I'd love to help ya there, Mr. Grim Reaper guy, but we hath need of more pics, and better ones at that. Where are "these weird different small odd sheen squares near the serial number and the Gibson logo", of which you speak?
The most logical explanation
Mike, where'd you get a Saratoga guitar? I live up near Saratoga. There are no guitar makers there, only a horse racing track.
I got it searching for a Dan Electro 12 string, really great instrument for well under $400.
Ha! A little sharpie and you're good to go . . .
Is it made out of that soft touch crap where it's plastic but feels kind of soft and velvety? I stopped buying anything plastic that has that soft touch feature many years ago. Anything and everything that had it turned all sticky over the years and there's no getting rid of it. I've never experienced it with any other plastic. I think it's just some weird super thin coating on the plastic. I hate the stuff and would advise anybody to avoid buying anything they plan on keeping for a long while or valuable to avoid it and look for something else without it.
Its a cheap $15 Snark tuner, the body is hard plastic and the clip has soft foam, it's about 6-8 years old and the whole thing is sticky like it's decomposing. It stays in my guitar case when not in use.
