fake Eddie Merckx frames?

Heyo,
I was in a local sign company yesterday (to order lexan) and I noticed one
of the jobs they were doing was printing off decals for a customer. The
decal sheets included 2 "Eddie Merckx" logos I think were white text with
black outline. A few other logos (made in belgium) and an outline of Italy.
Then there was "TITANIUM AX" in a fairly ugly gold fading gradient.

The customer wanted 100 of these sheets made.

I figured maybe these would be replacement stickers, but after realizing how
greasy people are on ebay.. I can totally picture someone sticking these on
some generic frames and putting them on ebay.

Hmmm...

Mike
http://mikebeauchamp.com

On my Merckx AX ('96 vintage) the decals are not clear-coated and are therefore
fragile. I could imagine having to replace 'em someday... but 100 sets???


Mike Yankee

(Address is munged to thwart spammers.
To reply, delete everything after "com".)

In article ,
"Mike Beauchamp" wrote:

Heyo,
I was in a local sign company yesterday (to order lexan) and I noticed one
of the jobs they were doing was printing off decals for a customer. The
decal sheets included 2 "Eddie Merckx" logos I think were white text with
black outline. A few other logos (made in belgium) and an outline of Italy.
Then there was "TITANIUM AX" in a fairly ugly gold fading gradient.

The customer wanted 100 of these sheets made.

I figured maybe these would be replacement stickers, but after realizing how
greasy people are on ebay.. I can totally picture someone sticking these on
some generic frames and putting them on ebay.

Hmmm...

Whoa! That's pretty creepy!

Is there any chance these were for a legit purpose? I mean, are you
close to the warehouse of Merckx's US distributor?

I just don't see an aftermarket resale outlet for a hundred Merckx Ti
decal sets...

--
Ryan Cousineau, http://www.wiredcola.com
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

Hey Ryan, I'm in Canada actually.

There's always the chance that they are for legit purposes, but I don't see
it. As you said, I can't picture 100 people needing replacement decals.
Also, it seems like the decals weren't of great quality.

On the EM logo or whatever, it is black with a gold trim right? On these
decals it just looked gold-ish, it didn't have the actual gold effect.
(like, if you were to use your printer to print off something gold). It
seems like it would be something "good enough" for only a desperate person
looking for a good deal (hence the ebay assumption).

Mike


"Ryan Cousineau" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Mike Beauchamp" wrote:

Heyo,
I was in a local sign company yesterday (to order lexan) and I noticed
one
of the jobs they were doing was printing off decals for a customer. The
decal sheets included 2 "Eddie Merckx" logos I think were white text
with
black outline. A few other logos (made in belgium) and an outline of
Italy.
Then there was "TITANIUM AX" in a fairly ugly gold fading gradient.

The customer wanted 100 of these sheets made.

I figured maybe these would be replacement stickers, but after realizing
how
greasy people are on ebay.. I can totally picture someone sticking these
on
some generic frames and putting them on ebay.

Hmmm...

Whoa! That's pretty creepy!

Is there any chance these were for a legit purpose? I mean, are you
close to the warehouse of Merckx's US distributor?

I just don't see an aftermarket resale outlet for a hundred Merckx Ti
decal sets...

--
Ryan Cousineau, http://www.wiredcola.com
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

"Ryan Cousineau" wrote: (clip) I just don't see an aftermarket resale
outlet for a hundred Merckx Ti decal sets...
^^^^^^^^^^^^
The guy probably ordered 100 because getting a smaller number wouldn't have
been any cheaper.

I dont' think that's the case, teh order was going ot be 50, then he raised
it to 100.


"Leo Lichtman" wrote in message
...

"Ryan Cousineau" wrote: (clip) I just don't see an aftermarket resale
outlet for a hundred Merckx Ti decal sets...
^^^^^^^^^^^^
The guy probably ordered 100 because getting a smaller number wouldn't
have
been any cheaper.

"Mike Beauchamp" wrote in message ...
Heyo,
I was in a local sign company yesterday (to order lexan) and I noticed one
of the jobs they were doing was printing off decals for a customer. The
decal sheets included 2 "Eddie Merckx" logos I think were white text with
black outline. A few other logos (made in belgium) and an outline of Italy.
Then there was "TITANIUM AX" in a fairly ugly gold fading gradient.

The customer wanted 100 of these sheets made.

I figured maybe these would be replacement stickers, but after realizing how
greasy people are on ebay.. I can totally picture someone sticking these on
some generic frames and putting them on ebay.


Having worked in a print and sign shop...

They once printed a whole bunch of "old" DuBois Brewing Company labels
for some person. They eventually showed up on Ebay on new beer bottles.

Mike Beauchamp wrote:
I dont' think that's the case, teh order was going ot be 50, then he raised
it to 100.

I could think of one legitimate usage: He's a retailer (perhap's online),
who sells replacement decals. But 100 would be a lot even for someone who
ran that sort of business.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"Protecting the children is a good way to get a lot of adults
who cant stand up for themselves" -J. Stecher

So, i guess the question is..
What SHOULD I do? Or what CAN I even do?

Even if I wait for them to appear on ebay, all I can do is give a "heads up"
in here. I've contacted ebay about stolen **** on there (my friends stuff!)
and they never took it down.

Mike

"Dane Jackson" wrote in message
...
Mike Beauchamp wrote:
I dont' think that's the case, teh order was going ot be 50, then he
raised
it to 100.

I could think of one legitimate usage: He's a retailer (perhap's online),
who sells replacement decals. But 100 would be a lot even for someone who
ran that sort of business.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"Protecting the children is a good way to get a lot of adults
who cant stand up for themselves" -J. Stecher

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 01:22:46 -0400, "Mike Beauchamp"
wrote:

So, i guess the question is..
What SHOULD I do? Or what CAN I even do?

Even if I wait for them to appear on ebay, all I can do is give a "heads up"
in here. I've contacted ebay about stolen **** on there (my friends stuff!)
and they never took it down.

Denounce him to the authorities in a letter, and keep the letter on
file.

I wonder if a quick letter to the Eddy Merckx bike works might not be
in order, as well.....

-Luigi


Mike

"Dane Jackson" wrote in message
...
Mike Beauchamp wrote:
I dont' think that's the case, teh order was going ot be 50, then he
raised
it to 100.

I could think of one legitimate usage: He's a retailer (perhap's online),
who sells replacement decals. But 100 would be a lot even for someone who
ran that sort of business.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"Protecting the children is a good way to get a lot of adults
who cant stand up for themselves" -J. Stecher