I just received Thor for the DS from an eBay-Seller in the US. Despite the fact that the game is damaged, I highly doubt that the manual is an original Nintendo product. First the manual is extremely slim. Only 12 pages. The real content is only one page with "controls", one free page for "notes", one page with advertisment for thor toys and one warranty page and the same in French.
I hope someone can tell me if that is truly the whole content of the manual. No story? No explanation for items?

I've got a U.S. copy as well and its manual is just like you describe it. I bought it online from a well known retailer and it was brand new and sealed so I guess that's how the manual gets printed in the first place. Same goes for the game manual for Lego Star Wars III - the Clone Wars on 3DS (in case you were planning on getting that one).
Kind of annoying, but oh well. You must be one of the few (myself included) that actually cares for reading game instructions

@Fu-Sheng Usually the way to tell is the quality of the cartridge itself. Can you feel a bulge under the back of the cart? Is the Nintendo Seal of Approval in shiny gold or is it dull? How's the print quality?

Maybe we got screwed over by the same seller. I cannot believe that games are sold that way nowadays. I wonder if they sell the game like that in Europe. Only one page of real content (controls)... .

There are so many pirated copies sold on ebay that you have to pay attention on the details and the manuals are usually very cheap. I got to say that the rest looks authentic but the manual... .

I already had a bad feeling when I received Contra 4 with its black and white manual (cover of the manual is coloerd though). But it seems to be authentic.

I am still waiting for Batman - The Brave and the Bold for the DS. (Yes I got almost all WayForward games) I wonder if the manual looks as cheap as the Thor manual. Maybe I should spend a few dollars more and buy my games from Play-Asia to avoid those situations of uncertainty.

@James I consider myself well-trained in spotting copies. Everything about this game looks authentic only the manual is disturbing. The quality of the manual is the same as other original manuals, but only one page with controls is very strange.

On GameFAQs someone wrote: "I bought the game in Canada where manuals are in French and English. The manual itself basically has two sections: Controls and Warranty. Is this how it is in the American version? I'm just curious, I've never seen such a sparse instruction manual, it's really strange to me."
So I guess it's normal for this game.

@Omega Thanks for the info. I just searched for that post, hoping someone answered his question, but no one did.
I sent an email to Sega's and Wayforward's support maybe they can give me a proper answer.
If the manual is authentic I just hope that this is not the way games are going to be sold in the future. But maybe other gamers just don't care.

@Fu-Sheng I too own all WayForward games on the DS. Those you mention all have manuals printed in b&w, save for Batman - the Brave and the Bold whose manual is printed in colour.
As you pointed out, counterfeit copies are easy to spot. Surely there can be a slight variance in the Nintendo Seal of Approval luminosity but I very much doubt that has anything to do with it, since the quality of the paper used can have an effect on that. Counterfeit copies, on the other hand, strikingly lack in printing quality and, mainly, in page layout. It's rather if you notice artifacting in the printed images and a disoriented page layout that you should have doubts about the authenticity.
So to summarize about your games:

They're original.

You can stop worrying now.

I was a bit thrown when Contra 4 had a black and white manual, particularly after the print quality of the box cover didn't seem great (everything looked a little dark). However, I checked a copy in a local import store and it was the same.

It's annoying that you have to be so careful when buying online, but it goes with the territory I guess!

Contra 4's b&w manual was intentionally so.

It's even more bada$$ this way

As for the dangers that come with bying online... there are plenty of online retailers that are much safer than your typical neighbourhood game store. You just have to know where to look (and where to shop, for that matter...).

Pretty sure Sega just went cheap with the manuals and inserts. Do people still read those things...I haven't since the N64 days. I can't remember playing a game released in the last decade where they didn't just teach you in game anyways.

@Nintendawg Thanks for pointing that out. On the one hand it is a relief that they are authentic, but on the other hand it is disappointing that they made such a cheap manual for Thor. I would really like to know if the European one looks the same. If they have a "real" manual, I would have ordered one from the UK.

@Wheels2050 That was the first thing I thought as well when I saw the printing quality of the box cover. I could not imagine that Konami made such a poor effort on the box cover for the 20th Anniversary of Contra.

@sykotek I know what you mean. But I always take a look on the manuals since my first SNES game, of course not with the same intensity like I did when I was a child, but I still enjoy it. It is the same thing when you buy a new music album, for me the booklet is a necessary part not only the CD itself.

@Fu-Sheng: Don't get me wrong, I collect games as a hobby, so I know exactly what you mean, ...but you gotta understand, I'm in the gaming minority and if you collect games also, so are you.

The majority of folks are perfectly content to play the game and don't have a care of anything else that comes in the package... and with the cost cutting that is happening all around, I'd be surprised if superfluous things like manuals don't eventually go the way of the dodo.

Don't assume I don't feel your pain on them going cheap on the Thor manual either, I too am a big fan of WayForward and also of Thor. Seriously, how dare they!

I hope your wrong, though I do have the bad feeling you're not...

@Nintendawg @James @Omega @Wheels2050 @sykotek Thanks to all of you who helped to allay my concerns.

Always a pleasure!

Talking about manuals, I got a question left. Can someone tell me if the Metal Slug 7 and Aliens: Infestation manuals of the US-version are as cheap as the Thor: God of Thunder manual? Just wondering especially in the case of Aliens as that one was published by Sega as well. And if there are owners of the UK-versions, please let me know if there are any differences.

@Fu-Sheng: I can confirm that the Aliens: Infestation manual is, frankly, pathetic. It's currently packed away (the wife and I are moving overseas in a couple of days) but from memory it's either 4 or 6 pages and the only game-related information is a page for the controls.

There's also a web address listed to download a pdf of a 'full' manual but it doesn't work - I've emailed Sega support a couple of months ago but just got back a generic 'we're working on it' manual.

It's a bit of a pity - I prefer to read a manual to learn a game than be taught by in-game tutorials. I find it quite immersion-breaking to constantly have things popping up on screen to tell me what to do. I realise that's probably because I grew up reading manuals before I could play a game, but there you go - I have fond memories of the Baldur's Gate II manual as it was a great resource for game information, and a hefty book!

@Wheels2050 is it the PAL or US version you own?

It's unfortunate for many, but, with the high costs of manufacturing and a lack of appreciation for them, physical game manuals are definitely being cut down or altogether abandoned in favor of in-game e-manuals. Even Nintendo's following this trend; their manual for Super Mario 3D Land is 4 pages long, highlighting the games' controls, directing you to an in-game manual accessible at the Home menu when you're playing SM3DL, and having a mini-poster on the back! Mario Kart 7's is better, but I'm sure the decline of the physical manual is unfortunate for many.