I'm comparing two NS9K, one from Sunrise Sports in Singapore, and one from China. They both have laser etched serial numbers and I can't see any obvious differences. The photos are a bit blurry, the one showing the SFC letters the top of the frame is just caused by my poor camera work. Can someone tell me about the hologram stickers? Does Sunrise make them themselves and stick them on after they get the rackets from the factory? I'm going to get a UK spec NS9K soon, and I'll take some (much better) photos of that and compare with these two.
Can't help to notice the stringing job. Something is wrong with the stringing pattern on the one with string. The last mains (right and left) does not look right. Do you have the string pattern that came with the new racquet?
It could be because one of them is possibly a fake; The string pattern is a good indiactor that the one on the right side in that last picture is a possible fake!!!!
Another question, why is the one from China has SP distribution code? That does not make too much sense to me.
IMHO, The China one appears to be a fake i.e. the left one. - Orange colour sunrise holographic stickers. - The SP coding. - The weight and grip size sticker looks unusual. - The grommets look rather uneven. - The Yonex logo at the T-joint looks slightly shifted and misaligned. What do you think? I don't really think the stringing pattern tells much, could have been strung intentionally differently. david14700, where did you buy the china version from and how much did you pay for it?
Both look fake to me. Also, the serial no's are way too small. For '06 products, the number should at least 58xxxxxx. -SC
both look fake. can you clarify one point? you said it is from Sunrise Sports, does it mean you purchased it directly from Sunrise, or you bought one else where but it is coded to be distributed by Sunrise?
1) the ser# looks like not done with laser. 2) 2 racquets ser# are different by 44. The chance of 2 racquet bought from 2 different place with such small different ser# is very small.
i'm at work now but from a quick glance of photos, yes, both look fake, 99% certain. The china one is fake. If u said u can't tell the difference on the 2nd one, then the 2nd one is fake too. U should post this in the serial number thread, where u have to say where u bought them, not like i bot from china or sunrise. Sunrise and china are not stores. It's obvious u pay cheap on them coz you're not telling us that. No authorized yonex dealer/stringer strings like that.
Yeah you got to be even more careful now. One of my friends came back from China with a fake Nano 9000 and a Amortech 800 off and both had engraved serial numbers and whatnot, looks pretty good except badmintoncentral educated me on spotting fakes. But what troubles me is that he paid around 20 US dollars. It seems that mass manufacturing of fakes are improving in quality and he had the laser engraved serial numbers, still obviously wrong but they are catching up!
improvement in exterior look doesnt equates to better quality inside. 95% of the time, the buyer knows the answer. Why make us evaluate their rackets when they paid under 50 US for one, often including string? the thread title is wrong too, it isn't ns9000 from sunrise. if u like us to guess, post it as a 'guess who' or 'guess what' game thread instead. There shouldn't be an investigation effort done on a < $50 NS9k
Agree that both are fakes which is why there're no obvious differences. It's very sad that you are trying to MISLEAD us by saying that one of the racquets is from SUNRISE, thus implying that you got it from a legitimate source. If I am wrong, PLS POST A PIC OF THE INVOICE FROM SUNRISE. (p.s. to others, apart from being a distributor Sunrise also has official stores and sells at Yonex sponsored events like Singapore Open) Apart from the factors mentioned by others, one subtle thing is the PBSI logo. It's not too clear here, but recently I saw a China fake first hand and the PBSI logo is subtly different... the fake's rendition of the PBSI logo was not as 'finely detailed' as the original Also, this is the 2nd fake rectangular Hologram sticker posted on BC. Looking at the Oval one carefully, I am glad that apart from the orange colour (could it be due to the camera flash, i.e. actual colour is normal), the 2 errors that the counterfeiters made in the earlier racquet posted are still present here. It's only a matter of time when the counterfeiters figure out what mistakes they made with the fake hologram then it'll be really difficult to tell except by using them.
And they're wasting money buying fake NS9000, I heard from those that have seen the fakes in China that they are selling fake Nanospeeds at about a $10 premium over the 'has-been' fake Armortechs. But in reality, the fake Armortech and fake Nanospeed are probably the same racquet with a different paint job... so if you are going to buy fake, must as well buy a fake Armortech and save $10....
I agree. Both r fakes. The zeros "0" of the serial numbers found in an authentic ns9k doesnt look like dat.
I know they're both fake and they cost less than £20 for the two of them. They were bought by friends who live in China and Singapore and the shopkeepers told them they were fakes, neither tried to pass them off as genuine. The shop in China had labels with the word 'fake' written in pen on the Yonex labels. But when I saw them I couldn't tell that they were obvious fakes (without comparing side by side with a genuine one) so I wanted to see if you guys could. Damn, I didn't even get close to fooling any of you! I guess the counterfeiters still have a long way to go. You have to admit though, the vast majority of badminton players don't have as much technical knowledge of rackets as you do and for an average player standing in a shop somewhere, they would not be able to rely on the old tips about laser-etched serial numbers or MP grommets. Maybe it's time to update the sticky on spotting fakes. FYI, by profession I've been an anti-counterfeit lawyer for over 9 years. I spend all day looking at fake goods (sportswear, computer games, toys, designer brands) and apart from legal issues, on a sheer practical level, I would never condone buying fake goods of any kind. But at least if someone goes in with their eyes open and they know it's fake, that's easier to accept than some poor kid being duped into paying full price for a fake.
yeah, the way the serials are printed is a dead giveaway. but i do agree with you, the majority of people out there will not be able to spot these subtleties and will fall prey to unscrupulous dealers looking to make a quick buck.
well, we bf'ers still only respresent a small percentage of badminton players. If fake rackets mistaken as real for 80%+ of people, there is no need to make the fakes anymore real.
The B in PBSI should have a significantly bigger head (top part) than body (lower part) on a genuine label. So this is one more fact showing the rackets are fakes. But all is not lost, the rackets could remain playable. If they are very head heavy, you could get reasonable power out of them too. I know someone who came back from the far east bearing an NS9k recently. She was using a fake NS8k previously but didn't know it was a fake, and managed to sell it on. Now I will have to go cheack out her new racket. Once more I will have to keep quite if it is a fake. It's such a difficult situation, I don't want people I know to buy fakes, yet I find it impossible to give them the bad news.
