Hi, I am a retired police officer. I opurchased these cuffs/restraints at an auction last night. I was wondering if anyone could help with the following:
1) Who is the manufacturer. i can't find a manufacturers mark.
2) Are they real or reproduction?
3) What might their value be?
The restraints are marked "ALCATRAZ" by way of stamping on one of the handcuffs and one of the legcuffs. The same cuff that is stamped "ALCATRAZ" is also stamped with the Number "703" and the other "704". I am going to try and attach a couple photos.
Jack:
Don't feel bad. The "Alcatraz" scam has ripped a lot of people off. If you purchased the items from a reputable auctioneer, he'll refund your money. Just be sure and contact him quickly. Since it may be of help, you may want to print this thread to give to the auction house.
These things used to be all over eBay. Out of curiosity, I just did some searching, and there are no current listings nor any history of sales for these Alcatraz items (other than reproduction jail keys clearly marked as souvenirs for sale to tourists who visit the island). The only thing that shows up is:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ALCATRAZ-Prison-Bal ... dZViewItem
This is a guy who for $3.00 will sell you a thing describing the Alcatraz fakes and how people get taken advantage of.
While people gripe from time to time about eBay, they are very conscientious and on the whole, do a very good job of monitoring listings. Due to the complete absense of these items now, it seems eBay may now be refusing to list them. Perhaps they will soon do something about the vendors selling the bogus "slave shackles" and "Yuma Prison" artifacts.
Depending upon what you paid for the item, you may want to hang on to it. I've got one (Alcatraz ball and chain) that I bought knowing fully well it was a fake and paid a proper price for it. It's a lot of fun at parties. People think it's real, and worth a lot of money. I tell them it's a fake, but they argue with me, until I ask, "Why bother to take the trouble to mark it Alcatraz? Who the hell is going to steal something like this from a prison?"
In any event, I think it a safe bet that everyone who visits this Forum from time to time hopes this experience will not sour you on collecting restraints. While it's not the ordinary type of collecting, like stamps or coins, it's very interesting and enjoyable.
