Guide to Identify Fake Windstones

[Skylover]

Here is my attempt to post a guide that will help those who are new or unfamiliar with Windstone tell the difference between some close fakes and real Windstones.

Disclaimer: The fake Windstones I am about to depict were created about 20 years ago by a company in Mexico. There was a good quantity of them made before Windstone was able to stop them. As a result, they appear quite frequently on ebay. The sellers of these pieces often do NOT know they are selling fakes.

These fakes closely resemble old green male and mother dragons. Here is a picture of one I bought many years back:

Here she is sitting between two real old green Windstones. Color is not the best way to tell as old greens are quite variable in color.

Some of the first things to notice are the eyes and jewels. The fakes all have blue-colored eyes. Regular production green dragons have orange eyes. However, there are a rare few old green Windstones with blue eyes, so this alone will not necessarily tell you if it is a fake. The eyes will be bulbous and tend to stick out more from the eyes sockets than is the case in a real Windstone. They are actually made of plastic while the eyes in Windstones are glass. Another difference to note will be the jewel color. In a real Windstone, they will be bright purple. In the fakes, they will be a light purplish-blue.

Real:

Fake:

Another good thing to take note of is what the bottom looks like. I would highly recommend asking for a picture of the bottom if one is not already provided. The bottom of the fakes are often covered in green felt. Underneath this felt, it is painted black. A real old green Windstone will have one of two things on the bottom: 1) An official Windstone felt pad or 2) on the older Windstones, a Windstone stamp. Please note on the bottom of the stamped Windstones that the bottom is NOT painted black.

Real (offical felt pad):

Real (Windstone stamp):

Fake (Green felt with black paint underneath):

Other things to look for are defects in quality. These fakes often times (but not always) look puffy and distorted when compared side by side with real Windstones. The fakes will also often times have casting defects like bubbles while real Windstones do not.

Fake mother (Left) along side Real mother (Right):

Casting Defects: (Bubbles and missing claw)

[Kim]

Also they are made of a cheaper material so weigh less. I can’t remember what one member posted the difference was but if you can post the weight differences too that would be good.

Looking for rainbow or pink & teal grab bags!

[Pam]

The fakes also tend to have very sloppy gold detail.

[Author]

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