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Yeah, I had a bunch of eBay credit and bought some Bones Swiss from their eBay store. They are listed as a genuine seller of Bones on their website, and the bearings appear to be authentic (and they're like a year old now). I suspect if anyone got scammed, it was maybe TGM, since I doubt a huge retailer like that wants to get in trouble with Spitfire.
Hmm, yeah, I agree. What I don't understand though is why they came wrapped in several layers of saran wrap without the Spitfire leaflet or sticker. The auction described them as "brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item in its original packaging". Seems like it should have set off red flags.
Sounds very unlikely TGM would sell fake Spitfires but I may be wrong. I bought and tested a few sets of the fake Spitfires and there are a few visual telltale signs:
1) Color - bone white or greenish white instead of off-white / yellow
2) Shape - the 54mm Radial Slims were conical or classic shaped instead of Radial
3) Dimensions - the fakes were fatter than the usual radial slims
Slide wise they were horrible, incredibly sticky and hard.
I know TGM sells stuff via eBay and they are likely to get stock direct from DLX or a distributor. Unless they are mixing their genuine stuff with the fake stuff? Would be easy to do that with bearings since the counterfeits are much harder to differentiate from the genuine, packaging is 99% spot on. But wheels? The shape and color are a clear giveaway.