Joe's Old Lures - Antique Fishing Tackle - Reproductions, Repaints, Fakes, and Frauds

Reproductions, Repaints,
Fakes, and Frauds

Everything shown below is a reproduction, repaint, fake, or an outright fraud. Most of these items were seen on Ebay. Some were accurately described as fake or repaints. Others were presented as authentic items. Some of these items appear on a regular basis. Perhaps the sellers truly believe that another sucker is born every minute. Perhaps they are correct.

Study these pictures carefully and educate yourself. If you see something for sale on Ebay or elsewhere and you have any questions about whether it is authentic, ask before you buy. Consult a book, ask a friend, find an expert, or just walk away. Remember that you can not expect an unscrupulous seller to tell you the truth. Protect yourself.

More items will be added to this page on a regular basis. Check back soon.

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Heddon Reproductions, Repaints, Fakes & Frauds
	This item showed up on Ebay recently. The Zara Spook is quite real. The wood box was not made by Heddon and is a fantasy item.
	Wooden boxes are often seen with color copies of real Heddon cardboard boxes affixed to them. Heddon never made a wood box like this. They are all fakes.
	Another example of the type of fake Heddon box seen above. The Ebay seller described this one as: Large Vintage Wood Heddon Muskie Lure Box....I do not know what this Heddon box was used for but my guess is a Muskie lure
	If it looks to good to be true..... Someone went to a lot of effort to make this one. Unfortunately, it was not Heddon.
	A user of the web site sent me pictures of these fake Heddon wood lure boxes. He tells me that These fake boxes came from a little old lady from Springfield, Mass. I will not mention her name.
	These two fake Heddon wood boxes were sold on my message board. The buyer got a refund from the seller, but these boxes are still out there somewhere. They were made by the same little old lady from Springfield, Mass as the ones in the above pictures.
	Here is yet another faked Heddon wood box.
	Fake Heddon cardboard box. Looks pretty good on top, but obviously cut and paste when you open it up.
	This is a reproduction of a Heddon cardboard sign advertising the Crazy Crawler. This copy is smaller than the original. Other point of sale cardboard pieces have been copied and are the exact size of the originals.
	Heddon did not make thermometers.
	Heddon did not make glass pocket change holders either.
	Heddon never made toy boats
	You can put a decal on anything, but Heddon never made rod racks.
	Heddon did not make pocket knives.
	Heddon did not make whistles.
	Heddon did not make this tie pin for their employees either. The seller described it this way: pewter tie pin heddon employees only perfect....tie pin look see for yourself no cry babys please
	Here is another phony Heddon tie clip.
	There are only a few authentic Heddon postcards known to exist. Fakes like this show up on Ebay on a regular basis.
	That postcard sure gets around....The Ebay seller of of this piece honestly stated that this is a "newer" print. Her claim that is was "licensed by Heddon" can not be confirmed.
	Plastic Tadpolly lures are now being made in Japan with undersized reproductions of the intro Tadpolly box.
	I wish I had a nickle for every fake Heddon frog ever made. This one is phony, just like 99.999% of the ones you'll ever see.
	These are a couple of examples of reproduction Heddon River Runtie Spooks. At least he marks his intials on the bottom.
	The same modern craftsman makes reproduction fly rod Punkie Spooks also.
	Reproduction of a Heddon Westchester Bug. One of many by a Canadian seller.
	Reproduction of a Heddon 900. One of many by a Canadian seller.
	Reproduction of a Heddon Spindiver. This one is made of plastic and has glass eyes.
I don't know why, but the Heddon lure I see reproduced more than any other is the Punkinseed. They are faked in every size and style ever made by Heddon. Some fakes are made of wood and others are made of plastic. Many use actual Heddon hardware. I know some serious Heddon Punkinseed collectors who have been ripped off buying what turned out to be fake lures. Here are some of the many examples of Punkinseed reproductions.
	I have seen these very recently and the seller advertised them as: handmade wooden replica of a large Heddon 740 floater Punkinseed Lure. Every effort is made to make these as close as possible in size and shape as the originals. They are made using real Heddon hardware.
	More phony Punkinseeds
	I've seen these on Ebay recently. The seller described them as: GREAT REPRODUCTION OF A HEDDON 9630..... A TRUE BEAUTY OF A "SUPER RARE" COLOR. WILL DISPLAY GREAT TILL THE REAL ONE COMES ALONG
	This one is about as bad as it gets. The belly of the lure is acually marked "Heddon Punkinseed". The marking was made using what appears to have been a rubber stamp. Heddon never, ever rubber stamped the markings on their baits.
	I would guess that the same person who faked the rubber stamped Punkinseed above is also reponsible for making the reproduction SOS minnow seen here. The rubber stamped markings can be clearly seen in the bottom picture.
	Some of the people who try to justify reproductions say things like "it can't be a reproduction because it was never actually made in that color". Heddon might have never made Crazy Crawlers in these colors or with glass eyes, but they're still reproductions in my book.
	Repainted Heddon 2120 Crazy Crawler with surface hardware.
	Repainted Heddon Tadpolly.
Creek Chub Reproductions, Repaints, Fakes & Frauds
	Creek Chub never, ever made minnow traps. The seller of this one described it as: the rarest of the Glass minnow Traps! You can see the large letters on the class in the first two pictures, A large C C B followed by a less larger c and a smaller o. Creek Chub Bait Co. it was found in a barn Back east by my uncle who sent it to me..............This is not a fake
	Remember - Creek Chub never, ever made minnow traps even though the Michigan seller of this one calls it a CREEK CHUB MINNOW TRAP
	Creek Chub never, ever made marbles either. Neither did Evinrude, Heddon, or many of the other companies that you often see at the top of bags like these.
	Fake Creek Chub calendar. Notice that the faker mispelled the "Garret" homeplace of the company. This item was seen on Ebay. The seller masked the bidder's identities. Don't be surprised when it turns up again....
	Fake Creek Chub box. You'd think people would have better things to do than copy box labels and glue them to common boxes. Look for other fake boxes on this page.
	This pocket mirror is a fantasy item and was not made or distributed by Creek Chub Bait Company. Several of these have shown up recently and all of them have rust around the edges to make them appear to be old.
	Repainted Creek Chub beetles seen on Ebay. The seller describes them as: HERE IS A CREEK CHUB BETTLE(s)......I GOT FROM A ESTATE SALE IN KY. IN EX+ SHAPE. NICE TO ADD TO A COLLECTION.
	These are all fake plastic Jiggers made in Japan. A board user tells me they came from the NFLCC National show in Louisville a few weeks ago. I'm glad I didn't see them.
	Plastic reproductions of various Creek Chub lures. If you're looking a picture of a tackle box full of lures on Ebay you'd better look very closely.....
	Several colors of reproduction Creek Chub Beetles sold on Ebay.
	Reproduction Wee Dee seen on Ebay.
	Reproduction Bomber seen on Ebay.
	Repaint of a Creek Chub Jigger. Creek Chub collectors need to closely examine all whitescale and redwing blackbird lures.....
	Be careful when you see solid color lures or lures like these where the head was dipped in a second color. Both of these lures are repaints. The artist is not the most talented around, but you'd be surprised how folks have been burned by repainters that weren't as good as he is.
	The guy who repainted these pikies obviously has some talent. At least he mentioned in his Ebay description that these lures are repaints. He did not mention whether they are marked as repaints though.
Miscellaneous Reproductions, Repaints, Fakes & Frauds
	Full size reproduction of South Bend die cut. The first time I saw these was at one of the NFLCC National shows.....
	Don't believe me when I tell you the South Bend piece shown above is a fake? Well, here's the form you fill out to order one for yourself. I got one in the mail. I hope they took me off the mailing list!
	These lures were represented as having been made by the Charmer Bait Company at an Indiana auction. They are not Charmers. It took less than a day before one turned up on Ebay as a: "VINTAGE RARE CHARMER WOOD FISHING LURES ANTIQUE....MAKER.CHARMER, SPRINGFEILD MO."
	These skittering baits were fabricated by a Carolina craftsman several years ago and pawned off as early Enterprise lures. Some serious money changed hands for this pile of garbage.
	Someone lifted pictures of license badges from a popular web site and used them to make fake license badges. The ones shown here are Carolina licenses, but he has made fakes of just about all of them.
	This glass paper weight might say Winchester but it wasn't made by or for Winchester. You might see phony paper weights for other companies such as Heddon or Creek Chub. They are all fantasy items, just like the ones seen here for Orvis and Winston Rod Company.
	I can't remember the full story, but this is not a real Winchester item. There are several different fish die cuts with phony Winchester stamps.
	This little fish pin was not made by Winchester.
	Cut and paste works great on postcards. This one is a fake Winchester.
	Here are yet more of those plastic reproductions that started re-popping up recently. This time it's fakes of Paw Paw and Moonlight lures. Can Flatfish be far behind?
	This is a repainted Moonlight Pikaroon and it was part of my personal lure education and the starting point for my contempt for repaints. I bought this lure very soon after I started collecting. I asked the antique dealer and he told me he was certain that this was the real deal. Live and learn.....I keep this lure on the mantle in my den.
	The Jitterbug is real. The box is a fake - copy made from a real box glued up to look authentic. This was bought at an NFLCC show and the seller offered to make any box you wanted.
	I don't know what to say about this one other than I don't know how he can get away with calling it a Bagley. The Ebay seller's description was: FOR AUCTION: BAGLEY BRASS BALSA B1 LIME ON CHARTRUCE GREGS CUSTOM BAITS HAND CARVED, HAND PAINTED, HAND CRAFTED CUSTOM BUILT COPIES OF THE ORIGINAL BAGLEYS BAITS
	This is a contemporary replica glass minnow trap. The trap says Montana Bait Co Rock Creek, MT in the glass near the lid and the lid has a punched out diamond design on it. To his/her credit, the Ebay seller who listed this one said the following in the description: ( ALERT BUYERS EVERY ONE OF THESE LISTED ON EBAY BY ANY SELLER / IN A LARGE OR SMALL SIZE IS INDEED A NEWER REPLICA DECOR ITEM / NO MATTER HOW GOOD THEY MAY LOOK OR HOW WELL THEY'VE BEEN AGED OR ROUGHED UP, REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE SELLER STATES.. THE MAKER CO. NEVER EXISTED, NOR DID THIS ITEM IN THIS BRAND. IT IS FICTIONAL... BE AWARE.. ) I assure you that every seller is not so honest as this one was.
	A web site user sent pictures of a Shakespeare hanging store card that he had acquired from another collector. He took it to the NFLCC National Show in Louisville, KY July 2011 and showed it to other collectors. He reports: It was there that three long time and very knowledgeable collectors informed me that it was a FAKE, and provided me with the tell tale signs which provide the evidence that it is not an authentic piece. Among those signs, and the most telling, is the fact that the damage to the surface, which includes fading and some light stains and some apparent foxing to the paper's surface, were not actually on the surface of the piece when I removed it from the frame. Instead, I discovered that it was a color photocopy of the damage from foxing and stains that were captured from another piece when it was reproduced. I learned from an advanced Shakespeare collector that he had seen others exactly like mine being circulated at flea markets. In fact, he even described in great detail the piece to me, before he ever set eyes on mine, including the exact position or location of certain stains that appear in the image. By the way, the seller immediately refunded my money, and apologized and asked me to destroy it and not return it. I truly believe that he , just like me, was unaware it was not an authentic piece. As you can see, I have done what he and I believe all of us should do when we discover such FAKES in our collection... destroy them so that they cannot possibly be circulated any further. The same collector who alerted us to this fake poster in 2011 has recently (2016) seen an authentic one and shares some information to help collectors know what to look for: I have recently seen what I now know to be an authentic one that is easily distinguished by the presence of an easel board on the reverse side and the absence of those photocopied foxing stains that are present on the fake version. Also, most importantly, the original authentic version will have the printers name "ETTLINGER DISPLAY CO. CHICAGO" in small print in the lower right corner and "PRINTED IN U. S. A." in the lower left corner which the fakes do not.
	A pair of replica Case Bait Company Rotary-Marvel Bait boxes were recently listed on an internet auction site. Both boxes were purchased by a knowledgeable collector in order to remove them from the marketplace.