Terry Bond Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 Attached are a couple of photos of Michelin Man advertising pieces. One is an original chalk-ware piece, the other is a cast iron piece that seems to be are poppoing up all over the place lately - have seen five or six at any given moment on Ebay with prices ranging from $300 to over $1500 (buy it now). I've also seen several of the cast iron pieces in antique shops with prices all over the roadmap ($250 - $1200). They are modern items, I'm sure. New orange "rust" and artificial aging give them right away. Wondering if anyone knows the source of them (certainly foreign manufacture). Looks like they were probably cast from a mold produced from some recent authorized Michelin collectibles. Wonder how many of these will show up as Hershey as "guaranteed antique?" Any photos of an original cast iron piece (if it exists) would be helpful to collectors.Hope nobody is getting burned on them too badly.Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shadetree77 Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I can't say that I've seen any of these statues around but here's a picture I took of a Michelin Man item inside the Coker Tire Museum/Lobby in Chattanooga, TN. It appears to be a compressor. They had many more original Michelin Man items but I did not get pictures of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Peterson Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 (edited) There are currently four on eBay right now. Price range is from $700 to $2,500. The last one that sold went for about $400.The way the listings are worded, sellers are really skirting the issue. One of the items is listed without any description whatsoever. That's one way to avoid fraud. One also wonders if the sellers were duped, and licking their wounds. It will be interesting to see how many show up at Hershey. Edited October 2, 2012 by West Peterson (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMoneyPit Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 This reminds me of the Ford Plant Security badges that hit Hershey in the mid 1990's - The first one I came across was priced $150 on a booth who also had a 31 Chevrolet radiator emblem for $75 at a time you could find them for around $20. Made me think if "B" is so overpriced, why not "A"? By the end of the day I'd counted over 20 of the badges and only one seller was selling them as new...Buyer Beware - do your homework first and thanks to people like Terry who is willing to call attention to a potentially serious fraud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shadetree77 Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Speaking of Coker Tires, I was browsing their site tonight and came across the section linked below. Apparently they are selling reproductions of old Michelin Man items including a few statues. They're not trying to pass them off as originals though. You can click on the links to check them out. Looks like their cheapest one is $89.95.Collectibles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahuss15 Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Terry,Thanks for increasing the awareness of this topic!! I would also like to mention that this is becoming a very real issue in the market of porcelain advertising signs. Some of the newly made signs are very close in appearance to the originals. As mentioned above - do your homework prior to purchasing (not from the seller's story). Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Bond Posted October 3, 2012 Author Share Posted October 3, 2012 Discussion Forumis one of my favorite websites for info on porcelain signs. It's UK based so covers a lot of British stuff but there are people from all over the world who read and post there about collecting advertising, etc. They are pretty quick to jump on a problem with something listed on the internet. It really helps in keeping your education sharp on whats being reproduced and where it comes from/who is dealing, etc. You are absolutely correct that so much of it is really well done these days. I've listened to all kinds of thoughts on the topic. Many insist if you can't afford (or even find) and original, then the repro fills the void. Problem is when it needs to be passed along to someone else! We've even had trouble with spark plugs! There have been some outright fakes and plenty of cases where some porcelains have been placed into other steel. You absolutely correct in doing the homework and educating yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Bond Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 I did see at least three at Herhsey ranging in price from $600 to $1100. All were of recent manufacture made to look old and weathered. Hopefully none ended up with unsuspecting collectors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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