The history of the 'factory made fakes'

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The first prototype or ´test shot´ to appear for auction was several years ago. It was the figure that would become the Night Slash Cheetor in the Beast Machines series. After that we had TONS of ´test shots´ for Storm Jet. After that we saw ´test shots´ for Armada figures. At one time a supposed ´test shot´ for Lucky Draw Optimus Prime was sold for over $1,000. Some of these sellers gave us our first looks at the US-Original Spychangers. Differently colored Takara reissues became almost commonplace on ebay and generally went for some very high prices. Most recently these figures have started showing up in ´all clear´ forms. We know that the clear versions are fakes. They´re made by people in a factory ´after hours´. However, we DON´T know for sure if they´ve been fakes all along.

The question is: How did it start? Did a REAL test shot go up on ebay and opportunistic factory employees discovered they could make a quick buck? Or have they been fakes all along? Were any of them real? Did the buyer of the $1,400 Lucky Draw Prime Proto get ripped off?