They had a lot of wear in that period of time so its not completely unreasonable, and for me, the practicality of the comfort outweighs the color showing wear. Ive used this for my phone and my 10in iPad to charge. Theyre all pretty much the same. I had looked down and saw that the top two bands had come off seconds before it fell. The record player is wide, but light weight. Only complaint is they are a tad too big, if these came in a solid 11 (instead of the half sizes) these would be perfect, but we figured the 10. Thus far the V12C is a homerun for me. Great for a sturdy rest Good value for the price These were about an inch too long.