Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

i did PM you back =P

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

I can see how the mob mentality could take over. But it appears as if Jay posted this on multiple forums and has said that Drew Newman himself declared them fakes. Also it seems that a larger than normal amount of maduro opus have been for sale on ebay. This confirmed retailer of fakes could easily sell a fake on ebay and nobody would be any wiser as they sure looked real to me!! Jay has said he'd ge glad to post the name and address of this shop which could at least be a small victory for opus lovers. I mean if I was sold fake opus and had Drew or similar declaring them as such then I would have no hesitation to out the retailer.

Negative feedback is just as important as positive feedback. I mean heck, there are some GREAT retailers here who helped me get some opus at great pricing (including Jay himself). I think this is simply a matter of protecting our own. Then again my opinion is worth about :2 :r

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

Andy, my answer wasn't the definitive one, the TOE are actively discussing the matter...it is a decision we don't take lightly, in part to reasons Peter and I outlined above. I would hope that the inmates who read this thread would be wise and wary enough not to buy any of these cigars on eBay based on what we already know here. There will be plenty of other suckers who don't belong to an on-line cigar board lining up for purchase. And those inmates who don't read the thread wouldn't see the name anyway.

Your points are all well taken, and we will consider them in our discussion. :)

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

Wow - so did Drew actually visit the store? Did the owner say anything about them stopping by to check out the cigars?

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

I respect that and am glad to hear that the TOE is taking this seriously. :tu

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

Well lets put a little perspective here. The newmans are all based out of tampa so when i contacted drew by email he contacted the local rep (i'm assuming they see a lot of each other). the local rep (mike, who i've never met but know because of all the shop owners calling him all the time) went to the shop to investigate. drew then communicated it back to me that they were fake. today i went to the shop and got my money back, while the owner was cussing me out and threw the money back in my face. I did contact mike (the local FN rep) and let him know about my experience. he expressed his disapproval of their behavior but he cannot talk about what their consequences were for them.

this place was an authorized fuente dealer and authorized opus x dealer. since the owner banned me from their stores i won't be able to go in there to find out what happens in the long run. thankfully i'm sure that some of the other people from our area who have already PM'd me about this shop will drop in and check in on them from time to time.

at the very least i hope that the people who were ripped off got their money back.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

True, but how far down the line does this vendors Faux X supply go?

Some of us buy regular production Opus X cigars from out of state due to the ridiculous taxes incurred when buying locally.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

I am not sure I would believe that a store has an Opus Maduro anyway, never mind 20 of them...there are only like 300 known to exist of each size (as far as I know, and I am obviously talking about the ones that were not sold commercially, like the xXx Maduro)...And they are worth quite a bit more then $25 each...

~brooks

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

true but the shops that usually get these kind of things are gifted them and can charge what they feel like. i see where you are coming from. either way these shops need to be reported.

i feel really bad about the guys who were taken by this shop, i was contacted by a few locals who had bought some stuff. i really hope they got their money back.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

Thanks for bringing this fraud to light. I personally do not need the source as I dont buy Opus or Anejo's. But its always good to bring these things out. How a legitimate dealer would feel the need to increase his profit by dealing in counterfeit's is beyond my comprehension. :2

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

I will be in Tampa in three weeks and would LOVE to know where to go to get my Maduro Opus cigars for Gasparilla.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

ROFL. no offense but did you read the thread?

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

oops :rolleyes:

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

This is my thought especially since you have all the big wigs of the manufacturer right in your backyard. His greed definitely got the best of him because I would hope that Fuente would no longer make him a dealer let alone an official Opus retailer.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

That's what I thought too. This guy has got to be incredibly stupid and/or greedy to risk his his good standing with Fuente by selling fakes.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

Ill be going through that area next month (actually right by the shop) and it will be fun to stop in and ask them if they have any maduro opus or sharks for sale. rofl ! seriously though they looked damn real to me.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

it's too bad that they won't discuss what they are doing about the situation.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

:tu:tu

One of my favorite "holidays".
:r

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

if anyone else has had dealings with the B&M that seem shady please email drew@cigarfamily.com

if they sold enough there could be felony charges associated with it. at the very least PM me to discuss what happened.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

I asked about NC fakes not too long ago and I was basically told via this forum that they don't really exist as a problem. I found it hard to believe then, for basically this reason right here. Some of the rare expensive stuff sells for way more than the average CC. I would think there would be a hell of a market for a forged rare Padron. Sorry you had this experience Jay, but glad you got your money back.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

I've asked about NC fakes too, having never heard them discussed much until now, and from the pictures, those Opus bands look pretty damn good. so I'm curious. Do you think they actually had those printed, or are they legit bands acquired through not so legit means? I don't know much about printing but those look fairly sophisticated, definitely not a home job.

If they were printed, I would think that should be cause for real concern, because whoever made these is clearly capable of producing believable counterfeits.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

not to mention that a cigar like the shark is not an easy cigar to make. everything about these look good at first glance! scary!!

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

It is pretty easy to remove opusX bands from cigars. The bands are so think, they usually come off pretty easily for me without tearing. A little hot air would probably make them come off even easier. So the bands could be legit, just not the cigars.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

For all we know the problem could be deeper rooted than just a local B&M. Like Only Fuentes mentioned, the Shark is not your run of the mill roll so for all we know it could be someone in the Fuente factory or an ex employee of the Fuentes creating these fakes. If this were the case I would be curious to see if they are sneaking out tobacco and using the same tobacco for the fakes and if in fact they taste the same or even similar for that matter. I highly doubt it but I would be curious to know what the deal is on these. Wasn't there an issue with fake BBMFs making their way around last year too, especially on Ebay? Again, not an easy cigar to fake. I guess just like CCs the more rare NCs should be inspected for authenticity just the same except in this case you can't even trust the authorized dealer.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

I've never heard of a good tasting Opus X fake. Everyone I know who has smoked them has said that they tasted both awful and absolutely nothing like a Fuente, no matter how perfect they looked.

Also, Sharks aren't that difficult to roll. The BBMF style shape (which is not exclusive to Fuente BTW), yeah, a bit more complex, but nothing a good roller can't master. Plus, repetition will teach precision; if all the person is going to do is crank out the same shaped fake all year long, it won't take them long to master one shape.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

well they didn't do a great job pressing them. rolling them is easy but getting them to keep the square foot and body is tough when you are rushing production. here's a few other pics.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...r/P1020005.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...r/P1020008.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...r/P1020012.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...r/P1020004.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...r/P1020010.jpg

these really are much better quality fakes and i believe that the bands and the ribbon are the real thing. someone at the factory is probably leaking them out or they are just taking them from the other cigars (as mentioned earlier about how easy it would be).

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

Did you smoke one?

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

nope, took them back and got my money. i'm not going to risk inhaling mold or some other unknown agent.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

Ick, yes, that is a bad pressing job. Looking at that cigar, it makes me wonder if a roller was even involved in this, or someone (ie: the shop) just took some existing torpedo with a similar looking wrapper and after possibly cutting the cigar down to size, just jury rigged up a half-assed pressing arrangement of some sort. Same wonder for the maduros, are those even custom rolled, or did someone just take some inexpensive maduro that comes in a cedar sleeve and swap the band (the sizes don't match up to a FFOXM, but the 5 Vegas Serie A was the first thing that came to mind looking at your most recent photo).

Anyway, if those are real bands, how many were made would likely give an indicator as to where the bands came from. Recycling bands from legitimate cigars is possible, but not practical for anything more than a small quantity of fakes, so for a large quantity, I'd lean more toward "smuggled out of the factory" or "stolen direct from the printers" - from my experience, bands normally come packed in boxes like what business cards come in - same quantities too- 200, 500, maybe even 1000. Then multiple business card boxes packed into larger cardboard boxes for transport. Probably not that hard to make one or two of the smaller boxes disappear.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

Oh, and I don't think the ribbon is that special that you couldn't easily find dozens of rolls of it at any number of different sewing & craft stores in the US.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

Yea man I have been involved it was a sarcastic joke.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

just to update. the owner has taken it upon himself to try to slander me. kind of funny how i'm the one who got ripped off and he is attacking me. shows how shady he really is.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

So whos the culprit? Anyone in South Florida?

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

What's he doing to slander you? Classy guy that owner.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

posting crap on his facebook account about me. trying to make it seem like he is the victim and that he only runs a legitimate business.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

You should link it, or at least PM me the link.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

Was there ever a decision made by the mods to post the name of the shop? :confused::confused::confused:

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

dunno as i never heard from them.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

The Opus Maduro's I have do not have dark wrappers like Anejo's have, much lighter wrapper. That was the first thing I noticed in Jay's photo's. Since one of mine was from a personal trade with Carlito (he loves 98' Trini Fundore's), I know the authenticity is correct. If the deals to good to be true, it probably is!

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

Oh my god...those Maduro Opus X look FANTASTIC!

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

Read the thread before the post. :hm

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

i hope that is sarcasm because they are fake :confused:

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

I can understand not posting the name if we still were not sure if they were or were not fakes. Being that this has been looked into, they were found to be fake and the owner seems like less than a stellar guy, I think it would be beneficial to all if we knew the name of the shop. JMO

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

Or Rather the Name of the owner. It's one thing to sell something fake, but another to harass a customer personally.

Well, Former customer.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

BTW, i guess some of his clients do not care. one of them on his FB account just stated that he bought some GOF from him and they were real so the rest of his product must be real also. ROFL. how naive can you be.

the funny part about all of this is that i found out all they did to the dealer is confiscate the product. nothing else. they are afraid of losing the revenue i guess and are okay with having themselves affiliated with a shady person. crazy they would keep risking their reputation when there are numerous other dealers in the area who could pick up his account instead.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

just to update this again, he pulled it off his facebook account as i guess it was bringing too much heat. not to mention i contacted the newmans about it and gave them the link. i'm sure they didn't appreciate it.

Re: Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?
 

You would think after sending them the link that they would see what they are dealing with and pull the account but I guess the dollars and cents part of it is far more important than trying to protect their loyal customers. Like you said they could give the account to a stand up retailer in the area and keep the revenue coming in and protect their reputation that could be tarnished if someone were to buy and smoke one of a these fubar HTF cigars and decide it tasted like rolled up dog terds and spread the word that these sticks are POS' or word spreads that they continue to let this guy sell fakes.