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It looks like there was something on the base. So maybe there was a felt pad and someone peeled it off? His eyes just look wrong. But, I don’t think they look plastic, maybe they were painted over? Hum, actually looking again at the other side the wings look thick. I believe the male wings are not that thick. He just might be fake.
I’m thinking fake, he looks a little “fatter” and the eyes are way off, the look painted. the green is not a bad match, but the whole piece looks off, even the nostrils. I wouldn’t touch this guy.
I was just looking at this auction too. His whole face just doesn’t look right to me. Glad to see it’s not just me. 🙂
The eyes may be plastic but they are not painted or in the pic from above the black would stick out as far as the blue.
I dunno about the eyes, but the rest of his shape looks fine to me. I have an old brown male with the stamp (which I stupidly covered with felt), and I just spent an hour the other day touching up his gold paint. The nostrils look the same to me, and he appears to be just as fat as mine. I can only compare right now to my pictures though, since he’s packed away in my mom’s basement. The bottom, to me, just looks like felt or something was peeled off. Plus it looks like someone got all happy with the gold paint pen, cuz it looks a bit sloppy and oversaturated in a few places. *shrug*
I think all the crystals look stupid though. And to think someone messed with it all those years ago…. maybe they popped the eyes out back then too to help complete their “improvements”?
Those eyes are definitely strange looking. 😕 I can’t really see anything else that looks off though. His overall shape and detail (though the pictures are fuzzy like GB said) seem to be pretty accurate. I don’t understand why anyone would rip off the felt bottom though. Ang glue those 2 globes on there like that… those are a bit much!
Fakes like this, as far as I know, are very old… at least 15-20 years old. I doubt there’s much to be done now- if anyone was going to be ‘caught’ then that would have happened years ago. This is just someone selling a piece that might very well be a fake. I bet Melody’d be interested just for fun though- someone should post a link in the Ask Melody thread. 🙂
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My art: featherdust.comAw, she just answered my question- he came with the crystal balls. And the eyes do look fake, and… there is no stamp on the bottom. I believe this poor fellow is fake.
I’ll politely let her know so and show her where she can investigate if it’s real or not (if she wants to.. she may just want to sell and be done!). That way the choice is hers.Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comI feel sorry for the seller. It sounds like she bought the piece 20 years ago when she was in high school. She seems pretty honest and answered the question quickly and provided more pictures.
Unfortunately, fakes like this one are indeed very well done. I had to ask Melody about mine, and she even thought it might be real. Only after looking closely at the eyes and comparing it weight to that of one of my other mother dragons was I able to tell the difference. They are very well airbrushed, have all of the little details painted on, and are made of something similar to but not as heavy as the gypsum Windstones are made with. The bottom was also unmarked and covered in green felt. I believe the bottom of this one is as well.
Yeah, I feel bad for her too. These fakes were very convincing… someone was really out to make money off of Melody’s hard work back in the day. Yeesh. Poor girl! I wonder where she bought it from? I’d be devastated, though perhaps she’s not so attached to hers if she is selling it.
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My art: featherdust.comI was pretty upset about mine, so I can imagine how she must feel, but I’m over it now. I just tend to scrutinize every peice I look at a lot more than I used to. I’m still looking for a real one, but alas the fakes seem to be much more common than the real ones.
When I told her my suspicions, she responded with this:
Quote:It used to have the felt but it fell off. It does have the pena stamp (which is a match to the other one) and it is just as heavy. It was bought from a reputable shop at a large mall. But thanks for your input!
The ‘other one’ referring to the white mother dragon she’s selling. Now I’m really confused!!
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My art: featherdust.comI’m confused too. If the felt fell off wouldn’t the Windstone logo go with it? If it has a stamp, can she provide a picture of it? The bottom looks dark, so I’m not sure where the stamp would be. On my old green male without a felt pad, the bottom is light and the logo is printed on the sculpture in black letters.
As for the weight, these fakes aren’t that much lighter than Windstones and it would probably be hard to tell the difference without a scale or another of the same kind as reference.
Oddly enough, that’s exactly the same reasoning behind why my fake didn’t have a felt pad. She had said in the auction that it had one, but that it had fallen off. This of course wasn’t true because it was a fake and never had one. Instead of the Windstone felt pad there was a cheap poorly cut green felt pad in its place when I got my fake.
A store can be reputable and still sell fakes if they don’t know about Windstones. I’ve seen it plenty of times.
She likely just wants to get rid of it and admitting it’s a fake would ruin any value it has. It would be hard to admit if you paid a lot of money for it. I won’t sell mine. I’ve pondered what I should do with it. I know it’s a fake, but everyone I’ve shown it to honestly can’t tell the difference.
I just don’t want anyone to lose their money on these fakes. The seller does have a no return policy, so if you get and it is a fake, you may not be able to do anything about it especially if she believes it real and insists that the pad just fell off.
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