Enough is Enough

[vince.]

I have had enough.
I am a very keen collector of RMG lures. Rob is a good friend, unlike me, he is not perfect, however from what I believe he is a genuine honest friend and I don`t believe for one minute that he is involved in something that I think is not good for his reputation or of benefit for any RMG collectors.
I am not here to hang anyone, no that`s not true. If I am right someone is a piece of shit and needs to be made aware of it. I have been watching this crap long enough. Two, maybe a little more years ago Rob made 300 hand-carved timber lures. These were in sets of ten and were 2 ½” and 3” Rellik Doc`s and Tor Toof`s. These lures were made for fishing and never intended to be collectable lures, Rob never pretended otherwise. Being Rob gaden lures, they will always be collectable, but these particular lures, collectable or not, are certainly not vintage lures. 100 of these lures went to Perth, the rest are with Albert and myself. I have given very few away and I think Albert still has all of his.
That just leaves one person who has sold these lures knowing their age. The people who purchased them would no doubt be unaware that they have been ripped off. Bad part is that I am seeing these same lures being resold in good faith as Vintage lures.
IF IT HAS RELLIK DOC MK 11 OR TOR TOOF MK 11 written on it, then it is not vintage. It was made to fish with by Rob less than 3 years ago( that`s why it has MK11 written on it, Rob wanted to make it clear it wasn`t an original RMG). The person that sold these lures on ebay and facebook pages originally, knows this and has always known this.
I still think these lures being Genuine Rob Gaden hand-carved timber lures are not without merit and have a collectable value, but they are still not Vintage lures and should never be sold as such.
Rob didn`t and neither should the reseller, someone in Perth, what`s his name again.

If it has this written on it, it`s not vintage. Genuine, but not vintage.

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[Rellik-doc-rob]

Well said Vince ,
What you have said is all true , but now that it has been raised in the public forum , I will fill in the gaps.. ( not many , but they are important ).

Originally I made these lures to sell to a retail shop or shops . Most were carved while I was semi retired/ living abroad and contemplating the next stage of my life.
After some serious consideration , I did not sell them to any retail outlets because I was unsure when my statute of limitation finished.

A collector mate from Melbourne said he wanted them , but after a few months and the lack of payment , I threw them in the corner of the shed.

I was talking to Lurenut....AKA ... Rob Dunn , about an unrelated matter about 5-6 months after the lures were finished and mentioned the existence of them. He put a fella from Perth in touch with me and that particular bloke took 100 of the original 300. He paid promptly , and at the time , I thought it was a good transaction. This was ...... 100 assorted lures @ $15 each. They were made to fish with , and I was happy.

Vince is spot on with the reason I marked them MK11.... it was so as NOT to deceive anyone.

A few months later I was made aware that 2 of these lures ( 1 x 3" RD & 1 x Tortoof ) sold for $225 on ebay. not a bad profit..... better than the profit I made for my hard work. Anyway.... I had nothing to do with this at all.

It wasnt to long after the ebay sale ( by the way , it was just 1 of many that occured with the same batch of lures ) I was talking to Brolly , Mike Gilbert who had just contacted me about my health and well-being , which I still thank him for. Anyway we started talking LURES , and I told him to avoid these lures at those prices and because of the false listing..." Vintage"...

I also assured Mike that I had nothing to do with the whole thing apart from making the lures. And there was NO way that I would entertain doing it. I asked mike if he would tell anyone who thought I was involved..... That I absolutely WAS NOT !

Over the past 8-10 years I have been made offers by at least 4 of the OLD-Time lure makers to do some reproduction/Copy /Fake..... call them what you like. each time the offers were almost the same.....
1. No one will know
2. we will make heaps of money
3. we deserve it after all these years.....BLA BLA BLA

I can honestly say that I declined all offers , and will continue to decline . I dont need money that badly !!!!

There are always rumours abound... not just with Lure collectors , its with every group in all aspects of life. But take note of this..... I had nothing to do with anything involved with the re-sale , ebay or any other means of sales of these MK11 lures.

My only involvement was making the original 300 , 100 of which were sold @ $15 each. The remainder....200 of them were given to my mate Vince to fish with and share with our mates Albert and young Snorky.

What I have written is the truth , and hope it helps to inform potential future buyers .

BTW..... I couldnt care less what happens to the lures , I just do not want to be held responsible for the deceit.

RDR out