First off to start, yes Dave, you and to that end I consider all of this friendly conversation.
Quote: This line of thinking really opens up various trains of thought for OE judging and what should or should not be acceptable.
I don't see this as a new train of thought at all. When I judge a car I only scrutinize and compare the parts with parts that would have come on the them on the production line, there is no other "correct" period (IMHO). Anything else with a visible difference of any kind is a deviation of one sort or another and would lose points accordingly.
On the topic of a part being classified as a reproduction part vs a service replacement/continuation part. That's a little harder to define and I'd agree there are points where the lines get blurry for sure. Another blurry line would be the subject of which reproduction part or continuation part is the "best" in terms of matching a production line example. Since VERY few "Perfect" reproduction parts (Perfect being that they are indistinguishable to ANY degree as compared to production line examples) exist, there is a bit of subjectivity involved in making a call on which of them is the best replacement part, and along that line, which of them might garner more points in a judging situation.
