Aftermarket hoods are a lot cheaper than NOS (Ford Service Parts) or original items. Typical cost is $150 for aftermarket and $450 for NOS.
Ford hoods bear markings like 10-02-7 on them somewhere on the reverse side. Aftermarket hoods may have a production mark but may not. The ones I've seen have a simple mark like the number 45. There are also constructional differences. There are three or four different early stampings and these have some minor differences. Most are recognizable as OEM parts. If you compare a few OEM's to reproductions its not hard to miss which is which.
Are all NOS parts equal in quality? No, there is some variation in style and finish quality. Most of these are better however than any reproduction.
Are all aftermarket parts equal in quality? No, some are fairly good and some are terrible. Be sure to get from reputable vendor that does a volume business (knows the difference). The worst parts I've seen were crude and had wavy surfaces to the stamping making them difficult and expensive to finish. Most aftermarket hoods are lighter weight metal than the OEM parts.
If I had a car that I wanted to finish in show quality, the OEM part is the best buy since its easier to finish in concours quality. If I had a car than I wanted to cut a hole in the hood or add a cowl intake to...I'd use a reproduction.
A creased hood is likely to always have some crease visible in the finished work. Very difficult to remove it.
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