I have confirmed today with an official source that all the genuine ODA pins have the usual repeating pattern and Honav backstamp seen on every other ODA pin.
So if you see these pins on eBay and you're happy with the design and the price, then fair enough. But please don't think you are buying a genuine pin issued by the ODA to their staff and contractors.
Thanks to a reader for sharing the image of one of these pins.
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6 comments:
Its all the fake ODA pins being sold on ebay that
actually have backstamps that worries me! It seems
the import business is alive and well.
This is why these people make these pins.
People buy these pins using many excuses to justify supporting these counterfeit pin makers.
Honav are aware of these fakes & will not take any action.
There are no consequences to making or selling fake Olympic pins, other than making money.
The pin community as a whole just accept counterfeit pins as a part of the hobby.
The Olympic pin collecting hobby is more polluted by fakes than ever before, because everybody looks the other way, & many actually support these sellers?
Re the pins with backstamps - how can anyone know if they're fake? I actually ordered a couple of ODA pins recently from a seller of "imported" stuff to see what they were like, and I cannot see ANY difference between them and some pins bought months ago from a genuine (as far as I could ascertain) seller.
I know Honav aren't over the moon about fakes, but it's getting the auction sites to take action regarding the sale of counterfeit and stolen goods that's the real issue.
Honav knows or at least should know what pins are bogus, which sellers are involved, and they are the ones who paid dearly for the rights to produce pins using the Olympic marks. It is their paid rights that they refuse to protect. It does not pay, they are only interested in sales.
The auction sites have no clue to what items are counterfeit, but will remove items reported to them by the rights holder.
Trust your sources. If you are questioning if a seller is selling bogus pins, find another seller you do trust.
I bought a pin on e bay also from the 'import' business to find that it looked genuine. However the markings were upside down. Anyone that is collecting the pins just need to compare the backs to see what I mean when the markings are going in the wrong direction.
The main culprit seems to be the 'be considerate' pin!
This has to be an illegal and fake pin:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LAPEL-PINS-2012-ENGLAND-UNION-JACK-UK-LONDON-FLAG-DOUBLE-DECKER-BUS-BIG-BEN-S-/380437409993?pt=US_Olympics_Fan_Shop&hash=item5893d630c9
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