Counterfeit Glass

herbivore21

Well-Known Member
Ok, so this has bothered me a little lately.

We all know that Chinese knock-offs of popular glass designs have been around for a long time. A lot of folks here use these because buying the original design is very expensive. I can understand this situation and have no major problem if it is a perc design which is not patented and that is made by many various vendors already, as most of our favorite designs tend to be now. Glassblowers don't exactly tend to work with patent lawyers very frequently and already imitate aspects of each other's perc designs. I do not necessarily consider this to be counterfeiting.

However, my problem is that a number of China rigs have logo's of American or European glassblowers slapped onto them (usually some hideous decal at that!). IMO, this is where things go from inspiration/imitation to downright counterfeiting.

Now I know that the mods do not allow us to link to counterfeit vaporizer products. However I also notice that the same approach is not taken to counterfeit glass - like the abovementioned Chinese knock-offs with fake logos from American/Euro manufacturers (ie: Mobius, Mothership, Hitman, RooR, Ehle etc).

IMO we should not support vendors who fraudulently use the registered trademarks of other vendors. If we ban links to counterfeit vapes, then to be consistent I believe we should do the same with glass which purports to be manufactured by somebody who demonstrably did not do the work! What do you guys think?
 

Stu

Maconheiro
Staff member
Ok, so this has bothered me a little lately.

We all know that Chinese knock-offs of popular glass designs have been around for a long time. A lot of folks here use these because buying the original design is very expensive. I can understand this situation and have no major problem if it is a perc design which is not patented and that is made by many various vendors already, as most of our favorite designs tend to be now. Glassblowers don't exactly tend to work with patent lawyers very frequently and already imitate aspects of each other's perc designs. I do not necessarily consider this to be counterfeiting.

However, my problem is that a number of China rigs have logo's of American or European glassblowers slapped onto them (usually some hideous decal at that!). IMO, this is where things go from inspiration/imitation to downright counterfeiting.

Now I know that the mods do not allow us to link to counterfeit vaporizer products. However I also notice that the same approach is not taken to counterfeit glass - like the abovementioned Chinese knock-offs with fake logos from American/Euro manufacturers (ie: Mobius, Mothership, Hitman, RooR, Ehle etc).

IMO we should not support vendors who fraudulently use the registered trademarks of other vendors. If we ban links to counterfeit vapes, then to be consistent I believe we should do the same with glass which purports to be manufactured by somebody who demonstrably did not do the work! What do you guys think?
Our policy is to not allow links to labeled counterfeit glass. If you see such a link, please report it and it will be removed by the staff. That has been our policy for some time now, so I'm surprised that you've seen such links here on FC. Again, simply report any links to labeled counterfeit glass and they will be removed.

Thanks.

:peace:
 

Stu

Maconheiro
Staff member
I'm confused by this rule @Stu because I would think this post with an image of YingMin + Mobius Glass label would be against the rules? But I've been led to believe otherwise.
http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/d...eview-see-first-post.15709/page-3#post-883280
You'll notice that there is no link to the counterfeit glass in that post. We don't police every image posted on FC, but any links to purchase labeled counterfeit glass will be removed. Reports are appreciated.

:peace:
 

MoltenTiger

Well-Known Member
The worst is when you order something requesting no label, and it arrives with a massive painted logo on it anyway.

I don't understand why they don't at least use sandblasting more often, I guess the reality is they really don't care about quality and this is reflected with every purchase I've made off the gate.
But, at least there's still good reason to go with the originals.

The vaping community as a whole has done too much to support Chinese counterfeit glass really, it's not even the best value option these days.
If you use a glass piece daily for years, it should be rational to get one that glistens quality. If you spend a dollar a day you can get something incredible. If you spend the 10 or 20cents per day that DHgate offers you're missing out. Even if function is priority beyond aesthetics, it's practically a waste of money unless all that's wanted is a straight tube or beaker. And if that's the case, my local bong shop sells better quality China glass for better prices than DHgate too.

I'm getting custom work done at the moment via instagram, in any colour I want, and it's going to cost only 3x the price of my StevenLMZ79 torus mother thership knock-off, whilst actually functioning and looking dazzling (at least to me, it will look exactly how I want it).

For combusting it makes more sense to use shit glass, because it gunks up so rapidly, but for vaping everyone should do themselves a favour and get something nice. If you're buying bud you can buy glass. Cheap options are great to play around with dynamics, well designed glass is great to use. Copied designs are never as good.
 

abcd5432

Well-Known Member
You'll notice that there is no link to the counterfeit glass in that post. We don't police every image posted on FC, but any links to purchase labeled counterfeit glass will be removed. Reports are appreciated.

:peace:

I see, thanks for the clarification.
 

C No Ego

Well-Known Member
so they are putting the fake labels on the glass to make it look like the real deal... guess people do not do their homework and buy fake glass thinking it's the real thing/..
 
C No Ego,
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abcd5432

Well-Known Member
so they are putting the fake labels on the glass to make it look like the real deal... guess people do not do their homework and buy fake glass thinking it's the real thing/..
I don't think it's that nefarious.

Could just be people like how the label looks or whatever. Some of us are more glass enthusiasts than others.
 
abcd5432,

DenverNugs

Well-Known Member
so they are putting the fake labels on the glass to make it look like the real deal... guess people do not do their homework and buy fake glass thinking it's the real thing/..

The guy buying it on DHGate knows for a fact that the pieces are fake. The problem is when they make their way into headshops. Not everyone has held a legitimate version of a waterpipe they're interested in. Had a buddy who bought a fake ROOR for over $400+ tax and he couldn't come to grips with the fact that he got fleeced until it dropped off of a coffee table onto the carpet and the joint snapped.
 

abcd5432

Well-Known Member
The guy buying it on DHGate knows for a fact that the pieces are fake. The problem is when they make their way into headshops. Not everyone has held a legitimate version of a waterpipe they're interested in. Had a buddy who bought a fake ROOR for over $400+ tax and he couldn't come to grips with the fact that he got fleeced until it dropped off of a coffee table onto the carpet and the joint snapped.

If I found out my mobius was actually fake I would cry. It looks real, sandblasted logos and perc looks real, but ya, when you're talking about headshops that's an entirely different story.

I refuse to buy things from headshops that aren't authorized dealers, and even then, I'd rather just contact the seller personally. If I ever order mobius glass again, I will email them first to see what they can do for me. Otherwise, I'll get custom glass and pay a similar price.

I blame the headshops for being just gross. Look at the online headshops that sell these branded glass too? There is not a single online authorized headshop to sell things like illdadelph and mothership but you see it constantly.

Just be honest with me that's all I ask.... Don't mislead me on purpose.
 

CalyxSmokr

Well-Known Member
The guy buying it on DHGate knows for a fact that the pieces are fake. The problem is when they make their way into headshops. Not everyone has held a legitimate version of a waterpipe they're interested in. Had a buddy who bought a fake ROOR for over $400+ tax and he couldn't come to grips with the fact that he got fleeced until it dropped off of a coffee table onto the carpet and the joint snapped.
ooooff!
I see fake roors all the time in headshops but they haven't tried to pass them off as real. Or at least are only charging like $185 and not real roor prices.
 
CalyxSmokr,

abcd5432

Well-Known Member
ooooff!
I see fake roors all the time in headshops but they haven't tried to pass them off as real. Or at least are only charging like $185 and not real roor prices.
That's still bad. Lots of pieces are in that ~$200 range that should be $75-150
 
abcd5432,

howie105

Well-Known Member
I don't complain when US companies stick their labels on imported items (cars, electronics, guns, etc) and then jack up the price and pocket the profits. When it goes the way with the folks in China striking first with the stickers I can't get too upset about that either. Of course we all get to see things as we wish and I would never argue with that.
 
howie105,

UnidenWallet

Well-Known Member
If you're going to spend three figures on something that can be easily counterfeited, you might as well pick it up straight from the source instead of getting it from a hole-in-the-wall headshop. I wonder how many people have bought fake Volcanos too..
 
UnidenWallet,

abcd5432

Well-Known Member
If you're going to spend three figures on something that can be easily counterfeited, you might as well pick it up straight from the source instead of getting it from a hole-in-the-wall headshop. I wonder how many people have bought fake Volcanos too..

I didn't even think that was a thing. Dude, I'll never feel safe again :(.

Headshops never have what I want anyway. I don't really like them. I'll never buy from a headshop again. If a seller won't sell me something straight up somehow, I won't risk getting some janky stuff from a headshop. Not to mention pricing in headshops is outrageous, like beyond MSRP.
 
abcd5432,

Baron23

Well-Known Member
Hate them all you want, if you don't support your honest local stores (and there are some), then they will not be there when you want to just run out and get something you need or want to actually look at an item before laying out a few hundred mackerels.

Just saying, its a complex ecosystem and its mostly all needed by someone...somewhere.
 

abcd5432

Well-Known Member
Hate them all you want, if you don't support your honest local stores (and there are some), then they will not be there when you want to just run out and get something you need or want to actually look at an item before laying out a few hundred mackerels.

Just saying, its a complex ecosystem and its mostly all needed by someone...somewhere.

Ya, I realize I'm in the very small minority of people who love to plan obsessively.
There isn't anything at headshop that I would need. China has made getting everything a headshop would sell super cheap, so I buy a ton of multiples.

I understand for everyone else, they may need a new slide, bowl, adapter, grinder, or piece, or vape, but I keep a replacement of everything lol.

Even bought a second minivap so i wouldn't have to wait next day shipping if my current one broke.

When I joined my fraternity we were taught proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance. I take that super seriously lol.

Edit: I would probably email mobius first before buying from my local headshop, but I just doubt any mobius piece I buy would be Chinese. I would have seen it for sale. I hope....
Mobius is the only big name brand of glass I really like.
 
abcd5432,
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