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Posted By: agentsteel53 California bear 1 sign - Tue Jun 02 2009 12:56 AM
very nice replica of Auto Club sign from 1938-1942



eBay item 270401342390
Posted By: MATT ALVAREZ Re: California bear 1 sign - Tue Jun 02 2009 01:19 AM
Jake, that is a good looking sign. I am tempted to bid, but need to pay for the bear 49 and U.S. 50 I already ordered.
Posted By: Bob Richards Re: California bear 1 sign - Tue Jun 02 2009 02:58 PM
Is the sign marked as a reproduction? I don't see it in your auction or shown in the photos that it is marked? Or am I "sticking my nose in it"?
Posted By: huskybob Re: California bear 1 sign - Wed Jun 03 2009 09:43 AM
All you have to do is to read the entire description and you should be able to figure it out.
Posted By: Bob Richards Re: California bear 1 sign - Wed Jun 03 2009 12:55 PM
Bob, no offense, but WHAT THE HELL are you talking about?

What about the next person that buys the sign and the one after and so on, will they know it's a reproduction? Again, the question is, are the signs marked as reproductions??????

We jump on "vendors/sellers" all the time, for not marking signs, cans, globes... etc. Do the members here, get different "treatment"?

TO ANY MEMBERS HERE; that have purchased a sign from this gentleman in the past, are the signs they purchased marked? If so, please let me and others here know how they are marked? My question will then be answered.

In the past this "seller" has brought signs here and didn't mark them as reproductions, read past posts. When pressed about it, they shrugged it off as too expensive or too much trouble, yet mocked other members who said signs with wrong fonts were obvious fakes. Once they even marked a sign with an "engraving tool/drill", after the fact(IMO) when asked about how the signs are being marked. In the photos on this auction I can't see any markings. So again, I am asking? ARE THE SIGNS MARKED AS REPRODUCTIONS? The seller takes great pride in making his signs as close to original as possible, in fact going so far as to state;

"The last bears were put up in 1956. I do not know of any left in the wild. The last one anyone ever saw was a Bear 16 taken down in West Sacramento ... in 1982. Nowadays, a real Bear 1 from 1934-1956 will sell for well over a thousand dollars, if it shows up on eBay at all. Until that moment comes along, you can have this one to display on your wall and no one will know the difference until they stick their nose in it."

If he/they are making this sign to be as close to "original" as possible, according to their own words. Then are they marking the signs as being a reproduction? An easy question, yet so far no answer has been given.
Posted By: Scott Baselt Re: California bear 1 sign - Wed Jun 03 2009 02:47 PM
The original signs were porcelain on steel and this one is "printed on top of aluminum to look as close as is possible to the old porcelain signs "

I don't think anyone will confuse it with an original IMHO.
Posted By: Bob Richards Re: California bear 1 sign - Wed Jun 03 2009 03:47 PM
Scott, you could be right, probably are. But then again, we have all seen "Andie Rooney Co." signs sold as originals for hundreds, even thousands of dollars. And in 10 years or less an unmarked sign IS going to be sold as original, wither by mistake or on purpose. We see it all the time at shows, in auctions and on ebay. Even members here ask, did I buy an "unmarked" reproduction? I might be "beating a dead horse here" but I'm not looking at today, I'm thinking about the future collector. Hell, we see people paying big money for fake oil cans "every day" because people don't know the difference. People buy signs that aren't even close to looking like the original, as this seller has pointed out. So why not mark their signs? I've said my piece and will drop it now.
Posted By: KZ1000 Re: California bear 1 sign - Wed Jun 03 2009 04:13 PM
Bob R, sometimes you P---- me off, But this time you hit the nail on the head, Well Said
Posted By: Ohio Oil Re: California bear 1 sign - Wed Jun 03 2009 04:53 PM
Scott I agree. We had this discussion a short while ago about another piece being offered for sale here.

The discussion on marking things certainly seems to get the blood boiling in some. But....where do you draw the line?? I see TONS of air and gas pump parts being produced to complete restorations with no markings whatsoever and nobody says a word.

Not trying to be harsh...but...if you pay 1,000.00 (whether today or 20 years down the road) for a painted aluminum sign manufactured 70 years after the original, and the originals were porcelain over steel....you're a moron and shouldn't be dabbling in something you know nothing about.

On the flip side, there is no reason NOT to mark a sign like this as a repro.
Posted By: DCpate Re: California bear 1 sign - Wed Jun 03 2009 05:08 PM
Why not date them? Maybe on the backs... Surely wouldn't be that big of a deal...?

Neat looking, but I'd rather save my money and buy an original piece of signage...
Posted By: agentsteel53 Re: California bear 1 sign - Sat Jun 06 2009 02:13 AM
I went ahead and took an etching marker and put "2009" on the back. Should be through the surface and down into the metal now in 3... 2... 1...



that's my best hand-drawn approximation to the font used on the date stamps on the backs of the original signs. 2009 is 2009, H is the traditional identifier for Highway Marker since 1934, and this is the 12th one I've run off this year.

this is, of course, in addition to the fact that the sign is aluminum and distinctly looks - and weighs! - the part.
Posted By: Ohio Oil Re: California bear 1 sign - Sat Jun 06 2009 08:47 PM
Very well done, you make a quality sign.
Posted By: agentsteel53 Re: California bear 1 sign - Sun Jun 07 2009 03:58 PM
thanks smile

and thank you to the buyer, who just made me an offer. I am hoping he came through via OldGas!

I will have a similar replica US 101 sign up in the near future, as well as an authentic US 6 from Indiana.
Posted By: Bob Richards Re: California bear 1 sign - Sun Jun 07 2009 05:41 PM
I want to say thank you, for marking the signs and looking out for future collectors. You make a very good looking sign!
Posted By: agentsteel53 Re: California bear 1 sign - Sun Jun 07 2009 10:08 PM
thanks Bob! I knew that industrial-grade marker that I ... ahem, borrowed from work ... would come in handy!

I've listed the US-101. Item number is 270404791570

when I finish restoring the original US-6 sign, that'll go up to... likely tomorrow.
Posted By: Scott Baselt Re: California bear 1 sign - Sat Jun 13 2009 05:04 AM
Jake,

My Norcal Bear highway 1 sign showed up today (Friday). It looks GREAT ! Nice job. I think I see a US 101 sign in my future.

Thanks much.
Posted By: MATT ALVAREZ Re: California bear 1 sign - Sat Jun 13 2009 05:08 PM
They are nice. I can not wait to get the ones I have on order. I have a Bear 49 and U.S. 50 on order.
Posted By: agentsteel53 Re: California bear 1 sign - Sun Jun 14 2009 02:56 PM
I'm glad you like it, Scott!

I'll be putting in another order within the next few months, once I get this current order (including Matt's 49 and 50) back and shipped out to everyone.
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