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If you get the chance, stop on by and visit (and please report) ebay user sparkplug1966. Every few weeks another Queen fake from the same hand shows up on ebay from this guy. He always claims it's from Vinny Gonzales. Last time we told one of my queen autograph members on Facebook that Vinny got it himself from queens manager. She went through a few people and got a hold of the manager and asked. She got a response saying not only was it fake, but that he'd never seen it before or even heard of Vinny. When told this, sparkplug changed his tune to say Vinny got it from the band himself. So with that she went off to message the head of the fan club and ask her to pass the message on to Brian. She never got a response from Brian but she did get plenty of threats from sparkplug. Of the "I'll hunt you down" type. She reported it all to ebay a few weeks ago and absolutely nothing was done. Well guess who's back selling yet another fake claiming to be from the VG collection. The same member knew he was lying and reached out saying she emailed Vinny and he responded saying it was fake and never in his collection. She didn't actually speak with him, but she knew sparkplug was lying and would crack. He wrote her back saying Vinny wouldn't remember getting it signed (although he claims Vinny said he got it signed by the band) because he "smoked too much pot and doesn't know his head from his heel". What's sparkplug's solution? "Vinny doesn't know what he's talking about. I have a text from his FRIEND that says he got it. So it's real. And you're harassing me. I'm going to sue you. I'm going to file harassment charges". His logic is to have you believe a text from Vinny's friend (whom he doesn't name and refuses to show proof of) is more reputable than words from Vinny himself. Ah, but I forgot to mention he also claimed earlier in the conversation to KNOW Vinny and speak to him. He claimed Vinny doesn't use email but they talk. Come on. This guy has to be the scum of the earth. How stupid does he think people are? Did I mention that all the fakes he's posted over the last few months are all from the same hand? And they only get sold through sparkplug1966 on ebay. And all the Queen pieces are claomed to be from the VG collection but there is never any proof of that. And never ask him for any, as that is what he considers "harassment". This guy is sick in the head

I have read Vinny is/was a real collector with a get collection at one point. From what I've gathered, he sold his collection Yeats ago and walked away from collecting. Whether or not that's true, I don't know. When confronted about the items being fake, sparkplug replies defensively, quickly and with no shortage of filing cyber harassment threats. A typical response for a seller of fakes. He also refers you to YouTube where he demands you type in "Vinny Gonzales" and what the videos of the signings. The YouTube user who posted them also slags Steve C and Epperson in the comments and the video description if memory serves me. Hmm.
I'll post some pics of his items and a link to ebay account for those who care to inspect it further. Of course, all I can speak for is Queen. But he has many other signed items from other artists. Although from what I saw, only the Queen fakes were claimed to have been from the VG collection. Link will be in the comments.

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This is his latest queen piece. Notice the John and Roger are all similar in all 3. The Brian in this one looks to be an attempt to forge a fan club secretarial of Brian. A fake of a fake, if you will.
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They are all terrible!
Are you familiar with the other artists he has in his page? I'm assuming all or most of his items are fake. Queen are indeed terrible fakes, though.
R.E.M., Fleetwood Mac, The Cure,... All fake imo.

Waters on Pink Floyd Pompeii is obvious fake too...

the Plant is awful, and the fleetwood mac that is being offered was previously sold, and must have been returned when the buyer realized it was a horrible forgery.

Thanks guys. Any info on Vinny Gonzales? I'm assuming forgers are just using his good reputation to sell their junk. Or does he not actually exist?

Hey guys. Just wanted to draw every ones attention to more than half-a-dozen Youtube videos posted by a guy named John Cernich. It's an effort to defend his Kiss collection.

This Ebay seller sparkplug1966 is using some of these videos to try to prove that his items are real. I think that sparkplus1966 and the Ebay seller who identifies himself as Pat C.  in his listings, are the same person as John Cernich. This seller is going to great lengths to defend his items!! The Youtube videos show Paul Stanley and Peter Criss and Gene Simmons "authenticating" his items in person. Or do they ??

You can view these vids by typing....John Cernich...in the Youtube search box....He's mounted one helluva defence....And you can also see Vinny G as well. He's a pretty big fellow!! 

I would suggest that you also read the comments below the videos. They are "interesting". Be pleased to hear back what you think of this "best defence is a good offence" approach.

I mentioned those videos, Don. And you're absolutely right. I'd be interested to see what the other members have to say about it. And you're right, he goes by "Pat" on his ebay. I have little doubt he's a forger as well as just your average dishonest seller.

Sorry my friend about mentioning  the videos after you did!! I must tell you that I honestly missed that part in your opening post. My bad!!

We've seen this so very often. Depending on much time, effort and patience a guy has, he'll go to the "ends of the earth" to defend himself. Sometimes it is legitimate and sometimes it's part of the ploy.

Just as an aside I checked sparkplug1966's Ebay account and looked at his feedback rating "as a buyer". I wanted to see who he was buying from and what sort of items. While the listing info is there, I couldn't get a handle on his Ebay  purchases. None of them!! Very very strange...Innuendo...can you do the same and see if you can determine what items he's purchasing on Ebay??

Is he buying blank canvas  to sign??

THAT'S what I was looking for...

No no dont apologize! I'm glad you brought it again for further discussion! I do appreciate that as it was another aspect of what makes the guy a bit of a creep. As far as his ebay purchases go, I get the same as you did-not much info at all. It would shock me at all to find out he has more than 1 ebay account or has a friend (wife, kid whatever) buy the blank ones for him to sign. Terrible!

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