Inside the $100K+ forgery scandal that’s roiling PC game collecting

From <em>Akalabeth</em> to <em>Xenobia</em>, many rare PC titles are now considered elaborate scams.

Read the whole story

 

[Skelator123]

So these guys with the "fakes" are out what, 10's of dollars? 100's? 1000's? would have been nice if the article mentioned the monetary values of the games.


Or as usual did i miss it in the article?

Per the second paragraph: "Collectors estimate that those trades and sales include games that would be valued at well over $100,000 total on the open market if they were authentic."

That doesn't mean the fakes identified actually sold for that much at the time. Unless you managed to use it as collateral for a loan, you're only out the price you paid not what it's "valued" at currently.

 

[Thad Boyd]

If you're the go-to-guy for spotting fakes, of COURSE your stuff will always be legit, right?

Who Watches the Watchmen?

This is an ongoing problem in other collecting communities, especially ones with lots of older "experts" who built most of their collections in the pre-internet era.

The thing to keep in mind is that even the "experts" are, by definition, amateurs. These are just people who are really interested in a thing and gather together a ton of knowledge about the thing. And that's a lot of work, so eventually once a community decides that someone is an expert they become an authority figure. It's a lot easier to trust an authority figure that everyone believes really knows this stuff than to do the hard work of gathering all that information yourself.

Yes, but then again, no. For other comparable markets that are more mature, there exist independent third party grading services, like CGC for comic books. The people doing the grading, which involves determining if the items have been restored, have been tampered with or are just plain fakes do it for a living and have for a long time.

Not that long. CGC was founded in 2000 -- not coincidentally after the speculation bubble of the '90s burst.

These types of formalized expert organizations tend to crop up right after a painful object lesson in why they're necessary.

 

[vegetaman]

Spot the differences is fun! The books IN THE DISPUTED BAGGIES are different! You can see the right side printing, the bottom edge of the main graphic, terminates in a different spot, so it has a different shape on the edge. He clearly sent a different copy, if not a prepped copy. The fact that he mentioned a new bag without pointing out a completely different book is a bad sign, imo.

Like in the one image of Lord British, one says "Davis California" and the other says "Davis, California". So not only is the font/spacing different in general, but the punctuation isn't a total match either...

 

[kcarlile]

This reminds me of a (I believe contested now) book I read called <i>The Billionaire's Vinegar</i> about alleged wine forgery in the highest circles. The book made a very strong case for it, but the alleged forger has of course denied it all. He is/was also regarded as The Authority on those wines.

 

[FinallyAnAccount]

This kind of nostalgia is just... I can understand it, in an objective sense, but my thought processes don't let me participate. (Not just this, but anything, really - no different from the napkin that John Lennon wrote the initial draft of "Imagine" on.)

I enjoyed reading the article, though!

 

[Kyle Orland]

So these guys with the "fakes" are out what, 10's of dollars? 100's? 1000's? would have been nice if the article mentioned the monetary values of the games.


Or as usual did i miss it in the article?

Per the second paragraph: "Collectors estimate that those trades and sales include games that would be valued at well over $100,000 total on the open market if they were authentic."

That doesn't mean the fakes identified actually sold for that much at the time. Unless you managed to use it as collateral for a loan, you're only out the price you paid not what it's "valued" at currently.

A lot of the alleged fakes were acquired via trade for other games, which makes them harder to directly value. But at least one collector suggested they had spent five figures on fakes from Ricciardi.

 

[Celery Man]

It seems to me that admitting he switched the bags makes Ricciardi more suspicious, not less.

His argument there is essentially that he switched one thing, but some other person in the chain switched all the other things. Something something Occam's razor.

Even if it *was* just the bag, swapping out anything from "as pictured" without directly calling it out is sketchy as fuck.

Not to mention bringing up that it's not a crime to do so. Innocent people always make sure to bring up what they're doing isn't illegal.

 

[manOOT]

I imagine this is also prevalent in the tabletop game collecting (if that is a thing). Several years ago I was hunting for an old copy of a Steve Jackson game that was out of print. I loved it when I was a kid and wanted to share the experience with my son. I finally found a copy on Ebay that was not advertised as a bootleg, but after getting it and with close inspection I could tell it was not original. For this case though I didn't care. I just wanted to play the game.

Car Wars??

He wants to build family bonds and happy memories with his son. Illuminati has to be the game in question.

 

[Kyle Orland]

I admit the circumstances seem pretty suspicious, although I'm curious why he would duplicate authentic games that he received - so he could have his cake and sell it on as well? Or is there some thriving black market of video games that he was also selling on?

Yeah the general (alleged) idea is that you keep the rare original, then trade fakes for other originals, and pretty soon you have a great, authentic collection that's worth a lot!

Also works if you just sell the fakes and use the money for more rare game purchases (or just living life...)

 

[Boskone]

I wish games still came in giant cardboard boxes with manuals and random swag

I'd even go with the small CD cases and an actual piece of media, which could be installed or run without needing internet access.

 

[ArsLongaVitaBrevis_4321]

What is a good place to list old games ?

I have mint/sealed copies of Ultima Underworld 1 / 2 (open) & some other looking glass games that I bought back in the day & forgot about (Thief 1/2)

Spoiler

I have the same question...where is a legitimate place to list & sell old PC games (and hopefully something better than fleabay). FWIW, I have a sealed / never-played (but obscure) game that I'm thinking about unloading. And I know it's provenance is impeccable, as I was a member of the development team!

 

[Static and Noise]

I admit the circumstances seem pretty suspicious, although I'm curious why he would duplicate authentic games that he received - so he could have his cake and sell it on as well? Or is there some thriving black market of video games that he was also selling on?

Yeah the general (alleged) idea is that you keep the rare original, then trade fakes for other originals, and pretty soon you have a great, authentic collection that's worth a lot!

Also works if you just sell the fakes and use the money for more rare game purchases (or just living life...)

Putting a very obviously cracked copy of Xenobia on the fake then seems like an incredibly stupid thing to do. If his supposed original was already opened, he could have used that tape to make a copy from.

Either he thought the buyer wouldn't actually try to read the tape, in which case, why bother with the cracked version which would fool nobody. Or his supposed original" s also a fake, in which case he made a fake from a fake that he believed to be an original.

 

[Musigny]

This reminds me of a (I believe contested now) book I read called <i>The Billionaire's Vinegar</i> about alleged wine forgery in the highest circles. The book made a very strong case for it, but the alleged forger has of course denied it all. He is/was also regarded as The Authority on those wines.

There are more than a few parallels here to what is seen in the fine wine trade:

Like these early games, rare and old wines are still in circulation and desired by trophy hunters. They are not interested in consuming the liquid - it's about unicorns as well as upmanship over other collectors that drives them.

As here, in many cases records of what a 'real' example looks like either does not exist, has never been recorded, or is rarely shared by the producer for fear the forgers themselves might get their hands on the information. Printing techniques and equipment were crude and even the bottles themselves could come from various sources.

There are initiatives within the industry to create a central record of truth, validated by a group of experts, but it's a significant undertaking.

kcarlile - you may be thinking of a chap called Rudi Kurniwan who played a classic con game in the '00s, forging exotic rareties and opening them with credible experts and critics which then further gave him access to elite circles. He had quite the product facility going when they arrested him:

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2016 ... ge-swindle

 

[Moodyz]

I never knew this was a thing. Makes me wonder if there are a big forgery/fake scenes for other nerd hobbies. Like, are there fakes of, say, Detective Comics #1 or early Gundam action figures? If yes, have there been similar scandals?

 

[Deleted member 221201]

What is a good place to list old games ?

I have mint/sealed copies of Ultima Underworld 1 / 2 (open) & some other looking glass games that I bought back in the day & forgot about (Thief 1/2)

Spoiler

I have the same question...where is a legitimate place to list & sell old PC games (and hopefully something better than fleabay). FWIW, I have a sealed / never-played (but obscure) game that I'm thinking about unloading. And I know it's provenance is impeccable, as I was a member of the development team!

I used this site to gauge prices & I don't know if those prices are accurate

https://www.pricecharting.com

On my craig's listing, I posted pix & a link to above so anyone could check prices & make a fair offer

The only caveat was

1. Call to verify you are a legit buyer

2. Swing by to look at the games & make a yes/no decision while at my home & no checks/money order b.s

3. No trades/tats or any crap.

.....and I wound up dealing with kooks.

Though I did sell my entire PS2 collection, many of which were still sealed to a very nice couple, who will enjoy them

 

[Sulla]

craig's listing

wound up dealing with kooks.

Checks out.

 

[HiroTheProtagonist]

I never knew this was a thing. Makes me wonder if there are a big forgery/fake scenes for other nerd hobbies. Like, are there fakes of, say, Detective Comics #1 or early Gundam action figures? If yes, have there been similar scandals?

There are probably fake copies of DC#1 in circulation, but there's a large enough scene of appraisers that no fake copy is going to fetch much more than a few bucks. I have heard of old action figure counterfeits, but by and large they never manage to get sold at auctions.

A large part of how this guy got away with it for a while was the relative obscurity of old PC games and the general lack of other appraisers in the field. Had there been more, he would have been exposed after not too long.

 

[orwelldesign]

I never knew this was a thing. Makes me wonder if there are a big forgery/fake scenes for other nerd hobbies. Like, are there fakes of, say, Detective Comics #1 or early Gundam action figures? If yes, have there been similar scandals?

There have not been *wide scale* problems with shops selling Magic: The Gathering counterfeits, but there have been plenty of players who get/got fleeced by people who offer Great Deals for reserved list cards, then try to trade them in to said shops.

There's a couple of ways to tell if Magic cards are fake, a few of which are only destructive to *counterfeit* cards, but which real copies should survive just fine; there's also a few which are completely non-destructive, but you need a good eye.

Anywhere there's money, there's counterfeits -- but a *lot* of people buy the Chinese counterfeits knowingly, precisely because the reserved list ("we won't reprint this!") exists. You really can't tell the difference without checking carefully, and you can't tell at all if the cards are double sleeved, which is a very standard thing that happens.

(If you're ever buying high end magic cards, make sure you desleeve them first -- the counterfeits feel a little bit oily, where real cards from that era don't maintain their gloss)

Edit: deserve-->desleeve. Thanks, autocucumber!

 

[moohbear]

I can't understand the collector mindset. If I can't use it, I don't want it. Why would you want to saddle yourself with more junk? Yes, it's junk, almost zero utility. I can understand a museum collection, with a clear purpose to share the material for public edification. I can understand a scholarly interest, to study what was made and how. I can understand the financial aspect, although there are ways to invest that actually benefit society. This hoarding obsession is pure waste; waste of time, waste of money, waste of space.

 

[tsetol]

What doesn’t really go together is the effort and criminal energy it took to counterfeit the disks and the paper on the on hand and then to overlook the obvious „cracked by“ title screen in the software on the other hand.

 

[AlexisR200X]

The guy sounds guilty as hell but the case points out to a hard fact to deal with. Collectors are huge targets. The art world is absolutely full of fakes being sold at exhorbitant sums on the backs of dubious expert's opinions, software isnt different, where there are collectors forgers are not far.

Hell its not like game cartriges and disk media are taken out from sealed boxes for verificación for fear of destroying value. There is enough money to be made to make high quality forgeries in every collector market.

 

[Celery Man]

I can't understand the collector mindset. If I can't use it, I don't want it. Why would you want to saddle yourself with more junk? Yes, it's junk, almost zero utility. I can understand a museum collection, with a clear purpose to share the material for public edification. I can understand a scholarly interest, to study what was made and how. I can understand the financial aspect, although there are ways to invest that actually benefit society. This hoarding obsession is pure waste; waste of time, waste of money, waste of space.

I mean, it's not really a waste of space, as all those things being collected already exist and occupy the same volume of space no matter where they're located.

 

[Kyle Orland]

I admit the circumstances seem pretty suspicious, although I'm curious why he would duplicate authentic games that he received - so he could have his cake and sell it on as well? Or is there some thriving black market of video games that he was also selling on?

Yeah the general (alleged) idea is that you keep the rare original, then trade fakes for other originals, and pretty soon you have a great, authentic collection that's worth a lot!

Also works if you just sell the fakes and use the money for more rare game purchases (or just living life...)

Putting a very obviously cracked copy of Xenobia on the fake then seems like an incredibly stupid thing to do. If his supposed original was already opened, he could have used that tape to make a copy from.

Either he thought the buyer wouldn't actually try to read the tape, in which case, why bother with the cracked version which would fool nobody. Or his supposed original" s also a fake, in which case he made a fake from a fake that he believed to be an original.

Xenobia was on a disk, not a tape.

I suppose the forger could have just given a blank disk or a disk with junk data (as with the cassette tape game discussed in the article). But with a cracked version on there I guess if you're found out it's easier to say "Oh when I tested the game it loaded just fine and I guess I missed the crack screen that someone else put on there."

As for "making a fake from a fake" the forger almost certainly just put a cracked copy from the Internet on the disk -- having access to the original didn't matter. And the whole point of the copy protection on the original disk is that you can't just make an authentic-looking copy of the data without cracking it (though maybe modern tools could copy the data undetectably -- I'm not actually clear on that)

 

[Thad Boyd]

I can't understand the collector mindset. If I can't use it, I don't want it. Why would you want to saddle yourself with more junk? Yes, it's junk, almost zero utility. I can understand a museum collection, with a clear purpose to share the material for public edification. I can understand a scholarly interest, to study what was made and how. I can understand the financial aspect, although there are ways to invest that actually benefit society. This hoarding obsession is pure waste; waste of time, waste of money, waste of space.

You know how you're complaining about stuff on the comments of an online article?

It's kinda like that. People choose to spend their time in ways that they personally find enjoyable, even if it's not productive.

 

[SteveSwann]

Everyone is talking about how the game manuals for Xenobia are different but did no one notice that the two disks pictured are also very clearly different. The disk in the left-hand picture has a full corner in the top left, while the disk on the right has a cropped corner in the top-left.

 

[Rainywolf]

Spot the differences is fun! The books IN THE DISPUTED BAGGIES are different! You can see the right side printing, the bottom edge of the main graphic, terminates in a different spot, so it has a different shape on the edge. He clearly sent a different copy, if not a prepped copy. The fact that he mentioned a new bag without pointing out a completely different book is a bad sign, imo.

But when comparing a suspected forgery how confident can you be that the reference material is an original, and not itself a forgery? (Obvious issues like ink dots on printed scanned copies notwithstanding, of course.) I mean, if the reference material is from the personal collection of a team member who published the game, that's one thing. But even then you're still relying on that person's honesty, to some degree .

This is a huge, gigantic issue across pretty much all collectables unless the original manufacturer kept some example units on hand to show "this is exactly what we sold to you back in '87" Even more so if we get into items that had tiny boutique runs, or even massive 5th runs with slight variations between each run.

At best what these "experts" are doing is saying I've seen two of these and this one looks same/different thus real/fake.

It's not proof of anything. Just a decent probability. Of course that probability goes right out the window when the item in question has a decent $ value attached to it or even bragging rights.

 

[tsetol]

I admit the circumstances seem pretty suspicious, although I'm curious why he would duplicate authentic games that he received - so he could have his cake and sell it on as well? Or is there some thriving black market of video games that he was also selling on?

Yeah the general (alleged) idea is that you keep the rare original, then trade fakes for other originals, and pretty soon you have a great, authentic collection that's worth a lot!

Also works if you just sell the fakes and use the money for more rare game purchases (or just living life...)

Putting a very obviously cracked copy of Xenobia on the fake then seems like an incredibly stupid thing to do. If his supposed original was already opened, he could have used that tape to make a copy from.

Either he thought the buyer wouldn't actually try to read the tape, in which case, why bother with the cracked version which would fool nobody. Or his supposed original" s also a fake, in which case he made a fake from a fake that he believed to be an original.

Xenobia was on a disk, not a tape.

I suppose the forger could have just given a blank disk or a disk with junk data (as with the cassette tape game discussed in the article). But with a cracked version on there I guess if you're found out it's easier to say "Oh when I tested the game it loaded just fine and I guess I missed the crack screen that someone else put on there."

As for "making a fake from a fake" the forger almost certainly just put a cracked copy from the Internet on the disk -- having access to the original didn't matter. And the whole point of the copy protection on the original disk is that you can't just make an authentic-looking copy of the data without cracking it (though maybe modern tools could copy the data undetectably -- I'm not actually clear on that)

Maybe a photographer generally also knows more about copying paper and printing than about cracking software, copy protection and disk sectors

 

[Deleted member 174040]

I can't understand the collector mindset. If I can't use it, I don't want it. Why would you want to saddle yourself with more junk? Yes, it's junk, almost zero utility.

It's not junk; utility is not the only measurement for desire or enjoyment.

For some people the chase, the find, the acquisition is as fulfilling as an amateur baker finally nailing that perfect croissant or pain a chocolot.

 

[brentrad]

What is a good place to list old games ?

I have mint/sealed copies of Ultima Underworld 1 / 2 (open) & some other looking glass games that I bought back in the day & forgot about (Thief 1/2)

Spoiler

I have the same question...where is a legitimate place to list & sell old PC games (and hopefully something better than fleabay). FWIW, I have a sealed / never-played (but obscure) game that I'm thinking about unloading. And I know it's provenance is impeccable, as I was a member of the development team!

I used this site to gauge prices & I don't know if those prices are accurate

https://www.pricecharting.com

On my craig's listing, I posted pix & a link to above so anyone could check prices & make a fair offer

The only caveat was

1. Call to verify you are a legit buyer

2. Swing by to look at the games & make a yes/no decision while at my home & no checks/money order b.s

3. No trades/tats or any crap.

.....and I wound up dealing with kooks.

Though I did sell my entire PS2 collection, many of which were still sealed to a very nice couple, who will enjoy them

I was going to suggest pricecharting.com as well. They are a very reputable site for retro console games - I actually first got the name of the site from one of the retro games stores here, it's the site they generally use for pricing. With their free account, you can enter, track, and price your own collection for free. They offer paid accounts with more features, but the free account has always worked for me.

Pricecharting also offers buying and selling directly on their site, but I've never used it.

They also apparently offer PC game pricing and buying/selling, which I didn't realize until I looked for it after reading this article. They're under Games, Other Platforms, then "PC & MS-DOS". I don't see anything for Apple, though.

 

[Filip Stanek]

My brother-in-law has so far bought 2 PS3 games (NCAA elite 13 or something like that), both for $4-$5k each on ebay. Both were fake. He actually opened them up b/c he wants the trophy, but both contained fake discs.

It seems to me like this article is way behind the times. If you see a rare collectable on ebay, you should assume it is fake (IMO).

 

[sturdius]

Kyle weren't you going to write an article about scam auctions and price fixing in the retro console space after your last two articles on million dollar auctions were roundly criticized by the Ars community? Yet here you are linking them again and passing them off as legit. Maybe you covered this somewhere already, but I haven't seen it.

Anyway, this is all to say that when Dan posts an article about a secret vulnerability uncovered by hacker groups or you post an article about video game sales, I think some people still remember the bad takes and fraud that has seemingly gone un-retracted here and they start wondering if they are getting played again.

 

[chriskrum]

Are people stupid and believing this "Mister X" crap? WTF is wrong with people, and when you pay 100k, you should get a chain of custody and certificate of previous owners etc.

Lol that is at least normal for expensive cars, watches etc. If someone says "here is a Rolex for 500k but I got it from an anonymous person sending via PO box YOLO" and "even though I got it original boxing, but I changed it haha, no biggie" maybe stay away from the trade.

This.
Provenance is a thing.
The moment the story is some anonymous guy or found in a random attic you've enter a "fool and his money" territory.

 

[Deleted member 174040]

Kyle weren't you going to write an article about scam auctions and price fixing in the retro console space after your last two articles on million dollar auctions were roundly criticized by the Ars community? Yet here you are linking them again and passing them off as legit.

Link to where Kyle & his editors accepted the premise that his previous work was not "legit," please.

 

[olePigeon]

Spot the differences is fun! The books IN THE DISPUTED BAGGIES are different! You can see the right side printing, the bottom edge of the main graphic, terminates in a different spot, so it has a different shape on the edge. He clearly sent a different copy, if not a prepped copy. The fact that he mentioned a new bag without pointing out a completely different book is a bad sign, imo.

Huh, you're right. Looks like an 1/8" or so of the right side is missing. Also the fold on the other side isn't in exactly the same place - like a mm or 2 less image.

Because it's been cropped and enlarged.

 

[Static and Noise]

I admit the circumstances seem pretty suspicious, although I'm curious why he would duplicate authentic games that he received - so he could have his cake and sell it on as well? Or is there some thriving black market of video games that he was also selling on?

Yeah the general (alleged) idea is that you keep the rare original, then trade fakes for other originals, and pretty soon you have a great, authentic collection that's worth a lot!

Also works if you just sell the fakes and use the money for more rare game purchases (or just living life...)

Putting a very obviously cracked copy of Xenobia on the fake then seems like an incredibly stupid thing to do. If his supposed original was already opened, he could have used that tape to make a copy from.

Either he thought the buyer wouldn't actually try to read the tape, in which case, why bother with the cracked version which would fool nobody. Or his supposed original" s also a fake, in which case he made a fake from a fake that he believed to be an original.

Xenobia was on a disk, not a tape.

I suppose the forger could have just given a blank disk or a disk with junk data (as with the cassette tape game discussed in the article). But with a cracked version on there I guess if you're found out it's easier to say "Oh when I tested the game it loaded just fine and I guess I missed the crack screen that someone else put on there."

As for "making a fake from a fake" the forger almost certainly just put a cracked copy from the Internet on the disk -- having access to the original didn't matter. And the whole point of the copy protection on the original disk is that you can't just make an authentic-looking copy of the data without cracking it (though maybe modern tools could copy the data undetectably -- I'm not actually clear on that)

Right, missed the fact it was on a disc. But, as for the copy protection on the disc... While I can't speak for the Apple ][ scene, I can speak for the C64 and Amiga ones, and there were a lot of disc copying tools even back then that could bypass a lot of copy protection schemes. They were often just using some extra tracks, or faking being "bad" tracks.

And now you made me remember the various C64 copy protections that so ingeniously utilised quirks in the 1541 room, and so meant the games didn't work on the 1541-II disc drive... >_>

 

[ip_what]

I never knew this was a thing. Makes me wonder if there are a big forgery/fake scenes for other nerd hobbies. Like, are there fakes of, say, Detective Comics #1 or early Gundam action figures? If yes, have there been similar scandals?

Are people paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for rare examples? Then there’s forgery.

If there hasn’t been a scandal yet in whatever niche you’re playing in, it’s like this niche and the players are few enough that no one’s bothered to look. And in fact all the incentives point to not finding out about forgeries.

 

[sturdius]

Kyle weren't you going to write an article about scam auctions and price fixing in the retro console space after your last two articles on million dollar auctions were roundly criticized by the Ars community? Yet here you are linking them again and passing them off as legit.

Link to where Kyle & his editors accepted the premise that his previous work was not "legit," please.

After hearing reader feedback, we will be expanding on our previous coverage of Wata Games and Halperin, and further examining the allegations of ethical breaches by Wata and others in the game collecting community. Look for a report here on Ars in the future.

This good enough?
https://meincmagazine.com/gaming/2021/12/ ... -the-rare/

Also, my implication was that the auctions were not legit. I don't have a personal issue with Dan or Kyle, but it is irksome if they got played and won't take a stronger editorial stance saying on the issue by saying "hey, I got chumpatized." It damages their credibility on all future related topics. That is the point I was trying to make.

 

[alphathreethree]

I imagine this is also prevalent in the tabletop game collecting (if that is a thing). Several years ago I was hunting for an old copy of a Steve Jackson game that was out of print. I loved it when I was a kid and wanted to share the experience with my son. I finally found a copy on Ebay that was not advertised as a bootleg, but after getting it and with close inspection I could tell it was not original. For this case though I didn't care. I just wanted to play the game.

Car Wars??

Haha, yes. My friends and I played the crap out of that game. We used to tape together notebook paper and create huge city maps. Even created our own "store" to where you could buy goofy items for your vehicles. It's a shame they stopped making it.

 

[Gyrator]

I would say the market needs something like PSA (in the collectable card market) to provide authenticity but the truth is those services are as much (or more) a scam than this guy. Unless you're a large auction house that sends TONS of business to them you'll never see a 10. An individual can have a card graded 7, bust it out of the slab then sell it ungraded to an auction house, and that auction house submit the same card and return a 9. They aren't just perpetuating fakes they actively suppress/downgrade legitimate items to control supply and therefore market price.

 

[TenThousandThings]

What doesn’t really go together is the effort and criminal energy it took to counterfeit the disks and the paper on the on hand and then to overlook the obvious „cracked by“ title screen in the software on the other hand.

Those are two very different skill sets. The latter, making the electronic content of a computer floppy disk look and behave like a pristine original disk requires knowledge of how to make such a copy (and the tools to do so), and most importantly, you have to have an actual original to duplicate. Probably this is what he was missing, though I suppose it’s possible he lacks the knowledge.

My experience with this is in the world of early Macintosh collecting, resulting in an old site that functions as a source of clean disk images and verified information. But it’s been a while since I was active. Anyhow, that world was and I’m sure still is rife with attempts to pass things off as collector’s items… Some are laughably bad, others are much harder to spot.