FAKE BEATLES HOHNER HARMONICA

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We recently had one of our dealers bring a Beatles Hohner Harmonica into the shop. The item looked good, but, I know that there are many fantasy pieces out there, so, I did a little research. I went to a good website for Beatles reproductions and fantasy pieces http://members.fortunecity.com/bcrc/index.html However, a fake harmonica is not mentioned on this site. The next thing to do was to find and identify an original. The original 1964 Beatles Hohner Harmonica was on a card that depicts the Fab Four. The Beatles were also depicted on the harmonica box. The box and harmonica itself are separated and encased in a plastic bubble on the card. (Note that the harmonica is a standard Hohner and does not mention or show the Beatles whatsoever). The fake piece has the identical card w/photo, but, the card is cropped. The card still says "Hohner" which would be a violation of Hohner's trademark. The harmonica has a sticker or label with the Beatles images ON the harmonica (This is incorrect). I would bet that there is likely a Hong Kong mark somewhere under the label. This reproduction/fantasy piece was likely made in the 1970's, so, it still is around 30+ years old and has some collectible value. I later saw one of the fakes on E-bay and even though it was identified as possibly not being an original, it still brought decent money on E-bay. But, do not confuse this with the real deal, which is easily a $200 item in EX condition.

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