Greg Egbert/movieposterbargains/PosterWorld - love or hate?

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Although Greg Egbert was public enemy #1 on MPF, I have to give him a thumbs up.  

I've purchased 20 or so posters from him (and his affiliated sellers like Flix Movie Posters) and they all were delivered quickly, were cheaper than his competitors, and - most importantly - appear to be 100% originals.  (And I have several excellent quality digital reproductions from other sellers - so I know how to spot them - the fuzzy text gives them away.)

I've also looked over his listings and his store (http://shop.vendio.com/comicod) and everything appears to be legit.  

I also talked to him for 30 minutes on the phone.  I had called about a billing question and he rambled on for 30 minutes about his business.  Despite the rambling, he did seem legitimate and knowledgeable about the industry. (He claims to have 400,000 posters in his warehouse, including 20,000 LOTR posters.)

Today I received the LOTR "Frodo looking down" DS from him for $50 and it positively is the real thing - it has the special yellow coating on the ring on the back to make it stand out in a lightbox. He claims to have 100 of these in stock. Cinemasterpieces is selling this exact poster for $500 and movieposter.com is selling it for $250.  Clearly, buyers are missing out on a good deal on this poster if they have a negative perception of him.

So, I'm a lawyer for a government agency and have no connection to any seller and am not getting any sort of "kickback" by bringing up this subject.  

I would like to hear any SPECIFIC evidence of bad/good transactions you have had with him.  Not just "I've heard bad things" about him. Thierry told me that he has sold him 3 fakes and he won't buy from him.  Any other specific good/bad transactions?

[eatbrie]

Mel,

What I said is that you never know what you're going to get.  EVERYONE knows that he has been selling a fake Friday the 13th for years now.  There are other titles.  There is a great French philosopher named Rene Descartes and one of his theories is that if you can prove one wrong in a series of assumed rights, then you have to review all the rights again.  Well, Egbert has had many wrongs, and I really don't have time to gamble on the rights.  But you're right to some extent, he does sell genuine stuff, and at a good price.  If he had not tried to cheat me, I would probably buy more from him.  Plus, I don't know now, but he used to have the jerkiest (is this a word?) attitude in the world.

Thierry

[CSM]

Pirate you are a brave buyer for the reasons Thierry outlined.

Maybe you just have giant poster-buying balls?

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Mel,

EVERYONE knows that he has been selling a fake Friday the 13th for years now.

Thierry

I guess you're talking about this Friday the 13th listing, right?

Here's what he says (typically disorganized verbiage):

Welcome to the auction of a absolutely guaranteed original ( NOT a fake/unlicensed reprint – fakes feature a out of focus appearance , splotchy , usually the wrong size, always cheap ink ,they are low quality garbage ) rolled mint condition American one sheet 27 by 40 inch movie poster of Friday The 13th , the classic 1980 Sean S. Cunningham slasher horror mystery thriller ("They were warned... They are doomed... And on Friday the 13th, nothing will save them."; "A 24 hour nightmare of terror.") starring Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, Kevin Bacon, and Ari Lehman (as Jason Voorhees) and features Alex Ebel artwork. I bought several thousand - most of Paramount's entire leftover Friday the 13th movies one sheets back in the 1980s direct from the studio, obviously THIS IS A ORIGINAL. However most of the collecting public is not aware this poster was printed by the studio in the 27 by 40 inch size as well as 27 by 41 inch version the N.S.S. distributed , this does not make the 40 inch version a fake , studio's at that time would make non-National Screen Service print runs of their posters for themselves sometimes , again I BOUGHT THESE DIRECTLY FROM THE STUDIO in the 1980s and it may not be a National Screen Service distribution copy but it is original, some one sheets back then were made by the studio in both sizes STAR TREK IV would be a perfect example a film also from Paramount Pictures made in both sizes....

Are you sure this is inaccurate?  I bought a rolled View To A Kill poster off Ebay that the seller (Intergalactic) claimed his predecessor bought directly from NSS. It didn't sound legit but I bought it and now believe it is legit (it actually is 27x41).

[holiday]

I've bought from Egbert on a number of occasions and I've never had a problem. But, I've also bought from Tom Loce and Bradburried too, and I've never had a problem with them either.  The thing is, all three sell reprints, and all three may bend the rules here and there as far as deceptive wording.  I believe that if you simply use common sense in what you're buying, you'll be ok.  Don't think you're getting a steal if you buy a $1000 poster from someone for $100.  If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is.  Deal with people you trust, within your experience level. The more experienced a buyer you are, the more you can judge your risk with folks like Greg and Tom.

The best thing about Gregg is how damned funny he is with his posts.  I'd almost like to start hurling insults against him just to bait him.  But, that would breach our policy against haters (or "hatters" for you dorks that gave me a hard time about the typo! - I once posted on NS4 "turrets" instead of "tourettes").  I'm sure he'll come around someday and dazzle us with capital letters.

[CSM]

Maybe he will really dazzle us and post in hieroglyphics!

[wonka]

Are you sure this is inaccurate?  I bought a rolled View To A Kill poster off Ebay that the seller (Intergalactic) claimed his predecessor bought directly from NSS. It didn't sound legit but I bought it and now believe it is legit (it actually is 27x41).

Glad you came around.   

Re these F13s: There was another printing of these after the film came out, and was used in video stores and to sell in stores, amusement parks, etc...  I believe these are from that stock.  So they are original in that sense only, but are not from the film's initial release nor are they NSS.

[eatbrie]

Are you sure this is inaccurate?  I bought a rolled View To A Kill poster off Ebay that the seller (Intergalactic) claimed his predecessor bought directly from NSS. It didn't sound legit but I bought it and now believe it is legit (it actually is 27x41).

If it is 27x41in, it's probably legit.  If it was 27x40in, like the dreaded F13, it would be a reprint (or whatever Ben says it is), but certainly not an original.

Thierry

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Glad you came around.  

Thanks Ben - I bought it after you vouched for it.  Yes, it appears to be as legit as any other Bond poster I own and it definitely is 41 inches.  It's on my office wall now in the 41 inch frame.  (This is a not-too-great iPhone snapshot).

(On the left is the Quick and the Dead - thank you Holiday for mentioning that on MPF as one of your favorite posters.)

[cinemarts]

The original F13 is absolutely 27x41.
Like some other things, that extra inch can make all the difference.
Phil

[kovacs01]

I have always wanted to order something cheap from him and then email him every day asking why it is taking so long to arrive.  Kinda like throwing a torch on the prarie in the middle of a drought.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Come on - you guys are going to have to do better.  I spend all my work time beating up on federal employees with dubious discrimination claims ("I'm American Indian and my American Indian supervisor discriminated against me because I'm an American Indian. I'm entitled to $300,000 to compensate me for my hurt feelings.").  If you don't come up with real concrete evidence to prove your claim, it doesn't even make it to the jury.

Holiday has the right attitude - innocent until proven guilty. I've seen nothing so far indicating "guilt." Thierry is the only person to point out a specific issue - the F13.  It appears that Egbert has properly and truthfully disclosed the controversy concerning it, so it doesn't demonstrate "guilt."  And $28 is hardly a substantial rip-off anyway. (Certainly not compared to paying $350 for an ET fake, like I did.)  Legit sellers also sell posters with problematic origins, e.g. Cinemasterpieces selling Star Wars bootlegs for $60.

As far as shipping, all my orders came in 2-3 days, faster than normal.

Anybody else want to go to bat against/for Egbert?

[kovacs01]

I have personally never bought from him.  I have seen his rambling nearly incomprehensible posts.  And I have seen his frequent extremely rude feedback on ebay for anyone who left him a bad feedback.  He seems to get aggressive and abuse towards anyone who speaks out against him.  I am not sure what his feedback rating is, but it used to be around 92% with each negative receiving some kind of abusive response.  Call me crazy, but I dont want to deal with someone like that.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

I am not sure what his feedback rating is, but it used to be around 92% with each negative receiving some kind of abusive response.

99.8% positive rating, 850 positive ratings in last 12 months, 2 negative ratings in last 12 months

P.S. That weird mirror picture is not doing him any good.

[guest8]

I would have probably given the guy a chance and bought from him just because of his prices .. But I have seen him post on MPF and because of his attitude and how he reacts to criticism turns me away immediately ..  IMO .. anyone that resorts to those kinds of defensive gestures and attacks on the accusers is hiding something .. And in this hobby, trust is everything ..

[eatbrie]

How many eBay addresses does Eggy have now?

[holiday]

I would have probably given the guy a chance and bought from him just because of his prices .. But I have seen him post on MPF and because of his attitude and how he reacts to criticism turns me away immediately ..  IMO .. anyone that resorts to those kinds of defensive gestures and attacks on the accusers is hiding something .. And in this hobby, trust is everything ..

You'd like to think that he has the brainpan to be defensive, but I think you give him too much credit, Mel.  He rants because that's all he knows.  I believe he does sell large quantities of stuff, and I guess by and large he's successful after a fashion.  But his posts make clear that to ascribe a method to his mad postings is to give him too much credit.

[kovacs01]

How many eBay addresses does Eggy have now?

That is an issue too.  Now matter how good his feedback looks now, when you use cumulative feedback for all the ID's he has dumped in the past because they got down around 90%, the net result is a pretty bad record.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

There is a long thread on Egbert/Movieposterbargains on MPF last year.  He hopped on it and made 6-7 wacky posts.  Somewhere in that thread he admits that he got a lot of negative feedback because he fell behind on orders for a period when he was injured and didn't have any assistance.

All this talk about his personality is not really meaningful IMHO.  I care about receiving originals as described for a reasonable price quickly.  I've ordered 20 posters from him on three occasions and they all quickly showed up as originals as described in firm tubes for very reasonable prices.  Where else could I have gotten a genuine DS "Frodo looking down" poster for $50?

[kovacs01]

I guess it is all how much risk you want to assume.  The main horror stories with him deal with trying to get a refund when something turns out to be an undersided repro or was not properly described (not double sided, etc).  His overall rude and aggressive responses to any kind of criticism are a symptom of his personality and are very relevant (meaningful) when discussing him as a dealer.  I do not want to deal with this kind of personality, and I will not support it, regardless of what he has at what prices.

Same goes for the other guys that sell minty whites.  I bought one minty white insert from one (knowing what I was getting) because I wanted an example to have one hand to compare others to.  Even though most of their stuff might be authentic, I do not want to support anyone who is knowingly selling these as originals.  Rather than support them buying only what I believe to be original, I instead buy nothing at all from them out of principle.

[marklawd]

The best way to deal with Greg Egbert is, ironically, with politeness - it will be reciprocated - and with patience. I have never had any problems with that approach. He is a wholesaler and whilst some of you may refuse to buy posters directly from him ultimately you may well be buying posters originating from him, from third parties who have more obvious customer-service skills.

Mark

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Same goes for the other guys that sell minty whites.

What "minty whites" is he selling? If this were a legal case, he'd be entitled to summary judgment. No one in this thread has identified a single problematic poster other than the Friday the 13th, which he properly disclosed as 40". Other than that, it's all been general hearsay and rumors - not meaningful evidence.

Mark is correct that he is a wholesaler.  As the prior MPF thread revealed, Dave Lieberman used to sell his stuff.

By comparison, I now know that Bradburied is knowingly selling a LA Confidential video poster for $100 but advertising it as an "original."  That's the kind of dishonesty that will cause me not to deal with a particular seller.

Update: Egbert does have the LA Confidential for sale for $13 and also does not identify it as a video poster, but there's a world of difference between $13 and $100.  I suspect this is a digital reproduction - I may order it to check it out.

[kovacs01]

I dont know that eggy sells any minty whites........i was speaking of the folks from Rochester, NY and Claremore, OK that sell those.

[movieposterodyssey]

That's what's tough about all the crooked dealers,Mel.Most of the material they sell is legit.
So yeah,you can get a good deal if you know your stuff and are willing to take a risk.

I bought a few from him years ago.No problems.
The thing that really bugged me about this guy was the frequent misrepresentation of his listings.
Selling a Species video lenticular as a theatrical....happens all the time with him.

Anthony

[eatbrie]

Mel, seriously dude, I don't know how long you've been collecting, but there are so many stories about Egbert, I don't think anyone can say that there is no proof on the guy's crazy antics.  He has had many Ebay accounts that have been deleted due to horrible feedbacks, he's been selling fakes for years (always very careful to hide them among originals), and he is a nightmare to deal with.  His packaging is awful, it can take forever to receive an item, and if your package gets damaged in the mail, or lost, or if he sends you the wrong item, forget about getting reimbursed.  The guy is unreachable, he doesn't answer emails and doesn't pick up his phone.  And if he does, hell follows with him.  And this comes from personal experience.  So I'm glad you had a positive one, but many people on these boards have swore to never buy from the guy again.

Thierry

PS: Loce and Bradburied belong in the same bag as the ultimate Ebay poster crooks.