n2marbles Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 I have not been here for a while so I don't know if this has been brought up but I see this guy selling this box on the bay and was wondering if you guys thought it was fake? I'll post a link in a minute. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2marbles Posted May 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-VINTAGE-BOY-SCOUTS-1937-National-Jamboree-AKRO-AGATE-MARBLES-GIVE-AWAY-/251972693493?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3aaabe2df5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 Looks fake to me. Location Florida? That's not one of the locations I recognize for our better-known ring of marble item forgers, but this item does not look good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2marbles Posted May 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 Thank you, that's what I was thinking also. Guy say's his dad got it himself back in the day. Thanks for the response. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblebee Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 Yeah those fonts look very modern. I'm sure I have a couple of them on my PC right now, particular that slender one used for the dates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 I hope I didn't slander a decent box. Here are the first reasons which made me think "fake". 1. It's very different from the Akro items I know about. 2. The label is irregular -- and looks like it always was -- the edges don't look like they were ever straight, much less cut by professional process. 3. It has a slightly lacquery look which reminds me of how Pavcraz "aged" boxes. I also thought about comparing fonts. However, I had some errands to run and didn't get that far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 One more note for now. The Silver Jubilee of the Boy Scouts was in 1935. Were they still celebrating it in 1937? I'll guess they were since even if this is fake, I'd expect someone to get that detail right if they're going to bother going for something so obscure to begin with, but it's something to check on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sclsu Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 There is no mention anywhere in Google search results indicating that this was ever a giveaway at the jamboree. 1937 was the first year of the jamboree, but the only non-boy scout related memorabilia I could see was a coca cola ad. I think if thus was a giveaway, at least one other one would have been on the market recently enough for Google to index it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ann Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 . 2. The label is irregular -- and looks like it always was -- the edges don't look like they were ever straight, much less cut by professional process. This is what bothered me more than anything. Wonder if Hansel's around . . . I'm sure he'd have one if it were real! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aleecee Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Looks like the kind of thing we did back in the day in camp..."burn" the edges of a paper, smooth off any remnant ash, then stick the paper to a box and slap a lot of decoupage over it to give it a gloss and make the paper stick. Perhaps this was a Boy Scout craft project???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sclsu Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Maybe they got confused when someone was taking about an akro boy scout marble and put this together? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sclsu Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Also, they created an emblem for they junilee, which from what I read was widely used for memorabilia from this event. It does not look like the one on the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Check out this box from a different seller, but also in Florida: http://www.ebay.com/itm/201343201730 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 (edited) That second seller had another "Akro" box, http://www.ebay.com/itm/201294772445, which looks closer to authentic, but remember the people who re-registered the Akro trademark recently? I think that could be the new Akro box, even though the bottom looks pretty awful. Edit: this second seller also had one nice Akro box I wouldn't think to question: http://www.ebay.com/itm/201343209023 Edited May 30, 2015 by Steph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Anyone have any complimentary boxes with Akro labeling which they think are legit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 I may be talking too much. Check out p. 34 of Hardy's 1992 Akro book. A similar GAR box is there. From those two auctions again. They still both look awful to me though the Boy Scout one looks worse. But if the GAR one is legit, then maybe both of them are. *backing slowly out of the room* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblebee Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Who knew the old timers had access to the 1993 Brush Script MT font on their pedal-powered Windows 0.1 PCs when they were making those old boxes ...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 I wrote both sellers hoping to get some insight into why such an interesting mix of boxes would show up in Florida. The Hardy reference on the sort of similar looking GAR box made me question my own doubts bigtime. Could it really possibly be for real? I got a message bag from the seller of the Boy Scout box. No answer on whether it came from an estate sale or what. Just said he ended the auction but the box was still for sale if I was interested. He's not a fly-by-night seller. Long history on eBay. But no helpful information on this particular item. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblebee Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 My hunch about the font on the Boy Scouts box was correct. It appears to be Arial Narrow, which I think originated in 1990. I was able to freshly type it on my paint program right over the box type with a perfect fit. There was a bit of skewing due to the original photo but it appears they even kept the default line and character spacing. Edit: Notice their "Silver Jubilee" font appears somewhat condensed vertically, whereas the "June 30..." text is vertically the same as my freshly typed one. I am assuming this is simply evidence of photoshopping where the "Silver Jubilee" might have been resized in bitmap mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 What do you think about this label? Does it come from fonts available in 1932? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblebee Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 The GAR fonts are too generic to say, but I would bet the house the Scouts box is a contemporary fake. I don't have enough reference photos of original boxes from that era to go much further. These boxes all seem sort of "lumpy" to me. Did you notice the surface scratches and damage on the GAR box were very similar to those on the more realistic looking Akro box that was also ended? Seems like somebody just scratched to and fro. Here is a slightly enhanced photo. Could be a coincidence, but... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblebee Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 I find the bottoms of the Ballard Star Checkers and Akro 100 boxes remarkably similar in their aging details, from the white base coat, the worn edges, scratches, and then a faint brownish stain here and there that is exactly the same color on both. Again, I don't own any original boxes like these, but my assumption at a glance is that the same manufacturer made both box bottoms, and it appears both box bottoms aged (naturally or artificially) in similar ways in similar environments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 I was also struck by the similarity between the box bottoms. And felt a little bit uncomfortable with the look of the bottom. Yet I also don't have much experience with box bottoms. We rarely see that angle ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblebee Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 I tried tracking down the font on the Ballard Star Checkers box but could not get the R to match. The box R has an odd, almost unnatural angle to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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