OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Collectables VICTA - These Tin Signs are Fake

Hello ODK collectors.

This topic serves as a WARNING to buyers of Victa memorabilia.
These two tin signs appear at auction from time to time.

Mostly, sellers are honest in stating they are not period original signs.
Other sellers guild the lily and say they are genuine without offering
any proof of claimed originality.



To be clear, these signs cannot be period original, and it
is misleading to say they are reproductions of originals.

These are modern tribute signs artistically created from an amalgam
of two or more period newsprint advertisements. They have been
artificially aged to look old. They appeal to nostalgia and myth.

This is a clever half-truth that the modern artist(s) capatilised upon.
However, these signs have clear factual errors. Can you spot them?

These signs first started appearing in the early 2000s and they are best
described as being a part of the Shabby-chic movement HERE.

I am not arguing that you avoid them: just understand what they are!

I paid fifty bucks for mine a few years’ back and that was the market price
for them at that time. It’s a great talking point about ‘fakes’ and they
look really good in any man or woman cave.

Do not pay ridiculous money for them and avoid sellers that make
claims of them being genuine without offering a scrap of proof.

These are not ‘period original’ signs!

------------------------------
Jack

Howdy CyberJack,
Australia is becoming one of the most unscrupulous used wares sellers in the world. It's attracting some real witchettys (aka grubs) in the scene with Midas on the brain when it comes to anything remotely associated with the word vintage.

They want platinum for pig iron and want you to virtually give away your bullion in return.
I'm getting disgusted with today's modern society.

G'day Mowerfreak
A nice summary you make of the modern world of online auctions.
And a poignant expression: 'platinum for pig iron'. Beautiful!

I wrote about these signs a decade ago.
Can't say I got much support then.

Jack, Lately there have so much deception in our business line it isn't funny. Just all the fake or useless clones just drive me nuts at times. We really got to be on our toes on this more than ever.

Just had a customer with a newer Snapper rider which is claimed by the Briggs and Stratton group which was actually made by Husqvarna. Model 2691183-00. The give away was a few things. First was the muffler the customer is wanting to replace. It has a Husqvarna part number engraved on it. Then drive belt path looks too similar to other Husqvarna riders then I looked at the deck and sure enough it is using Husqvarna spindles. Probably if mower was in my shop I probably find thing that are the same.

With the muffler Briggs wanted 53.13 usd but Husqvarna wants 29.99 usd for the same exact muffler. So I am assuming Briggs is just buying the parts for this mower from mower and just reselling.

Ok Jack, I see the concord issue

Is the other incongruity that its a Victa Automatic?

I always have hated game like 'spot the difference' (until I know the answer) haha

G'day Jack ,Mf ,AVB and Tyler

Victa the big name in Motor Mowers doesn't sound like something Victa would say about themselves .

Turn grass into Lawn was popular back then.

I agree with Tyler ,the sign has Rotomo in print but the mower pictured is the Automatic and Concorde
should not have the e on the end.

I see the Victa sign for $499 has one dummy bid now. eBay should obviously take down this fraudulent advertising.

I've seen people advertise a rusty Aldi pedal car for $300 and their ad reads "Vintage pedal car" when about 12 months
ago Aldi were selling them new for $129 .

Cheers
Max.

G'day MF, AVB, Tyler and Max
It was the latest eBay listing that re-kindled my vitriol.

From what I can fathom the colourful sign was an amalgam of
two Victa ads that never ran together (see gallery).

The Rotomo became the 'Standard' when the Automatic was
introduced. The famous price: £49/18/- was for the Rotomo.

Of course, these signs do not even conform to what a sign should be.
I mean ... small print,etc.

--------------------------
Jack

G'day Jack MF, AVB, and Tyler

Victa the big name in Motor Mowers ,that's one of the worst slogans I've heard from Victa.

As we know Whirlwind had The Best in Rotary Mowers , Pope had The Best Mower Money Can Buy
and Victa The Big Name In Mowers.


Cheers
Max.

I'm rapidly loosing faith in humanity

G'day Norm
Even possums have better qualities than some humans.

Can I say, though, the original company that did this offered
these signs in two or three sizes. They were honest in stating
these were not genuine.

It's subsequent sellers that have created the mythology,
maybe through ignorance but certainly some sellers
are opportunists who pretend ignorance. These latter
type are the bad possums that annoy us.

Hi Tyler,
Yes, that's what I first noticed. No period signage would make the
mistake of linking the copy for a Rotomo with an illustration of an Automatic.
That was the key faux pas of the tribute sign creator.

Hi Max
Yes, that's what I reckon too.
In fact, when I did the original research, I could find no reference
to that slogan. I thought it was made up by the sign creator.

It was a lucky find and the ad appears to have only run in Victoria.

It's a pathetic and generic slogan that does not fit well with the
great Victa Slogans from the fifties. Maybe there's a story in that?

Cheers
----------------------
Jack

The last time I heard that was my geography teacher in high school when he referred to my drawing lawn mowers in class. He called them motor mowers and even back then in year 9 in 1988, I thought that was an odd term to use for them.

Speaking of how to write the description of a petrol powered grass snipping apparatus, is lawnmower grammatically correct or should it always be lawn mower?

Hello Mower freak.
From my understanding both are correct.
It's part of the history of the malleability of the English language.

Here's a clear explanation: -
https://www.sarahtownsendeditorial....-one-compound-words-and-how-to-use-them/

I'm happy to use lawnmower and grasscatcher and the like.
For me, they are closed compound words.
Or, is that closed-compound words?

Cheers
Jack

I just knew you were going to do that Cyber Jack