Physically, they’re really close; if a burning mess hall hadn’t collapsed on them, we might still be using the durable originals today. Chemically, they’re different. Our unscorched original fragments of Marine Corps mess hall porcelain from the early twentieth century have a faintly blue tint that is unique to lead-infused glazes. Homer Laughlin China Company uses only lead-free glazes, so we had to give up that aspect of historical accuracy! Geometrically, the replicas are so close to the fragment dimensions that if an intact original survived (and we’ve been looking for 10 years without finding one), it might be difficult for the naked eye to distinguish one from another.