BIG CONTEST! CSI: Club Stogie- 4 Cigars, 3 Shops & 2 fakes. Sort this out and win!

[CrazyFool]

Okay im going to leave you with some evidence here and a few spacific questions. first person to get everything correct will get a big ol sack with 9+ cigars! the winner gets 2 tip-top ISOMs from Punch & Diplomaticos, 1 Fuente Fuente OpusX Perfextion xXx (mini-beli), 1- Perdomo La Tradicion Cameroon Pyramid, 1 CAO Brazilia GOL!, 1 Royal Jamacan Gold (Rob.), 1 Gurkha Grand Envoy, 1 Puros Indios 1 La Aurora Perfectido no. 3 and 1 5 Vegas Limitada

Okay. THis is tricky here but i spent some personal money and personal insult on locking down on a fully legit retailer and i walked away with but one fully trustable of three. So there are 4 cigars in question- 2 Diplomaticos No. 2s and 2 Romeo y Julieta Churchills.

Diplos First. Below are pictures of the boxes, cigars and bands. Green will mark exhibit A (hehe ahhh) and Purple will mark exhibit B.



so from that I state the following: Purple is from Shop A & Green is from Shop B.

Next is the Churchills, no box pictures, only bands and cigar pictures....So Exhibit C will be Orange and Exhibit D is color Cupcake Blue



that being said i will state: Exhibit C is from Shop C. Exhibit D is from Shop B.

While sleuthing remeber to check the bands pattern, color and fonts (as well as some other areas ill leave to you...) On the Cigar check out the caps, oils and colors to help detect the ISOMs from the Miami sweet shop sticks- dont jump the gun on any area!

TO WIN! answer these questions first using the pictures clues and a little mojo

1. Which Diplomaticos is NOT A FAKE
2. On the Fake Diplo band there are 2 dead giveaways, name one.
3. Name 3 differences between the two Diplo boxes and how they helped.
4. Name the correct RyJ Churchill (Exhibit C or D...)
5. Name each shop (by letter) and there status as a legit retailer (shady, fake, legit etc)

Good luck fellow BOTLs! I have a few goodies to throw in- im hoping to make this the biggest payout for a competetion yet!! So Good Luck!!
And if nothing else hopefully some younger apes will learn some of the red flags to look for and also to see just how much money people will put into a fake. SOrry its not on the Habanos lounge, i thought because of the contest factor it was safe here where we can all test our Sherlock Homieness

[CrazyFool]

The winners smokes will be hand picked from Wentworth... or Statsley or Waldorf or whatever The sticks for the winner are highlighted in green!



(Perdomo La Tradicion Cameroon not shown)

[Cartierusm]

1. The Purple Dot Diplo is real.
2. The gold is almost metal flake on the real band, the Purple one.
3. The fake box, green, has the infamous circle stamp on the corner of the cuban seal, the green box has a habanos hologram sticker which shouldn't be there unless they were purchased in Cuba, it's hard to tell but looks like the bottom of the diplo green box is ink instead of burned in, in case that's not it I'll give another one graphics don't look the correct size on fake box. The center graphic on the top of the box is off center.
4. Cupcake blue exhibit D is real, triple cap.
5. exhibit a fake, exhibit B real, exhibit c fake, exhibit D real

[illuminatus]

1. Which Diplomaticos is NOT A FAKE
Purple

2. On the Fake Diplo band there are 2 dead giveaways, name one.
The gold color of the circle on the band is completely wrong.

3. Name 3 differences between the two Diplo boxes and how they helped.
The fake box, green, has the infamous circle stamp on the corner of the cuban seal, the green box has a habanos hologram sticker which shouldn't be there unless they were purchased in Cuba, it also has the wrong color gold. Instead of being a nice gold flake, as it should be, it's a dull, flat gold. It's hard to tell, but I believe the seal is not folded dead center across the shield as it should be, too.

4. Name the correct RyJ Churchill (Exhibit C or D...)
D. Because of the triple cap

5. Name each shop (by letter) and there status as a legit retailer (shady, fake, legit etc)
Shop A is Legit
Shop B is shady (one fake, one legit)
Shop C is fake

Just my noob attempt!

[Stogiefanatic182]

1. Purple cigar is real
2. Gold band is dull
3. Green box has circle stamp on corner of the cuban seal, the green box also has a habanos hologram which is not on the boxes that are purchased outside Cuba, and the center logo is not centered in the middle of the box.
4. Blue dot Romeo and Julieta is real because of the obvious triple cap.
5. A is a fake
B is questionable dealer
C Fake
D Real

[ky toker]

1) Puple
2) Color and Flat gold trim
3) Clear label on Green, no gold edging around stagecoach, plain edge around box
4)D
5)A: Fake - B: Real - C: Fake - D: Shady

[tetraplegic]

1. Purple is not fake
2. band is the wrong color – too light
3. a. position of the seal – fold is in the wrong place on the fakes
b. the red tape around the boarder – background color of the tape is different
c. fake box is made out of a different kind of wood
4. Cupcake blue
5. Shop A - legit
Shop B - shady
Shop C - (fake)

Just a newbie attempt.

[Sancho Fuente]

1. Which Diplomaticos is NOT A FAKE
Purple
2. On the Fake Diplo band there are 2 dead giveaways, name one.
Color of the yellow, it is also taller in the center giving it a more oval shape than a round one
3. Name 3 differences between the two Diplo boxes and how they helped.
a. Warrenty seal on the fake is not folded in exactly the right place and not even folded straight
b. no gold leaf around fake box edges
c. hologram seal on upper left coner of the fake (obviously sold outside of Cuba)
4. Name the correct RyJ Churchill (Exhibit C or D...)
D, the bars and dots on the band should be raised bar, then raised dots, then the black line. The yellow dot label has no dots on the top, and very faint ones on the bottom.
5. Name each shop (by letter) and there status as a legit retailer (shady, fake, legit etc)
Shop A - Real
Shop B - Shady
Shop C - Fake

Well theres my guess, although I'm still thinking about those Diplomaticos No. 2 . . .

[awhitaker]

1. Purple Dot
2. Flat Gold Color
3. Box is unvarnished - should be varnished like exhibit purple,
Flat Gold Color Ink again - should be shiny gold foil ink,
Red ink on side, top, and bottom labels is bleeding over the gold - Should be crisp and not bled over
4. Exhibit D
5. Shop A is legit, Shop B is shady, Shop C is fakes

[WillyGT]

1. Which Diplomaticos is NOT A FAKE
Purple Dot.
2. On the Fake Diplo band there are 2 dead giveaways, name one.
The yellow background color is 2 light and the gold is dull.
3. Name 3 differences between the two Diplo boxes and how they helped.
The Hologram on the corner of the box, the circle stamp on the corner of the seal, The position and color of the stamps under the box ( the hecho en cuba look like ink in the picture), and the colors of the whole box are wrong they look like low quality.
4. Name the correct RyJ Churchill (Exhibit C or D...)
Obviously Exhibit D
5. Name each shop (by letter) and there status as a legit retailer (shady, fake, legit etc)
SHop A Legit
Shop B Shady (ONe looks definetly real the other looks fake.)
SHop C Fake

[DCMD]

Well I did did my research, came up with answers and then realised it pretty much mirrored what others had previously said. So rather than being redundant I thought I would just thank you for the competition.

I actually learned a lot.

[CrazyFool]

We have a winner!! illuminatus!!!! that was quick, the first reply was so very close and then just the second reply nailed it. We actually had a lot of winners, Illuminatus was the quick draw! It was question 5 that got most of you, which i expected It was quite confusing with all of the Shops and Exhibits, there was only 3 shops. Shop B sold me a box of genuine real habanos and one box of totaly fake (but nicely presented) habanos. Shop A is fully legit. they sold me the box of Diplos and i continue to do business with them online every month. Shop C is fully bunk. They were also a online retailer and through good communication and a nice website i trusted them. once.

haha so thanks for playing everyone, thanks to DC who just wrote, im glad you learned a little somthin somthin. That was the point, i loose 350 bucks so you dont have to. I will welcome PMs with any inquireys on who this shop A is.... lastly i leave you with a few more clues that would have helped, or may help you if you have to chance to inspect the box prior to purchase.

Diplos Box- The wood on the back. i notice the fakes, no matter where origin seem to sport a much lighter dyed looking peice of wood on the bottom of the box, where as the real Habanos have a darker more natural-cedar looking peice of wood. The seal was just a little off, giving it away. The hologram, already stated, should only be on boxes from Cuba. The black stamp is infamous for calling out fakes, the red on the fake box was blotchey and bright while the gold was flat. On the real box theres more gold, the red is maroon and the gold is flakey! Also in person, the side of the box- the real one has Diplomaticos no. 2 only on one side, while the fake has it on both. The font on the sides are noticably different as well.

Diplo Bands- The fake band was closer to white/cream while the real one is yellow/cream (more obvious in person). The band on the read one is more porportional as the fake is bulbous in the middle and more round. The gold again, is dull on the fake. THE LETTERING! this was a biggy for me, the real band has a blotchyier more kinda fake looking print on it. the 'Diplomaticos' and 'Habana' are in bold print and are less sharp. the letters are also right next to the boarder of the band. the fake is cleaner looking. the letters dont touch the boarder of the band, the letters and words 'Diplomaticos Habana' are very sharp and much thinner, origanly leading me to think this was the real one.

Diplos themselfs- the wrapper color on the fake is almost like a light Maduro. the fake was also very toothy and rough to the touch, the real was very smooth and silky.

RyJ Band & Smokes- the fake has much thicker paper, something common with fakes. The gold on the real band is much more flakey were the fake is dull. Also the indentations are a giveaway if closley inspected. for the 'gars themselfs, though the fake is more oily and rich in color, the real churchill has the Cuban triple cap.

[Stogiefanatic182]

congrats illuminatus, quality win

[illuminatus]

I WON I WON I WON I WON I WON I WON I WON I WON I WON I WON I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YESSSS!!!!!!! Haha, after I posted this last night, I stayed up for a good 20/30 minutes waiting for you to reply, because I was SURE I had it right, and I saw your little status indicator said you were online. I woke up this morning, and this was one of the first threads I checked! Wow.. I'm super excited right now, this is awesome! Thanks for having the contest crazyfool, I think it's a neat idea, even if it does kinda suck that you got ripped off. Making it educational for the rest of us was good of ya though! I suppose I should also thank the members of this board, who I've learned more from in 4 months than I have from my professors all semester! Without the guiding hand of many here, I never would have had a clue as to which were real/fake/cuban/plastic/whatever. So thank you to all the gorillas too!

[CrazyFool]

heres some shots of the fake Churchill box and close ups of the Hologram and phoney Black stamp featured on both boxes.

I hope this all was of help and thanks to everyone again for participating