my friend got a fake cab20 from China recently. i took some pics of it. the overall look of the racket is quite close to the real one. but there are a few marks that makes it quite obvious it is a fake. but for the layman without previously seen a real one, it may be difficult to tell...
the handle cap has poorly "printed" yonex logo and "Japan" print. the print is 3D, meaning the prints is not flat like old fakes. however, the "Y" on the logo is quite far apart and the "Japan" print is quite poor.
the font on the handle cone is of the wrong font. the quality of the graphics is also poor. the top part of the Y became a triangle instead of a curvy one. the font isn't correct either.
it is not very clear in the picture. the grommet are straight tubes instead of the shaped grommets in the real Yonex rackets.
the serial numbers are printed instead of the engraved in the cab20. even the print is using the wrong weight of font than the Yonex.
last year, some friends bought from china and indonesia fake iso800 (2 different versions), Ti-8 and cab25. Similar to this cab 20, the graphics and fonts were slightly different and the grip was rubber, not leather. The end caps mouldings were better than what is shown for this cab20. Unfortuntely i don't own a digital camera at that time.
this is a pic of my MP77, I do have a curvy YY logo but the font is the same as what you shown on the pic.
Take it from a pro, it's not the same. Kwun's logo is lighter (which may be due to a poor repro job) yet the diagonal in the N is too thick. The overall letter spacing is also too wide in Kwun's logo, and more specifically, the kerning between the E and the X is all wrong in the fake.
thanks, Mag. I wasnt mean to doubt kwun's judgement, I was just trying to learn more. what about the shaped grommets and straight tubes?
corner grommets are curved out on most racquets, the corner grommets are curved out so that if forms a smooth surface for the string which (at the corners) are usually bent almost 90 degrees. this puts less stress on the string, also less chance to split the grommet and causing an early break in the string. on most replacements and most fakes, these usually don't take the extra step to form the curve surface. i use a low power soldering iron with large round tip, and make the curved surface that way. if you keep a straight grommet, sooner or later the grommet will crack, exposing the string to the racquet hole corner which could be quite sharp.