Original Sonichu and Rosechu Drawing
The Original Sonichu and Rosechu Drawing is a laminated hand-drawing of Sonichu and Rosechu that Chris is trying to auction off on eBay to raise the funds to buy more Legos. This is the second item Chris has attempted to sell on eBay this year, the first being Bob's violin.
"Freshly thought and drawn on June 1, 2014", this picture also bears Chris's signature, although this is difficult to make out in the full-sized image. The uploaded image is in black-and-white, an apparent anti-forgery method used by Chris to protect his precious artworks from counterfeiting.
First Two Listings
Within the first day of bidding, the bids reached over $10,000 USD. Speculation of troll involvement is mentioned occasionally by Chris's friends on his Facebook post related to it. The first posting was removed, most likely due to Chris realizing (or being told) that he was unlikely to collect on it.
However, the listing returned on the next day, with some extra information added. Chris included a black-and-white picture of the frame he considers so goddamn important, a color closeup of his signature, a color closeup of Rosechu's crotch, and an additional alleged copyright page. Verification of the signature and Rosechu's womanhood caused bids to skyrocket, with bids quickly reaching $15,000 USD. It's important to note that eBay does impose some limits on how much a seller can sell an item for without paying additional fees.
Protecting His Valuable Intellectual Property
Chris also makes some untested copyright claims:
| “ | ALL Sonichu, Rosechu, Cwcville and such material is Copyrighted March, 2000 by Christian Weston Chandler, with Full Paperwork backed up in Washington DC. Any names, persons or characters and such illustrated in the past Original Comic Book Pages, LittleBiGPlanet 1, 2, PSP and Vita Levels under the PSN ID of "Sonichu", and all direct content from the Creator, Christian Weston Chandler, NOT originating from said Creator that may seem similar to anyone past or present, as well as under other respective ownerships, are purely coincidental or otherwise parodic. Ownership of Original characters of Pikachu, Pok'emon and Sonic the Hedgehog are those of Nintendo and SEGA of America respectively. The drawing that is being sold on eBay now is an Original artwork created by the original Creator of Christian Weston Chandler, and is solely being sold as an artwork with no original intent of profit | ” |
| Chris | ||
Third Time's The Charm
On the third day of bidding, the posting was taken down again, only to have Chris replace it with an identical one (minus the questions from prospective buyers). It is unknown if this is because eBay removed it, or Chris realized he was being fucked with again. He also appeared to stop accepting future inquires regarding the item, likely due to misuse of it. He also made another Facebook post, again attempting to assert the authenticity of the item.
The original price was $5,000 Buy It Now or Best Offer, later reduced to $2,500. On Wednesday, June 04, 2014, a scant four days after the creation of the 'Original Sonichu and Rosechu Drawing', Chris accepted a 'Best Offer' of $1,000 for his artwork, however, the buyer backed out the next day. Chris also appears to have removed (or possibly also managed to sell) his father's Stradivarius violin.
Fourth Listing
After the previous buyer wouldn't pay up, Chris relisted the drawing on eBay with a $1,000 Buy It Now price and no auction. The sale is also a 'Pay It Now', meaning it must be paid for as soon as it is bought, so there is no chance of anyone 'buying' it and then backing out.
Chris later summarized his experiences thus far on Facebook:
| With eBay constantly removing my listing for this SAME, SINGULAR ARTWORK Four Times the past week, and the offer-maker who offered 1,000 on the last listing Totally Bailed! I am super frustrated and I am just SET on one thousand or bust on this SAME drawing what my venture with it having been Really Too Much. And my mother and I REALLY NEED THE MONEY. Please Buy and Pay in Full Now! |
With this update, Chris has revealed that some of the removals of listings were due to eBay removing them. He also attempts to garner sympathy by reminding us all that the money is for his mother and him to live off of, as opposed to, say, Legos, for instance.
The fourth listing was eventually removed by eBay as a result of Chris asking people to make him offers on the drawing outside of the official eBay interface. He immediately removed the offending clause and relisted it with everything else intact.
| I will be relisting Again, and I will make it Very Clear: NO OFFERS LESS THAN THE BUY IT NOW PRICE WILL BE ACCEPTED, AND ANY AND ALL OFFERS WILL BE READ AND DISREGARDED. I am not ignorant! I read all of those comments before I deleted them on the listing link here on Facebook.
My 72-Year Old Mother and I Really Need the Money. Why the hell send your money to the damn Cwcki and it's Forums when the Actual Artist and his family could use the money better for Debt relief and a living. Good Grief!!! |
Fifth Listing
By 8 June, it was removed for a fifth time and Chris's eBay account was restricted from listing new items for 3 days due to repeated ToS violations. According to messages from eBay administration to Chris, posted by himself on Facebook for some inexplicable reason, these violations include 'direct sales', 'inappropriate links', and 'brand name misuse' (likely due to the usage of various copyrighted names in the listing). He reacted to this by demanding on Facebook that people donate $1,000 to him via PayPal. He also betrayed the fact that he believed it was actually the troll bidding that got his listing pulled, not simultaneously soliciting sales on Facebook (a violation under the terms of service, as it allows the seller to avoid having to pay certain fees). The fact that Chris received several emails from eBay explaining the exact reason of these sanctions against him suggests that he didn't read (or agree with) the entirety of said emails.
| Are You All HAPPY NOW?!!! Because of ALL OF YOU DAMN TROLLS pushing and Pushing and PUSHING ME, NOW I will not be able to list or relist for THREE DAYS!!! }:(( I am Super Angry at most Everyone for REALLY Letting the Oxygen Out Of My Tank!!!
The ONLY WAY YOU ALL CAN MAKE THIS UP TO ME RIGHT NOW, RIGHT FREAKING NOW!!! SEND ME $1,000.00, American Dollars, via PayPal to iammrc@aol.com. Quit Donating to the Hate-Crap-Filled Cwcki and it's Forum, and PAY ME!!! Money is Really Tight with me and my mother here!!! |
| Why the hell send your money, Donating to the Hate-Crap-Filled Cwcki and it's Forum, when the Actual Artist and Creator, who has not received ONE RED CENT for ANYTHING "inspired" from my own works SOLD over the freaking, Damnable Internet and its even More Damnable Social Websites, or Wherever, and his family could use the money better for Debt relief And a Living from a Tight, Low Budget!. |
By this point, his Facebook friends have repeatedly told him that begging for money and making demands is unlikely to make people want to help him, and that his art only really holds value to trolls. Several of them also suggest using a venue other than eBay to sell his wares, or to take commissions. Experience suggests that it is exceedingly unlikely that Chris will listen to the advice of others.
Later in the day, Chris seems to have calmed down somewhat. Despite almost-unanimous commentary on his previous Facebook status, telling him that his price is too high and that maybe he'd have more success selling more pieces at a lower cost, Chris remains unwavering in his belief that this piece (or perhaps the time and effort spent trying to sell it) is absolutely worth a grand.
| At this point, I will sell the framed drawing to the first person who sends me $1,000.00, USA American via PayPal (see earlier post). Please provide your name and US Mailing address in the details.
After that, and after the three day suspension, I will be more reasonably priced on future drawings. But if no one sends the $1,000.00, the still current drawing will be relisted for the full $1,000.00, regardless. |
During the Ban
On June 9th, a buyer (presumably the one that 'bought' the piece before backing out and leaving Chris holding a big bag of fuck-all instead of a ten thousand dollar payday) left negative feedback on Chris's eBay account.
| Refuses to cooperate. Extremely rude and threatening. Blocks buyer no replies. |
Sixth Listing
On June 12th, true to his word, Chris relisted the picture as soon as his ban had expired. Chris did not link to the posting on his Facebook status. The price remained at $1000, showing that Chris did however completely ignore all advice recommending he lower his prices.
| “ | No Offers of Lower Value Will Be Accepted, PERIOD!!! NO DIRECT SALES EITHER!!! BUY IT NOW AND PAY IN FULL ONLY!!! I am Sick and Tired of eBay constantly removing my ONE listing for the ONE Artwork/Drawing that I have still YET to sell!!! UGH!!! My 72-Year Old Mother and I Really Need the Money. Why the hell send your money to the damn Cwcki and it's Forums when the Actual Artist and his family could use the money better for Debt relief and a living. Good Grief!!! | ” |
| Chris, introducing the new and improved eBay posting | ||
The statement of 'no direct sales' can either be interpreted as Chris claiming he will not attempt to sell the piece through Facebook again, or a disclaimer that he will not accept 'direct sales', which would suggest he still doesn't fully understand the reason of his ban.
The Second Ban
| “ | UGH! Persephone, fuck me; the listing got removed AGAIN!!! | ” |
| Chris, June 13 | ||
Soon after, the sale was removed again. Chris received another three-day ban from selling any items on eBay.
Seventh Listing (seriously, Chris, this isn't funny anymore)
On June 16th, Chris relisted the image once more, standing his ground with the price of $1000. He posted a link to his eBay account, which may or may not be the exact reason of his multiple removals and (so far) two selling bans. The description of the item more closely resembled what it had originally been, before a combination of both the trolls placing fake bids and eBay taking issue with Chris's disregard for the rules had created the circus we see today. He retained the lengthy copyright paragraph, which also may have been a reason for Chris to be considered breaking the Terms of Service of eBay.
Early on June 17th, Chris dropped the price to $500. He later explained (in answer to a question nobody asked) why he has declined over 150 offers above his Buy It Now price.:
| I only declined the offers for good reasons: 0 Feedback are often Trolls; if they Really can offer MORE than the asking price or close equal, then they can afford to Buy It Now; I am very, reasonably paranoid.
So there. |
Specifications
Note: all descriptions have been described by Chris himself, and remain to be verified.
- Medium: Ink
- Subject: Fantasy
- Style: Pop Art
- Size: 8.5 X 11
- Date of Creation: 2000-Now