Hey!
Well, thanks to Ras' links, we all know a bit more about pad printing so I'll refocus on another problem Geobra has with these. (BTW, geobra uses serigraphy, which is yet another method,
).
The root of such covert industry is providing enough torsos to make the price of one stamp worth it. And that's where Geobra doesn't like it: who can provide 300 white, 300 yellow and 300 green torsos in a wink? Don't tell me these guys buy 900 boxes to dimantle 900 clickies (I get blisters on my fingers after 20 or 30 at a time), and then pad-print them.
These torsos have to come from the factory one way or another.
When I visited the Malta factory, we went through a corridor where hundreds of bags of body parts were stacked. It was like: 5000 romans arms, 5000 plain white torsos, 5000 female klicky heads, and so on...I say 5000 but it may be more, the bags were huge.
Sneaking some out wouldn't be reeeeally difficult for one employee, don't you think?
Just my
Arnaud