Counterfeit Pelican case?

[Elliott Balsley]

I recently bought a used Pelican 1600 case off eBay, and I suspect it might not really be a Pelican. I need help figuring that out before I complain to the buyer. Here's what tipped me off:
The latches are not double-throw.
The latches are narrower than the typical Pelicans.
There is no red ring around the purge valve.
There is no Pelican logo, although there is a small rectangle where that would go, and it could have been peeled off.

Is this possibly some older design by Pelican? It is the same size as a 1600 case. I will post photos in a few days when I get home.

 

[Tom Wills]

Does it look like this? These were some old Pelican cases I stumbled across on a shoot a while back. They were genuine, just around 30 years old.

 

[Elliott Balsley]

Thanks Tom. The latches look very much like that, but the handle folds flat. So maybe the double throw latch is a more recent invention.

 

[Tom Wills]

Double Throw latches are apparently a 2002 invention. Surprising it took that long! This video shows the old latches on a relatively modern case. http://youtu.be/MvrL5wnUUJA

 

[CharlesPapert]

Personally I felt like the revised Pelican latch was still not enough of an improvement--I found the Storm case latches much easier to work from the beginning. Pelican actually made a tool to help open the Storm case latches, a sure sign of a questionable design!