BRAND NEW HEADVASES STRAIGHT FROM THE WHOLESALE GLASS AND POTTERY IMPORTERS

Nothing burns us more than to see all the brand new imported glassware, headvases, cast iron, and pottery items being sold as genuine, old, or vintage.  Most of the perpetrators of this fraud are Power Sellers that buy this stuff by the truck load and unleash it on eBay as genuine McCoy, or genuine Fire King, etc.  We have written two other guides dealing with fake glassware and McCoy cookie jars.  This purpose of this guide is to show the most common imported headvases being fraudulently sold on eBay as "old," "vintage," genuine Napco (Inarco, Enesco, whatever)," "WWII," etc.

All of the reproduction headvases shown in this guide can be found at the Rosso's Wholesale Glass and Pottery site, and they are available to anyone.  They come in a 6.5" size and a miniature 3.5" size.  They are all brand new and imported.

THE REPRODUCTION "LUCY" HEADVASES 

The headvase on the left below is the genuine 1960 Napco Lucy headvase.  Notice the additional dots on the head band, the lush eyelashes, the beautiful skin tones, the shaded hair color, and the nicely arched eyebrows.  The genuine vase is taller.

We would like to thank Becky (pkrat) for use of her genuine headvase pictures, and her help with our efforts to stem fraud on eBay.  If you go to Becky's auctions, you will see larger pictures of the genuine Lucy headvase.   The genuine vase comes in black, like the reproduction.

 Napco 7" Genuine Vase.       Brand New Imported Vase.      

The reproduction vase always has 3 little gold dots on one side of  the headband, in the exact same place.  The original has dots spread evenly over the headband.

        Below is the 2nd "Lucy" headvase.  The genuine Napco vase is on the left, and the reproduction is on the right.  The difference in detail is once again obvious.

Genuine Napco A5046.             Reproduction Rosso Vase.

The most obvious difference between these two vases include the shape of the collar, the width of the black band around the edge of the hat, and the hair color.  The orignal collar is scalloped, the repro is a little wavy at best.  The original has a narrow black band around the rim of the hat.  The fake has a thick, sloppily applied black band around the edge. The original has soft blonde hair with brown highlights.  The fake has brassy blonde hair, like a bad bleach job.  The finish is shiney.

Search under Lucy headvase to see the reproductions.

REAL RUBENS HEADVASE AND REPRODUCTION.

Genuine Rubens #495 headvase.       Imported Reproduction.

The pearls and chains they hang from seem to have a nice patina in the older vases.  The newer vases have shiney chains and very white pearls.

Don't be fooled by having the name on the bottom of the reproduction.  All the newly imported McCoy cookie jars also say McCoy on the bottom, and they are just as fake.  Foil stickers can't even be trusted, as dealers often buy cheap pieces of pottery at yard sales, strip off the labels and reapply them to the headvases.

GENUINE 1961 INARCO HEADVASE # E-774

Below is another headvase that has been copied.  The picture is of the genuine Inarco headvase.  We will be posting a picture of the copy soon.

 Genuine Inarco 1961 headvase.

      Check out a book at the library and compare the item you wish to buy with the genuine headvase.  Compare the number if there is one.  Is there a headvase collectors group online?  This is a fabulous way to get a quick judgement on something you wish to buy.  We had a group of 60+ Fire King collectors at one time, and I learned more from the group than all the books out there.

Once you study the older pieces, you will begin to recognize the small details that separate the quickly produced, cheap reproduction, from the older vintage vases.

REPRODUCTION MARILYN MONROE HEADVASE

Below is the reproduction Marilyn Monroe headvase.  We don't have a picture of the genuine headvase, but it is gorgeous.  There is a genuine Marilyn Monroe headvase that just sold for $5,290 on Ruby Lane, so if you want to see a great picture of the real one, check it out soon before the dealer takes the picture down.

Reproduction Marilyn Monroe headvase.

Search under Marilyn Monroe headvase to see auctions trying to convince you or mislead you to believing this is genuine or from an estate sale in the South (aren't there ever any estate sales in the North?).  Why would a dealer be satisfied with $24.99 for their precious, "genuine" Marilyn Monroe vase.  Answer:  its a reproduction that they paid $9-10 for wholesale at Rosso's.  If you like it buy it, just don't let these dealers convince you it is the genuine, vintage vase. Many of the reproduction vases, this one included are impressed with an "R" on the bottom.  Some dealers will say vases with this mark were made by Rubens.

**We've noticed an auction for a mouse pad with a picture of the "real" Marilyn Monroe headvase on it. Click here to see it: Marilyn Monroe headvase mousepad

REPRODUCTION WWII OR SALVATION ARMY NURSE HEADVASE

Reproduction Nurse Head Vase.

IF IT HAS RED EYEBROWS, IT IS A REPRODUCTION!!!

The genuine "nurse" has wonderful detailing and shading.  The reproduction has RED EYEBROWS (a dead giveaway).  The original has a bigger eyelashes and a larger red cross on the hat.  The red cross on the original is inside a blue circle.  The blue circle touches the gold trim on the hat.  There is a genuine nurse headvase on Ruby Lane right now and it is listed for $495.  These eBay dealers wouldn't be asking $24.95 on a Buy It Now for a genuine nurse headvase!!!!

REPRODUCTION JACKIE ONASSIS HEADVASE

Below is the newly imported Jackie "O" headvase.  It is easy to tell from the genuine one due to the great detail on the real vintage headvase.  One just sold on Ruby Lane for $395. If you go there, type in "headvase," in the search engine and you will find in in the "Sold" section at the end of the list.  It is absolutely gorgeous and the detail is exquisite.

Reproduction Jackie O headvase.

SELLERS WHO KEEP BIDDERS ID HIDDEN

Once you locate a dealer who is falsely advertising these pieces as old, bookmark the seller and make a notation to yourself that this person sells new imports as old or vintage.   Then watch what they are selling.  This is a good way to find out all the new imports!!!  You will notice that most of these dealers keep the bidder's ID private so they can't be contacted.  This is another BIG RED ALERT.  The most fraudulent dealers on eBay keep the bidders ID private so that they can't be informed of the truth, and so that they can shill each other's items to drive up their positive feedback scores.  That's how many become power sellers.  Look at one of these dealer's feedback and you will see many items bought by the same person.  The feedback itself says only "Thanks," or "nice item" and nothing more. 

I am only allowed 10 pictures per guide, so I couldn't include the rest of the headvases.  If there is enough interest in this topic, we will do another guide later.

As eBay's selling principles blames the buyer for not knowing any different when fraud is committed, you must ask lots of questions before bidding, if you are looking for a truely vintage headvase. 

We thought we had heard every dastardly deed an unscrupulous seller could pull on a buyer until this story.  A lady emailed me that she had bought a reproduction jadite pitcher on eBay. She returned it to the dealer once she got it and verified it was a reproduction.  The dealer accused the bidder of switching the pitcher, and mailed it back to the bidder.  Unfortunately, the bidder accepted the package. EBay, of course, did nothing.  The lady was stuck with a very expensive piece of Southeast Asian jadite!

If a seller ever does this to you, refuse to accept the package.  Don't open the package.  Take the package to the Post Office and purchase a Certificate of Mailing which shows you refused the package.  Now the dealer must refund your money, because they have the item back.  If they don't, you can file a claim with eBay and have your proof of refusal to accept the item.

The best way to protect yourself, unfortunately, is to shop somewhere else other than eBay.  We prefer Tias, Ruby Lane or Sparkly Plenty.  They are strict on the handling of imported items.   Hopefully, when sales hit rock bottom, eBay will realize that allowing all the fraud may have short term gains, but long-term consequences. 

If you have been taken by one of these dealers, there is a site that allows you to post the name of the dealer and an explanation of the transaction. 

We hope this has helped.  If so, please vote below, which will keep us spreading the word.  You might find our other guides that deal with reproduced glassware and fake McCoy cookie jars useful.

WE ARE THE ANCHOR HOCKING GLASS MUSEUM AND WE ARE DEDICATED TO FIGHTING FRAUDULENT SALES ON EBAY.