Okay, I realize this isn't a good first post for a newbie to the forums, but this is one of the only places I could think of to come for help.  I recently got a "variant cover" Faction War off of eBay, but when it arrived, it turns out that it's a copy of Modron March with a different picture attached to it!  Now this isn't some hokey, slapped on glue job.  It's lined up decently well and from what I can tell, it's been like this for some time, as evidenced by wear on the cover picture.  The guy that auctioned it off claims he didn't realize that's what he was selling, apologized profusely to me (although he did ask for photo proof, which I gave him...see link below), and did offer to refund the book, in full, plus shipping (which is not scammer behavior as I've come to know it.)

Still, what I want to know is do you think this guy was trying to pull a fast one and is being nice because I called him on it or was there some promo thing maybe about the time the book came out?  I know my PSM magazines show up with two covers on them (one attached to the other) as part of promotional deals and if this is the case, then way cool, I've got a bit of Planescape history in my collection but if not, would I be better off sending it back?

Help?  Anybody?

http://s813.photobucket.com/albums/zz54/35Threeve/FactionWar/?albumview=grid

Yeah never knew about the different cover either.  Maybe would have to check catalogs for that image.  I can imagine it was either a homemade job or actually created by TSR to image for a catalog or ad.  Would probably want to find anything close to that to see if the face comes from another product or ad, etc or see if any of those artists (if they can be found) for the Faction War book recall it.

ShaneG.

IIRC, the cover that originally appeared in TSR's catalog for Faction War was just like the one attached to your book. However, for all that I know, the final product featured the all-black, bas-relief cover that we all know.
Maybe the people at Planewalker.com know a bit more.

I don't think that the seller was actually aware of the issue. If I were you, I'd be sorely disappointed, but glad that I was refunded. Anyway, The Great Modron March is one of the highly sought PS adventures, so you could resell it and get something out of this mess.
However, it looks that whoever did that trick took great pains to achieve it...

Plaag wrote:Maybe would have to check catalogs for that image.  I can imagine it was either a homemade job or actually created by TSR to image for a catalog or ad.  Would probably want to find anything close to that to see if the face comes from another product or ad, etc or see if any of those artists (if they can be found) for the Faction War book recall it.

A quick scan through of what I have available didn't bring up any like images, but there's still a bit I have to pick through.  I'll poke around and see what I can turn up.

blackdougal wrote:If it's a scam it's not a very good one.  He didn't actually advertise it as a rare variant cover or anything which would certainly lead me to believe that he's being honest about it.  Have you asked him to provide information on where he got it from?  It's possible that it was an in-house mock up, maybe?  I haven't dug through any catalogs but that strikes me as filler/proto art.

I haven't and yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking. That TSR did it on purpose and it got out, which is why I'm hesistant to send it back.  If it's promo stuff, then cool!  If it's someone just making something on their own, then blah.

Dimitri Mazieres wrote:Maybe the people at Planewalker.com know a bit more.

I don't think that the seller was actually aware of the issue. If I were you, I'd be sorely disappointed, but glad that I was refunded. Anyway, The Great Modron March is one of the highly sought PS adventures, so you could resell it and get something out of this mess.
However, it looks that whoever did that trick took great pains to achieve it...

Will check there next, thank you. And yeah, I don't think he was actually out to scam, but at the same time, how do you *not* notice that the cover is different than the back of the book or interior if you're listing information about it?  I suppose that goes along with the next question.

TheMilford wrote:I would hang on to it until you confirm "why" it has a pasted on cover?

Working on that, but I don't want to keep him dangling too long, since he is being nice enough to refund it.  I offered to keep it for a partial refund (since I do think it's neat) but it's all or nothing, hence why I'm trying to find out more about it.

Thanks thus far, all.

Well at least you know the source of the image, which could be blown up with text etc photoshopped in.  The Faction War wording is exactly like that on the sticker sheet.  Interesting developments though, keep us posted.

ShaneG.