Disclaimer: I was sent the FT rip-off by @Maxcat for a comparison with the real deal from Masterpiece Custom Vapes. This review represents my honest opinions alone. I paid £120 for the MCV Panzer from @midlands vaping. The clone will be given away, following this review, in a way Maxcat sees fit. I have received no financial incentive to undertake this review and agreed to do it because I wanted to know for sure that mine was better than the clone. No other website, or the administration thereof, is responsible for any of my comments. If this disclaimer comes across as me having a closed mind already then that is because I really want the Chanzer to be a piece of crap.
I think it is common knowledge now that I only buy genuine vaping products now. I have purchased a couple of devices recently on behalf of a friend at their request but no longer own a single clone for my own use. I make no judgement about what others do with their money but I believe it is important to support manufacturers and that you receive a better made device with better support from the manufacturer than if you buy from FastTech. I'm not telling anyone else what to think or do with their money, I'm just placing this review into context.
So, it's fair to say I've undergone a Damascene conversion. Like Saul of Tarsus becoming Paul the apostle, I have transformed from Mawsley the reviewer to Dave Cross the writer. The blinding light of St. Sam ElsaBubs shone down upon me and blinded me. Just as Christians interrupting my Sunday with their damn bell ringing pisses me off I'm willing to bank that (although we have only just begun our journey into the review) some of you are feeling miffed at the tone and content. Tough tits, it’s downhill from here – you’ve just enjoyed reading the highlight of the entire thing.
I make no apologies for this, what I want to achieve from this preamble is a scene setting so that you can understand the inbuilt bias. Unlike some of my reviews in the past this isn't going to be packed full of personal tales of substance abuse or the molesting of small animals. This is a warts and all honest take on how the clone matches up to the original. I adore the original, own three MCV products, thing Joy Soriano is a great bloke and have received a personalised fire button from him. I’ve also got two MCV drip tips and an MCV Atomic.
All told, this is going to be almost as balanced as putting Raguri on one end of a see-saw and Bella Emburg on the other. Someone tell Sam who the fuck Bella Emburg is.
Due to the number of pictures I'll split this into more than one post.
The Panzer was my first proper mod I saved up for and bought new. I’d owned originals prior to this but they’d been hand-me-downs or trades. I bought this the second I saw a picture of it
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The Cap
The engravings are close, very close. Almost…but not quite. Looking at the pair side by side it’s almost as if the fake one is a blurred photograph. Add on the font type, font size, depth of engraving to the precision it’s just not in the game. This will matter little to the person wanting to go fake but it matters to me, and it made me smile.
It was a damn good job too because I was peeved to discover they are identical weights and dimensions.
My delight was enhanced further when I looked at the pin, whereas the original has a true floating nature (with adjustable copper pin for battery rattle) the clone doesn’t float at all. You know the dead parrot sketch? This pin is a stiff, firmly embedded in the insulator. Yep I could, if I wanted, bang the all-brass pin out with a hammer then shave it or the hole – but I don’t want to expend the energy. It means you are going to find a number of attys won’t work on it unless you put some graft in. I tried a number of attys and the W3 is the closest to a flush fit, the rest have a gap like Katie Price’s gash.
The final nail in the cap is the detail on the top. Again it’s a good effort – but that is the statement teachers make about a kid who’s harmless in class but a bit dim. I’m certain that those who’ve got the clone will love it, I don’t. It’s a very poor facsimile that looks like it has been created by a constant ramming of a drill tip into it giving it a rough rather than the original’s smooth sandpaper finish in the well.
Threading into the ‘castle’ tube section wasn’t the slick experience you get with the original either.