RockMyAmadeus Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 24 minutes ago, Stronguy said: Right, RMA. Once you see them side by side it's obvious. Yes, quite clearly. But you don't need to see them side by side to tell. See this picture? This is the OP's example. See the reflection? You can almost read the panels closest to the spine in the reflection. Clearly a counterfeit, no contest, and you don't need to see it side by side with a genuine one to know it. I suspect that's how everyone else arrived at that conclusion as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stronguy Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 3 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said: Yes, quite clearly. But you don't need to see them side by side to tell. See this picture? This is the OP's example. See the reflection? You can almost read the panels closest to the spine in the reflection. Clearly a counterfeit, no contest, and you don't need to see it side by side with a genuine one to know it. I suspect that's how everyone else arrived at that conclusion as well. Agreed. Once you know what you're looking for it's easy. It just help to have reference (thus me posting the pictures over in the CA forum). The first thing I look for is the clean black strike on the cover. All of the originals are muddy. On the fake they are crisp. Sim told me that's the way he does it too... who am I to argue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockMyAmadeus Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 1 minute ago, Stronguy said: Agreed. Once you know what you're looking for it's easy. It just help to have reference (thus me posting the pictures over in the CA forum). The first thing I look for is the clean black strike on the cover. All of the originals are muddy. On the fake they are crisp. Sim told me that's the way he does it too... who am I to argue. Don't get me wrong, there certainly ARE other tells, for sure. I've dealt with Cerebus #1 ever since getting my first ones (real AND counterfeit) in the late 90's, and I've had more than a few pass through my hands. One guy even tried to take me to the cleaners by selling me a counterfeit for $250 (when, at the time, they were selling for $20-$30) that he didn't state was a counterfeit (this was back in 2001, 2002 maybe?) and tried to claim he was in the clear because he didn't claim anything about it. And this was a DECADE before eBay made it even remotely easy to get your money back, I had to make essentially a court case to my BANK to prove that this guy was trying to defraud me, but I got my money back. I suspect Paypal, because they're corrupt, ate the charge, and didn't take it back from the seller, scumbag that he was. So I'm pretty passionate about these books. Yes, there are other tells, but far and away, the easiest is just to open that cover...if you can...and see that reflection. That doesn't require you to become an expert in the other tells, like with the various Turtles #1 printings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stronguy Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 18 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said: That doesn't require you to become an expert in the other tells, like with the various Turtles #1 printings. Figuring out the TMNT #1 1st and 2nd print difference from just the front cover was a bit of a pain in the butt. Fortunately I had multiple copies of each and was able to do a flicker analysis of the cover to find that one stray dot on the 2nd print. Without that tell there might be a bunch of 2nd print sitting in 1st print, PXG slabs and no one would be any the wiser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine48 Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 2 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said: No. Gloss does not "fade." It can be worn, but wearing the inside front cover's gloss off is going to be fairly uncommon (understatement.) See the reflection of the light in the above picture? If the interior front cover reflects light, as in the picture above, it is counterfeit. If one has even a little experience with these books, they do not need a "side by side" comparison to tell the difference. It is glaringly (pun unintended) obvious, and an instant giveaway. No obscure art "tells", which aren't consistent anyways, necessary. If further help is necessary, compare a typical Direct market copy of Spawn below #100 to a standard Marvel book from 1994 (say, GI Joe #150), and you'll get an idea of the difference. liked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
