Defunkd

[proun91]

Hi there, I just found this site after frantically searching online for more info about 3D Emblem knock offs / reproductions. I recently bought this shirt at a very reputable (I think?) Brooklyn based vintage shop. It was like new, and I thought maybe it was fake, but I even spoke with the manager who told me it was deadstock, and that's why the condition was so good. I paid less than $100 after finding the same shirt online for over $800 It's the classic 'road pig' Harley shirt. Check out the pics … is this real or fake? If it is fake, as a Japanese friend said it might be, I would be shocked as this is a famous vintage shop in NYC. Any help is greatly appreciated. I have no idea how you would even spot the differences … it even has that "thin" feeling in the material that the old ones have.

[proun91]

*UPDATE* Pretty sure mine is a knock off now. It's missing the artist's signature in the lower right hand corner, and the originals have a gradient effect in the 'HARLEY DAVIDSON' lettering. I'm going back to this shop today to return it, if they won't give me my $ back, I'll be trying to get the word out that this place sells fakes.

[jimmyj]

Interesting... fake 3d emblem tagged blanks have recently surfaced. But I have yet to notice one of the 3d style prints ever pulled off as with the detail and color they are much more difficult to repro.

Can you take a close up of the tag and the area where the 3D emblem subscript and harley ring is?

it does look washed out but cant tell if thats the camera.

what is the name of the shop by the way? familiar with quite a few.

thanks

[jimmyj]

Looking at this on my desktop rather than my phone...

Sadly it's fake. Colors and details are way off, which is usually the case with a repro. As mentioned, the signature is missing - however, I'd done a quick scan of these prints and have found real ones missing that signature:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1987-3D ... 7675.l2557

I'd be interested to see a close-up as per my previous response. 3D prints are made up of dots. I'm not exactly sure how the printing process for these are done, but yours has telltale signs of being a traditional screen print. Compare to these.

The good news is that these types of prints are the hardest to knock-off convincingly - because they are so detailed and have many more colors. And the Dealership used on the back will be a red flag now - Winchester Harley Davidson Winchester VA (Virginia.) There's a good chance they are doing an array for Harley 3D tees - and likely to get lazy and use the same back for every front.

[proun91]

Hey there again, I've been at work all day sorry. I've since returned the shirt and got no argument when I told them I thought it was a fake. It was definitely well done, screenprinted with an almost accurate tag. I spoke with a guy on Instagram who is in Thailand and REALLY knew his stuff (maybe he's a forgery artist himself) and he said the skin color is wayyyy off and then the gradient missing from the words HARLEY DAVIDSON are a dead giveaway. Your photos above are pretty much what I have on my phone that I analyzed and concluded it was a fake. A really good one at that.

[jimmyj]

An update to this thread several years later....it looks like the crew behind this are perfecting their skills, because the print accuracy has improved to scary levels, years ago I pointed to the difficulty of reproducing these prints due to the dots, but this looks damn good.

Red flags:

• Tag isn't right, font isn't accurate, 3d effect is off, S is buried under the neckline too

• Colors in the print aren't right, there's supposed to be blue and yellow in the sky behind the pig

• The copyright date is 1968, supposed to be 1988 - so assuming they misread 88.

• duplicate back: Winchester Harley Davidson Winchester VA

I've included a photo of a true one for comparison.

[jimmyj]

Here's another one that was just found in the wild, reported to us by JapanGrade on Instagram.

I wondered if this was a bootleg from the era, as they haven't been appearing in recent years, among the counterfeits.

Mono from Heavy Soul thinks they are 2010 era.

This one is interesting, with very good print quality. They have avoided using any Harley branding - typically this design has a Harley Emblem in the lower left (and on his t-shirt.) They replaced the large Emblem with a scene from another 3d Emblem T-Shirt, I believe one of the South is where it's at artwork.

[jimmyj]

Here's another tag that's 3D Emblem inspired.

[jimmyj]

Quick update, here's another fake tag, that we're adding to our database:

fake 3d emblem t-shirt tag

and be careful of any "3D" t-shirt that has this back, it's commonly used on fakes. There is a true version of it btw.

Exit 76, Truck Plaza, Grand Rapids MI.

Exit 76, Truck Plaza, Grand Rapids MI. t-shirt back

[Elliotlu6]

Got these from an old dude and wondered if legit with everything going around. He had a ton all with different fades and these are just a handful

[jimmyj]

Interesting - yeah, they all look like watered-down versions of the originals.

Compare your Last Biker to this one. All of them when compared to OGs lack that classic 3D detail.

One possibility, if he's being honest about how long he had them - he was in Thailand at some point in the 90s/00s and stocked up on these, and they could actually be vintage. But just spitballin'. They could also be modern counterfeits, there are road rebel ones with similar vibes and lack of detail that are modern.

Can you post the others?