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The Case of the eBay Chili Peppers

moki

moki

el Presidente
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Messages
9,415
The Case of the eBay Chili Peppers -- a very interesting project for me to look at this evening.

What concerns me the most is my semi-informed speculation that these might be coming from someone inside of the Fuente organization, based on the comments of the seller, and also the pristine nature of the bands.

I may be completely wrong on that count, but I am sure of my conclusions regarding these cigars... though someone at Fuente may want to look into it just to be safe.

I'm cross-posting this to ensure that people are aware of these eBay auctions
 
If it is someone inside the Fuente factory it would be a apprentice roller. As for the appearance of the wrapper they vary per cigar even in the same box. I would bet they are similar to isom farm cigars, possibly same tobacco and such but wrong blend and real bands attached later. Would be a horrible thing to have these type of people inside the Fuente factories but it has happened to most every manufacturer. One employee takes the bands, a few others take tobacco then set out to start making cigars and money above and beyond what they get paid for the normal job.

I have had many a opus x cigar and I can honestly say I have smoked some opus that actually look like that wrapper. Also FYI there are variances in the perfecto tips on some of the opus I have, even in some of the hemingway cigars in my collection. Not that any of this matters. They could just be fakes by some small company that are re using bands.
 
MindRiot said:
If it is someone inside the Fuente factory it would be a apprentice roller. As for the appearance of the wrapper they vary per cigar even in the same box. I would bet they are similar to isom farm cigars, possibly same tobacco and such but wrong blend and real bands attached later. Would be a horrible thing to have these type of people inside the Fuente factories but it has happened to most every manufacturer. One employee takes the bands, a few others take tobacco then set out to start making cigars and money above and beyond what they get paid for the normal job.

I have had many a opus x cigar and I can honestly say I have smoked some opus that actually look like that wrapper. Also FYI there are variances in the perfecto tips on some of the opus I have, even in some of the hemingway cigars in my collection. Not that any of this matters. They could just be fakes by some small company that are re using bands.
Click to expand...

I agree with you regarding the variances you've noted; any one thing could be forgiven, but the totality of all of them coming together with these cigars, sold 29 at a time on eBay, and tasting as they did... well, that's more than enough for me. I'm quite sure these are fake.
 
farm type cigars possibly???? I hope Fuente does not have issues with employees because that would suck.
 
moki said:
The Case of the eBay Chili Peppers -- a very interesting project for me to look at this evening.

What concerns me the most is my semi-informed speculation that these might be coming from someone inside of the Fuente organization, based on the comments of the seller, and also the pristine nature of the bands.

I may be completely wrong on that count, but I am sure of my conclusions regarding these cigars... though someone at Fuente may want to look into it just to be safe.

I'm cross-posting this to ensure that people are aware of these eBay auctions
Click to expand...

Save some for me...I will be back in Rochester Wednesday night > 27th :)
 
Note that the band on the cigar on the right has been applied in the wrong direction.
 
Are these seconds maybe? Ones that didn't make the cut? Then instead of tossing them (God please tell me he doesn't do that) someone keeps them and sells them? If they are fake, do they even smell or taste like Opus? Too many questions this early in the morning... And if Fuente knew this was going on, the news will have the same effect on me as a child hearing there is no Santa Claus.
 
KayakinBoy said:
Are these seconds maybe? Ones that didn't make the cut? Then instead of tossing them (God please tell me he doesn't do that) someone keeps them and sells them? If they are fake, do they even smell or taste like Opus? Too many questions this early in the morning... And if Fuente knew this was going on, the news will have the same effect on me as a child hearing there is no Santa Claus.
Click to expand...

According to Andrew, they taste horrible (i.e., not like an Opus should taste). Plus, as far as I know (and I think Andrew mentioned this in his write-up) Fuente destroys all sub-par cigars (i.e., "seconds"). I find it hard to believe someone could roll a bunch of Chili Peppers, put bands on them, and get them out of the factory without someone noticing. More likely, in my opinion, is that someone is sneaking out some Opus bands and giving them to someone outside Fuente who is rolling these cigars.
 
I went ahead and put in all his item numbers in the search, and came back with these, dating back to July 17th, 07.

FUENTE OPUS X CHILLI PEPPER BANDS(5)EXTREMELY RARE !!
FUENTE OPUS X CHILLI PEPPER BANDS(9)EXTREMELY RARE !!
FUENTE OPUS X CHILLI PEPPER BANDS(9)EXTREMELY RARE !!
FUENTE OPUS X CHILLI PEPPER BANDS(9)EXTREMELY RARE !!
FUENTE OPUS X CHILLI PEPPER BANDS(9)EXTREMELY RARE !!
OPUS X CHILLI PEPPER BANDS(5) EXTREMELY RARE !!
OPUS X CHILLI PEPPER CIGAR BANDS(3) EXTREMELY RARE !!
OPUS X SUPER BELACOSOS BANDS(11) +(1) CHILLI PEPPER
OPUS X CHILLI PEPPER CIGAR BANDS(3) EXTREMELY RARE !!
OPUS X CHILLI PEPPER CIGAR BANDS(3) EXTREMELY RARE !!

That's 56 Chili Peppers since July, not including to the old items you can't bring up. Plus, the guy says "BELACOSOS".

So, so, so fake.
 
That's good work Andrew.

Will it alert Fuente or do they just not care? After all, vendors sell Fuente wares for whatever price takes their fancy. If Fuente were pissed off by
folks messing with their MSRP, they would have put a stop to it years ago.

My products are sold by many affiliates and distributors, some may get better pricing because of quantity purchased but one thing is always constant,
my retail selling price is not permitted to vary.

So, why does a large company like Fuente permit the denigration of their products.? I guess it's the same as political power, they are powerful enough
to just not care....so bad!

Brian
 
Great job moki! i had seen these on e bay last week. I was kinda shocked that some 1 had that many chili peppers other than you(lol). i was kinda suspictious that in the pic he posted it was just a band and no cigar. The pic was kinda outa focus too. So i pm him on ebay and asked him if these came in coffins and he said "yes" so i assumed he bought a bunch of opusX 22 sets. But had a bad feeling due to him not posting any pics so i didnt buy any.

This member has a question for you.

" Do not respond to the sender if this message requests that you complete the transaction outside of eBay. This type of offer is against eBay policy, may be fraudulent, and is not covered by buyer protection programs. Learn More.

Dear shadycigar,

do these come in the coffins?"

"yes


- shadycigar Did this answer your question? If not, let the seller know.



Item and user details
Item Title: FUENTE OPUS X CHILLI PEPPER BANDS(9)EXTREMELY RARE !!
Item Number: 200181883327
Item URL: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=200181883327
End Date: Dec-09-07 16:29:09 PST
"
This was copy and pasted right from my e bay account


Sorry for the spelling spellcheck is not working w/ windows vista.

TJ
 
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