Counterfeit Alice in Wonderland Mystery Card Sets on eBay

I wasn't able to attend the event, so I have never seen the pins in person, just photos and the pictures on pinpics are not very good. I wish that instead of pictures people would take scans. Scans show so much more detail and don't have the glare from the flash. The only difference that people seem to talk about is on the Alice chaser, that she has pink hair does not have red eyes. Unfortunately I didn't get her, yet. And in all honesty it seems if you bought the actual pins at the event that you would know enough about the backing cards to make your own replicas. I will scan my pins tonight and post pictures so maybe those of you who bought the pins at the event can let me know what you think.

As for the ebay seller who seems to have a never ending supply of the pins, the best way to nail them is not to report them, but to buy the pins from them and then open a case. You will get your money back and you will be able to take them off of the secondary market since if you open a case and win ebay does not require you to return the item. At that point you will also be able to leave negative feedback, which will severely damage their integrity, or lack there of, as a seller and finally since selling counterfeit items is illegal, particularly on ebay you can also report it to the FBI's internet crime fraud division. Then the person will never be able to sell counterfeit pins again, without risk of going to jail.

I just bought some DA pins and one of them was counterfeit, I know this because I purchased several of the pins in the set myself from DA and this pin is much larger, not to mention that it's missing enamel. As soon as ebay allows me I am going to report this person as I know that she sells counterfeit pins frequently, this is the second time I've gotten fake pins from her.

Sometimes to bring a person down you have to get a little dirty, because it is clear that they have no problems dealing dirty. Because it seems like as pin collectors we're the only ones who care enough to stop pin counterfeiting.

OK so the scans didn't turn out perfectly, well at least the colors didn't. The lighter colors, the flesh tones turned out not as bright as the actually are, they are more creamy and less sallow, but hopefully you'll get the point. Maybe I can even find the original photos that the seller posted and see if they are a slightly better representation. The backs of the chasers are black and the regular cards are gold, but let me know what everyone thinks. Reals or fakes.

Just by looking, they are on original backer card so I would say real. Unless someone has printed fake cards and then put them on the lesser valued pins I'm the set, they are real.

I have found at Trade Nights and Events that you should always trade with a backer cards but on the more popular pins such as Cheshire and Alice, make sure that they are real and not fakes placed on a Doormouse original backing card for example. But again Chasers cost too much to do this switch just for the Original Backing Cards.

Is there anyone who might post pictures of their pins? Pinpics pictures are not that great. Everyone keeps mentioning the pink haired Alice, but do the other characters have pin features? And are we talking like bubble gum pink, because some of the pins have a very light corally color that some could mistake for pink.

Here are the ones I got from the event and took photos of:

Just went to take a look. Wow. You can tell the difference. Who in their right mind would start the bids at 99 cents on these. And the listings are private? What's up with that?
The real card pins show the pins on the cards. The fakes don't. I got a couple of AP chasers at the Sci-Fi event off the boards so I compared them to the pictures. Big color difference.
It's too bad people are being sucked in and losing their hard-earned money.
Sharon

I don't have those non-chasers, but I have all the Chasers, and they match mine perfectly (which were pulled at the event).

In fact, I actually sat down just now for a while and compared my real pins to the high-res pics of fakes on eBay, and (so long as those pictures are accurate, and my pins are not errors), I discovered the following tell-tale signs:

Spades Chaser - Some of the counterfeits appear to use only a single shade of brown across the board, while the real version of this pin uses two shades: one shade of brown for the background, and another, lighter brown for the paint brushes. The counterfeit's brushes appear to be the same shade of brown as the background.

Tweedle Chaser - This one's easy: on the counterfeit, the hat on both characters is pure red. On the real version, the point on the very top of the hat is white.

Walrus / Oysters Chaser - This one's annoying, because it actually has both proper shades of brown. Luckily there's an easy solution: on the real pin, both the Walrus and the Oysters have black enamel filling their mouths. On the counterfeit, this black fill is missing, so their mouths are pink. In addition, the oysters' faces should be a sort of dark cream color, while their bodies are pink. On the counterfeits, their bodies and faces are both a uniform pink.

Dormouse / March Hare Chaser - This one does a good job of using both shades of brown where they should be. However, it skimps by not using pink at all. The Dormouse's arm, hair, left hand, and the rims of his ears should all be a vibrant pink: a different color from the rest of him. The little spot inside the teapot under his right arm should also be pink. On the counterfeit, all these areas that should be pink match the rest of his face, and the March Hare's face. There's no definition in the spots that should be pink: it's all just one color.

Queen and King of Hearts Chaser - The Queen's V-shaped eyebrow should be filled black. On the counterfeit, the brow is just flesh colored. Same goes for the King's mustache and eyebrows. Both character's pupils should also be filled black, but on the counterfeit, they're just filled white to match the rest of the eye.

Mad Hatter Chaser - This one's a joke. There's so much wrong with the fake version. On the counterfeit, there's a bizarre "X" on one of the two Hatter's chin for no reason. Both Hatters' eyebrows should be filled black, but both are just flesh-toned on the fake. The upper handle of the teacup should be a sliver of white, but on the counterfeit, it's filled black. The hand holding the teapot on the real pin has a clearly-defined thumb and thumbnail, while the hand on the lower Hatter, holding the teacup, should have five fingers. Instead, the counterfeit has no fingers, just kind of a fleshy ball.

The REAL pin actually seems to have a coloration error: the Hatter on the top of the pin (the one holding the teapot) is kind of throwin' up the horns with his free hand. The finger on the left of his hand (that's "house left", our left as the viewer, his longest finger pointing upwards) has a spot of white just to the left of it on the real pin, between the finger and the bow tie. This is filled red on the counterfeit, which actually looks correct, as it matches the rest of the background. Then the fake pin has a similar spot of white - a tiny line running parallel to the arm on which the hand throwing up the horns is attached.On the real pin, this is filled red.

Caterpillar Chaser - This counterfeit actually looks pretty good. The only difference I could find was tiny, but easily spotted once you know it's there: on the counterfeit, the caterpillar's tongue is the same shade of pink as his nose and hands. On the real version, the tongue isn't pink, and matches the rest of the caterpillar's face.

White Rabbit Chaser - The pupils and eyebrows of both Rabbits should be filled, but on the counterfeit they aren't. Instead, the Rabbit's pupils match the pink of his eyes, and his eyebrows are white like the rest of his face.

Cheshire Cat Chaser - This one looks great at first, but there are little signs that give it away (thankfully, since I still own a bunch). The Cheshire Cat's ears should be brown on the rims / outside, and flesh-toned on the inside. On the counterfeit, both the rims and the inside are flesh-toned. On the real pin, the upper region of the Cheshire Cat's face should be a sort of orangey brown, while his nose is a darker brown. On the counterfeit, they're both darker brown.

Alice Chaser - Where to begin? This counterfeit's a mess! Alice's hair should be blonde: on the fake, the lower (larger) Alice has peach colored hair, while the smaller Alice has unnatural bubblegum pink hair. The same bubblegum pink is found on the background of the two paintings (the one of the flowers on the left, and the square framed one on the right). Those two paintings is where the peach color SHOULD have been, and where it is on the real pin. In addition, the real pin has a red partial fill in Alice's eyes, whereas the fake's eyes are just white. Big Alice's mouth should have a partial red fill on the real one, but the counterfeit has a solid red fill. The faces of both Alices should be the same color, but on the counterfeit the Big Alice is a weird brown instead.

Bonus Round: Cheshire Cat Non-Chaser: Funny enough, the counterfeit here is actually made better than the real one. On the counterfeit, both of the Cheshire Cat's eyelids are brown, matching the rest of the fur on his upper face (this is also true for the real Chaser). On the REAL PIN, only the right (house right, the view's right) eyelid is filled brown. It's yellow on the real pin, matching the Cheshire Cat's eye and making him look - frankly - like he's drunk off his striped behind. I WONDERED why this pin looked so weird when I pulled it. I guess that's why.

I don't own any of the other non-Chasers anymore, but maybe Brenna or Austin can fill in the gaps, while verifying that my Drunk Non-Cheshire Chaser Cat is the standard, and not a deviation. Once I verify that this info is true, I'll refine this stuff and post it over in the Guide section.

-Jason

Huh. Disappointingly enough, the non-Chaser Cheshire Cat pictured on Pinpics does NOT have the strange "Rummy Eye" mine has. I'll have to ask around about that.

-Jason

I found this thread very helpful. With the information here, I was able to find out a couple of the pins I have are scrappers.
Thanks.