Just a heads up about several cds being sold on U.K. eBay. Think may have been mentioned before. They all look legit, but the sellers (multiple accounts) keep relisting them, which seems really suspect, as these titles are oop and hard to find. Would be good to have the guys from Intrada and Varese to comment on what they think.
The Deep 2 cd Intrada Set. Fright night Intrada The Goonies . Varese Blood in Blood Out . Conti. Varese Spacecamp. Intrada Death Wish II Robocop. Intrada The Thing. Varese
With exception of that Blood In Blood Out bootleg.
I’ve watched them, and 10+ of each cd has been sold . All get good feedback and are received by the buyers. I’ve bought Robocop and Frightnight. It will be interesting to check them out.
You should definitely check the tracklisting on the backcover. I purchased the Varèse edition of Ghostbusters last year, thinking it was legit. Multiple copies were sold as well. Until someone pointed out the 2 deliberate typing errors in the track listing on the back cover. Colors of the arwork were a little off as well.
I’ve watched them, and 10+ of each cd has been sold . All get good feedback and are received by the buyers. I’ve bought Robocop and Frightnight. It will be interesting to check them out.
Of course, good feedback on ebay means nothing. Many buyers may simply be unaware that they've bought a counterfeit CD. There are sellers of counterfeit Nintendo GBA and DS game cartridges on ebay who have hundreds of positive feedback comments because the buyers are unaware they've bought a counterfeit.
My understanding is that the numbers or letters or 'codes' near the inner circle of a CD indicate where the CD was pressed. If these numbers on these suspicious CDs do not match those on a known genuine CD (bought direct from Intrada or Varese, say) then they may be counterfeit. I myself bought a copy of Intrada's Robocop from an Amazon Marketplace seller several years ago. I was always a bit suspicious as the CD was significantly cheaper than I expected for an out of print Intrada CD. I was never able to confirm if the CD was genuine or fake.
EDIT: I've had a quick look online and it appears these numbers or codes on CDs are something called 'matrix numbers'.
I bought Robocop for about £9 from one of these ebayers a few weeks ago, and bought Spacecamp last week (awaiting delivery) for a similar amount. I have Robocop CD in front of me now. Everything about it looks 100% legit and I couldnt be happier with it.
I must admit I was, and still am, a bit suspicious of these CDs, and the sellers, and have a few observations -
1) Why, if (as one of our members has suggested) the sellers had bought and stockpiled these CDs to make a profit when they become rarer are they selling them for less than the original cost ?
2) Secondly, why are they putting a '?' after the word 'Intrada' in the ebay listing ie 'Robocop - Intrada ? CD '. The CDs have Intrada all over them, so why the use of the question mark on their listings - as if the seller is questioning the legitimacy of the CDs themselves. Does the use of this ? give them a get-out clause ? ie. if buyers complain when they receive their CDs and question the authenticity of their purchase.
Multiple copies were sold as well. Until someone pointed out the 2 deliberate typing errors in the track listing on the back cover. Colors of the arwork were a little off as well.
Typos don't rule out Varese Do you expect anyone would check their product before they ship it to be pressed and printed?
They are bootleg, maybe printed and sold by someone who has access to the same pressing plant used by Intrada and Varese. Prices are too low and the units sold are too large. If also the matrix number on the cd is the same, the pressing plant used for these copies is the same.
I have a copy of The Deep and copies of Knight Rider and Ghostbusters Varese with typos like We Get One.
When these arrived the seller had written ha ha in cursive for their signature on the customs declaration. The Deep's codes underneath match - same as the Varese Ghostbusters and Knight Rider to the originals.
However - take a peek at your Deep disc 1 - The black paint job on the first disc is what tipped me off - Around the text THE DEEP - it appears that it's got a rectangular border. I attempted to return these because they were not originals, and ended up getting fully refunded for all of these.
I have also noticed copies of a few other CDs besides scores from this seller, it seems they have multiple accounts. Also selling Ilan Eshkeri's Young Victoria score for the same pricing, Labyrinth, Battle of Britain and a few others.
Multiple copies were sold as well. Until someone pointed out the 2 deliberate typing errors in the track listing on the back cover. Colors of the artwork were a little off as well.
Typos don't rule out Varese Do you expect anyone would check their product before they ship it to be pressed and printed?
The typos were entered deliberately, so if they get caught it's not an exact copy. The Varèse I bought of Ebay last year, although factory pressed, is a 100% sure bootleg.
