Terraforming Mars

Something of an odd post for this site: unboxing photos of a sort.

A while ago I purchased a copy of Terraforming Mars from Abox.nz for rather less than the usual NZ price and there was discussion on Facebook as to whether this was a genuine or fake copy of the game.

I picked it up today and took some photos of the components in hope of answering this question, though I don't have a known genuine copy to compare against.

There was a BGG thread on spotting a fake, so I am comparing with the information there.

The package itself appears to have shipped from an NZ address. Corrugated cardboard and packing tape - nothing fancy and not terribly solid but the game arrived in pretty good condition; slight dent near one corner.
 

Box in shrink wrap, colours strong and printing crisp.

 

Claims to be made in USA from a variety of components.

Box on the light-weight side, but not particularly flimsy, and seems well constructed.

With the lid off: cards wrapped, cubes in zip-lock bags (with some spare ones for the cards once unwrapped). The bottom of the box is constructed with a removable coloured liner.

Player boards very light-weight but well printed and with no signs of misprints or artifacts unlike the BGG example.

Cubes. Some chipped corners, especially noticeable on the gold. Quite strong dimpling on the cubes, similar to the BGG example.

Rule book is well printed, crisp and clear, on light-weight glossy paper.

Board is quite light and resembles the BGG fake example around the corners. Printing is good.

Tokens seem about average weight for a game, and punch out cleanly. Tokens / tiles have a glossy finish (mentioned on BGG).

Cards seem typical weight for game, with well printed glossy faces. The backs of the cards seem to vary a bit in quality and finish - some have a slightly grainy feel (almost like a matt varnish).

Sorting through the cards for the three listed at the end of the BGG post...

The exact same printing defect on the exact same cards. It would appear this copy of Terraforming Mars is a fake; the same fake as the one detailed on BGG.

So... next steps?  The folks at Abox.nz state they are Auckland based, and even mention Consumer Guarantees Act on their site. Presumably selling fake games (without mentioning this) is less than completely above board.