I picked up one not long ago and dang if it wasn't plastic. I don't know if it was originally intended as just a souvenir or what. I kinda rejected the "fake" idea on the grounds of who would fake a silver badge using plastic? I have quite a few of the real ones. I tend to buy every one I find if the price is right. They will always be useful in trades or small sales that will pay my light bill for the day. FWIW, they were extremely common a year and more ago. Today I went to the market and I didn't see a single one.
HOWEVER, I have at least one example of a lighter-colored center part badge and, except for the color difference, it seems like an original. I weighed it and ten other standard-appearance badges chosen at random and they all weighed approximately the same, give or take a couple of tenths. The light-colored center one wan't even on an extreme. That leads me to wonder if there is a variant with an light-colored center. I suppose I could test the conductivity of the badges, but I don't have an ohmmeter or the skill to know how to use it right. It's not THAT big a deal.
