsior kit and had gotten pre-orders from folks, only to rook them and try to make it out as if everyone was "wronging them". They used the exact same tactic of coming on RPF claiming to be "someone else" so they could speak in their own defense and try to further gaslight folks.

The good thing about the folks here at RPF DarthBra, is that many of us have been through this and know what it's like to get ripped off. We also band together when that happens and try to help one another, and support one another through those times. We also get word out so that fellow members and artisans and sellers can (hopefully) avoid those pitfalls and keep them from the same mistakes we made at one point or another.
Lastly, I forgot to mention: welcome to Replica Prop Forums (belatedly)! We're glad to have you here (even if you've been here for a while!).

It’s nice to know you guys help one another and have people
to vent to that can sympathise.
That helps massively.

Thank you for the welcome I heard about the RPF a while back and kind of lurked, reading posts and gathering info.
To be honest I never thought I would get close to finishing my Obi real parts build and so I didn’t much return.
Getting my balance pipe has sparked me back into action and wanting to get deeper into the prop collecting scene.
I want to be here and read and be more active and encourage others, and share in something we all love

A little off topic I know. Sorry, carry on all…