How Do I Identify A Fake Beatles Mono Box?

I asked this in the Chinese Beatles mono box thread, and it was asked in the stereo box thread, but I see no real info yet, so here's a thread I hope will help us identify dodgy issues of the mono box.

In a moment of weakness, I ordered a cheap set on ebay; I fully expect it to be something other than the legitimate release and would appreciate solid info so I can readily discern the authenticity.

I thank you in advance of your forthcoming assistance.

 

Look closely at the cover. If it says: The Buggs "The Beetle Beat" Mono Box, it is a "fake" - (even though the shadowy cover photos look something like the Beatles). Note that they spelled Beetles correctly instead of incorrectly like the Beatles did. They pulled this one back in 64 and apparently they are back in business, so beware, don't be fooled!
By the way, the real and original (if you can call it that) The Buggs "The Beetle Beat" is not a bad record and worth quite a bit on the collectable market. So if you got fooled, you did ok anyway.

 

Can't anyone take an honest question seriously? All you need do to ascertain a fraudulent mono box is to shake gently (in one ear only). If you hear very subtle "Yeah Yeah Yeah's" from within you do indeed possess the original USA or UK article. If you hear "Oui Oui Oui" or "Si Si Si" or "Ya Ya Ya" then it is certain to be a grey European export. If hearing "Shi Shi Shi" or "Hai Hai Hai" it is likely to be a Chinese or Japanese replica. If you hear "Ni! Ni! Ni!" then it is not the Beatles at all but a DVD of "Monty Python and The Holy Grail"

 

Buy from the big guys only. If it's cheap, it's fake. That's all we have for now.

 

You do not describe the fake box, but you provided the only useful answer here. Good advice to "buy from the big guys only."

 

Look around for any typos/mistakes in the type. If you find any errors (shouldn't be hard), it'll be a fake. That's the only real way you can tell as far as I know, unless you have a legit box as well and can compare materials and very specific aspects of packaging, etc...

 

I think it's safe to say, at this point, that any mono or stereo box being sold for < $150 is fake. No one can legitimately source them at wholesale at a price that would allow selling them at that price point.

I wouldn't even trust a box for > $150 from a source I didn't know to be too big to deal in counterfeits or to be flipping stuff that walked in the door as new. Amazon, BestBuy, FYE, Target, Walmart, HMV...that's about it...

 

So true. Price alone doesn't say much. For ex, nothing prevents them from selling a fake one $225.00.

I'm glad I bought mine on day 1.

 

Trouble is Keith, is that when I start a serious "useful" thread about the quality of mail-order packaging materials for vinyl from different suppliers - hardly anyone even bothers to contribute. Seems its all too much effort to take a few snaps for everyone to see.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=5157355&postcount=1

So to you Sir I also say. "Ni!".

 

Maybe someone with a genuine mono box could post some matrix numbers?
If someone has a known counterfeit, those matrix numbers might prove helpful also.
Lacking any clear evidence on the package itself, those numbers could be the best way to ID a fake.

 

I received my bargain mono box today. A cursory examination of the sealed, though dented, packaging revealed no spelling errors. No "doly bn r" or "dititaly resmastered" like I've seen on other faked items. The seal looks alright, about what I've seen on boxes like this. Opening it up, I see that the booklet looks okay and the discs are in Japan style resealable sleeves. Inside the outer box there are places that look like the coating peeled off, but no flakes inside the box; its definitely cheap cardboard. I see that the gatefolds are a little crooked--they don't fold together neatly. I open the White Album and both discs are inside the second pocket. The discs are inside flimsy sleeves within the jackets. I look at the non-gatefolds and half have the back flaps unattached to the jackets. The glue is there, but the flaps have come loose. Pressing them back tight seems to hold them in place.
I haven't listened to any of the discs yet, so I can't speak to the recordings, but the discs look a little cheap.
My preliminary take is that this might be a Russian knock-off. I'm thinking I may have to return it to the seller.

Any feedback on this info?

 

Matrix numbers for The White Album (mono):

CD 1: 6994612 2
CD 2: 6994622 2

 

Thanks! I'll check what I have and report back.

 

I think there's little doubt it's counterfeit. The question is, is it worth owning at the price you paid? If you paid, e.g. $30, which is what you can get these for from China, including shipping, you might decide it's worth keeping just as a toss around copy. If you paid appreciably more, I would return it. To be honest, I'd return it on basic principal, since the person selling it was trying to pull one over on you. But to do that efficiently, you'd best have specific info to "prove" the set is counterfeit.

 

Not 100% accurate as Amazon sold the stereo box for $99.99 as a special one Saturday before Christmas.
I agree with the sentiment of your comments, but I think it depends more on the source than the price.

 

I got a $90 mono box on its way to me now. If it's fake I'll be mad, but seller on eBay provided UPC barcode info in the sale, so he's kinda held to selling me the actual product he described and I'll be sure to take him to the cleaners if it IS a fake. His original price was $119 or best offer so I best offered him. Maybe too good to be true, we will see.

 

Let’s say the box I get in the mail DOES look suspicious and I believe it to be fake. If it is at least a very passable facsimile, could I not put a small dent in the side, go to Best Buy, explain that I received it as a gift, that there is nothing wrong with it except I’m real picked and there’s this dent in the side and would it be okay if we simply made a switcheroo? Would I lose sleep at night? Would they eventually catch on and show up at my doorstep one day, an army of Geek Squad team members carrying bats and clubs?

 

How is it right for Best Buy to "pay" for your mistake/fake box, when they weren't involved in the initial transaction?

edit - if you had a real Mono Box that you didn't buy at BB, and you returned it there for store credit, I could sorta understand that. At least BB could re-sell that and not be out anything. But you taking a product that isn't legitimate, trying to pass it off to Best Buy as if it is, and walking away with a real item, while they're stuck with something that they shouldn't re-sell, is wrong, IMO.

And if you're successful, that means that somebody else who tries to buy a legitimate Mono Box from that Best Buy store may end up with a fake, which sucks too. I'd hate to think I can't trust product I purchase from a legitimate business like that.

 

Amazon lost money on those. It was a loss leader special, available for exactly three minutes, one day, heavily promoted, to drive traffic to Amazon's site.

No one who is selling a legit set is going to match that price now.

The fact Amazon sold them for $100 for those three minutes really is irrelevant to the discussion...They LOST (a lot of) MONEY on those few sets they sold at that price. No one else is going to do that.

 

Absolutely. I am disgusted that people are even discussing doing this on this board.

I would bet my house that the box you just bought on eBay is either counterfeit (95% probability) or stolen (5%). No one can source the legit set for $100. Sorry, just not possible.

Hope you're happy with a counterfeit, or you have a lot of time to waste dealing with returns. And expect to spend your own money to ship it back.

Oh, and the UPC on the counterfeit is probably the import UPC, which means even if your cheapness overcomes your morals, BestBuy won't take it because they don't stock the counterfeit in the US.

I don't understand why people are buying these boxes. Mark Twain was of course correct: Common sense is not so common.

 

Not cheapness, poverty!


I was just brainstorming....I'm not REALLY an evil genius. I wouldn't try to rip off poor ol' Best Buy.

This is the info given in the auction:

Item specifics - Music: CDs
Artist: Beatles (The) Release Date: Sep 09, 2009
Format: CD Record Label:
Capitol Records (USA)
Number of Discs: 13 Discs
UPC: 5099969945120
Genre: Rock Duration: Album or EP
Sub-Genre: British Invasion Condition: Brand new
Special Attributes: --


Soooooo.....if it's anything other than that the seller has some explaining to do.

You never know....maybe he got it as a gift or won it from a radio station.

You might say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one....

 

If he really had a legit box, he'd know how much it's worth, and he wouldn't be likely to sell it for $90.

Even if the UPC matches, that doesn't mean they haven't made counterfeits with the US UPC now. And if they have, what do you do then?

 

I'm no fan of the evil empire BB but no way should you try to drag them in on this. BB is my sole local source for discs these days. People start trying to pull a switcheroo and it just gives them another reason to reduce music floorspace and give it to video games.

 

Well, would the counterfeits SOUND different than the legit ones? Maybe I'll be happy with it. I'm not that picky. If it's a fair approximation I won't mind. But sound is important and will be the deciding factor between happy Zodiac and outraged Zodiac.