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Fantazia Ad circa October 19, 1990

Started by supapimp,

38 posts in this topic

lou_fine

lou_fine

Posted
Posted
Cool Ad! cool.gif I remember reading ads about Fantasia in Overstreet's price guide in the 90's.How did this guy get caught? Was it fraud? How long did he serve?Is he still selling ? Do,s he do shows? From what I see on these boards ,this guy is "BAD NEWS" fill me in guys! I never dealt with him,thank goodness! gossip.gif

 

 

Hate to admit it, but I was also one of those collectors who was taken in by Fantazia and their so-called Eastern Colour File copies back at the beginning of the 90's. Only thing I can say about it is that although it was a very long and dragged out frustrating experience, it was also a very enjoyable experience. Enjoyable in the sense that it was always hilarious to talk to Danny and listen to another one of his imaginative stories and also enjoyable in the sense of finally being able to beat him in the end. Actually, I miss talking to Danny and hearing stories as to why he couldn't talk to you on the phone anymore and that you would have to call him back another day. Some of his stories included a water pipe breaking in his storage room with water leaking all over his books, his brand new car in the process of being towed away in front of his shop, sexual emergency related stories, etc.

 

My story started with me purchasing a NM/Mint Eastern File copy of Amazing Spider Man #1 for $4,000 back in the early 90's based upon an ad in the CBG. Needless to say, what I got in the mail was nowhere close to being a NM/M copy. It was more closer to a Fine book. Hard for me to tell, since I generally collect high grade books. Called up Danny and voiced my concerns since $4K was a lot of money for me at the time. Danny, as usual, was very nice on the telephone and offered to exchanged a super high grade EC File copy of AF#15 for all of my troubles which was worth a lot more money. Sent back my Spidey #1 and true to his words, received a copy of Fantasy #15 in the mail. Only trouble was the AF #15 was in even worse condition than the Spidey #1. Called up Danny again to listen to some more of his amazing stories and he offered me an early GA Cap (either #1 or #3) for all of my troubles. Having learned my lesson, I declined and asked Danny for a full refund instead. He agreed and said that he would forward it to me once I sent him back the AF #15. After doing this, what I received in the mail was not my refund cheque, but the original Spidey #1 which I had already sent back to him. To make a long story short, ended up phoning Danny over the next several months to listened to more of his amazing stories without ever getting my money back. Whenever I needed a good laugh, I would give him a call to see what kind of story he would come up with.

 

Summer eventually came and it was time for the SD Con. Packed up my bags for SD including the EC File copy of Spidey #1. First day there, I took my book to the CBG booth and asked Maggie Thompson for her professional opinion on the book and whether it was the "best existing copy in the world" as claimed by Danny. I related some of my hilarious experiences with Danny and asked how somebody like this was not only allowed to advertised in CBG, but also given CBG Customer Service Awards for several years in a row. Maggie stated that she thought Fantazia was no longer allowed to advertised in CBG. I opened the display copies on her table and pointed out the current ads from Fantazia with their CBG awards. She said she would get in contact with the advertising dept. once she got back. To my complete surprise and shock, the usual weekly Fantazia ads were gone from the pages of CBG within a few weeks after the convention.

 

A month after the convention, I received a phone call from Danny who was very cordial and more than willing to refund my money in full. I strunged him along for a few weeks talking about my postage fees, long distance charges, etc. Eventually, he agreed to reimburse me in full (inc. most or all of my fees) as long as I returned the book to him. I refused Danny and told him that he had to return my money to me first in the form of a certtified cheque. After more phone calls from Danny, he finally agreed to send me the money in the mail. When I received the cheque in the mail, I was tempted to keep the book or to write EC File Copy in felt pen on the front cover. After several desparate calls from Danny, I decided to take the high road and returned the book to Danny after a couple of months. Never did send back a favorable response to CBG which Danny was requesting as a condition of the refund. Never did see another Fantazia ad in the pages of CBG again. Am I bad or not?

 

One more twist to the story. Approx. a year later, I received a letter in the mail from the Office of Lane Evans (Senator or Governor of Illinois) requesting info from customers who had prior dealings with Danny. Gave them a phone call and they expressed extreme interest in my story and requested that I forward them a written statement. Took me a while, but I came up with several pages in my statement which I forwarded to their office. Does anybody know the result of this congressional investigation into the dealings of Danny Dupchak and Fantazia?

 

Although most collectors lost out on their dealings with Fantazia, I guess I was lucky to break even with him. I ended up getting all of my money back and my frustrations in the beginning were more than offset by his amazingly hilarious stories in addition to getting the upper hand on him in the end. I still missed his stories since he's actually quite a nice guy to talk to on the phone. I still smiled whenever I think about him. In fact, I can't stop laughing as I am typing this.

 

Am I doubly bad or do I deserve a star for my bad treatment of Danny in the end? acclaim.gif

 

 

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ross

ross

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What a great story. All you did was give him a little of his own medicine.

 

5 stars for you!! 893applaud-thumb.gif893applaud-thumb.gifthumbsup2.gifflowerred.gifacclaim.gif

 

I don't think there is anything wrong with the Forum getting in this guys case every day for years to come.

 

As long as he continues selling restored books as unrestored, and cheating people out of their money, is as long as we should "obsess" about this topic.

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supapimp

supapimp

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5 stars for you lou! acclaim.gif but danny boy and his 20+ SHILL id's will take them away. pity the LITTLE man, he has no life other than colour touching and trimming comic magazines, also he cries too much just like a LITTLE girl. 893scratchchin-thumb.gif27_laughing.gifconfused-smiley-013.gif that was a great story, cloud9.gif thanks for sharing. 893applaud-thumb.gif once a crook! always a crook! makepoint.gif

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PUNYHUMAN

PUNYHUMAN

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Lou,5 stars from me! thumbsup2.gif Great story btw ! 893applaud-thumb.gifHe gets what he deserves.The guy sounds like a real horse's 893censored-thumb.gif I would like to know if any dealers on these boards or outside,ever dealt with him also.Did he ever try to get over any on of the major players?

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