A few weeks ago we posted about a fan named John Gritton who had a severe case of seller's regret regarding a mask he once owned and sold a few years back. Well, we're happy to report that John was able to track down the buyer and buy the mask back. Here's John's story...
If anyone ever asked me about my biggest case of seller's regret I would tell them about my Fantastic Faces Scream mask. For those of you who aren't really into Scream masks you might wonder what is so special about this mask. You can get a Ghostface mask at any store around Halloween time... Well, not really. The Ghostface mask, or the "Peanut eyed Ghost" or the "Wailing Ghost" mask was around before Scream came out, but after the movie hit they were in high demand. Production of the masks increased and in doing so the quality and even the sculpt of the masks changed... Well in 1997 when I saw the movie it absolutely changed my life and I immediately had to have the mask. I jumped on my bike and rode up to Miss Trudie's Balloon Lady shop and found this mask. Little did I realize at the time that this was the mask used in the first movie, before production increased and before the materials and sculpts changed. Over the years I got different Ghostface masks and this one was shoved to the bottom of the pile because of its crooked chin. Fast forward to 2011, Scream 4 is coming and every one of those obsessive 1997 - 2000 Scream feelings came flooding back. Different this time was the existence of the Ultimate Scream Message board where I could interact with fellow Scream fans. It was an awesome time. It was through this board that I learned about this mask I'd had all this time and the significance of it in the history of Scream. Of course it was really awesome to me since I got it right off the shelf all those years ago and not second hand from another collector. Scream 4 came and went, and after the production of Stab 8 I put Ghostface back in his box as I moved on to other costuming and movie ventures. In 2012 I decided I was going to make a Bat suit from The Dark Knight. In needing funds for this expensive outfit I began looking around for things that I could offload... And for some unknown reason I looked at my Fantastic and listed it on eBay. It sold at the exact price of Bat boots. I soon grew to regret it. Almost a year to the day I was able to get my hands on another Fantastic, but it wasn't the same. It wasn't mine. I offered to trade the buyer for mine back, but he wasn't interested. He eventually offered to sell it back but I couldn't afford it at that time. That was 2013. I assumed it was gone for good. I always discounted it as the biggest case of seller's regret ever... Fast forward to 2020. My lovely wife who is very in tune with the stars told me about how things from your past are coming back, for better or worse... So having access to several Ghostface and Scream collectors groups on Facebook I thought I would check there to see if anyone had come across this Fantastic with the crooked smile and the blue thread in the back that I had used to repair a year in the hood. No one had seen it... So I decided to go back to my email and eBay history and I was able to track down the buyer from 8 years ago. To my astonishment he still had it. Not only did he still have it but he'd kept it in great condition! When he sent the pictures there was no question that it was my mask. I explained the situation and he graciously offered to sell it back. This was it. This was happening. I could not believe it. The mask that I thought was gone was actually coming back. The story of seller's regret that I'd told for 8 years was about to have happy ending. When it showed back up I could have cried. Here it is in all its glory. My Gen 2 Fantastic Faces mask that I bought in 1997 from Miss Trudie's Balloon Lady gift shop. The one that got away but finally came back home.
