I don't think that is what happened with the influx of Japanese drums into the American market in the sixties and seventies.There is a supplier ..... Tama, or Hoshino, or Pearl, but they didn't put stickers with another companies' name on the drums. There weren't any other companies. They didn't exist. They just labeled their own drums with whatever name, be it Majestic, or Tempro or Kevin or whatever. There is no company named Majestic, or Tempro, or Kevin..... it's just a name.
Well, not quite Kev. You are on the right track, though. These stencils were sold through a network of distributors who ordered from a menu of options. The sales reps all knew what the others were doing and some of them had many different names. The distributors did not use their own names, but in fact created the Kevin, or the Majestic. It is the 10 or so distributors that made up all of these names, and then actually sold them through the network of music stores, often selling many of their own names side by side. Apollo and MAjestic, I really think were from the same distributor. So, yes there were real companies, but not under the name of Majestic. Some were also like Mr. Cooper, who had a network of national re-sellers he sold to, and so these old drums got all around the country. And there are some really good quality ones out there. Most are mediocre to pure crap, but there are some that were made from really nice shells. I have a located just such a set of late 70s, early 80s Pearl that are real maple shells, just like you expect to see in a Sling, Lud Rogers, etc. I am not sure if they are a stenciled set or actual Pearl, but the point was to create a realistic looking set, of either decent or dubious quality. Remamber, where there is a market, there is always a product to fill that market.
I also have found a set of Titans. These are ostensibly new MIC crap, at least that is what we all think of today when we see one. However this set is from the very early days of the a name brand of taye. Good, entry level stuff in and of itself, the Taye. Today's Titans are crap. The set I have located are really nice maple shells, mahogany veneer exterior, higher end hardware, TAMA Omni Mount tom mounts, very nice, heavy duty stuff and a very nice set of drums. I saw one from GP on the bay last week, looked almost identical, except it was GP, and they were very well built, the guy even reached out to the vintage world to ask about them. He did not come here, but I contacted him, it was a WMP with very similar hardware. You see, 6-8 yuears ago, some of todays low end garbage tried to make an end run because of the crapola we were putting out. Look back at that time. what of any consequence was made on shore? Ludwig have anything of value? Gretsch? The only thing going USA was DW. Ludwig and Gretsch were foundering, and they took advantage. Look at the sheer number of today's stencils, all made by the same 4 drum makers in China. I can get those for you. I am a memeber of a trade compnay. I can buy those lowend and midline and have my name stenciled all over them. The point is, it is rebranding, no matter what you call it. And I think I am going to buy both of these kits, if I can get the Pearls down, WAY down, I want thise maple shells. They need a bunch of parts, but it is a 20" bass, a 12, 14, 14, 16. And a mirror chrome snare. The Titans? Almost nice enough to make me drool. See the pix below.