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REPRODUCTIONS - THE DARK SIDE OF THE HOBBY

By Scott Benjamin

Reproduction items. commonly called repros, have a long established history in our hobby. Reproductions of any collectible are created for a few select reasons. When demand far exceeds supply for a category of items, reproductions often appear. When prices for particular items get too high for the average buyer to afford, repros will appear. When a general need for repros comes about that originals cannot meet or should not meet--such as putting expensive globes on an outdoor pump--repros should appear. Most reproduction items created for these purposes are relatively harmless.

However, another class of reproduction, the deliberate, fraudulent reproduction, can cause a great deal of harm. Con-artists see a quick and easy way to make good money when they can fool people into buying a phony collectible as an original. The age of the item is no indication of authenticity. You must remember that many mass market repros or fantasy pieces are now approaching 30 years old in our hobby. Most of the repros that remain commonly available today were part of a group that was introduced beginning about 1973! Oddly enough is the fact that some of the better repros and obsolete items actually command a good value now and will go up in value. But what is important here is that no one wants to get stuck with a repro when they think it's real. That's all we need to talk about here. What it comes down to is having the knowledge to know what's real and what's not. Some of the data we will cover here we have spoke about before. But a lot of it we have not, especially in terms of photos. The more you read and look at pictures of reproductions the more knowledge you gain and the more confident you become. There is nothing more frustrating than being at an antique mall, seeing a great item but not being sure if it's real or not, so you pass on it. Did you do right or wrong? We've all been there before and it's not fun. So, learn all you can, read the books, ask questions and observe and you'll be much better off . As I stated above repros have been around for as long as all of us have been collecting. A small select group of globes and round porcelain pump plates were introduced about 1973, largely intended as decor pieces. It's only the undated or unmarked ones that give people problems. But you must learn to ask questions as more and more items are being purchased over the phone these days. Do not be afraid to ask someone if the globe you are buying has a date stamped at the bottom. Maybe it says reproduction at the top of the insert. By the way, snap rings on metal frames and the recessed edge of a plastic body can nearly hide these markings.

Porcelain signs can be chipped on their edges to make newer dates disappear. I've heard someone doing this more than once on signs before and selling them as originals. But normally this is not the case. Yet do ask the person selling the item about any dates or markings if you suspect something. Again as we've said many times in the past we have no problems with marked repros--it's the unmarked ones that cause the problems. Unmarked repros and unmarked fantasy pieces have no place in this hobby. They just open the door for problems now or in the future. I hear of many people making a fantasy piece for their own collection these days. What happens when these people are gone and their collection is sold? I know what happens because I'm the one who gets the calls on this. Then I say, Oh yeah, he made that one up 22 years ago. But I don't have all the answers. We will never have a complete list of all the phonies out there. See how the marked phonies would never be a problem? We intend to do more extensive coverage of reproductions and fantasy pieces here. Read and understand the data here, read the repro sections in our books, and call us if you still can't figure it out. Use common sense too, as some of this is quite obvious. The first one here pictured here is a classic example of a fantasy piece. A Sinco globe on three piece glass. In the globe book it shows this as a late teens era globe. There were no glass three piece globes in the teens period. Should a Sinco Sinclair surface, the first question should be whether or not the globe is etched. Is there a chimney cap on it? Don't get caught up in the excitement and forget to ask questions. This globe was made by a good friend of mine for his own enjoyment and will not be floating around for anyone to worry about for now anyway. There are several fantasy pieces out there made solely for this purpose and that is fine. It's the ones that escape that bother me and plague the hobby.

The next item is the foreign Shell No Smoking sign. We don't know a lot about them but the one pictured is a porcelain phony and it is not marked. The next item pictures several 15 inch inserts of West Coast companies made and sold by one individual as originals. The inserts look good at some distance but close inspection reveals these are phony. The letters and logos are actually stenciled on the lens, given an overall white spray coating to give the background appearance.

Almost every company from the West Coast was created including several fantasy pieces. The fantasy pieces include the infamous Gilmore Monarch of All globe which never existed and the Richfield Richlube with the car on it which only existed in someone's imagination. These globes are now 20 years old and still turn up, especially in the Northwest part of the country where they originated. These globes were specifically made to fool people and this person has succeeded in ripping the hobby off for many thousands of dollars. Luckily, these do not turn up much anymore but several dozen of these are out there. I hear reports of these surfacing every year. So again, know who you are dealing with and ask questions! The new globe books list all of these repros and fantasy pieces. Many phony 15 inch inserts have no cone shaped notch at the bottom of the insert so ask that question too. This notch centered the insert on the bump built into the metal frame. I have seen some original inserts with no notch but this is the exception rather than the rule.

The Auntie Chatter sign. This is a simple one. The originals are tin and the repros are porcelain! Usually it's the other way around. The originals are made of very thin tin and could be cut with a good pair of scissors, honestly. They are also square. The repros are round porcelain and it's that simple.

The Magnolia on glass. What a waste. Someone used a rare 15 inch glass body and put the Magnolia logo on it. Strange pieces are out there but they are not real.

The large glass globe with a star protruding from each side is not a Texaco globe, period. I get calls on these all the time. I even saw someone put Sky Chief and Fire Chief on one of these once. Give us a break! These were made by the former owner of Weber's who never intended them to be sold as originals--he had found this mold, etc., and made some. But they got out. Remember what I said about escapees! It's the ones that get out that cause the problems.

Years ago Time Passages made some fantasy globes for Disney Florida. The Mojave globe was born. Disney didn't want it marked and guess what, more escapees! I get these calls now and then on a great globe with an Indian and a horse. Just read the repro section in either the old or new globe book because it's there. It never existed! I begged the people making the repro ripple bodies to date or mark them. Now they are everywhere and causing problems. As I've said many times, an auctioneer over the phone or any novice has no idea how to tell a real one from an older one. I lost my respect for the people who made these. They were needed but they should have been marked. We also included in this article the problem repro/fantasy list that we run now and then. Review this list along with the data here to further your knowledge of unmarked repros.

Another item pictured here is a 12 inch porcelain Marathon Aircraft sign fantasy piece. This piece, along with many other fantasy airplane/aircraft signs can be found and purchased in the catalogues available through Weber's, Time Passages, etc.. I would suggest owning a copy of any and all of these catalogues. I use them constantly to sort out questions and problems that people present to me. So I have a suggestion for all. Everyone should own a repro kit that consists a copy of this article, the catalogues I suggested, and the new globe and older sign books that list the repros. Make a file and take it to the shows or when you are on a trip. There are many other obvious phonies out there you see at the shows. These are not much of a problem but you need to be aware of them. Pictured here are some repro signs fitted for neon as seen at a show a few years ago.

Other fantasy pieces are the small lighted signs like the Sinclair Oils pictured here. Many brands of these exist. There have been several 42 inch porcelain signs made. These are typically thinner metal and have overall smoother porcelain with less distinct ridges around the letters and logos. Keep in mind some signs we've never seen in the 42 inch size like Sinclair Aircraft which are only found in 48 inch or 28 inch sizes.

The Philgo sign here has never been found anywhere. Use common sense when buying signs and call a sign expert if in doubt. I know a fair amount about signs but never claimed to be a sign expert. So if I can't help try someone in our magazine who runs ads on signs.

Here is an 18 inch tin Texaco round sign we believe to be phony. I've spoken to the most knowledgeable person in signs and a Texaco expert and they both said it's not real. Shown here are two of the countless 12 inch porcelain signs unmarked that are available to the hobby. The best thing to do here is obtain and then study those catalogues I mentioned above. Also when you attend the shows take out five minutes of your precious time and really look at these repro signs and globes. You can't miss them, they are everywhere. Also pictured here is the Powerlube porcelain sign in it's original form. Several repros were made many years ago. The repros are lighter weight than the originals and few mint originals exist. This isn't a lot of help, I realize, but just knowing an unmarked phony exists is the first step.

Don't forget about the large tin wood framed Oilzum sign as pictured here. These look old to begin with so be aware of these.

But the piece I get the most calls on, nearly 100 calls believe it or not, is not even a gas and oil piece at all. The inserts are small, around 11-12 inches, have no mounting slots and will fit nothing! They have a minuteman pictured on them but have no writing at all. Please, please note this down! This is not, I repeat, not a gas globe! The story I got was that it was used by a chain of florist shops in Pennsylvania. These are original but since they are nearly impossible to mount and not gas or oil they are worth well less than $100.

OBSERVATIONS: REPRO LOGIC

By Wayne Henderson

Some years ago, while in an antique store in South Carolina, the owner took great pains to show me the prize piece of her stock - a 12 round Sinclair Aircraft pump plate. I'm only $400.00 into it, she stated, How much do you figure it is worth? I answered, Fifteen. Fifteen hundred dollars, she gasped. That much?. No, I corrected, Fifteen dollars. It is a reproduction, albeit an older one that I don't think is still available. But they've never reproduced that sign, so I've been told, she countered. Actually, it never existed in reality, I quickly corrected, All of them that exist are phony...fantasy pieces as they are known. Or what one collector termed 'petroliana not found in nature'. Fully 99% of all reproduction items, everything that can be grouped into that term, is made for mass market purchase, is marked accordingly.

Often the manufacturer has no intention of misleading anyone, but fails to mark his wares accordingly, believing them to be SO OBVIOUSLY PHONY SO AS NOT TO NEED MARKINGS. These items are relatively harmless. Note that I said relatively. The story above is true. I was in that antique shop for over an hour, looking at a rather extensive collection of petroleum items, and every so often the owner would come back to me asking Are you sure? When I left I'm still not sure she was convinced, although the sign did disappear shortly thereafter. A similar situation happened to me in Cotton Plant, Arkansas some years ago. An obviously phony Texaco Fire Chief sign was being displayed and offered as original for $65.00. When I pointed it out, my observations were met only with argument. Probably the best known example of exposing repro-blindness happened at the Iowa Gas auction years ago. A group of collectors put me up to interrupting the auction with the protest that one of the globes, a Dixie showing the crossed flags, was phony. That started quite an argument throughout the entire crowd, although the globe sold for $165.00 that day - more than twice what it could have been purchased for in a reputable shop as a known fantasy reproduction right there in Des Moines that same day. Why are each of these mass market reproductions, fantasy items that never existed in reality and should then never harm anyone, be a problem. Because somebody obviously was fooled! In each instance at least one person did not realize what they had, and was passing it off as real. There was not intention of fraud, but instead blatant ignorance. Here are a few rules to follow that will help you determine whether an item is real or repro:

CONTEXT: Should this item be found here? If someone called you offering to sell you a 12 round Golden West pump plate that he swears he found on a pump on a farm just thirty miles from him...and he lives in Ohio or Oregon, then you must assume that it is phony! Why? Most obviously because that company never marketed in those areas! Could it be real? Remotely. If a farmer purchased a used gas pump from his local fuel supplier, and that supplier had purchased a group of used pumps at an equipment auction with the intention of having them rebuilt for his use, and the equipment and this pump had come from an original source in West Texas, then it could possibly be real. But what is the likelihood of all of those events happening? More likely, the farmer saw and liked the Golden West sign in one of several catalogs from which it was offered some years ago, ordered one and put it on the pump on his farm just for decoration. The farmer dies, the stuff is sold and goes through several local hands, and the sign that has been out in the weather since 1978 is now believed to be real.

COMMON SENSE: NO knowledgeable dealer will ever offer a quality original piece at less than reasonable market value. If you find an item in its natural setting - items found in old gas stations or bulk plants, oil cans or globes found at say a garage sale, you may be able to purchase a quality item for far less than market value. But if the item is found in a different venue - at a show, through a publicized (non-local) auction, at an antique mall, then you can bet that it will not be offered at a ridiculously low price.

KNOW WHAT IS OUT THERE: If the item you purchased as real is one of the many items commonly available through any of numerous vendors and catalogs today, then if you are fooled into buying it as real, then you got what you deserved. There are some very unscrupulous people out there, several who will intentionally defraud any member of this hobby that they can. There wares are top quality repros, some items we've almost given up on being able to tell original from repro. Anyone, even the experts are fooled by these people. But to buy one of the thousands of items that are mass-marketed to our hobby today, mistakenly believing it is real only because you haven't studied the reference material available to you then you are far too vulnerable to be in this or any other collectibles hobby.

See our list of most troublesome reproductions: Repro Recap

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