I think we all have been ripped of at some time, and I dare to say that most of us even have ripped someone else of. In most cases, when its about serious collectors, we didnt know it. But yes, some people (on ebay etc), have no honesty at all.
Having slept on it and thought much about it, I agree with Fred Prinz even more... A man has got to do what a man has got to do, and if you need a dagger and cant afford one, what do you do? I can see some occations when this could have happened. Geoff Ward has a great point; How fun is it to be the only one without a dagger (or a hat)? There are certain occations when I would have made replicas myself. It is not at all funny to be the only one who does not have a special "whatever", and therefore does not want to participate. We have all been shouting at our mothers because "all the others kids will wear this tomorrow" when we went to school, havent we?
So I agree with some of your points.
