WOW!  Here's a LESSON!  I purchased a Cast Iron Doorstop, thinking it was old, and found out just how GOOD Chinese repros are getting.

Normally, a person would expect to get duped once in awhile, but I have purchased hundreds of doorstops in my lifetime.  I should have know better, right?

Whether it is Carnival Glass, Cut Glass, Cast Iron Door Stops or Dazey Churns, many countries with cheap labor are jumping on the Reproduction Market, duplicating antiques, taking advantage of a market willing to pay for what looks like a bargain and collapsing the true market value of genuine old primitives and glassware because of fear of fakes.  Glassware has been copied for decades, but now we see Cast Iron Doorstops and banks being reproduced using airbrushed quality and heavy cast iron.  Here's one EXPERIENCE!

I recently purchased a cast iron doorstop thinking I had found the PRIZE of a lifetime...A cast iron doorstop that matched an old original I purchased years ago, but had less wear and very nice matching paint and colors.  Luckly, my education wasn't expensive and I only paid about $25 for it.  I just assumed nobody else was watching as I pounced on this bargain on eBay (good originals sell for hundreds of dollars). 

Well, once it arrived, I still felt like the cat who ate the mouse, proud as a peacock!  What a nice piece, must have never been touched by youngsters, maybe put away on a shelf in a closet after it was purchased back in the 1930's?  Measured the same, same paint and airbrushed areas, same weight and same molded words and number on the back.  WHOOPEE DOOPEE...Jackpot!!!

Then I turned it over to look at the base and compared it to my old original.  Low and behold, a tiny sticker that said "Made in China" glared at me from the bottom!  "Good Grief!"  I'd been duped and I considered myself a pretty good judge of reproduction material on eBay.  Most repros are obvious like the Boston Terrier Bulldog doorstops that look brand new, or the One-Quart Dazey Butter Churns with their tiny little wooden handles and huge flat lettering, but those crafty little Chinese are getting better and smarter with many new duplicates (DUPE is from the base word DUPLICATE meaning reproduce or "to DUPE" which is what happened to me).

I even went back into the description to see if there were any reference to "new" or "repro", but there were none.  They didn't say it was old either.  In fact, the description didn't even describe the door stop correctly, which was part of my initial attraction.  I thought, "Maybe someone didn't know what they had?"  Oh, eBay seller "foltzauction" knew what they had, and they have sold many of them since, all are exactly alike and most have brought about $16 on eBay, so I was like the "virgin" of Fake Repro Buyers of Chinese Door Stops since I actually paid about $25.  Somehow, I felt like I'd been to repro college with one click of the "Buy It Now" button, paid my tuition and got my degree...All in one afternoon!

Final word is if you don't know what you're doing, that's just it,  you don't know what you're doing and Chinese Fake Reproductions are here, they're pretty good and they're cheap.  The School of Hard Knocks has openings, so sign up for classes today!  Know your stuff, always compare it to good quality genuine Antiques or Primitives or ask an expert who has tons of feedback and experience with old items to give you their opinion.  And if you get slapped on the backside, oh well, another lesson learned!  Happy eBuying!

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