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Questions About Questionable Packaging


Steph

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So here is a comparison of some the "Akro" items sold in the past few months by one particular seller.

I'm not an expert on Akro packaging. The comments in this post and on the pix are only my reflections. I made the comparisons because it seems that each is "wrong" in its own special way. The two single marble boxes which look most similar look a little different inside.

Yet as different as they look from each other they have similarities between themselves, which don't look like any akro packaging I've seen anywhere else.

If someone knows of confirmed akro examples with this sort of stamping, or those dividers, or that thick paper, I would love to hear about them. Or about confirmed vintage boxes which have "aged" in that way. Some of these look shellacked.

(click to enlarge)

Singles:

The blue slag is about 3/4". That will give you an idea of how wide its box is.

AsstOfPkgs_1a_singles-1.jpg

Four other boxes -- warning: this image is large, about 2000+ pixels wide

AsstOfPkgs_MoreBoxes_lg-1.jpg

The same 4 boxes, smaller version

AsstOfPkgs_MoreBoxes_sm-1.jpg

This post is about these boxes. Not that seller. These boxes are now in circulation and more might be on their way. At least one of them was being reauctioned by someone recently -- the one pictured with the little blue carton. I think it was listed by someone in England. We know it was the same box because he used some of the same photos for his listing, including the photo with the blue carton.

So I think it would be good to have them on the record, and well, if they are actually close to legitimate in any way that would be interesting to hear. Where would one get a stamp like that to use on the boxes?

The top one here is from an Imperial box. That's the closest example I know to the version stamped on those boxes up there and on the cloth in the sample box currently on ebay.

ImperialDesign_and_CopyFromStamp.jpg

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I am certainly not an expert on Akro boxes, nor would I ever claim to be. I also don't want to stir the pot on this mess. As for me, if the sale sounds or looks questionable, don't buy it. However, I do know a bit about graphics. And since you asked the question, I will give you an answer on what I do know. In todays computer age it is easy to produce faux, or fraudulent material. It would not take much for me to flip around an Akro logo and make it look original enough to pass as the real deal. This doesn't necessarily need to be a stamp, it could be something as simple as printing a blank graphic on paper, (insert colored paper here) and transfering that to a box. I suppose the lesson here is, buyer beware. Know what your getting before you pony up the money and have good relations with the seller. Hope that answers your question. God Bless!

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Steph

FWIW

A friend of mine makes knifes. The handles are deer antler.

He uses TEA to soak the deer antler in to make it look like Red Stag.

( which is more pricey than deer antler).

Although he doesn't sell these knifes/ They could be mistaken

for something they aren't.

Also, from what I've seen of these auctions. ALL have been questionable. At least by me.

That is of course 21 years of studying marbles.

In the eyes of a Newbie. They may look legit.

Great topic for a thread.

MORE to learn from.

Thank you for it.

marblemiser

see below

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steph you own a dog, lolol, j/k,,, it is kinda weird that all the auction photos on the box in the other thread are clear as heck except for the one added showing the akro emblem thats on the bottom of the box, it looks simular to the one you showed,, just weird,,, im beginning to see the light steph, lets go kick em again,, good eye,,, bj

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lol ... I don't get it. maybe that's coz 3 cats own me -- well 2 cats have their name on the title, and the third has the right of way. where do they get they idea that they're invited to walk across you on their way to the next room?

I assume everyone reading this sees the light by now on the seller. That sealed bag with the dug shooter inside can't be gotten around. yet I still find the boxes intriguing in their own right. Anomalies fascinate me.

With not quite six years of collecting I probably wouldn't have fallen for any of those boxes but I can't be totally sure. One of the singles had me going, made me wonder if he had some legit items. the one with the clean cut center hole:

th_cleancutcenterhole.jpg

Literally putting them together with the other suspect examples or up next to validated examples says so much though.

I'm reminded of what it sometimes says on the tags for clothes made in Indonesian sweat shops or wherever a lot of handwork is done. The tags actually emphasize how there are irregularities and how no two garments are alike but insist that's a good thing, because it reflects the handcrafting.

That's a tell-tale sign which is definitely not a good thing for a company which specialized in packaging to begin with. That's why Akro went into business -- to sell small, pre-packaged assortments of MFC's, which up to that point were mainly sold to kids one at a time from counter-top boxes.

it is kinda weird that all the auction photos on the box in the other thread are clear as heck except for the one added showing the akro emblem thats on the bottom of the box, it looks simular to the one you showed,, just weird

yeah, that is weird. and with the 2 mib pix added at the same time he probably couldn't add another pic if he 'wanted' to. hmm? is 12 still the limit?

Funny that he didn't think to mention the logo when he first posted the listing, when he was "selling it on the basis of the marbles alone". when the box was "just included". Did he have 2nd thoughts which made him not mention it the first time? have to wonder what changed. Wonder if it is somehow an enhanced version of the basic stamped version. You can see some markings below the marbles in the original shots. But hard to see where the whole design could have been.

uh, no, this is not about him. dry.gif Even though it keeps sounding like it. :rolleyes: It's about signs of things to watch out for. <img src='http://marbleconnection.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/doh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':doh:' /> This seller just gives so many examples of what to watch out for! <img src='http://marbleconnection.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Sad_headshake_tweetz.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':Sad_headshake_tweetz:' /> That's how I figured out one of his other id's. I was analyzing 'another' seller's tricky language when suddenly I realized it was the same guy with a new i.d. He's a poster child for scary listings. blink.gif

There are two akro logo stamps involved in these. The main thing I wondered about in the realm of "legitimacy" was whether someone might have gotten surplus akro items somewhere. such as plates from whoever did the lithography on their packages. I guess things like that can just be made up? Ooooohhhh -- click! -- they could be done with wood, couldn't they!

By someone with laser engraving tools?

uh ... I guess I've seen that emblem at least one other place.

th_EmblemOnWood.jpg th_EmblemOnWood_b.jpg th_EmblemOnWood_c.jpg

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