Rather than hijack the other thread, I thought I'd share these pictures here for those curious.  These are pictures of the two buckles that I purchased a couple of years ago.

ExTSR wrote in Interesting eBay alert! TSR belt buckles:These seem identical to those made in the early 1980s, and are probably authentic.
That said, it is theoretically possible to reproduce them.

F

Frank,

Do you have any idea how many of this version of the TSR Belt Buckle were originally produced?

FoulFoot wrote in Interesting eBay alert! TSR belt buckles:The plot thickens?  Yet another seller (albeit in brass) with one of these to sell?


** expired/removed eBay auction **


Foul

That one looks good - should've gone much higher but for the bad timing vs. this thread and the other seller.
Not 100 of one type, just one of each of many different old buckles, a good number of which are tarnished, etc.

Do all their pewter buckles have the same slight slightly flat appearance most noticeable in the loss of background texture on the front and lack of silver/black contrast to the finish that the TSR remainder stock and the above auction have?
And a hook with a blob at the top, and a loop wire without a kink in it?

Those I bought are currently sitting somewhere behind many tons of old radios and suchlike in the US, following my transshipper's house move, so are not on hand for easy comparison...

I've pulled out the two buckles I have.  One is brass, and it's exactly like the one in the auction Foul linked to.  In particular, the belt loop has a kink in the middle, and sits slightly off-center to the buckle.  I also have a green enamel RPGA buckle, also made by Bergamot; I think this one was only given to a few of the RPGA glitterati back in the day (like Frank).  It too has a slightly off-center belt loop with a kink in the middle.

It would seem odd that someone would go to all of the trouble to manufacture new TSR belt buckles to such exacting detail, but get the belt loop wrong.  On the other hand, if they found the original molds, but didn't have a copy for comparison . . . .

The biggest difference is that, although the buckle I have is in unused condition, it does appear old.  Maybe that's due to a difference between how brass and pewter ages, but I'm starting to have my doubts about this seller.

FWIW, when I asked Frank about the buckles I picked up 2-3 years ago, he confirmed not only the buckles themselves, but also the packaging:  the box style and box size, as well as the packing materials, as being identical with those issued by Bergamot Brass.

I'd like to see a very tight close-up of the wizard faces (on the logo) on at least 3 buckles, including these new discoveries.
Of all the detail, it seems to be that if they're faked, that would be where it could be most accurately proven.

F

ps: I'm aware of some belt loops being straight and some kinked; that's not a dealbreaker.

ExTSR wrote in Interesting eBay alert! TSR belt buckles:I'd like to see a very tight close-up of the wizard faces (on the logo) on at least 3 buckles, including these new discoveries.

Here's mine:  

David, you beat me to it.  No reason for me to find my camera now, since yours is nearly identical to mine.  Same texture and color.

cdenham wrote in Interesting eBay alert! TSR belt buckles:I don't have a pristine old one but I dug out the one I did have and took pictures next to one of the *new* ones.

Excellent; thank you, you're best placed thus far to compare the metal composition and relative color. Anyone else with a buckle from this source as well as an old auction win?
The apparent loss of detail in the background texture and high points is consistent, as is the shadow around the head and left side of the ribbon -- "second quality" buckles never shipped by Bergamot, or otherwise?

Putting the above images together (and close-ups of the head might be useful, still);





On the reverse, what do the pins on the new source buckles look like relative to the pic posted above? I got the impression that was more of a splurge of metal, than a leafed detail but haven't seen a close-up from the side.