I mailed the seller with the question if it was an original pressing, since he offered another MAD BAD cd the day after I won the CD. He mailed me back saying that it was a normal factory pressed CD, not a CD-R, with artwork. He thought it was a reissue. I mailed him back that there are no reïssues of this album, so it must be a counterfeit and that I am not going to buy it. I didn't get an answer to that (I mailed him two days ago).
YourValentine wrote: I cannot open the attachment, can you send it to me via email, Jayce?
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Hi Barbara, the attachment didn't go well, for some reason, but you can click on this URL to see the image.
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/6711/thecrossmbadtk.jpg. I don't think I have your email at hand but I will look for it and send you the file later today.
Jjeroen: The trays on both CDs are different. One is transparent and kinda looks good. The other one is black but REALLY BLACK, and not the dark gray-almost black trays most CDs have. It is glossy/shiny looking and not opaque, too. Looks cheap, though.
The booklet looks good enough, actually. I will scan more of it when I get to the office in an hour or so.
I contacted both sellers but neither has replied. I told them I suspected they were pirate/counterfeit editions and that I had 7 days to return the CDs per their own policies. The Return policy on one of the auctions says the seller covers for return shipping costs, while I have to pay for the return of the other.
Thanks for your help!!!
Wiley wrote:
Jjeroen: The trays on both CDs are different. One is transparent and kinda looks good. The other one is black but REALLY BLACK, and not the dark gray-almost black trays most CDs have. It is glossy/shiny looking and not opaque, too. Looks cheap, though.
I meant the paper inlay on the back, hehe, the one behind the tray, not the tray itsself ;-)
The paper that shows the titles, label-info and barcode... ;-)
I wouldn't worry about the tray - that could be damage replacement.
Odd though - the disc I have is identical in every way - matrix number, layout of information, font, content...except one thing.
Yours is printed onto the silver disc.
Mine is a yellow label stuck to the disc.
Now this in itself doesn't necessarily mean you have a pirate - it could just be a second pressing. BUT - there surely wasn't enough demand for a second pressing? AND wouldn't a second pressing have a matrix number ending in 2, or is that not how these things work?
Final point....I've probably had about a dozen MBADTK CD's over the years. All had a yellow label.
In short - I can't prove it's a pirate...
Guru... thanks very much for your very detailed feedback! For some reason, I knew you would have a lot of info (your nickname, perhaps?) :P
So, it's still non-conclusive.
Here's an additional clue: the back cover/tray print, as requested by Jjeroen.
(Jjeroen: Of course you meant the back sleeve and NOT the tray, duh! hehe)
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/782/thecrossmbadtktray.jpg
The print quality is lost on the scan. It looks MUCH better in real life.
About this: Eventhough I've never had an original MBADTK CD in my hands, the print quality is VERY good. I happen to have a fake French Mr. Bad Guy CD and the print quality on the booklet and the back cover wasn't perfect. On that particular CD I had an extra clue... the matrix number didn't match, so 1+1 = fake.
On this one, it's not that easy.
Thank you all.
The seller (stuck_inside) put another one on Ebay (http://cgi.ebay.nl/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290441204111&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:NL:1123). Can't imagine he has a dozen official Mad Bad cd's.
Tsjah.... looked at the inlay scan and you guessed it: it's identical to the original.....
Which means we will stay puzzled, I guess. As PG suggested, I indeed also never heard of a second pressing of this album... But I am 'glad' that PG confirms my thoughts about the yellow on the disc...
Another thing I noticed, but now I am starting to look at rediciolous details, is that the staples in the booklet are in a slightly different place... A detail, but it does make it unlikely that your booklet was printed at the same time by the same machine...
And indeed the fact that the seller has so many copies makes it more unlikely that this is genuine...
That counterfeiting is getting so annoying - do we realy have to start looking at the position of staples now to see if something is genuine or not?!
Shameless bump :).
I don't know. I guess I'll return one and keep the other. It is a good album after all and the CD looks and sounds good.
Apparently nobody had seen this 'edition'. So, it's either THE BEST counterfeit/pirate copy ever or a NEVER BEFORE SEEN second/alternate print.
Sadly, I know which one is more likely :S.
It's not that unusual to have more than one copy - I've probably got 4.
Don't damn the seller on that basis...
Penetration_Guru wrote: It's not that unusual to have more than one copy - I've probably got 4.
Don't damn the seller on that basis...
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I don't - not on that alone. ;-)
One of the sellers I got one of the CD's from (fastdecision777) has another MBADTK for sale. He replied to me, said that the CD looked genuine for him and he hadn't seen the other edition (the authentic). He offered full refund for the CD including shipping, so it looks like he is honest.
Also, this user has a 18813 grade in eBay so it must be a STORE and not an individual. It's not rare to get more than one identical CD if you're into that business, I guess.
The other CD I got it from stuck_inside. Haven't heard from him, though.
If I had paid $8.99 for these CDs I would keep one... hell, I would keep BOTH. But I paid $20 for EACH of them.
$20 sounds like a very good (yet realistically possible) price for an original MBADTK, but not for a possible fake.
I am about to return BOTH CDs.
Poppo, did you get your CD from this stuck_inside guy?
He says he had never seen the Swiss CD before but he honestly thinks it's original. I have told him it is very likely those are pirate versions.
Anybody else has comments about this?
I didn't pay for the CD, so I also didn't receive it :-)
Well, I'm returning both CDs on Monday. Both sellers accepted the return right away and one of them will even pay for shipping back the item. Nothing gained, very little lost.
I will continue my search for an original copy of MBADTK at a fair price.
Please Wiley (or anyone else for that matter), don't take offense at this.
You probably should have cleared that issue with the seller prior to bidding, as you've cost him (1) The amount he paid to ship the item to you, (2) the time he spent sending that to you, (3) the listing fee from ebay, and (4) the final sale commision charged by ebay.
Kinda not fair to that seller... just a thought, looking at it from his point-of-view, but he's probably out $5 or so.
