Big Hick selling TN Cave Crystals on Ebay

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Big Hick selling TN Cave Crystals on Ebay

Postby UnderGroundEarth » Nov 13, 2008 8:55 am

Check this out... Big Hick selling TENNESSEE Cave Crystals on EBAY. http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/bighicksfootballi97c. Please help report these items.
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Re: Big Hick selling TN Cave Crystals on Ebay

Postby YuccaPatrol » Nov 13, 2008 9:08 am

I reported all of those. Thanks for being on top of it. . . . .
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Re: Big Hick selling TN Cave Crystals on Ebay

Postby UnderGroundEarth » Nov 13, 2008 9:13 am

Thanks. I did as well so hopefully we can get them off of there and he will no longer do this. I also sent him a message about it.
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Re: Big Hick selling TN Cave Crystals on Ebay

Postby YuccaPatrol » Nov 13, 2008 9:35 am

I then searched for other cave formations.

I'm guessing that all the Mexican and Chinese formations for sale are not protected since they do not originate in the US? :shrug:
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Re: Big Hick selling TN Cave Crystals on Ebay

Postby Jeff Bartlett » Nov 13, 2008 11:24 am

i started to report one of his new auctions and accidentally clicked "human body parts" in the prohibited items drop-down.
so... people have tried to sell human body parts on ebay? that doesn't seem particularly lucrative.

edit: of course, neither does selling a pile of crinoid fossils for $1
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Re: Big Hick selling TN Cave Crystals on Ebay

Postby UnderGroundEarth » Nov 13, 2008 11:36 am

LOL - maybe some people try to sell Kidney's on there!!
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Re: Big Hick selling TN Cave Crystals on Ebay

Postby Jeff Bartlett » Nov 13, 2008 11:39 am

rowland7840 wrote:LOL - maybe some people try to sell Kidney's on there!!


That had better be a 1-day auction!
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Re: Big Hick selling TN Cave Crystals on Ebay

Postby icave » Nov 13, 2008 3:04 pm

Not unless you have some fava beans and a nice Chianti. Ok, so maybe you should buy a liver instead of a kidney, but it's close.
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Re: Big Hick selling TN Cave Crystals on Ebay

Postby Teresa » Nov 13, 2008 9:41 pm

YuccaPatrol wrote:I then searched for other cave formations.

I'm guessing that all the Mexican and Chinese formations for sale are not protected since they do not originate in the US? :shrug:


Correct.

I'm also unconvinced that any of Big Hick's specimens except perhaps the one labeled Tennessee cave crystal are indeed speleothems. He lists them as "cave crystal" but the mineral as quartz. The ''white cave crystal" seems to be massive quartz or maybe some sort of massive gypsum-- doesn't even look like calcite, and certainly not "spirit amethyst" which he also has it labeled. The "yellow cave crystal" looks to be quartz, and what we call 'blossom rock' or quartz druse with a pockmarked surface around here. The 'yellow cave crystal' also has the disclaimer that he gets all his cave crystals out of an "old quarrie". The photo enlargements aren't clear enough for a positive ID, except to positively ID that the fellow doesn't know what he is talking about. He may have gotten them out of limestone vugs, and hence, they are "cave crystals". There are a lot of geode related specimens out there labeled as cave this or that, but they don't pass the acid test.

And the auction is still up at 8:35 p.m. Thursday. Go crazy and take out all the real stal auctions you want, folks, but I'm not certain enough of the ID on these, or the mineral knowledge of the vendor, which seems to be sketchy at best.
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Re: Big Hick selling TN Cave Crystals on Ebay

Postby PackRatMatt » Nov 14, 2008 12:58 am

Big Hick certainly didn't win the spelling bee either... :lmao:
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Re: Big Hick selling TN Cave Crystals on Ebay

Postby slapout » Nov 14, 2008 2:41 am

Well the bottom line is they dont have any respect for conservation i know many cavers carry a bag for trash while in a cave but wont think twice about throwing a wraper or bottle on the ground when out of it yea i might be pain to go caveing with but we should take pride in all we do and set a example 4 other to follow
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