Hi Guys, here's a bit of information about these fake capes I hope it help us a bit more.
First of all, some general information.
Fake burgundy capes are available since 2004 probably earlier, on 2010 the amount of fake capes increased terribly so now we can count them on hundreds.
Original Burgundy capes are very hard to find, almost impossible, even original LL Cloud Pilot Communicators are easy to find compared to an original burgundy cape, so why so many of them are available? Because they are fake.

2004 or earlier, first fake capes available:

Easy to spot, color is way off, it has cuts under the arm pits, cape is too big, still a nice custom.

2004-2008

Easy to spot, color is too dark, fabric used was too thin.

2010

High quality fakes, material is very close to the original, it has red stitches and cuts under the arm pits.

2010-11
Stitches and cuts under the armpits are gone, many of us thought these were originals, but some events raised the alarm, capes emerging on high numbers, many mint capes among them, sellers with 4 or more capes available at once, loose green original capes for sale from the same sellers offering burgundy capes    loose mint capes for sale on ebay and many more events:


2011-14
Great quality fakes, stitches and cuts under the armpits are gone and they look a bit damage, as new mint capes looked suspicious these became available:


2011-14
Each time more damaged. Great quality fakes, stitches and cuts under the armpits are gone and they look damaged:


To spot a fake burgundy cape only through pictures is very hard, only with the help of experience after looking at many samples through many years this task becomes possible, here's a high quality custom made of a different color, same source of those fake capes:


Apart from the color it has the same quality as those burgundy fake capes.

So if you are buying a burgundy cape just keep in mind that fakes are available since 2004 and the guys making these have now a 10 years experience on the job, so if you are going to buy one now you WILL get a custom cape. I honestly recommend you to avoid burgundy capes and if you want one you should pay what you think a custom cape is worth. In order to gather all this information, many samples have being examined, custom capes, original green cape samples, fake samples, burgundy squids, prior 2000 original samples, prior 2000 damaged original samples and a carded example kindly offered by Merlin (Thanks for the chance to analyze such a rare and valuable LL item buddy).

I hope this information helps you somehow, Cheers!
OZIO

Thanks for the warning Ozio! It's good to know you are watching our backs. Are you going to add this to the Ledy Thread as well?

cantina_patron wrote:

Thanks for the warning Ozio! It's good to know you are watching our backs. Are you going to add this to the Ledy Thread as well?

That's a good idea, will do

Scarry that those fake Burgundy capes are getting closer and closer to the real deal.

Great to know that you keep an eye out for us, Ozio!  

Well this sucks.   I dislike repro weapons but I view them as a bad thing that wont go away, but now to repro ledy stuff and do a decent job of it enough to fool the layman like myself, damn shame. I am thankful for Ozio and the others who can give opinion on great ledy items and hopefully keep me repro free. 

This just highlights why buying from TIG members is such a good idea.

Thanks for this OZIO ... lets hope not too many people get shafted by the fakes.

 

OZIO wrote:

cantina_patron wrote:

Thanks for the warning Ozio! It's good to know you are watching our backs. Are you going to add this to the Ledy Thread as well?

That's a good idea, will do

Excellent!

It would be good to see comparison pics of the outside of the cape as well.

Apart from the colour those capes look the same

Wow that's scary stuff, I'm was looking at buying a SquidHead red cape & bib red coat but don't know how to tell if real or fake just comparing pictures. It's real frustrating to a newbie like me! Plus I have to be very careful with spending so it would really hurt if they were repros!

@Ozio: I sent you a pm for some opinions. Please & Thank you   

Well, crap. If they're making the repros so much like the originals that the fabric looks the same magnified then I'm only buying the rarer figures here. I agree with Chopper. At least you can count on guys like Ozio to keep us informed. Thanks dude.

Your input to the LL world is a credit to this site Oz, and i think I speak on behalf of everyone here in thanking you for your time, effort and unbelievable work you do   

As for the LL Burgundy Bib, I don't need to know what the fakes look like, because when I finally get round to buying one, it will only ever be from you   

$660 usd for a fake cape...
Well...

Hopefully the buyer spots this thread before paying for that fakey....





Ebay images added for reference.

was wondering about this one,,wooowwww 660 dl
i realy hope the buyer will (did) read this threath,,

so we are looking at a dyed vintage Ledy cape, not a complete repro cape?
As well as having a smoother texture, compared to the Ledy cape, the genuine Kenner bib capes have a V cut out under the arm, is that correct?
So that would be an easy way to spot a dyed Kenner cape.

Correct me if I'm wrong Ozio, but a Kenner cape dyed burgundy would be easily recognizable because the threads wouldn't hold the color like the fabric. So you'd have a burgundy cape with beige thread...
something akin to this:

chris.75 wrote:

so we are looking at a dyed vintage Ledy cape, not a complete repro cape?
As well as having a smoother texture, compared to the Ledy cape, the genuine Kenner bib capes have a V cut out under the arm, is that correct?
So that would be an easy way to spot a dyed Kenner cape.

Yes, that's correct.

bedheadjulian wrote:

Correct me if I'm wrong Ozio, but a Kenner cape dyed burgundy would be easily recognizable because the threads wouldn't hold the color like the fabric. So you'd have a burgundy cape with beige thread...
something akin to this:

Yes, and a big tell on this one is the inside, completely different to the original burgundy bib plus the V cuts under the arm.

This is not an original burgundy cape:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Original-Vintage-Star-Wars-Lili-Ledy-Red-Bib-fortuna-with-chest-plate-only-/231179189322?pt=US_Action_Figures&hash=item35d35a7c4a



ORIGINAL:


Guys, stay aways from LL Burgundy Bibs, there are NO originals out there at the moment, only fakes, lot of them, even some 'trusted' or 'good reputation' sellers are offering them, if you are going to buy a Burgundy Bib right now there's almost no chances for you to get an original one, Fake ones have been on the market since 2004 and they are having a blast selling them to all of us, let's stop this.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/STAR-WARS-BIB-FORTUNA-RED-BURGUNDY-CAPE-LILY-LEDY-VINTAGE-JEDI-ACTION-FIGURE-ROT-/271422515455?pt=US_Action_Figures&hash=item3f320ae8ff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HJxya0CWco

I bought mine off T.I.G only a few months ago. We are so lucky have OZIO and a couple of other resources here that can determine the authenticity of these (in some cases) very believable fakes.

I am guessing in a lot of cases the sellers do not even know they are not real???

How can we help stop the rott ?

Chopper wrote:

I bought mine off T.I.G only a few months ago. We are so lucky have OZIO and a couple of other resources here that can determine the authenticity of these (in some cases) very believable fakes.
I am guessing in a lot of cases the sellers do not even know they are not real???
How can we help stop the rott ?

I agree with you mate, I don't think all sellers are trying to scam people but other sellers are just fooling themselves.

What can we do?
Honestly, stop buying Burgundy Bibs... really.
The guys behind these have no respect for the hobby, their buyers, their reputation, when something about this fakes pops out the go back and hide for some time, after a while, new fakes are available. I've seen this cycle since 2004 and keeps going.

Unfortunately, there have been a couple of my reputable (or former) contacts that have been selling these as original as well. Bottom line, like Ozio said, it's about how they make their money and from whome.

That being said, have you also seen such an influx in faked bergundy Squidhead capes Ozio? I know they have been made but I wasn't sure if those fakes are as common as the fake Bib's.

Should people be messaging the sellers or is not the done thing?