I have received several messages from collectors warning me about Merissa919 for a few months now. I didn't want to rush to judgement, in case there was some type of misunderstanding. But, after a little research, it was obvious that Merissa has stepped up her money making schemes in the community.
As most of you know, she is one of the top enemies at the Sid Dickens studio and has defrauded collectors out of thousands of dollars. Unfortunately most her victims, have no clue they were defrauded.
Here is her latest scam.
She buys up damaged blocks, repairs them herself, and resells them on ebay in mint condition.
I checked with Brian "The Sid Doctor" Zinn, and he has never repaired a block for her. So she has learned how to do it herself. Not just the back and sides, she is actually remolding plaster and/or repainting/staining the front.
At first she was buying the damaged blocks under her primary ebay account Merissa919. She would wait a few months, then would list the block in mint condition. About a month or so ago, she created a new PRIVATE ebay account. This account is only used to buy up damaged blocks, and at the same time hide her identity from the Sid Dickens community. With her identity hidden, she no longer has to wait a few months to re-list her repaired blocks. Now they're going back on ebay in a matter of days.
Below is just a small sample of her scams:
WHOEVER JUST BOUGHT THIS BLOCK ON SUNDAY (12-11-2011) FOR $219, YOU WERE SCAMMED!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sid-Dickens-T-2 ... 500wt_1159
SHE BOUGHT THIS BLOCK DAMAGED FOR $82 on 11-26-2011
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sid-Dickens-Ret ... 582wt_1159
As you can see below, she fixed the damaged on the star points, and repainted them black.

WHOEVER BOUGHT THIS BLOCK ON 10-18-2011 FOR $295, YOU WERE SCAMMED!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sid-Dickens-T-9 ... 500wt_1179
SHE BOUGHT THIS BLOCK DAMAGED FOR $150 on 10-05-2011
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sid-Dickens-Mem ... 2057wt_945
As you can see below, she fixed the damaged and sold it in mint condition.

WHOEVER BOUGHT THIS BLOCK FOR $249.95, YOU WERE SCAMMED!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sid-Dickens-T-52-GATE-Retired-01-15-2003-/220822623951#ht_500wt_1129
Merissa bought it DAMAGED for $110.07 on May 30, 2011.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&item=320705054130#ht_500wt_1286
As you can see below, this block has chips on the top portion of the block. Merissa919 remolding the plaster, and cleaned up the stain.

WHOEVER BOUGHT THIS BLOCK FOR $209.00, YOU WERE SCAMMED!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sid-Dickens-T-08-Fr ... 500wt_1129
Merissa bought it DAMAGED for $89.99 on May 1, 2011
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... _500wt_895
As you can see below, this block had some minimal damage on the front, that Merissa919 repaired. Including repainting the black paint.

This is just a small sample of all the repaired flips, she has been involved with. I could post a 5 page thread, with all the repaired flips by Merissa919.
Merissa919 will claim these are duplicates, but here is what she doesn't know. No two blocks are the same, especially with these older T series blocks. Yes, the studio uses the same mould, but each block is stained, colored and painted by hand. Take a look at the characteristic comparisons above (blue circles). They are 100% the exact same block.
Merissa919 is from Denver, CO. She has used two different screen names on this site. Carol Harkness and Tommy444. Her real name is Carol Harkness, and her children are Merissa & Tommy. She is not a collector. She is only in it for the money.
I will leave this thread open for discussion. If you were an unknowing victim of Merissa919, feel free to post here, or email me at info@sidcollectors.com. You also need to contact ebay and paypal, and demand your money back.
Robin
PS. This is just one of Merisaa919's scams. She has been involved with many other types over the years.