Today I have purchased an unusual 4th edition Catan set from Mayfair... or is it???
Actually it is a fake pirate set, but unusually it is probably one of the earliest ever fake sets of Catan to be made.
Here are a few things that make this set a fake.
- Mayfair artwork for China
The set is the English 4th Edition artwork as released by Mayfair, in 2007. Mayfair were the licence holder for all English versions of the game at that time. As far as I am aware they did not hold the licence for other languages. Even today other languages are handled by local agents in each country, or by Kosmos, the German/Other Languages agent for Catan. - No Mayfair Branding
On the front and sides the Mayfair logo has been removed. In fact it has been done quite obviously too. As anyone who has touched up photos knows if you need to fill an area one easy way is to cut and paste from the adjoining colour. In this case you can see where the rock pattern duplicates showing it has been pasted over where the logo sits (click image to see larger version.)
- Components for 5/6 players included
The box includes the green and brown wooden playing pieces and the additional hexes for 5/6 players as standard. While there have been more recent examples of official sets including 5/6 player components, these have always been special sets such as 25th Anniversary set, the 2021 Deluxe set, the various Big Boxes, and the 2010 15th Anniversary wooden set. No official set in the standard designed box has ever included the 5/6 player extension. - The set combines 3rd edition and 4th edition artwork
The development cards use the 3rd edition artwork, while the hexes use the 4th edition (as does the outer box). It is strange that they duplicated different versions, but it may be the faker had a source of earlier cards that could be used in this set. - This set is not in BGG
BGG have a very strict policy on not listing fake games. An early set in China would almost definitely already be listed. I do accept though this is not a guaranteed reason as BGG is missing a number of the Catan sets in my collection,
So while this Chinese set is a rather obvious fake, the one redeeming thing that makes this set unusual is the quality. Whoever made this set took the time to produce good quality components and provide high quality printing. The print quality of the 3rd edition cards and the 4th edition hexes are comparable with the real product of that vintage... even if the cropping is not. The wooden pieces are also such quality as to be indistinguishable from the real thing. I even wonder if they may have been sourced from the original maker.
Sadly the set I have bought has had a hard life. The box is badly damaged and has been taped up internally on all 4 corners. Normally I prefer to collect sealed sets where possible, or mint condition used if not. Rarely will I consider anything below good condition. In this case it is being kind to describe the box as poor. Also the cards have been held together with elastic bands which is another no-no for me. However the set is complete even after all this hard usage.
Finally I have to say I do not normally have fake products in my collection. I do have a fake 5th Edition base set as an example and until this new set it was the only fake in my collection of over 500 different Catan boxes. However I am willing to add this one too. My reasons for this are simple:
- As stated at the beginning of this item, this is quite possibly one of the earliest ever examples of Catan being faked. It is certainly from before the first Chinese Catan set was released by Kosmos in 2009.
- The set has 5/6 players included and this too makes it an unusual set - even if it is a fake. To have these pieces included is a comment often made by players when talking about what their dream Catan sets would have when they bought them.
What are your thoughts? Do you think it is worth having in my collection? I welcome all feedback - positive and negative. Feel free to
Click on images below to see larger versions.
