I would like to hear anyone's experiences with the many Chinese knock offs. Since I'm a novice, but I'm trying to learn, it is tempting to purchase cheap stuff that clearly says "from China" (on ebay as well as other websites).
I understand the major problem the Chinese knock offs pose. I collected guitars for many years and know a lot of collectors. I had a friend who lost close to 150,000 by purchasing a counterfeit "Gibson custom shop Les Paul." It was so good that the only way the truth was eventually uncovered was to take it to Gibson and take it apart for a complete examination. I say all of that to say, I understand the problem and the serious nature of it.
I also understand why it is tempting to want to purchase the knock off products, because the real things are often very expensive (e.g. Joe Porper Linking Finger Rings, real thing $500, knock off $40). So, I would love to hear what experiences anyone has had with these knock off products (good or bad). Oh, one reason for this is that I recently had an owner of a magic shop tell me that he prefers the Chinese products because he thinks the prices are more reasonable and many times they are, (his words) "even better than the real thing." Well, I did not take him up on it. I'm a novice, but not that much of one.
I understand the major problem the Chinese knock offs pose. I collected guitars for many years and know a lot of collectors. I had a friend who lost close to 150,000 by purchasing a counterfeit "Gibson custom shop Les Paul." It was so good that the only way the truth was eventually uncovered was to take it to Gibson and take it apart for a complete examination. I say all of that to say, I understand the problem and the serious nature of it.
I also understand why it is tempting to want to purchase the knock off products, because the real things are often very expensive (e.g. Joe Porper Linking Finger Rings, real thing $500, knock off $40). So, I would love to hear what experiences anyone has had with these knock off products (good or bad). Oh, one reason for this is that I recently had an owner of a magic shop tell me that he prefers the Chinese products because he thinks the prices are more reasonable and many times they are, (his words) "even better than the real thing." Well, I did not take him up on it. I'm a novice, but not that much of one.