Telling originals from repros?

[King Atari]

I thought at first that this might be better in the ebay forum, but I guess it relates to selling in general. How would you be able to tell if you've bought an original or a repro? I understand that most sellers are honest people, but I'm worried about people who don't know (or even me). Are there usually some distinguishing marks? Also, how easy would it be for a scumbag to make a repro silver label cart? My apologies if this has been brought up before.

[sku_u]

The most tell-tale sign would be the quality of the label. While repro labels look really good, if you hold one up to an original cart, they actually look very different and the paper stock is often much different as well.

[Room 34]

Yeah, noting the difference in paper type and ink quality is the key... but I think you need to have a mental baseline already established of what each particular type of label SHOULD look like. It depends a lot on your ability to discern fine details...

[King Atari]

I myself should be okay then (I always go over every little detail in both carts and videos), but I worry about first time or newbie collectors.

[King Atari]

Okay, another question. What about the little date that is stamped on the end label. You know, the production date/number, whatever it is. How hard would that be to reproduce? I'd think that would be a tell-tale sign of authenticity.

[sku_u]

Okay, another question. What about the little date that is stamped on the end label. You know, the production date/number, whatever it is. How hard would that be to reproduce? I'd think that would be a tell-tale sign of authenticity.

 

Are you referring to that serial # looking thing that is pressed into the label rather than printed onto the label? That is reproduceable, but it would be a pain in the ass to do so.

[King Atari]

Yes, that's what I meant. I figured some machine had to stamp that on there, making it hard to repro.

[Room 34]

That's a good point. If someone were to get into the realm of trying to reproduce that stamped date, it would cross the line from 'repro' to 'counterfeit.' At any rate, I can't imagine bothering to do that unless you're trying to pass off a fake Quadrun to make a few hundred bucks. And that would just be sad.

 

Of course, the date stamp test will only work for Atari-made titles... and even then, I don't think Atari always did those stamps... I can't check my carts to be sure at the moment, but I think the early text labels and the late red labels did not have the stamps.