Alright, I finally got my fake Sapphire and have started scanning it and the real deal in.
I've got the main roll-over comparisons up on a simple page for now-
http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/sapphirecomp.htmlI'll have the rest of the manual scanned in and have a lot of detail info about the bootleg and the differences and the easiest things to spot when its done.
I had thought that even with a comparison that it would be too hard to tell in an auction image if a copy was fake or not, but I've already learned enough to do it pretty easy.
Here's what appears to be an honest seller with one on eBay right now-
http://cgi.ebay.com/PC-Engine-ACD-GINGA-FUKEI-SAPPHIRE-Near-Mint-JAPAN_W0QQitemZ8277700358QQcategoryZ4315QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemLike I said, I'll get into details later, but some main points for now-
The fake's case is bright white and totally different than a regular PCE one or any white cases I've ever bought. The plastic looks and feels cheap. It has sharp pointy triangle ridges for the grooves over the hinges instead of flat squarey ones. Also, the fake case has a texture on the cd area, while the real deal is smooth and solid.
The spine and insert are thin and over glossy and noticibly flimsy/bendy like paper , in contrast to the more matte finished sturdy cardboardy originals.
The manual pages however, are extra thick, like sonmay/ever anime type bootlegs. And the inner pages have the worst repro image quality of the item.
As is now common info, the fake has an extended inner ring with a barcode and extra writing on it where as the original has clear plastic in the same area and very little text on it's thin ring.
The manual cover art has lost most of the color seperation and looks darker and blurry. The outfit is all shades of blue where as the original has more distinct shades of purple and the entire cover is paler and sharp/clear.
One of the big giveawys with the cover is the logo. Its very pale and almost fades to white along the middle in the original, but the fake is vibrant purpley-pink to orange to dark yellow while the original is only pale-urine yellow and pale bubblegum pink. Also watch out for the yellow colored parts on the shuttle which are orangey in the fake.
Other grey colored sections on the cover are blue shades in the fake.
And although its hard to spot in photos, all the Arcade card logos are a super bright light orange on the fake, but paler and not flourescent at all on the original. I don't think that this came through in my scans, but I can't really tell since my monitor is dying on me.
Topic: Bootleg Sapphire comparison (Read 414 times)
