Memory Stick Bootlegs?!?!?

So, I ordered a 2GB memory stick on ebay recently and I got it today. I think it's a bootleg... I had never even heard anything about there bootleg memory sticks exisiting. It seems pretty straight forward.

As long as it works, I'm not too worried about it, and it seems to. Anybody else got a bootleg memory stick? Is it going to mess up my PSP? Not quite sure what to do. I haven't left the seller feedback yet.

what is the auction link? I bought a few bootleg SD disks on ebay before. Does the memory stick have the Official Magicgate logo on it?

Be careful. I've heard of bootleg SD cards that are specially formatted to show up as being high capacity cards, but they actually only have like 64MB of space. If you're going to keep it be sure it actually can store 2GB worth of data.

I remember seeing a really indepth article on this awhile back, wish I could find it...

anyways, I have a bootleg 128 stick.



can you pick out the poser!? lol. the bootleg one doesn't even fit right in my PSP, and it really worried me at first, because I thought my memory card slot was broken, but once I got the 1GB I found out it was just the memory card. Notice how it doesn't say "duo" anywhere on the 128. And also on the back there is no writing, or no white strip.

btw, mine used to work, but just recently it spazzed out and won't load anymore. It shouldn't ruin anything...A pic would be nice if you want to know if it's a boot.

Yeah, be careful...I bought a gig on the bay,...turns out a week later it became corrupt for no damn reason. It was definatly a boot..be careful.

those MAX memory sticks arent bootlegs,. they are made by Datel here in the USA. We sell them at Best Buy. Granted, they are not officially licensed by Sony, but they are better then the straight up 100% boots from Hong Kong.

INfintido said:

I remember seeing a really indepth article on this awhile back, wish I could find it...

anyways, I have a bootleg 128 stick.

can you pick out the poser!? lol. the bootleg one doesn't even fit right in my PSP, and it really worried me at first, because I thought my memory card slot was broken, but once I got the 1GB I found out it was just the memory card. Notice how it doesn't say "duo" anywhere on the 128. And also on the back there is no writing, or no white strip.

btw, mine used to work, but just recently it spazzed out and won't load anymore. It shouldn't ruin anything...A pic would be nice if you want to know if it's a boot.

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ulasamosa said:

those MAX memory sticks arent bootlegs,. they are made by Datel here in the USA. We sell them at Best Buy. Granted, they are not officially licensed by Sony, but they are better then the straight up 100% boots from Hong Kong.

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wow, really? they just suck then. Mine doesn't even stay down, it pops up everytime I try and put it in.

INfintido said:

wow, really? they just suck then. Mine doesn't even stay down, it pops up everytime I try and put it in.

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yes sir, they do just suck...they used to come in the 128mb size with just the card, now they sell them in 1G and 2G packs like this...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...70007253775&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT&rd=1

That's the auction link. I do believe it had the actual 2 GB of space on it... I loaded it so full of stuff so fast that I didn't notice the exact size.

The seller was from the states, so I figured it was all right. The packaging just doesn't seem professional... Like it's not something Sony would let slide... Well, hopefully it doesn't crap out on me. It's nice having that much space, that's for sure.

Aaron D said:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...70007253775&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT&rd=1
The packaging just doesn't seem professional... Like it's not something Sony would let slide... Well, hopefully it doesn't crap out on me.

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These are the only sorts of packaging I've seen apart from the blue SanDisk. I'd be interested to know from anyone in the know if these are legit or not.

Otherwise where is the cheapest online retailer to purchase the buggers from?

I've already been stung once on ebay.

those really do look official. They obvisouly have sony packaging and the official Magicgate logo on the stick....I do think I remember reading about bootleg MS pro duos somewhere a while back and they did have a picture of this same one. Ill try and find the article. I think its the "high speed" that throws it off. To my knowledge, Sony doesnt have a "high speed" series of sticks. Ill look around.

Aaron D said:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...70007253775&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT&rd=1

That's the auction link. I do believe it had the actual 2 GB of space on it... I loaded it so full of stuff so fast that I didn't notice the exact size.

The seller was from the states, so I figured it was all right. The packaging just doesn't seem professional... Like it's not something Sony would let slide... Well, hopefully it doesn't crap out on me. It's nice having that much space, that's for sure.

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Yeah, they're around. A good rule to go by is:

If it's expensive, doesn't require a whole lot of material, easy for a smaller company to manufacture (likely why there aren't bootleg PSPs, and DS systems...yet ), and Hong Kong or China can make it...you'll probably see a bootleg. (Neo carts, or "HK silver" games anyone?)

For things like Memory Sticks (if possible), just make sure you examine packaging, and printing on the stick itself. Bootlegs usually have slightly lower print quality on both. Plastic color might not be exact, seams might not be as smooth, or in different spots etc. Side by side comparison with a legit Memory Stick would likely show subtle differences.

For example: I've purchased bootleg headphones (I knew they were when I bought them, but they were cheap), and the packaging on the "Sony" package was a little on the blurry side if you looked closely. Logos on the headphones themselves were on there, but didn't look quite right. Package stated there was a gold plated tip, and it was obviously nickel plated or something.

I thought the packaging looked fine in the picture. And, it is done really well, I guess. There's just a lot of engrish on it, hahaha. There are also two kanji in the top right corner... ??? Also, I was getting some stuff off my comp for my PSP last night, and my comp was all acting funny. It would just freeze up and then say that some unknown hardware was causing problems... ??? Again. I don't know...

Aaron D said:

I thought the packaging looked fine in the picture. And, it is done really well, I guess. There's just a lot of engrish on it, hahaha. There are also two kanji in the top right corner... ??? Also, I was getting some stuff off my comp for my PSP last night, and my comp was all acting funny. It would just freeze up and then say that some unknown hardware was causing problems... ??? Again. I don't know...

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Damn, sounds a little suss. I really need a 2GB for my PSP but it seems like such a gamble to get a legit one.

ulasamosa said:

those really do look official. They obvisouly have sony packaging and the official Magicgate logo on the stick....I do think I remember reading about bootleg MS pro duos somewhere a while back and they did have a picture of this same one. Ill try and find the article. I think its the "high speed" that throws it off. To my knowledge, Sony doesnt have a "high speed" series of sticks. Ill look around.

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Sony does make high speed duos. Just go on sonystyle.com and search.

If it's a boot, this is one of the best quality jobs I have seen. Also, the price really isn't that great of a deal. Take a look at the shipping, $22.00+ for reg mail shipping is a joke. Looks like the seller is making back the profit on the shipping end.

Those bootleg memory sticks have flooded the markets wiithin the past six months or so where I live (in China). They are VERY close, and just examining the card will likely get you nowhere as they're almost exact...
The key to seeing whether it's a bootleg or not is in the packaging - the seam along the sides of the package on a legit stick are very smooth - whereas the seams on the bootleg packaging look a bit more sloppy, and some of them even use staples to hold the plastic packaging together - - don't look for the holographic sticker on the package, as both the bootleg and legit versions have them, and they are nearly identical to the naked eye.

The seams on the legit cart's packaging are very smooth - and the bootleg is quite rough and shoddy looking. That's all you need to know.

TimKunming said:

The seams on the legit cart's packaging are very smooth - and the bootleg is quite rough and shoddy looking. That's all you need to know.

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Cheers for that I'll keep my eye out.