Giant Robot NTT - Original vs Fake

Giant Robot is the only album by the band of the same name, led by guitarist Buckethead. It was released in a run of reportedly 1,000 copies on band member Pete Scaturro's small label NTT Records in 1996. A re-release of the album is very unlikely because it contains numerous unauthorised samples from classic movies in its songs. This, plus the popularity of some of the songs led to sometimes sky high prices for the CD on eBay. Since some time the Buckethead fan community is aware of fake copies from Asia. Quality of those bootlegs is alarming good, with only few significant differences between both versions.

The first picture shows the most significant difference between original and plagiarized copies of the album. The original CD from the USA has the matrix code in big letters and backwards, while the bootleg contains smaller, non-reversed letters. The matrix code of the fake copy can be seen from the CD's front, a feature the original does not have.

The second picture shows the front sides of both CDs. Notice the even orange colour of the fake copy and the somewhat dirty painting of the original, especially around the band's name. There's some smaller hints regarding authenticity, but those can only be seen if both copies are available. The colour of the booklet and inlay look a bit fresher on the fake copies, but this hardly can be noticed without the original copy as a reference.

"Giant Robot NTT" can legally be downloaded from fan projects like The Buckethead Coop, so you neither have to pay sky high prices nor run the risk of buying a fake copy if you want to listen to the fantastic music it contains. It is good manner, though, to support the artist through a special page on TDRSmusic.

Known eBay seller accounts for fake copies:
- bomohitcher
- onenutloose
- demozziewidow
- blackmojoyou

Update October 2011:
eBay names have changed for all four accounts:
- horicparadize
- neverlandyo
- ragepinksweater
- benjamindedic

Looking through the feedback data of those four accounts one can find several complaints from buyers regarding fake CDs over the past few years. Most data is unavailable though, since most of the transactions are "private".

Other rare albums they sell from time to time include:
- "I Wanna Smoke Wit U" by Cal-Luv
- "Hybrid Theory" by Linkin Park
- "Buy Now... Saved Later" by One Minute Now
- "The Last Place You Look" by Remember Maine
- "I Love to Paint" by Saint Etienne
- "Act of Depression" by Underoath
- "Cries of the Past" by Underoath
- "Mindless Self-Indulgence" by Jimmy Urine

If you can give any further information about this ring of criminals, please leave a comment or send an eMail! Your help is important! Only together we can collect enough data and evidence to stop eBay's ignorance!