Had skepticism as to the authenticity of a seller's wares on ebay, and purchased an insert to see for myself. Let me share my findings and ask for your help:
I have had a theory lately that there has been a new 'wave' of fakes, especially minty white inserts being dumped into circulation. My theory was that the list of commonly fakes posters/inserts was increasing in number by sellers producing repros that were not near as popular as ones commonly faked. In other words, who would question the validity/originality of a Poltergeist insert? These sub-$100 posters are being scanned and printed in droves by ebay seller
matt33collectibles on ebay.
I tested my theory and purchased this exact poster:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/125073553706?hash=item1d1ef6f92a:g:b3AAAOSw7WJgSAI~The second I opened the tube, the smell of a freshly printed paper hit my nose, and the paper was very glossy. I didn't even need to open it to know I was right...it was fake, but apparently these sellers have moved on from Star Wars, Blade Runner, etc to stuff that as I said, is easier to scam under the raider via a lower price point. But if you keep selling $60 Poltergeist inserts over and over, you clear more than a random SW insert once a year, which is clearly the new angle.
When I compared it unrolled and next to several other inserts from that early 80s era (ET, Raiders, First Blood, etc etc) the scan and print method is so easy to see, it baffles me he can still sell these things. The paper is thinner, very glossy, heavily pixilated, and undersized by an inch on both sides.
I contacted the seller, and he said to send it back and that he would 'take a look at it'. I asked where he got it, and also that a quick browse through his stuff showed that he has countless other lesser titles all faked. I didn't want to assume he even knew, but when he stopped responding to messages and relisted this auction months later...its easy to connect the dots.
I know most of us collect bigger stuff than what he has, but if you take a second to look over his inventory, its literally a slew of nice starter material for a new collector to be cheated by.
Please take a second to report him and posters he has as you see fit...I think we owe it to the livelihood of the hobby and its future to report aholes like this...I know I would have been devastated when I got started with very limited poster funds to be taken like this.
https://www.ebay.com/str/matt33collectibles?_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2563Thanks all, hope you are in the midst of a great Holiday season and are staying healthy.