Laura Cosentino is one of my personal dream artists, so seeing her share this moving scam story I couldn’t not share it as well.
ATTENTION COLLECTORS, SCAMS (UNFORTUNATELY) ARE ALWAYS BEHIND THE CORNER
A singular story (yet another) about reborn dolls comes from the United States that even more makes us reflect on the many scams with which thousands of collectors find themselves juggling when buying a reborn doll.
For every collector, the purchase of a reborn doll is a special moment.
For some almost a lifelong dream, and it often happens that once ordered, in one of the many sites that now advertise and sell reborn dolls of all kinds (real and own fake), you see a doll coming home that is completely different (in a negative sense) from the one that was so admired and desired.
Dolls that are everything, except being real reborn dolls handcrafted by real artists and with all the necessary trappings.
The news of this latest disappointment is WOSVC-TV (Channel 9), a television in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Engaged Nathen Johnson and Taylor Whisenhunt last Christmas thought about ordering a reborn doll for their 4-year-old daughter Bray.
Unfortunately, Taylor lost his life the next day in an argument with another man that ended in tragedy.
A few weeks later the doll had finally arrived.
But as Nathen put it: “the doll was completely different from the neat one.
I was sad and angry because the family hoped that Bray, growing up, would become fond of that last Christmas present her father had given her.
She is very sad and always hopes that her father can come home at any moment “.
Nathen turned to the online shop where she bought the doll, telling all the tragedy that had happened to her, hoping for a repentance from the seller.
Which did not happen, and the refund offered was really negligible.
Journalist Jason Stoogenke also dealt with the story and wanted to see clearly.
Not only did he email the seller himself, but he also collected, within a short time, at least 120 other emails from women (from the United States, Canada and England) who found themselves in the same situation as Nathen.
The same reporter found that many of these customers (including Nathen) used different sites for the purchase of these fake reborn dolls.
But all similar in design and images of the reborn dolls.
As if all were therefore attributable to a single organization.
I wanted to tell this rather singular story.
Because for the umpteenth time I would like to address collectors (especially those who have recently approached this type of collecting) telling them to always be careful and before paying for a reborn doll be sure of what you are buying.
I myself sometimes came across photos of my prototypes used by fake sites to sell reborn dolls.
Unfortunately, prototypes or dolls of excellent workmanship will never arrive at the collector’s house, but real fake dolls.
On the web and on the various Facebook groups that deal with reborn dolls there are hundreds of tips for safe purchase.
Also in my book “Reborn and Reborning Dolls” I dedicated a part with advice on how to safely buy your own reborn doll.
Please, always keep your eyes open and never buy unless you are sure who and what you are buying from.
Laura Cosentino (Carmelo Calanni collaborated)
Thank you so much for sharing this story, and please, if you are looking at buying a doll, make sure you find one from a real dealer.
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