Fake Taylormade XR 08?

[TrickyNick]

So, I recently bought a Taylormade XR 08 head on eBay. Yeah, I know, club head only on eBay = possible fake. The seller claimed he got it from his Japanese boss as a present. He had apparently pulled the shaft and was using it in his 3 wood. Sketchy, I know. I knew full well that it may turn out to be fake, but I figured I'd check it out since I'm covered under eBay's Buyer Protection program, and since the pictures looked pretty convincing compared to other XR's out there.

 

When it arrived, I took it to my local club fitter to ask him his opinion (not knowing whether he would be familiar with JDM equipment). He pointed out some very minor "flaws" and noted that JDM quality control would not tolerate any imperfections, which made sense. Even so, not a definitive answer. Anyway, not having any access to other XR 08's to do a club to club comparison, I dug up all the XR 08 pictures I could find. The differences are minor, as you can see below.

 

Overall, the quality of the work is pretty good. Compared to other fake clubs I have seen, if this one is fake, then it is a pretty good fake. I have done the magnet test and it didn't stick anywhere on the head. There is a serial number on the hosel, but I know that doesn't mean anything. I even called Taylormade USA, but they couldn't give me any tips besides calling TM Japan. I finally convinced the eBay seller that he sold me a fake and we made a deal for him to refund me most of what I paid and let me keep the head for a couple of bucks. I had the clubfitter throw a used Aldila DVS (same as what I have in my Burner 07) into the head and took it to the range. Great performance, but that may be partly due to the shaft. A couple of shots I got 10+ yards out of it over my Burner. So now I am the semi-proud owner of a semi-fake XR 08. I think.

 

Here are the pics:

 

My "fake" XR (note the sharpness of the XR text):

 

Real XR (claimed by another ebay seller):

 

My "fake" XR:

 

Claimed real XR:

 

Real XR (from Tourspecgolf trade show pictures):

 

Comments?