bigmamou wrote:I finally was able to talk to Jon Mulvaney about all of this last week. He confirmed for me that the "F for Fake" cover was originally issued with the name spelled as Welles' and was never spelled as Welle's. I emailed him a scan of my package and he confirmed that it is a bootleg.......the cover photo is fuzzier (a copy of the original cover) and offset on the box and, of course, the name is wrong. I received today from B&N another copy that is legitimate (the cover is identical to the cover shown on the Criterion website) and it is also heavier than the original box I received. I think I will keep the counterfeit copy as I kind of like the irony of having a fake of "Fake"!! I don't know what to make of web dealers showing the bootleg cover on their websites though so buyer beware?
I don't trust Amazon sellers other than Amazon (or like Target @ AMZ, etc), I would actually trust eBayers over Amazon marketplace. Based on my experience, ebayers seem to be more accountable and sensitive to negative feedback, there's better communication, provide better descriptions and pictures, and not to mention usually lower prices.
Feego wrote:My Picnic at Hanging Rock is in one of those "shallow" cases, and I bought it brand new many years ago from my local Hastings. I believe some of my other, older CC discs are also in cases like that (all bought brand new from reputable vendors), but I know for sure that Picnic is.
FYI, I recently bought The Killer on ebay, with frosted ring, reflective disc art and NIMBUS logo, also using the same shallow, short-lengthed indent/crease where the case opens. I assume this to be legit...
I own about 275 CC titles. The only ones with these cases:
Hard Boiled (1 of 2 copies have the shallow indent)
The Killer (1 of 1)
Silence of the Lambs (2 of 2)
Tokyo Drifter (1 of 1)
Unbearable Lightness of Being (1 of 3)
Note, all but 1 of these were bought after they went OOP, and a few of them have other discrepancies in the printing. I also assume the first 3 to be some of the most commonly bootlegged titles in CC.
Ater buying over 100 CC titles new from BestBuy, Amazon, Borders, and Walmart that as soon as I bought about 10 on eBay I encountered the distinctly different cases.
I emailed the Criterion dude, John or w/e, regarding this over a month ago, but never received a response.
Based on what others are saying on this forum though, I'll tentatively assume these are legit, and just happens to be coincidence.
zenosparadox wrote:Hello all. I am in need of some assistance identifying the bootlegyness of my copies of Hard Boiled and The Killer. I have done some research, but I need advice.
The Killer:
I own two copies of this one. My wife, who used to work at a UPS store, told me that she doesn't think that the inserts are glossy paper. They are hard paper, nonetheless. All the artwork has pointed, non-rounded edges. The discs have the mirror effect, and it has the correct NIMBUS and serial numbers. Honestly, the only difference I can see between these two copies of The Killer is that one has a disc where the center is non-transparent and the same color/style as the blood and title of the disc, and my other copy has the white frosted ring. I have read that Criterion put out both versions of these disc. Also, for both discs, when I put them in my computer, they pull up UNDEFINED, which I also understand might be normal for these. Anybody have any clues?
Hard Boiled:
Two versions of this one, too. I actually just discovered which of the two was a bootleg. The insert was printed on glossy, thick paper. The artwork on the outside of the case was printed lower, if that makes any sense. One way to see this is that the logo on the top, front of the case, containing the words "THE CRITERION COLLECTION", is too tall. The correct version is slightly shorter.
Here is an example. Both of my Hard Boiled copies have the NIMBUS and correct serial numbers. The bootleggers are getting good, I guess.
From what I've seen and read, older CC titles were typically printed on non-glossy paper. I think the assumption is that bootleggers cannot replicate the NIMBUS logo or the white frosted ring on the disc. Though I've seen some sketchy looking NIMBUS logos where it is like overwritten/superimposed on some type of serial number. Also, I noticed that as long as a disc has white frosted ring and NIMBUS logo, it basically always sells at the authentic price/value on ebay--so for the purpose of resale value, it may as well be legit.
Regarding your copies of The Killer. I recently bought one with frosted white ring and NIMBUS logo with the reflective disc artwork--no black print. I assume this to be legit. I've read elsewhere through a 3rd party that people owning both versions as you described/pictured both swear to the authenticity of their copies. Also, the packaging images of The Killer on this site shows the black print on the disc--they really ought to include more angles (e.g. case spine, case opening, back of disc). You may want to check the back of the case at the bottom fine print for (first printing vs second printing) as this may explain the discrepancies, though being so short-lived as a CC title, I doubt it had more than one printing. I actually own a legit Flesh for Frankenstein that was printed by a second printer (w/o NIMBUS logo) that still says First printing--so maybe this doesn't mean anything anyways.
Regardless, if they both have the NIMBUS logo, I think they both would be generally accepted as authentic. If you decide to sell one, I'd hold onto the one with the frosted white ring and reflective (all grey/silver and no black) disc art as this is probably the more coveted of the two.