Are you interested in a HM counterfeit identification project?
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So I mentioned in the Resolution thread, and now also in the "scrapper solution brainstorming thread," that I have been wondering if there was interest in a community project to identify counterfeits and scrappers.
I have noticed that when I have a fake and an authentic pin in my hand, there is usually some easily spotted characteristic to identify them. A wrong color, a backstamp in the wrong place, misspellings, etc. But without having them both, it can be a shot in the dark. You might see "backstamp is smaller on the fake" on Pinpics, but it can be hard to know if yours is the smaller or the larger. There are also a bunch of pins that have the warning on Pinpics, but there is no description to explain the markers. And I think some of the Global CM series, which is the first series that the fakes were out simultaneously with the official release, but before the emails with the pictures started floating around, so not all the pins even have the "warnings."
I was thinking that a database of pictures, front and back, would help. My thought, was to have a thread for each year's release, one thread for DL, one for WDW. In each thread, people could (ideally) post pictures of both side by side. But even if you did not have both, you could post a picture of what you thought was fake. Or what you knew was real (maybe you bought some in a HM pouch or caught a CM refreshing). Since, I think the HM pouches and the ones in the refreshing packs come from different factories, it could also help identify differences that do not necessarily make a pin a fake.
Thoughts?
I have noticed that when I have a fake and an authentic pin in my hand, there is usually some easily spotted characteristic to identify them. A wrong color, a backstamp in the wrong place, misspellings, etc. But without having them both, it can be a shot in the dark. You might see "backstamp is smaller on the fake" on Pinpics, but it can be hard to know if yours is the smaller or the larger. There are also a bunch of pins that have the warning on Pinpics, but there is no description to explain the markers. And I think some of the Global CM series, which is the first series that the fakes were out simultaneously with the official release, but before the emails with the pictures started floating around, so not all the pins even have the "warnings."
I was thinking that a database of pictures, front and back, would help. My thought, was to have a thread for each year's release, one thread for DL, one for WDW. In each thread, people could (ideally) post pictures of both side by side. But even if you did not have both, you could post a picture of what you thought was fake. Or what you knew was real (maybe you bought some in a HM pouch or caught a CM refreshing). Since, I think the HM pouches and the ones in the refreshing packs come from different factories, it could also help identify differences that do not necessarily make a pin a fake.
Thoughts?
