"I think the "repro" moniker of the Parker Reproduction guns was a marketing failing."
It may indeed have been a marketing failure - after all, who ever heard of truth in advertising? Why not lie if is helps you sell more?
I'll guarantee you there were plenty of guys who walked the halls of Meriden who turned their noses at the Ilion production of the Parker gun. So I can't see calling one made in Japan - the same country that had undoubtedly cost a few Meriden lives by 1945 - the real deal.
Even the 'new' $50,000 AAHE is still a reproduction. If you think it's anything other, I would like to sell you some Van Gogh paintings I had made by an outside contractor using modern methods and materials which equal or surpass anything he ever made himself. Don't like paintings? I'll sell you some ancient Indian artifacts - just tell me what you need and I'll make them right up.
There, I'm off my Sunday morning soapbox!
