██ SCAM ██ 15 watt Ostar LED bicycle light ██ SCAM ██

[F250XLT]

I KNEW this day would come, I have been saying it for quite some time now. Mike has been ripping people off, using his PAST reputation to peddle cheap, mass produced lights for profit here on CPF. Don't be fooled into thinking he had ANYTHING to do with this light, or the X6 for that matter. If you continue to support this clown with your hard earned money, you will eventually get burned.

DM51......YOU ARE MY HERO

[tino_ale]

Please everyone : comment with care so this thread doesn't get closed and eventually burried and forgotten. We need to keep this visible to the maximum number of CPFers as long as possible.

I have been suspicious in the past abour ARC mania 's offering. It was never clear what was custom and what was not. Where it came from and what justified the premium price.

This time I am just plain shocked.

A while back there was this STORY. Without hard evidence I couldn't make myselft a definite opinion but my guard was high about this member. I recommend reading this thread.

[PScalfano]

Wow. Thanks for looking out for us, DM51. Being fairly new to this forum, it is great to see that members, mods, and even admin here look out for each other.

[Tractor man]

WoW Arc , DM51 you so busted in style. Hard and fast baby. It is nice to know there are people like you here to watch our backs, thankyou...

TM

[donn_]

A meaningful quote from the thread Tino linked:

CPF as a forum has had a lynchmob, groupie, cheerleader, etc. movement which has restricted the exchange of mutually beneficial information. This thread is evidence of that, and its display will hopefully stem that movement. To me this is probably the most important result, but certainly not the goal of the original post.

[brighterisbetter]

Another interesting link, scroll down to "Related Products". http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/29...ont_Light.html

There's even a form to contact the supplier Mr. Leo Yuan: http://kfled.en.alibaba.com/contacti...mseq=200411131

[carrot]

Posting in an epic thread...

Good catch DM51.

I wish I could give Arcmania the benefit of the doubt but in fact the evidence is too damning.

[ninemm]

All I have to say is thanks you DM51 and all the mods for your tireless efforts at keeping this forum a great environment in which to enjoy our hobby.

[DM51]

Another interesting link, scroll down to "Related Products". http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/29...ont_Light.html

There's even a form to contact the supplier Mr. Leo Yuan: http://kfled.en.alibaba.com/contacti...mseq=200411131

That first link is interesting. I particularly like the line in the order info:

Supply Ability: 10,000 Set/sets per month

Amazing how far 120pcs Ostar LEDs will go, these days...

[TranquillityBase]

Look on the bright side, at least it wasn't a prepay

[smokelaw1]

Look on the bright side, at least it wasn't a prepay

If this whole thing wasn't so heartbreaking, that would be really funny. As someone who has been part of some of ArcMania (long thought COMPLETELY worth it...) prepays, that strikes a chord.

What gets me is the seeming disconnect between the person who puts together those perfectionist hobbyist works of art liket he SF-III and IV, and the (alleged) scammer we are discssing here.

I am trying very, very hard to keep my mind open for the man who has built such great lights, and has, in the past, always come through for me. That iss getting harder to do.

[saltytri]

From my particular perspective, this was an unusually cynical and egregious piece of work because of the target group. The reason I got into lights and ended up at CPF was that I do some endurance cycling, which means sometimes riding all night. Good lights count for a lot in this activity but most cyclists aren't light geeks so they can be prey for marketing pitches that don't always meet the hype. A cyclist looking for a good lighting solution without the niche knowledge that flashaholics have might well have been sucked in by this bad deal and, sadly, it looks as if that was the goal.

[easilyled]

... What gets me is the seeming disconnect between the person who puts together those perfectionist hobbyist works of art liket he SF-III and IV, and the (alleged) scammer we are discssing here...

Although the Superflashlight design is certainly a very attractive one, it is very heavily influenced/based on TNC's original "Hyperlux" design.

Not that there's anything wrong in that, but I think that TNC deserves at least as much, if not more, of the credit for the Superflashlight design.

[TranquillityBase]

Sure makes one wonder what the margin on the X6 six die Ostar light was...

[tino_ale]

Actually it makes one wonder about ALL the previous offers (and there have been quite a few in the past)

[TranquillityBase]

Actually it makes one wonder about ALL the previous offers (and there have been quite a few in the past)

I wouldn't include any of the TnC/MJ offerings in that blanket statement...just the NON CUSTOM subcontractor stuff MJ has offered.

[KuKu427]

Came across a friendly contractor in Taiwan who claimed could do assembly work and machine parts so that all I need to do is concentrate on selling the item

Hold on... Taiwan? Name of alleged contractor please???

[jch79]

The official "I heart DM51" thread.

Thanks for looking out for CPF and its members, DM51.

[griff]

I really hope this is not what it looks like.

ARC Mania had really great products in the past and it shouldn't end like this.

But if in fact he tried to sell mass production lights at a premium, than something must have gone terribly wrong or he just got greedy.

+1
the fall from grace can hurt when you hit the bottom. Do like the hi profile people...........own it, tell us the whole truth and then start to heal.
Everybody get a second and sometimes a third chance

[griff]

Look on the bright side, at least it wasn't a prepay

Now that's funny

[jirik_cz]

That first link is interesting. I particularly like the line in the order info:

Amazing how far 120pcs Ostar LEDs will go, these days...

Don't want to defend anyone, but I wouldn't trust information from Alibaba so much

[Greta]

I read through all of this and then did the proper thing... took some time to calm down before posting... thinking that I would get over the need to post at all. Didn't work. Soooooo...

There is a GREAT urge in me to say to all of you that sent me abusive and indignant emails and PM's in the past regarding my "unfair treatment" of ARC Mania... WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY NOW?!?!? I banned MJ a few months back and literally got raked across the coals by some of you for what I did... not to mention some of the lovely stuff that MJ himself wrote to me in emails. So what did I do? I unbanned Mike. Well... WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY NOW?!?!? HUH?!?!?

Yeah... I'm just a tad bit pissed! And if it weren't for the fact that there are many of you who are involved in other threads and other transactions with Mike, his sorry ass would be permanently banned now. I'll give you all a chance to try to finish up your dealings with him. Good luck with that, btw...

[ma_sha1]

It's amazing how long it takes to build a good reputation online, years of efforts, one transaction at a time & how fast it could fall over night.

When the reputation goes, so will be the re-sale value of past lights,
almost like the stock market crash, I have some of those that I was too late to get out, still holding them pennies a share...

However, stock market will always recover, it's hard to predict if this
will ever recover. This is the biggest unfortunate CPF event I've seen since
I joined the forum, enough drama to get a reality TV show.

[QtrHorse]

I have seen that X6 Cannon on Alibaba but did not want to trash the FS thread and I could not find it when I looked for it again.

Good catch DM51. We as a community have to keep everyone honest.

[Joseph Milton]

We have got to let MJ respond to this. I love his lights, the high quality of his builds, and his extremely anal nature in most everything he does with the lights he sells here. Let's give him a chance everyone.

Joseph

[TranquillityBase]

We have got to let MJ respond to this. I love his lights, the high quality of his builds, and his extremely anal nature in most everything he does with the lights he sells here. Let's give him a chance everyone.

Joseph

He already did

[JonN06]

The is kind of depressing. When I see someone that's been fairly active over such a long period of time on the forums it gives them a sense of trust. I see these people as people that I can get knowledgeable information from, and/or trust to be honest in their sales to other cpf members.

I'm really glad dm51 caught this so quickly. It lets me know that you guys are looking out for us from stuff like this. Thanks for being vigilant and looking out for us.

[Josey]

Over the years, this kind of thing has happened to a number of respected builders. I don't know if it's human nature or just the pressure of competition from industrial mass-market forces.

It is too bad.

I do appreciate it when the mods -- or fellow members -- have our six.

[easilyled]

We have got to let MJ respond to this. I love his lights, the high quality of his builds, and his extremely anal nature in most everything he does with the lights he sells here. Let's give him a chance everyone.

Joseph

A chance to explain this as well, you mean?

I have seen that X6 Cannon on Alibaba but did not want to trash the FS thread and I could not find it when I looked for it again.

Good catch DM51. We as a community have to keep everyone honest.

[Illum]

hmm...I do recall JB10245's post in AM's earlier thread, he was the first whistleblower but it was DM51 who could have done anything about it