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bradburied

Former movie poster collector and lawyer Mel ran a wonderful website exposing a lot of the charlatans in our hobby, alas he collects no more but his legacy is a great resource and information on many scumbags in the poster collecting world. Here is another:

Randy Poling does business as “Bradburied” on eBay.  Although most of his posters for sale are true originals, he belongs in the Hall of Shame because he sells several posters as “originals” that the movie poster community believes are bootlegs, i.e. unauthorized posters made using the same printing plate as the original.  

In some of the bootleg listings on eBay Bradburied does disclose that the poster at issue “may” be a bootleg.  For others no disclosure is provided. While these bootlegs are physically attractive and very similar to the originals, they are distinguishable from originals, have little to no value, and cannot easily be resold.  Therefore, any one who buys one of the bootlegs is stuck with it and has been ripped off.

Below are some of the bootlegs that Bradburied sells on eBay (with April 2012 screenshots and links to authentications).

(1) Bradburied sells the well-known â€œhairy belt” bootleg of Star Wars Style A as an “original”:

REMEDIES 

Although most of the posters that Bradburied sells are true originals, movie poster collectors should avoid doing business with him because he sells several well-known bootlegs as originals and has ripped-off many Ebay customers who have bought his bootlegs and later discovered they are essentially worthless and unsellable.

If you have bought a bootleg from him, you should:

  • First, leave negative feedback on Ebay within 60 days of the sale
  • Second, file a complaint with Ebay.
  • Third, demand a refund. If he refuses to give one, file a complaint with PayPal within forty-five days of the sale. (Note the time limit is very short.)
  • Fourth, post your issues with Bradburied on the movie poster forums, including www.vintagemoviepostersforum.com, to help spread the word of his bootleg sales.

Comments

  • edited December 2015
    I was pricing up a Bladerunner insert and came across some being sold on eBay here

    http://tinyurl.com/za54ga6
    http://tinyurl.com/h6kwl8t

    by two people somewhat notorious in the poster collecting community so was reminded about what was written about them elsewhere, and I quote

    Randy Poling does business as “Bradburied” on eBay.  Although most of his posters for sale are true originals, he belongs in the Hall of Shame because he sells several well-known bootleg posters as “originals.” Click the link above for more details.
    Read more here

    Thomas “Tom” Loce, who does business as “tloceposters” on Ebay, is a notorious fake movie poster seller and the “King of FAKE Movie Posters.”  A substantial percentage of his posters are fake reprints or bootlegs misleadingly labeled and sold as originals. 
    Read more here
  • edited December 2015
    Former movie poster collector and lawyer Mel ran a wonderful website exposing a lot of the charlatans in our hobby, alas he collects no more but his legacy is a great resource and information on many scumbags in the poster collecting world. Here is the king of them all:

    Thomas “Tom” Loce is poster dealer in Rochester, New York, and does business on eBay using seller ID “tloceposters” on Ebay.  He includes one of the two following statements in all (or almost all) of his Ebay listings:

    "THIS IS AN ORIGINAL THEATRICAL MOVIE POSTER PRINTED BY NATIONAL SCREEN SERVICE"  or

    "THIS IS AN ORIGINAL THEATRICAL ONE SHEET MOVIE POSTER PRINTED BY THE MOVIE STUDIOS "

    Although some (perhaps most) of his posters and lobby cards are true originals, a substantial percentage of them are in fact reprints or bootlegs and, with respect to them, the above statements are false and deceptive.

    This page provides a general overview of Loce’s bootlegs and reprints.  For further information on Loce’s bootleg inserts, follow the links below to other sites:

    Cinemasterpieces “All About Fakes and Reprints”

    LearnAboutMoviePoster.com’s “Report on the Minty White Posters” 


    NOTE: Loce was given the opportunity to defend and explain his posters by the author of this webpage.  Loce responded by insulting the author, threatening to sue him for lost income, but refusing to give any detailed defense. Loce claimed that author “did not understand how this business really works.” Loce generically insisted that many sellers on Ebay sold illegitimate posters; that, by contrast, all of his posters came from “legitimate sources”; and that he did not own a printer.

    Loce specializes in selling fake reprint bootlegs inserts and lobby cards of popular movies.  Below are screenshots from his inventory website (tloceposters.com).  Most (or perhaps all) of the items pictured are blatant “minty white” fakes.

    Loce sells many fake reprint single-sided one sheets of popular movie posters.  I personally purchased the following Black Swan fake poster directly from Loce that he is selling as an “orig” (i.e. original) even though he knows it is a reprint. 

    THOMAS LOCE MANIPULATES HIS EBAY FEEDBACK

    Thomas Loce manipulates his Ebay feedback.  For example, I purchased a fake Black Swan movie poster from him and left negative feedback stating that it was a fraud and buyers should beware.  Loce called Ebay and had the feedback removed.  Normally, he “buys off” his victims by giving them a full refund when he is caught selling a fake. In exchange for getting a full refund, the buyer doesn’t leave or retracts negative feedback. 

    THOMAS LOCE IS A LITIGIOUS TROLL 

    Loce is an infamous litigious troll.  For years he has threatened many members of the movie poster collector community, including the author of this webpage, with meritless lawsuits.

    THOMAS LOCE USES POOR PHOTOGRAPHS TO DISGUISE HIS FAKE POSTERS AND LOBBY CARDS

    To disguise the fact that many of his posters are fake, Loce uses poor, unfocused, and small photographs on his Ebay ads.  Buyers cannot see the obvious indicia of reprints, including small fuzzy text, on such photos.  Below are some typical examples:

    THOMAS LOCE IS A PARIAH IN THE HOBBY

    Loce is a pariah.  On the various movie poster forums, you will find hundreds of negative and critical posts about Loce specifically and general references to “the Rochester dealer,” which refer to him.  Unfortunately, it is estimated only 10% of collectors ever visit the forums and they are unaware of his extraordinarily poor reputation.  All they see is his manipulated Ebay rating, buy from him, and are ripped off by him. 


    I have also personally handled and inspected Loce’s fake reprint of the IMAX Inception poster.  He sold it an APF forum member.  When that member complained, Loce threatened to sue him (see below).  That APF member forwarded Loce’s fake Inception poster to me.  It is pictured below left and my DS original is pictured below right.  

    THOMAS LOCE FALSELY CLAIMS HE CANNOT DETECT REPRINTS


    When his customers confront Loce, he falsely claims he cannot detect reprints because they are “too good.”  Loce is well aware that some of the posters he is selling are fake reprints.  Indeed, he is either printing them himself or obtaining them from a supplier (or suppliers) whom he know are reprinters.

    THOMAS LOCE MISREPRESENTS THE QUANTITY AVAILABLE


    Loce is well aware that movie poster buyers are very suspicious if a dealer has an unlimited supply of a particular movie poster. Accordingly, he underestimates the quantity available.  For example, Loce states that he has “two” Blade Runner lobby card sets, which are actually blatantly fake minty white reprints. In fact, he has an unlimited quantity of these fakes and has been selling unlimited quantities of them for years.  When he sells his “limited” quantity, he simply starts a new listing.

    Bootleg Blade Runner lobby cards sold in June 2012 (Ebay 370614494972)

    Loce miraculously finds MORE fake Blade Runner lobby cards to sell in July 2012 (Ebay 370615130784)

    Loce has been selling an unlimited supply of fake Blade Runner inserts for years. Such a miracle to have perfect minty fresh inserts even though the movie came out 30 years ago!  Will miracles never cease?

    Below is a lawsuit threat email Loce sent to Sam , the owner of Posterati:

    Below is an email he sent to an APF member in 2011 who left negative feedback about a fake Inception poster:

    THOMAS LOCE IS A NOTORIOUS FAKE MOVIE POSTER AUTHENTICATOR

    Thomas Loce is “Professor Powers,” a notorious fake movie poster authenticator.

    This is Professor Power’s authentication of the notorious fake “Lucky Strikes” poster.

    MoviePosterCollectors.com is the Internet’s newest portal, reference, and showcase to the wonderful world of movie poster collecting!  Pursuant to the “fair use” provisions of United States copyright law, any digital images on this site of movie posters subject to copyright protection are displayed solely for the non-profit purposes of education and promotion of movie poster collecting. For any questions or concerns feel free to contact the site administrator at administrator(“at sign”)moviepostercollectors.com.

    THOMAS LOCE TAKES IMAGES FROM THE INTERNET, PRINTS THEM, AND CALLS THEM ORIGINALS


    For many of his fakes, Loce (or his supplier) clearly takes images from the Internet, especially MoviePosterDB.com, prints them, and deceptively calls them originals.  Fortunately, these fakes are usually easily spotted, since they are printed on heavy luster paper (readily available at copy shops) and have fuzzy text. 


    Directly below is a reprint “advance” Big Lebowski Loce sells for $150, although it is nothing but a “Kinko’s special” reprint created from a digital image of the DVD cover:

    Loce prints his print Black Swans from images he probably obtained from MPDB.com.


    September 30, 2012 email from Loce to the author of this webpage: â€œFor a lawyer you sure a dumb guy.... I’ll just keep gathering information and possibly turn into a litigious troll again . Heck , If I had enough time & money to waste to bring Time Warner / Warner Bro to the Supreme Court level I certainly wouldn’t have any qualms about wasting my money & your time on a defamation suit or at the very least some type of loss of income . I’m still debating if its worth wasting my time on a speck of dust like you .”

    Loce admitted underestimating his available supply in an email he sent to the author: “As far as listing my items 2 or 3 at a time has everything to do with smart business practices and nothing to do with conning people . It is common knowledge to astute business people that when stating a limited amount of availability that a consumer will be quicker to purchase your item . For example I have over 600 original Army of Darkness one sheets in stock . How foolish would it be for me to state that I have 600 available on an Ebay listing .”

    REMEDIES 

    Although some (or even perhaps most) of the posters that Loce sells are true originals, movie poster collectors should avoid doing business with him because he sells so make reprints and bootlegs. If you have bought a reprint or bootleg from him, you should:

    • First, leave negative feedback on Ebay within 60 days of the sale.
    • Second, file a complaint with Ebay.
    • Third, demand a refund. If he refuses to give one, file a complaint with PayPal within forty-five days of the sale. (Note the time limit is very short.)
    • Fourth, post your issues with Tom Loce on the movie poster forums, including www.vintagemoviepostersforum.com to help spread the word of his fake sales. 
    • Fifth, contact the author of this.
    • Sixth, you may wish to consult an attorney regarding any legal claims you have against him.
  • I noticed in another thread about fake sellers, that user Jedge listed three eBay sellers.
    Two of them you mention here, but the third is not mentioned.

    Does that mean the third one is no longer a questionable eBay seller, or still might be questionable, but was simply just not mentioned since that other thread mention.

    Also shouldn't it be easy to spot a fake by simply examining the paper/ink pattern with a microscope or some other magnifying device ?

    Thanks.
  • dxtx said:

    Does that mean the third one is no longer a questionable eBay seller, or still might be questionable, but was simply just not mentioned since that other thread mention.


    Probably more because the third seller is not mention on the site I linked the others to. 

    dxtx said:

    Also shouldn't it be easy to spot a fake by simply examining the paper/ink pattern with a microscope or some other magnifying device ?

    Possibly. But why bother buying from them in the first place.


  • dxtx said:

    Also shouldn't it be easy to spot a fake by simply examining the paper/ink pattern with a microscope or some other magnifying device ?
    You'd be surprised. When these first surfaced, only Joe Burtis, Sam Sarowitz, the two guys from Canada, and myself said there was "something wrong" with these posters. Everyone else who spoke up (who either owned them or were selling them) thought they were "just from a variant printing" or some such explanation.

    The two main differences on these are the paper quality (because they are printed on an odd paper that is glossy on the back, unlike ANY 1970s inserts), and that the printing quality is lower (because they were NOT printed from the original plates, but were scanned from posters), and sometimes there are cropping or color issues.

    But most collectors (who are not used to these) would need to see one side by side with a proven original to be 99% certain.

    To this day, I get consigned one or more of these almost every single month, and I HATE breaking the news to those people.




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  • edited September 2016
    Wow this is an incredible thread, my mouth just waters looking at the shelves at NSS filled with the goodies. There is an independent exchange left (It is called Movie Poster Service in Canton, Oklahoma) and they told me they had tons of pressbooks, but they were very rude to me and they would not give me any titles, they said it was not worth their time looking for pressbooks because they could sell a poster for a ton more money. I thought it was really sad they would look at it this way. They offered to sell me all of their pressbooks for $50,000 but would not give me ANY idea of what they had, not a single title and expect me to spend that kind of money completely blind. All the responses from them were rude and they made sure I knew that they were in charge (bloated heads). , and I don't mean any offense to them just relaying my experience with them. I noticed there were a few posts by the owners here on this site but they were deleted from the site. It's sad to me being a pressbook-only collector that those are all sitting there and they won't bother to put any packages together for me. But can you imagine someone asking you for $50,000 and not knowing anything at all about what you will get, how many, from what era, condition, ect?

  • edited September 2016
    Wow this is an incredible thread, my mouth just waters looking at the shelves at NSS filled with the goodies. There is an independent exchange left (It is called Movie Poster Service in Canton, Oklahoma) and they told me they had tons of pressbooks, but they were very rude to me and they would not give me any titles, they said it was not worth their time looking for pressbooks because they could sell a poster for a ton more money. I thought it was really sad they would look at it this way. They offered to sell me all of their pressbooks for $50,000 but would not give me ANY idea of what they had, not a single title and expect me to spend that kind of money completely blind. All the responses from them were rude and they made sure I knew that they were in charge (bloated heads). , and I don't mean any offense to them just relaying my experience with them. I noticed there were a few posts by the owners here on this site but they were deleted from the site. It's sad to me being a pressbook-only collector that those are all sitting there and they won't bother to put any packages together for me. But can you imagine someone asking you for $50,000 and not knowing anything at all about what you will get, how many, from what era, condition, ect?

    That's rediculous to just want $50k and be so rude. Try reaching out to "bradburied" on ebay. His name is Randy. I know he purchased part of an NSS warehouse when they went under years ago. That's why the guy has so many stinking lobby card sets lol. I've dealt with him before and he seems like a nice guy. See if he has any pressbooks in his collection.
  • Doesn't Bradburied work in tandem with TLoce?
    Or, are they one and the same?

    Warning Will Robinson...
  • Brude said:
    Doesn't Bradburied work in tandem with TLoce?
    Or, are they one and the same?

    Warning Will Robinson...


    I thought the same things when I read this...
  • I did not realize there were issues with some of what Randy sold. I bought a presskit and a lobby card set or two from him and he seemed legit. I apologize for mentioning his name. 
  • Oh hell, don't worry about mentioning names at all - we're not here to judge what people do, just tell a few stories around the old campfire and leave it up to the individual to decide.



    That said, there are some who will abuse you for making your own choices on what you buy, who you buy it from and even how much you pay, but he's French, a moron, and on another forum.


  • He does sell original mixed in with all the repros, so depending on title, they could be fine.

    I think it's more some people don't like doing business with him because of his practices...

    And on this note, has loce recently changed his ebay id ?

  • And on this note, has loce recently changed his ebay id ?


    He did? To what? And why would he give up all those feedbacks?
  • David said:

    And on this note, has loce recently changed his ebay id ?


    He did? To what? And why would he give up all those feedbacks?

    Let me see if I can find it now...the pics gave it away that it was him...brb
  • Are you sure it's Tloce? 
  • Oh maybe I am getting confused with someone else...wasn't one of his id's rokmod? 
    Perhaps my old age is letting me down.
    If I am wrong, please delete...don't want to tarnish someone else by mistake!
  • No, no - I just don't know. Tarnish away!
  • Let me do some digging to confirm...though with head cold I could be quite slow!
  • According to the "Canadian Poster Terrorists" the "Gang of Four" (allegedly involved with the "minty whites") comprised T Loce, E Richter, R Poling (bradburied) and R Toler -the last person aka kidrokmod, formerly rokmodataol for over ten years.

    Mark 

  • Should have just clicked on one of his items...not him but one of the "associates"...so again, real ones mixed in with the repros...

    Old MPC thread:

     
    Ed Richter, Rick Toler (rokmod), Tom Loce and Randy (?) aka Brabdburied were called the Famous Four. I think the Canadian Poster Terrorists invented the term.

  • I
    Wow this is an incredible thread, my mouth just waters looking at the shelves at NSS filled with the goodies. There is an independent exchange left (It is called Movie Poster Service in Canton, Oklahoma) and they told me they had tons of pressbooks, but they were very rude to me and they would not give me any titles, they said it was not worth their time looking for pressbooks because they could sell a poster for a ton more money. I thought it was really sad they would look at it this way. They offered to sell me all of their pressbooks for $50,000 but would not give me ANY idea of what they had, not a single title and expect me to spend that kind of money completely blind. All the responses from them were rude and they made sure I knew that they were in charge (bloated heads). , and I don't mean any offense to them just relaying my experience with them. I noticed there were a few posts by the owners here on this site but they were deleted from the site. It's sad to me being a pressbook-only collector that those are all sitting there and they won't bother to put any packages together for me. But can you imagine someone asking you for $50,000 and not knowing anything at all about what you will get, how many, from what era, condition, ect?

    I am one of the owners of Movie Poster Service. First, I have not deleted any of my posts (there are only 5 of them in total) and I have not had any posts removed. I talked to you many times, and tried to work out some agreement for our pressbooks. We offered you two options. Buy them all in a bulk deal, every pressbook in the building, OR agree on a flat price for each pressbook, and get one of each title as they are filed A-Z and the numbered pressbook shelves. It would have taken considerable work to complete the deal either way, and if you decided not to complete the deal, restocking the pressbooks would have required much more time and effort. So, yes, we did expect some financial proof you were willing to finalize the deal. In my opinion, the deal never got close to any final resolution, because we could not reach an agreement. That is not rudeness, but a failure to reach terms for a sale. I will remember your opinion of us in the future.
  • This discussion was created from comments split from: The National Screen Service (NSS).
  • edited October 2018
    Shoot, I just came across the thread after buying a "Sorcerer" poster from bradburied on eBay. I posted about it here: http://vintagemoviepostersforum.com/discussion/2502/sorcerer-1977-style-b-one-sheet#latest
    A poster expert I know in town was immediately suspicious of it, and I'm also wary at how "minty white" the margins are. 

    Someone mentioned that bradburied also sells originals, so I'm just confused as to what I've got. I'm leaning toward returning it but not sure how I can go about it so it's not just "he said, he said" situation about the poster's authenticity.

    Thanks for this thread - and for all the threads! - as I'm learning more from every one I visit. 
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