Sorry - Just got back from a few days in Las Vegas, so was out of touch for much of the thread.
I don't know of any published source that shows this type of Fuess badge with the thick, even letters. If you look under a magnifyer the Angolia badge on p. 178 shows the uneven, "spidery" letters we have come to know and love in orginals, although the photo's quality leaves a lot to be desired.
The known original Fuess front has letters of varying thickness as shown in AlikN's photos above. It especially shows up in the "S", "C" and "H". It also has a characteristic skinny "I" and a square "P" in "D.A.P."
A few things put me off the badges in question. First of course is the "regular" or uniform lettering. The irregular lettering would be much harder to copy, which is why I think fakers would opt for a more standard font.
On the back, the "C" in "Munchen" on the pin plate is taller and thinner than on known "spidery" originals. The "C" is also missing the slight cap or serif on known originals. Although the angle of the photo makes it difficult, Craig's badge also seems to have the maker's name and address centered, instead of its usual slightly up and to the left of originals. That same pin plate is common to the recent excellent quality Fuess fakes, which I feel puts the rest of the badge into question.
We had another discussion about one of these same badges marked "33333". Amazingly, two forum members had exactly the same 33333 Fuess badge. Possible? I suppose, but people who collect these things know how hard it is to reconnect pairs, let alone find two of the same size with the same number. Most full sets had one of each maker for the small badge - a Deschler and a Fuess. I don't like coincidences in this hobby, and the two identical 33333 Fuess badges to me was the smoking gun pointing to them being of recent and spurious manufacture.
I've only begun seeing them recently, but they may well have been hiding in collections longer. If it was a genuine variation (which I don't believe), I feel it would and should have shown up in the literature earlier, like Angolia or Huffman, or in more general circulation in greater numbers among collectors.
That's all I have by way of "proof" that these are fake. Now I'd like to see some actual proof they are real.
Like they say in Vegas, a tie goes to the dealer. In collecting, the benefit of the doubt goes to known originals and against "variations".
