NBC Ornament scrappers vs. real. Photos and comparison and possible AP pin?

[Nasubionna]

Hey friends! So, in my quest to acquire all the pins of these little miscreants I frequently purchase pins on eBay. These pins in particular are tricky because there are very clearly many, many scrappers out there of Lock and Barrel, who - according to Pinpics - have known scrappers in circulation. So far I've only seen one pin of Shock (which I bought) and Pinpics doesn't mention her being scrapped, so that leads me to hope that perhaps my pin of her is genuine since eBay isn't flooded with them??

As an experiment, I ordered two of Lock, each from a different seller, because the listing photos looked slightly different and I suspected that one of them might be a scrapper... and I was clearly correct, see photos below:

There are very noticeable differences in quality: the scrapper has a flat purple rather than pearlized, the lines and details aren't as clear (such as around his eyes and especially his teeth) and the overall look is very dull compared to the real one. Note: the photo makes it look like the fake is more narrow, but that's just because I have them laying on a desk and they're slightly tilted to one side. They are also the same thickness of metal.

There are more interesting discrepancies on the backs:

There are visible differences in the Mickey Head logo and how close the box containing the text comes to the edge of the pin. Also, interestingly, the real pin says "AP" after the word 'China'... so did I unintentionally buy an artist proof of this pin??
The other clear discrepancy is that on the real pin is says "Pin 4 of 6", while the fake says it's pin 6 of 6. As I'll show later on, Barrel should actually be pin 6... unless the order changed between this possible AP pin and the final run?


Now on to the other two, who I really don't know if they are fake or not.

I'm inclined to at least hope that Barrel is real, because the back of his pin is a bit more similar to the genuine Lock pin (see below photo), but on the other hand the background is a very flat blue like the scrapper Lock, and his lines seem a little bit thick and sloppy... but since I have no other pin to compare it to, I just don't know. What I DO know is that many listing photos of him on eBay appear like he's missing a pupil... which seems like a pretty big quality failure to me and therefore makes me suspect fakes. Maybe I should buy one of the pupil-less Barrels to see.

As for Shock, the back of her pin looks a bit more like the scrapper Lock and her lines look a bit thick and sloppy (her teeth are a mess!) as well as having a very dull look to her skin/clothing colors... but on the other hand, her background is a nice glittery blue instead of flat and since I don't see her on eBay at all (unlike the boys, who are all over the place), I would think she's genuine... she's got some scratching/damage in addition to looking dull, but these are 11 year old pins so perhaps she's just been put through the wringer?

Here's the backs for comparison:

Here's all four pins side-by-side:

I pointed out the 'AP' designation and where it says the wrong pin number on the fake Lock.

Anyway, I am new to this hobby and am very much NOT an expert, but I thought I'd share my thoughts and I would very much love and appreciate hearing the opinions of more knowledgable folks about if you think these are genuine pins or not (as well as answering the AP question). Thank you!

 

[Nasubionna]

I've just been informed by someone that the pictures aren't showing up?? Is anyone else having this problem, because they're showing up just fine for me... D:

 

[Walt]

Showing up for me although I cannot help with the authenticity of these!

 

[Nasubionna]

Showing up for me although I cannot help with the authenticity of these!

Thank you for letting me know!

 

[lohofosho]

So I am not sure if this is helpful, but wanted to share about mine as well. I also ordered them off ebay. They all came together, and it was apparent immediately by comparing them, that some, if not all were fake.

I had originally thought that my Shock may be real, the background looked good and the pin overall felt right (like yours). But a trader on here told me that she had all of the others from the set, and on all of hers, the textboxes on the back all went close to the edges, and mine (like yours) doesn't.

Anywho, here are some pictures of mine.

 

[Nasubionna]

So I am not sure if this is helpful, but wanted to share about mine as well. I also ordered them off ebay. They all came together, and it was apparent immediately by comparing them, that some, if not all were fake.

I had originally thought that my Shock may be real, the background looked good and the pin overall felt right (like yours). But a trader on here told me that she had all of the others from the set, and on all of hers, the textboxes on the back all went close to the edges, and mine (like yours) doesn't.

Anywho, here are some pictures of mine.

Thanks so much for sharing your photos and info! It seems like perhaps the only way to be sure about having authentic pins is to buy the whole darn set. Sigh... scrappers ruin everything.
Thanks again for the input! They don't look too bad on my cork board, but it's still a bummer to think about giving any money to counterfeit producers.

 

[bookhugger]

So what conclusion did you reach?

 

[Nasubionna]

So what conclusion did you reach?

I haven't reached a conclusion yet, but I think I'm gonna go ahead and pull the trigger on purchasing a full set that I'm confident aren't fakes.... so stay tuned!