Plastic & Staybrite Fakes ?
 

I have always assumed that there were no plastic or staybrite fakes/restrikes in circulation simply because it would be too costly and difficult to repro them. Am I right ?

Hi Jeff,

I'm afraid they repro/fake both. As far as I am aware they have not reproduced plastic badges with makers marks so you are (probably) for now pretty safe with plastics with maker (Stanley & sons, F&G etc) marks. The most common aa restrikes appear die struck from the reverse. Hope that helps.

Luke

There is an America and a dutchman currently making poor quality plastic fakes.

Some people are such utter .......

Alan

As far as a/a badges go there do seem to be an awful lot of very rare pristine a/a badges about for the scarcer Inf Regts and yeomanry such as the Suffolks, South Staffordshires, Hants Yeo, Berkshire Yeo, Northants Regt, Wiltshire regt, Fife and Forfar Regt and so on. As Luke says they are all pristine, not maker marked and of die struck construction (ie the back is imprinted rather than solid).

I have been told by dealers (with a vested interest in maintaining stock prices) that these are not being faked but are early badges - hence the odd construction. Having looked at the K&K sealed pattern dates for some of these badge designs, it struck me as odd that some of the dates were for 1964-66 when the badges were being made for the TA Bns. By this late time it is quite odd that the badges were made this way. The F&F yeo were of course long gone by this time so why was the same firm making their badges like that in the 1950s and then still making inf bns like that 10 years later? Also this type of construction is the way that the 9th Lancers, RWarwickshire Fusiliers and the 3rd Hussars badges are made; all of these are 'suspect' badges as they were never worn by the regts. The SStaffs, RWarcs, Essex Regt and others were stocked by one dealer (who also specialised in metal repro badges) at £5-£6 each alongside more modern a/a badges. These badges are fetching £50-100 on ebay right now.

I would add that I do have a few badges that I consider genuine that are unmarked but these are the exceptions to the rule and semi-solid backed. Examples include the QRIH, 15th/19thHussars, IC&CY, Bucks Regt, QOGTR and the Dorset and Somerset yeo.

The only die struck badge with a markerd slider that I have is the Berks Territorials which is Firmin marked. Some Scots Div badges are also of 'die-struck' appearance.

Food for thought.

Alan

Hi Alan & Luke. Thanks for the info'. I am at the moment especially interested in the Royal Scots Fusiliers aa with the KC and QC. Both are "an arm and a leg" to get..particularly the KC version and I wouldn't like to pay £120 (the current asking price ) only to find out later that it was a fake ! So thanks for the warning.

Jeff,

Both of those being lugged and large Scottish are 'die-struck' with no makers name - not much help I am afraid! Even the Q/C are £70. I would add that the Q/C version was still in use by one (possibly 2) TA Companys in 1968, which was 10 years after the regulars had stopped wearing them. Unlike the Cameronians and Liverpool Scottish I cannot find any record of Cadets wearing RSF badges after the TA changes in 1968.

Alan