Repro pellets box's revisited

[Evostu]

Ah protek lol
If you need a box to complete a boxed pistol set then that's the only reason I'd buy a fake box,although I'd much rather have the original
The same mor their range of fake webley pistol boxes they do,again I'd much rather have the original but sometimes it's impossible to get,especially for something like a mk2 target
My biggest concern is seeing several pistols for sale I a repo box but the advert stating its in an original box

Same as my cased webley senior,it was missing an oil can and the chances of getting an original are virtually 0,if one could be found it would be £600+ so I settled for a decent fake to fill the hole in the case

[isobar]

i share your concern and sentiments regarding repro/fake because as times pass who will what is original and what is repro.even a seller won't know.

[BadPigeon]

Its heart breaking to see these reproduced as aged boxes and looking rather well made as we all know these will be soon up for sale as originals all over the place. In fact they already are for sale on a popular online market place.

Unless we can examine any newish looking cardboard vintage pellet box in person i would be inclined to think they are fake. This sort of kills the original improved bulldogs online sales along with all the others in light of these many reproductions. The prices of some of the pellet boxes sold recently i suppose proved just too much to resist for the fakes industry. However i am very surprised that a well respected shop is the source of these fakes.

I would much rather live in hope of finding an original box then buy a repro but then again thats me, also encouraging the fakes makes finding an original box hard due to the loss of trust in this niche market. I for one wont sell any more of mine duplicate vintage cardboard pellet boxes purchased as part of collections as the prices are rapidly hitting the rock bottom for the cardboard the tins are fine.

[Josie & John]

I agree Matt.

I just don't see the point of a repro box and after a few years of wear, it will make identification difficult. Some repro boxes I was given are marked as such on the inside flaps but I don't know if all are and I don't think the Webley pistol boxes are.

John

[ggggr]

I agree Matt.

I just don't see the point of a repro box and after a few years of wear, it will make identification difficult. Some repro boxes I was given are marked as such on the inside flaps but I don't know if all are and I don't think the Webley pistol boxes are.

John

As you probably know, Chris Hough had some repro pellet boxes done. As these started to appear on the bay as "Genuine", he stamps them inside with "Reproduction" (I think).

[ccdjg]

As you probably know, Chris Hough had some repro pellet boxes done. As these started to appear on the bay as "Genuine", he stamps them inside with "Reproduction" (I think).

Yes, Chris does clearly mark his repro' boxes, inside the lid flap with the words 'This is a facsimile. A modern copy. For display only'. These then serve a useful function for collectors, such as shelf wallpaper for a gun room, to temporarily fill a space in a cased pistol etc.. It would be impossible to remove the lettering from these without it being obvious.

[slug-gun]

I am on the same page as Matt, reproduction of period commodities is an unfortunate and unwelcome trend, that probably helps few in the long run. Air gun artefacts are far from alone in being copied however.
I have noticed an ever growing tendency for attractive enamel signs to be reproduced. An example is the black on white Purdey trade sign, of which there were three examples on the last time I looked, all at different prices, all with the 'rust' and 'corrosion' reproduced as well!
All very clever until you find out you have paid ten times the going rate, and find out eventually you will!

Perhaps one saving grace with pellet card boxes is that a pre war box, even if kept untouched in a drawer, will still exhibit signs of aging inevitably after all those years. There will be discolouration of the paper; the corners of the end flap for example will have started to curl, and the box itself will probably be slightly misshapen, with evidence of scuffing at the edges?
You would have to be clever to fake all that, and given the relatively modest value, the work involved wouldn't be worth the time and effort?

Another obvious area to examine, but less easy to do at an arms fair or in someone's front room of course, is to analyse the nature of the ink. Modern inks use different chemicals to those of yesteryear, so with the relevant analysis, immediate confirmation of age, or not, could be realised.

Also of course there is the issue of the pellets inside. They would in all likelihood have started to oxidise, and will have stained the inside of the card packaging accordingly. And if the box is 'mint' but empty, you have to ask the question where did all the pellets go?
In a fake box they either won't be there, or there'll be replaced with newer looking and probably non original slugs. And the inside of the box will therefore be as clean as a whistle.

So whilst I generally deplore the reproduction of anything - I mean people who wear fake Rolex watches to impress, what's that all about - I think if you look hard and ask the right questions you should escape being 'taken in'?