There are a BUNCH of fake ornaments being sold on German ebay right now and they are making their way to US ebay. BEWARE of German sellers describing "rare" or "older" figural ornaments. Some of the fakes include ANY Hindenburg busts, most all zeppelins, Mary holding the baby Jesus, the singing frog, girl heads, the bust of Christ and many more! They are using old caps or clips, but the paint colors are not quite right, the weight of the glass is slightly heavier, the silvering is way to bright and clean and there is little or no wear to the paints (unless intentional). An easy wat to spot fakes in most cases is to look at the top where the cap fits on. If it is painted all the way under the cap it is probably a fake. Old ornaments were rarely painted in this manner. The pike was almost always left unpainted and the area should be dark or clear from oxidation/age of the silvering.

Reproduction kugels are always on US ebay in droves, however, I think in most cases this is unintentional as the new ones look old. Inferior materials make the caps rust quickly and the silvering fades quickly for the same reason.

An easy way to spot a fake kugel is to look at the cap. German/French kugels almost NEVER have a pike. Old kugels were ground down so that the cap fit tight onto the body of the kugel. Also, old kugels NEVER had caps with the saw-toothed or serrated edges. They also never had the U shaped markings on them seen in many repros these days. If you have any doubts, look at the completed items and check the caps on those that brought the most money.