Ebay items 360328929369 , 390605336717 , 360328929369 These are only the Texaco signs that are 11 to 12 inches in diameter .I am not going to say fake anymore ,but someone said 8" ,10' ,and 15" diameter signs are the only real ones .You look and you decide if you need to report them .These are all the Texaco round signs that are questionable

They're all reproductions. Texaco didn't use 12" signs.

Thanks for stating it .Everyone please report them.We need to stay on them like a bulldog on a hambone .We are winning

Unfortunatly it says,
"***Item Description***
Texaco Reproduction Round Star Porcelain Sign!
Measures 11 1/2" around
Features the harder to find Black "T" logo!
Great colors and displays very well! We have graded it a 9.5!"

So, they are covered by ebay's standards. ugh!
But I would hope that no one would buy them at $160!!

That is correct but we can email the seller and tell them what we think.

I don't think we're "winning" at all. In fact, I don't think there is anything to win. EBay is just like anyother auction house, they can't determine if an item is authentic or not, they just provide a means to sell it. The buyer is ultimately the one who has to be educated.

This forum is great because it's a free resource, and Texaco signs have been discussed in depth (it would only take 10 minutes or less to find the thread covering these signs). I and many other Texaco collectors have posted quite a few pictures on this forum of original signs. If a buyer doesn't want to do their research and they spend their money on reproduction I feel no sympathy.

I buy what I know, and when I buy something outside my comfort zone of knowledge I know I am assuming a risk.

The organization that should be fighting this is Cheveron (they own the rights to the Texaco trademark), but they haven't and I doubt they ever will.

I know this opinion is different than most, but I wanted to share my thoughts.

Of the three, eBay auction number 390605336717 has me and a few others rolling on the floor as he used the term "NOS" to describe his reproduction item.

Who said you can't teach an old dog a new trick?

How about this one? If it measures 8", real?

I don't agree about not winning.We are not fighting a war -just one battle at a time . There are far fewer 11 3/4" signs on Ebay now than any time in the recent past .There is only one explanation and that is our reporting them as fakes.Let's just keep reporting a little while longer .A lot of the fakers are moving on to other kinds of scams .Let's just try for 1 day on Ebay with no 11 3/4" fakes .We are getting close to that day.

Boy Steve it sure looks right to me!

Please... There are thousands of 11-3/4" signs on Ebay...

AND THEY DESERVE TO BE THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is "not a Battle", we are fighting! I've been IN THIS HOBBY for over 50 years... Before I started in the Hobby there were repops and fantasy items!!!!!!!!! After I leave the Hobby, there will be repops and fantasy items!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I have been in the Hobby longer than 90+% of those in it, right now... My Father was one of the "Pioneers" of the Hobby in the 1940s... I do NOT have the right, nor the ability... to tell anyone what they can Sell! Nor what they can Sell that item for!...

If after ALL THE TIME, I HAVE IN THE HOBBY... I don't have the ability to tell someone what they can do WITH THEIR ITEMS.... Where in the world do some of you, get the idea you have such ability?

Steve,

On the right hand side of the star, the tips do not look right. The outside edges are not straight to the point, you can see where the color over laps. Very poor quality or the sign has been touched up, or just a bad photo.

Yah I saw that. But based on what I've been taught here on Oldgas, this sign would date very early. I'm not so sure that manufacturing process or just quality in general were all that well controlled.
Based on all that has been said about these signs here on Oldgas and from the story the guy is telling me, I'm calling good on this one. I may make a play at it. I hope it's not a mistake!!!!

i have to say Bob that what you say is very well put......there are sure a lot of pricing police and i really have to laugh when somebody tells me how much i should ask for my property , and what i should do with my property.....as long as the person tells the truth and does not decieve....




i think your right, in my opinion this sign is 100% original
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your right, the guy with auction # 360328929369 is selling as reproduction as stated in description,and he has that right, however the second guy with auction # 390605336717 is trying to sell his as original and it will be removed

I was not talking about the 11 3/4" sold as reproductions .I am talking about the 11 3/4" repops being sold as originals .Go count the number on Ebay right now .There are fewer than there were a few weeks ago .I could care less if the seller says a sign is a repop and sells it for hundreds of dollars .As long as the buyer knows he is getting a repop I could care less.

Bob ,Please tell us about the repops that were out there when you started .I had no idea they were repopping back then .When did you see your first repop,and how did you know it was fake ? Thanks

J.C. Whitney Catalogs from the 30s, have repop items in them..

The first time a Country Store and/or an Independent Service Station owner had a sign painted for them because it was cheaper than "buying the Authorized one from the Oil Company/ Tire Company/ etc... Repops were born... Many of these same Business People had signs painted that were not exact matches... Just a "little off" in the colors, image, size... etc... Just enough that a Company couldn't go after them in Court... "Fantasy items" were "born....

Examples are in some of the Collector's Guides and have been written about in "Check the Oil, PCM, Mobilia and in other reference books...

My Father was a Seller of "Gas and Oil" items in the 1950s up until his death in '93... I learned at his "knee"...

I don't understand why some "New" to the Hobby people, somehow think that repopped items haven't been around since the "beginning of Civilization"? You folks haven't heard of people copying paintings, furniture, coins, books... etc...? From the beginning of time...

Why would this Hobby, be any different?

I get frustrated with you folks, I guess it comes out in what I post... Most of you are so damn lazy, you become worthless! Do some research for yourselves... Quit trying to suck at the teat of those who have done research!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I started in the Hobby, a computer... One damn computer would take up a space bigger than the average home... There were no Gas and Oil Shows, No magazines, No Collector's Guides... Hell, I didn't own a computer until 2001... Yet, I've been able to Collect, buy, sell and trade... Literally thousands of items... Since I have well over 1000 items, in my little Collection now. The number must be much higher...

I can count on my hands, how many times I have been duped and still have fingers left over... If I'm not sure of an item. I do some research, I check my past issues of Magazine, I check reference books, I check my Collector's Guides... I spend multiple hours on the 'web... I converse with other Collectors and if they don't know about an item, I share the info I have gathered with them... If I am really stuck, I reach out to people like Mr. Harper, people like Dan Matthews, who many times because of his Auctions will see more items in a week or two than I will see in a year... Before I got sick, I got out and "beat the brush"... I wasn't just looking for an item... I wanted (and still want) the story behind the item...

I work hard to gain as much knowledge as I can... I've been very lucky in the Hobby... I have made some friends in it, that will share information... They know that I will share what I know if they ask... I have tried to do the same with Oldgas...

But, in the last few years... There has been a shift away from the "Pursuit of Knowledge" here on Oldgas and in the Hobby on a general basis... Instead, "flipping an item" has become the goal...

A number of Members here work hard on the different Threads. But, lately it has been: who gives a damn? Doc, EVERY Sunday starts a new BOTW... But, every week someone has to post their "Buys" in the Showcase, instead of posting in Doc's.... Mick works hard on the FATW... But, Members will post their own threads instead of posting in his... Shawn is working hard on the COTM... But, few actually post in the threads.. It is BS, the number of items that end up being For Sale, that the "Seller" couldn't bother posting an image of in the appropriate COTM thread...

Hell, I could go on and on... But, I am "Preaching to the Choir"... Those that understand what I am saying, already love the History and the Hobby... Those who are wondering, "What the Hell is he talking about"? Will be long gone and forgotten in a couple of years!