Hi all.  Again I'm bugging people for opinions.  I have an X1 Isle of Dread module that is shrink wrapped and I am trying to determine if it is original.  Ususally from what I have seen most S/W 1st edition modules came in a crinkly type wrapping and every item I've seen has a horizontal overlapping seam in the back.

The X1 I'm listing does not have the overlap seam in the back (it doesn't have an overlap seam).  The wrap is loose-fitting (not form-fitting like 2nd edition stuff).  It is quite crinkly sounding to the touch.

If you need to see a photo of the item let me know and I will post one.

Thanks

Gary

Like these?  Not all mods have overlapping horizontal shrink.  As I remember, this X1 had fairly "crinkly" shrink as well.

BTB, By looking at that scan, I do not think that is original shrink.

Alright, here is a picture of teh back of the G1 that I have for sale:



Its hard to see in the picture, but I tried to point it out with the red arrows where the seal is.  I tried some other angles, but because of how fine the shrinkwrap actually is, it does not show up very well in pictures, even high res ones.   If you look closely though you can see what I mean by "thinner"


I should probably also note that I was looking at a couple of other auctions that I have up right now and actually the X10 I have up has a very similar crimping on the back side of it like my previously described D2 which has this "crimping" all over(Thankfully, I was not looking forward to draging my D2 out )  here is a close up it:




Hopefully Frank can chime in on this, he know alot about this stuff too.

No, mine definately does not have the horizontal overlap seal.

napoleonsdad wrote:Here's the original listing where I won it:


** expired eBay auction **


Note that it mentions it being from a leftover wholeseller's stock.

Hmm, How tightly does the shrink fit on your module?  Is it snuggish ot is it loose?  I did just drag out out my D2 and the shrinkwrap looks more similar to your X1 than I thought it would but it is still a little different.  My D2 does not have a back seal either, but the shrinkwrap is a lot "softer" to the touch than the real original 80's shrinkwrap jobs used to be.  This could be why the plastic shows the "crimping" that I described before, but regardless, the shrink still fits snugly around the module, alot more so  than the I14 that I was refering to earlier. I am going to post a picture of my D2 in a minute here for comparisons sake.   One thing that you may also want to try to check it is to get a razor blade and cut a very small hole in the plastic along the top or bottom of the module.  By doing that, you should be able to smell the "newness" of the module.  This is a technique that I have used in the past to pretty good effectiveness as if its not a rewrap job, the module should still smell "new" inside.  Just make sure that you don't cut too big of a hole.

Alright, as promised, here are a couple of pictures of my shrinked D2:






The pictures are not as clear as I was hoping that it would be, but if look at the back of it in particular, you can see the "crimping that I was refering to.  you can also see how the shrinkwrap still fits snug around the module.

Beyondthebreach wrote:
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was original shrink.

It would help if I could see it for myself, but IMHO the fact that the seals on all sides are so uneven puts up a big red flag for a reshrink job to me.  TBH, it really reminds me of the load of shrinked I1's I picked up over a year ago, that I asked about here:

viewtopic.php?t=2760&highlight=shrink

I am fairly certain that after looking through all the other items that I have now and have in the past sold, that those I1's were probably reshrinked.

napoleonsdad wrote:I don't know what to think.  My X1 has a good 1/4" "extra" amount of material than was needed.  It's kind of like your D2, bclarkie, but without those crimps.  Everything you see in my photo is a wrinkle.  The think that has me confused is the sound and feel of the wrap makes me think it's original.  There are 3 seams on the wrap; on each side and the bottom.

Gary, that sounds almost exactly like the I14 that I bought except without the wrinkles and I almost certain that it is a reshrink.  The shrinkwrap "feels" like its original, but it has no back seal and the shrinkwrap way to big for the item.  I am pretty sure that I still have the I14 around here, I'll see if I can post a picture of it too.  

My D2's shrinkwrap from above is wrinkled, but the shrinkwrap is softer and not crinkly and it fits snug around the module.  The module also smells new inside.

Alright here is the I14 I have been talking about:




As noted, the shrinkwrap is very crispy/crinkly like the old school shrinkwrap is.  However, as noted in previous posts(and I have marked it with red), there is clearly damage to the item that had to come from it being opened,  i.e the tear along the left hand side of the cover(its circled) and also note that amount of extra space in the shrinkwrap that I am pointing to with the arrows along the top  and left hand edges.  If I tore the shrinkwrap off it, I could not tell that this item was a reshrink, just by the feel of the shrink.  The damage to the module though and the fact that it is so oversized tells a completely different story though.