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What did I just buy TMNT #1??
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Started by Mike Oliver,

165 posts in this topic

WolverineX

WolverineX

Posted
Posted
On 10/11/2023 at 11:34 AM, valiantman said:

Put on your criminal game plan hat... 

If I counterfeit this book but make a small error that only I know about... then when I flood the market with the counterfeits, the price of all copies will fall. At that point, I'll buy multiple copies of the real TMNT #1 for myself. I'll know which is which because I know about the small error. Then once I'm satisfied, I'll tell everyone how to identify the counterfeits.  My stash of real books will skyrocket!

Interesting. It's going to be a crazy world when these counterfeits become exact duplicates. Then cgc slabs that were graded before a certain date could become more valuable.

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flchris

flchris

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Posted
On 10/12/2023 at 4:30 PM, WolverineX said:

Interesting. It's going to be a crazy world when these counterfeits become exact duplicates. Then cgc slabs that were graded before a certain date could become more valuable.

CGC apparently grades counterfeits (labeled as counterfeit) from what I've seen on ebay (for example: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - COUNTERFEIT 2 - CGC 9.8 SS - POP 1 | eBay). 

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rich_TMNT

rich_TMNT

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Posted
On 10/12/2023 at 7:26 PM, flchris said:

CGC apparently grades counterfeits (labeled as counterfeit) from what I've seen on ebay (for example: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - COUNTERFEIT 2 - CGC 9.8 SS - POP 1 | eBay). 

They definitely do grade counterfeits. Here's my #1 Counterfeit - and my #2 Counterfeits (Copy #1 and Copy #2).

It makes me sad when I see SS graded counterfeits like the one you shared because it was likely submitted as authentic and the owner only found out it was counterfeit when they got it back. :sick:

I do wish CGC would indicate "why" or "how" they determined these issues to be counterfeit (especially for issue #2). Many copies of the first few Turtles books had quality issues that required hand-trimming by Kevin & Peter (TMNT #1 2nd Printing & #2 1st Printing).  If evidence of hand-trimming on books is what CGC uses as an indication it's counterfeit (especially with #2), they may actually be incorrectly identifying authentic copies as counterfeit.  I haven't yet figured out exactly how to identify a TMNT #2 as a counterfeit but some day I'd like to do a comparison between them to see if anything stands out.

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Dick Pontoon

Dick Pontoon

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Posted
On 10/13/2023 at 1:40 AM, rich_TMNT said:
On 10/12/2023 at 9:26 PM, flchris said:

CGC apparently grades counterfeits (labeled as counterfeit) from what I've seen on ebay (for example: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - COUNTERFEIT 2 - CGC 9.8 SS - POP 1 | eBay). 

It makes me sad when I see SS graded counterfeits like the one you shared because it was likely submitted as authentic and the owner only found out it was counterfeit when they got it back. :sick:

As Frog once said, maybe yes and maybe no. The seller refers to that book as a counterfeit "variant," as if trying to imply it was an alternate version published by Mirage in the same way that current publishers produce variants of the same book with different covers.

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grendel013

grendel013

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On 10/18/2023 at 9:45 PM, flchris said:

It's back on with a starting bid of $1599: 🔥🔥 Rare teenage mutant ninja turtles 1 Counterfeit TMNT 1 🔥🔥 | eBay

Oh good! That's in my budget!!!!!! Let me find my checkbook. :banana:

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jas1vans

jas1vans

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On 10/12/2023 at 8:26 PM, flchris said:

CGC apparently grades counterfeits (labeled as counterfeit) from what I've seen on ebay (for example: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - COUNTERFEIT 2 - CGC 9.8 SS - POP 1 | eBay). 

They should just send them back and let the submitter know they are counterfeit but...

 

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jas1vans

jas1vans

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Posted

Also, I've seen companies that print GA books for around $15, can't they just do the same for TMNT?

If I were in the market for a fake TMNT #1, I'd probably go that route. Then I would have a much, much nicer copy for about $1475 less.

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wardevil0

wardevil0

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On 10/19/2023 at 9:17 AM, jas1vans said:

Also, I've seen companies that print GA books for around $15, can't they just do the same for TMNT?

If I were in the market for a fake TMNT #1, I'd probably go that route. Then I would have a much, much nicer copy for about $1475 less.

I think the difference is trademark/copyright related... those GA books are likely public domain by now, whereas replica TMNT #1 would certainly violate intellectual property laws.  But, effectively, you're right in that anyone can print off a fake copy of TMNT #1 for less than buying this one.

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Sigur Ros

Sigur Ros

Posted
Posted
On 10/18/2023 at 9:45 PM, flchris said:

It's back on with a starting bid of $1599: 🔥🔥 Rare teenage mutant ninja turtles 1 Counterfeit TMNT 1 🔥🔥 | eBay

I think I'm gonna buy it just because it's becoming famous.

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Dr. Balls

Dr. Balls

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Posted
On 10/19/2023 at 7:17 AM, jas1vans said:

Also, I've seen companies that print GA books for around $15, can't they just do the same for TMNT?

I have some of those that I bought so I could read them and keep my slabbed copies - but the image quality is pretty poor. I mean, you can read them just fine - but they aren't high quality by any means.

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grendel013

grendel013

Posted
Posted
On 10/19/2023 at 12:42 PM, shadroch said:

If someone wants to buy a counterfeit book advertised as such, who are we to say no? 

I guess it's a morality check type of thing. Who's to say the buyer doesn't turn around and try to sell as legit. It's best to either encapsulate it to memorialize as counterfeit or to destroy the damn thing before someone really loses their shirt. :banana:

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