BANGBANGSAN Posted July 15 Report Posted July 15 These Type‑95 replica from China has reached a new level. It is advertised as a 1:1 copy. It takes around 20 days to finish after receiving order, the selling price is about $650. It is realistic enough to fool most people. @Bruce Pennington @Kiipu @Scogg @PNSSHOGUN @Stegel 1 1 5 Quote
BANGBANGSAN Posted July 15 Author Report Posted July 15 This one is also a 1:1 replica.Could you tell it isn’t the original ? 1 1 3 Quote
Scogg Posted July 15 Report Posted July 15 Very, very concerning Trystan. I believe I can spot some problems with the wood handle replica. Something about the transition of the wood to the ferrule maybe? Are all those wood hilts in the group photo advertised as for-sale replicas? That aluminum hilt is very convincing. Are there better photos of the stamps? The only thing that I can tell that looks funky is the serial number and especially the 東 blade stamp. Some fakes have a similar 東 blade stamp, that looks like it has pointy legs. What are your thoughts on possible fake identifiers for these? I wonder, if one were to buy one of these, if the item received would look as good as the photos. -Sam Quote
Conway Posted July 15 Report Posted July 15 Trystan are you sure the aluminum in the first photo (cardboard background) is the same as the one with the black tarp? 1 Quote
robinalexander Posted July 15 Report Posted July 15 They have been taking 'notes' from the "Fake Type 95" threads on NMB . Getting to be a real worry. Quote
John C Posted July 15 Report Posted July 15 2 hours ago, Scogg said: What are your thoughts on possible fake identifiers for these? The detail on the sakura menuki is not there...yet. Hope they don't get there. John C. Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted July 15 Report Posted July 15 Yes, quite concerning. If you had not introduced these as replicas, I would have believed them legit. Your last one had me going to my photos of my collection, and I was surprised to learn that the latch hole on the saya throat piece of my Tokyo 95s is - square! Replica Had not noticed that before. So, the replica's hole doesn't match. Admittedly a small sample. Maybe others can confirm? 1 Quote
Scogg Posted July 15 Report Posted July 15 Nice catch Bruce, I'll inspect my collection later today. I still wonder though, is it possible that this Chinese company is using better looking photos than the actual items that they make? Could they be using manipulated images or even photos of real swords; while manufacturing and sending out much worse looking examples? Would be very interesting to see one of these replicas in-hand; but I cannot think of a way to do such a thing without supporting a forgery outfit. -Sam 2 1 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted July 15 Report Posted July 15 Agreed. I could see $150 but not $650 to have one in hand. Oh, and another curiosity - Still using the 30000 range for the fakes!!! Anytime you see a 95 in the 30's, 40's or 50's immediately be cautious and examine more closely!!! Don't know why they are locked into this number range, but glad they are still. 1 1 Quote
Scogg Posted July 15 Report Posted July 15 Perhaps our Fake Japanese Swords section should be members only 2 2 Quote
BANGBANGSAN Posted July 15 Author Report Posted July 15 Check out this replica aluminum handle alongside the original. 1 3 1 1 Quote
BANGBANGSAN Posted July 15 Author Report Posted July 15 1 hour ago, Bruce Pennington said: Oh, and another curiosity - Still using the 30000 range for the fakes!!! You may pick any numbers you like,they will make it for you. 1 1 Quote
BANGBANGSAN Posted July 15 Author Report Posted July 15 14 hours ago, Conway said: Trystan are you sure the aluminum in the first photo (cardboard background) is the same as the one with the black tarp? Quote
Conway Posted July 15 Report Posted July 15 40 minutes ago, BANGBANGSAN said: Check out this replica aluminum handle alongside the original. So much for the long-standing advice not to disassemble Type 95s! We'll be taking them apart to look for signs of age. Or sending paint chips off to a lab for analysis. @Scogg Maybe Sam should include a guide for assessing Type 95 details with a magnifying glass in his revised Monograph…. I suppose it was only a matter of time before the fakes got too good to tell the difference. Just like WW2 German militaria (helmets in particular). 2 Quote
Scogg Posted July 15 Report Posted July 15 Trystan, are you in contact with this company currently? Or are these images from their website or advertisement? Quote
BANGBANGSAN Posted July 16 Author Report Posted July 16 15 hours ago, Scogg said: Trystan, are you in contact with this company currently? Or are these images from their website or advertisement? I know the guy who makes these replica aluminum grips. He puts hidden marks inside each grip. You can place orders for both latewar replicas and the aluminum-grip Type 95s on Chinese marketplaces. I don’t know the workshop myself, but a few friends of mine do. These new ones are way better than the older versions ’cause they’re using more advanced machining methods, though it jacks up production costs too. From what they told me, they could make them even closer to the real deal, but that’d bump the cost up even more,unless they have large quantity orders. 1 1 3 Quote
Scogg Posted July 16 Report Posted July 16 Thank you for bringing this to our attention Trystan. Very scary stuff. Like Bruce, I probably wouldn’t have noticed, which will now require a much more careful eye. Are these swords already out there circulating, or is this company just starting this operation? Quote
Marcin Posted July 16 Report Posted July 16 Who knows men? Remember hitlers’s diaries? Forger started preparing them 7 years before fishing started. Like 1975 or sth. Buying empty notebooks, writing MK by hand - He was building legend way before pushed fakes to the market. This dude did his homework. With big money he could basically re-establish entire factory. Now we have ai, so he can run scan to check for any differences based on pictures. In 20 more years it would be unrecognizable without doing metallography or patina analysis. Quote
John C Posted July 17 Report Posted July 17 A dose of optimism: Maybe he is making swords as replicas for the movie industry. John C. 1 Quote
Nazar Posted July 17 Report Posted July 17 (edited) In a few years it will be a great issue to distinguish them. A bit of artificial patina, a bit of natural one and most people (me one of them) will be fooled. I've seen such things happen with replicas and commemorative blades made in the 80s. The natural patina formed with the time passed was indistinguishable from patina on original objects. People were buying them for the price of the original, not bothering to dig deeper and double check even the most obvious things like handles that should be wrapped in shark skin and not leather imitation. Edited July 17 by Nazar Quote
Smee78 Posted July 19 Report Posted July 19 This is concerning, thank you for keeping us updated. I was thinking about adding a new addition soon, but this level of forgury has me concerned about any future purchases. As a noob myself I can admit when I'm out of my comfort zone. Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted July 19 Report Posted July 19 3 minutes ago, Smee78 said: This is concerning, thank you for keeping us updated. I was thinking about adding a new addition soon, but this level of forgery has me concerned about any future purchases. As a noob myself I can admit when I'm out of my comfort zone. Ron, I would encourage you to continue. Post on NMB if you have any doubts about the next one. 2 Quote
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