NEVER.Originally Posted by Randall Flagg
Never say never. Business is business, and occasionally one has to put personal issues aside to obtain what they need.Yep. Rep points to Alec for sharing. Another pile of shit from him on his growing pile. After the way he treated me during the auction debacle (among other stunts) I would never buy a thing from him.. EVEN if he had the very last book I needed.
HELP ME FIND
Insomnia #459
ANY S/L #459
Jerome, I agree, business is business, however if it means crossing the bounds of common decency, trust and your word, then I for one would rather leave it alone.
Or not selling them at all!!Water damage-insurance issue...Or not selling them at all!!Water damage-insurance issue...Or not selling them at all!!You guys are cracking me the fuck up!!!!!!! Let's see, he did the "Water Main Break" thing and the "It's for Charity" thing and then the "It's in memory of" debacle wait, it's coming to me from dark forces in the "beyond" via my crystal ball, I'm thinking there will be some sort of "Firestarter" related disaster next!! This time "ashes" from the precious books will be stored in old cardboard Matchboxes and made available for sale to the public!!! LOL LOL The proceeds from said sale will be utilized to help defer the costs related to rehabilitating former arsonists in the New England area. lol lolDon't take this the wrong way guys but I F'ing LOVE all of you right nowNEVER.Never say never. Business is business, and occasionally one has to put personal issues aside to obtain what they need.Yep. Rep points to Alec for sharing. Another pile of shit from him on his growing pile. After the way he treated me during the auction debacle (among other stunts) I would never buy a thing from him.. EVEN if he had the very last book I needed.
Thanks for sharing, Alec. The stories about Gerald just get stranger and stranger. It’s sad, really.
Hello everyone,
As I was the seller in Alec's story, and as I've just shared this with the Stephen King Rare Editions Facebook Group, I thought I should report my experience here in full for anyone who cares to read it;
"Okay. The time has come. I've held onto this story for a few years now and I haven't really shared it widely until now. Gerald Winters is a weasel of a man, and tried to screw me out of the sale of thousands of dollars’ worth of SK books. In short, I listed for sale (on DT) an entire collection of signed SK paperbacks. Each was in incredible good condition with book plates that featured really nice early signatures. At the time I was asking the forum for help with an evaluation, because I wasn’t sure what they were individually worth, and I had undervalued them.
As a brief aside, some of you have since seen these bookplates. They have made their way into some very nice rebound editions since this all went down.
The short version is that I had multiple people express interest in the collection of books and reach out to make me offers. One was Gerald. Another was a very well known UK book collector named Alec Smith. Gerald and Alec had both reached out to me at almost the same time, but in fact Alec had sent me a pair of Private Messages before Gerald.
Gerald wrote me to say:
“My friend Alec in the UK just told me about your post. If you haven't sold the books yet, please contact Alec or myself and perhaps we can work out a deal for the entire set. I have a bookstore in Bangor, Maine and the TDT valuations of $50-75 is too cheap. We would be happy to pay more than that.
Take care.”
As I mentioned, Alec had already messaged me a few times - so at that time I was dealing with Alec directly. Gerald found this out from Alec and acknowledged that in a follow up message:
“Hi Chase,
I just spoke to Alec and I am glad you got in touch with him. I will let him deal directly with you as it is only fair, as he contacted you first. If he is successful, then perhaps I will sell some of them in my shop in Bangor on his behalf.”
Up to this point, everything is above board. Gerald and Alec seemed like good friends trying to help each other out, everything is peachy.
Then Alec asks if he can call me from across the pond (I'm in Canada). He does so and politely tells me that he's not interested any longer, because of things I supposedly wrote Gerald.
“What things?” I asked
“That you were considering selling them to another buyer for more money” He politely replies.
“No I wasn’t, Gerald knows I’m dealing with you for the sale” I said,
“That’s not what he told me, and he showed me Private Messages to prove it”. Says Alec.
At this point, my head almost exploded. Of course I denied the claims, was totally taken aback, and was incredibly confused. This smells fishy, this is strange, and both Alec and I are confused.
Alec says, I have an idea, I’ll show you the message he sent me (the one I supposedly wrote). Absolutely I said, I need to see this forgery.
Guess what? Surprise surprise, it’s doctored. Completely fabricated. It was a poorly photoshopped Private Message that put words in my mouth. Gerald had taken a message I sent him and added (somewhat poorly I might add) a bit in the middle of my message, saying that “I heard from the world’s largest Stephen Kind dealer in Connecticut” that the books were worth even more than Alec had offered, and that I was entertaining that offer.
Now you may know that Betts books is based in Connecticut – But Betts had never spoken to me about this sale.
This is bullshit. At this point I’m livid.
I immediately opened my sent box on the Dark Tower and sent Alec a screenshot of the original undoctored PM that I had sent Gerald.
Thus began the weirdest most insane period of my time as a Stephen King collector.
A prominent SK book seller was, in essence, dragging my name through the mud and lying to other collectors in an attempt to ruin my sale, so (presumably) that he could buy books from me when my deal with Alec falls through. He was also implicating Betts Books in around about way. I suspect this was because Alec was such a high value customer, and that Gerald was concerned that he would lose out on sales to Betts. This is speculation on my part, but to me that helps explain his motivations.
At this point, Alec and I go into full Crime Scene Investigation mode. I needed to clear my name, let Alec know that I wasn’t trying to play him, and to prove that Gerald had doctored my messages. I had done so by sending Alec the legitimate screenshots of the original messages, but I wanted to take it even further, I was fuming mad.
I work in IT, and consider myself a computer savvy person – so I cook up a very simple way to prove this all.
I proposed that we all jump on a screensharing software (webex, zoom, etc), and that Gerald and I log into our Dark Tower accounts and pull up the original messages. That way, it’s all in real time, Alec will see the originals and Gerald can’t possible show his fakes, because they’re doctored images, not original messages.
Alec loves the idea, we propose it to Gerald (who is claiming this whole time that I’m a liar, I should add). Well CONVENIENTLY, Gerald then claims that “all of his private messages” have been deleted without his knowledge. He implies that something has either broken on the forum or that he’s being set up and framed.
At that point, Alec had heard enough, I wrote Gerald a nasty email calling him out for being the snake that he is, and Alec and I went on to complete our transaction entirely without further interference from Gerald.
Now, as a bit of a post script, Alec had dealt with Gerald quite a lot before this, and had previously trusted him, and at the time he asked that I not start an internet flame war and just to let this go. I had after all, made the sale for the correct amount to the correct person, and avoided being swindled in the process. So I agreed to drop it.
But it never sat right with me.
It was shady as hell, and I did not like the idea that this man had such a prominent store and could try to do these sort of things to others.
With the recent conversations regarding Gerald and his Store, Alec reached out and we agreed it was time to share our little sorted experience with you all. Alec has posted a briefer version of this on the DT, and you’ve all read it here now. So there you go.
And Gerald, if you see this and feel like making up some more bullshit or spinning this some other way, I would like to remind you: I still have the original messages, I still have your doctored copies from Alec. I still have proof that you’re full of it."
Magic, Rainbows, Lies, Unicorns..oh and floods...Jesus Murphy. Thanks for sharing this, Chase
Kingfan2323... “Ok you veterans of the forum. . . Fill the rest of us in! What happened? I mean if it's ok to ask? Ha!”
I think you’ll get the gist if you start reading around about here.
http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/...=1#post1095791
“The battle between good and evil is endlessly fascinating because we are participants every day.” - Stephen King
Oh beeeeelieve me, I am caught up now! Ha! Thanks, Cook.
seeking: ANYTHING DT related #246
Ready Plyer One Sub Press S/L
ANYTHING DT Related #246
Dead Zone First Edition F/F or NF/NF
What a sad, sad story.... (oh by the way, yes I am still alive and kicking but simply spending a lot of time with my family and on my studies, and less so online). Anyway, after reading this I also wanted to share some of my suspicions regarding Gerald. There was a time that he was quite active on this forum, posting pics of rare, one of a kind proofs and other items. For the record, I do believe that Gerald owns or owned a staggering collection of unique stuff and that he is or was a true ‘super collector’. But I also believe that he is somewhat eccentric and perhaps, that he feels a strong need for affirmation, allegedly being one of the biggest King collectors out there. Anyway, a while ago he posted pics of unknown UK Pet Sematary, Danse Macabre and Skeleton Crew proofs and some other items that no one had ever seen before. I remember seeing a couple of those pics and being almost certain that they were Photoshopped. At the time, people (including me) were still happy to have such a large and somewhat ‘mythical’ collector on board so I never said anything. But reading this, it would totally make sense that in fact, some of his most unique items only exist in his imagination. I can’t prove it and honestly, don’t feel the need to get ‘involved’ - but I did want to share my thoughts.
cough cough Wastelands Audio S/L
You could always purchase a vial filled with the soggy remains of the last book you need for your collection.......................................Yep. Rep points to Alec for sharing. Another pile of shit from him on his growing pile. After the way he treated me during the auction debacle (among other stunts) I would never buy a thing from him.. EVEN if he had the very last book I needed.
Or not selling them at all!!Water damage-insurance issue...Or not selling them at all!!Water damage-insurance issue...Or not selling them at all!!You guys are cracking me the fuck up!!!!!!! Let's see, he did the "Water Main Break" thing and the "It's for Charity" thing and then the "It's in memory of" debacle wait, it's coming to me from dark forces in the "beyond" via my crystal ball, I'm thinking there will be some sort of "Firestarter" related disaster next!! This time "ashes" from the precious books will be stored in old cardboard Matchboxes and made available for sale to the public!!! LOL LOL The proceeds from said sale will be utilized to help defer the costs related to rehabilitating former arsonists in the New England area. lol lolDon't take this the wrong way guys but I F'ing LOVE all of you right nowNEVER.Never say never. Business is business, and occasionally one has to put personal issues aside to obtain what they need.Yep. Rep points to Alec for sharing. Another pile of shit from him on his growing pile. After the way he treated me during the auction debacle (among other stunts) I would never buy a thing from him.. EVEN if he had the very last book I needed.
How you doing?????
Spoiler:
Exactly - my only thing is king has confirmed its real.
Yeah i dont hold that in high regard honestly...Not exactly a spring chicken..he has signed oodles of limiteds over the years etc..Exactly - my only thing is king has confirmed its real.
You know, reading through these posts and jogging my memory, it occurs to me that I probably owe a few members here (especially webstar1000) a heart felt apology. When he first joined the forum, in an effort to further the goals of the HF annual fund raiser, I befriended the guy and bought his story hook, line and sinker. Under that influence I came to his defense several times in my famously subtle fashion (lol) thinking he was being treated unfairly. Subsequently, I was enlightened to his antics by, Alec, Matt & a few others, but not before getting personally burned myself in yet another scheme of his that fortunately never quite saw the light of day.
So, I suppose it's about time I sucked it up and made myself accountable for my actions (deluded as they may have been) and offered my sincere apologies to, Webstar1000 and any other members I may have loosed my wrath on back then while defending, Gerald. I'm sorry guys, belated and overdue as it may be. I should have seen that asshole coming!!! You guys were right and I was wrong!!!
Edit: It has been suggested to me that I should post the circumstances around my own unfortunate direct involvement in one of his schemes as a warning to others. Honestly, I was so disgusted with the whole debacle that I tried very hard to put the exact details out of my mind. However, a lot of you are aware of my efforts on behalf of various charities. Suffice to say that, Gerald duped myself and, Alec in an effort to create a unique collectible edition of CTCC. We donated costs to have art created for the books (as I recall I think it was 60) which were to be married to specially produced tray cases and sold with the entirety of the profits going to charity (Bangor Children's Hospital).
Suffice to say that the art was done, the books returned to, Gerald and that was that. I have no idea where the books went after, Gerald got them. After a string of excuses and bullshit over time we finally just gave up and wrote it off. I think, Alec was able to recoup some of the funds he contributed, but I never did and I never found out the fate of the remarqued UK CTCC books. As I mentioned to another member, it's kind of one thing to scam folks (which is despicable), but quite another to use charity to do it and kids to boot!!! He is a scumbag to say the least!!!!
It takes a big man to admit that he almost always has been wrong, and that even though it might be years, he eventually offers an apology.
Well said, Bill. Sorry you had to deal with that BS, especially when it has to do with a charity.
But it made me think of my favorite quote from Fletch.
https://youtu.be/kfw21fmsVC8
Is there anything more funny than a coked up
Chevy??
seeking: ANYTHING DT related #246
Ready Plyer One Sub Press S/L
ANYTHING DT Related #246
Dead Zone First Edition F/F or NF/NF
Funny, just watched that episode last night.Don't take this the wrong way guys but I F'ing LOVE all of you right now
How you doing?????
Spoiler:
Wanted:
'Salem's Lot Portfolio #606
Fairy Tale UK S/L
I sent Gerald an email asking for a picture of the back of The Wastelands S/L Audio last week.......no response yet.
FOR SALE OR TRADE
Dark Tower 7 Artist Edition n/a
The Waste Lands 1st Edition in Shrinkwrap $200
1984 Grant Gift Edition of The Talisman $400
Lisey's Story ARC $50
.
.
WANTED
Signed 1st Edition of Storm of The Century (Paperback)
Thanks for sharing this information. And I'm unfortunately not surprised at all, and confirms many other stories I've heard regarding his behaviour.
Yikes. First the issues with that King subscription box awhile back, now this guy? Ugh.
A NEW GAME BEGINS
I might be going out on a limb here... but I'm guessing 100% of them are in the "Local Bangor Stephen King Museum"... also known as.... Gerald's "Game"
Shot him an IM on the Sleeping Beauty S/L. Got one response about maybe still having a couple, then ghosted rest of the day. Got more info here and Kris' FB page. Wowsa...crazy town.
What a strange man. Never dealt with him. Dodged a bullet by the sound of it.
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