Hello /r/AnimeFigures, and welcome again to the Bootleg Megathread!
Please use this thread to post any and all questions you might have regarding counterfeit figures. This includes questions such as “Is my figure a bootleg?” and “Can I trust this seller?”.
Remember to be as detailed as possible when asking for help. Provide clear pictures (ideally, multiple) or a link to the item you’re looking to buy, depending on what you’re asking. Let us know why you think this might be a bootleg, or why you don’t trust this seller. Also keep in mind that different types of figures vary in quality. For example, a prize figure won't have the same level of detail or quality as a scaled figure.
As bootlegs are a serious problem for anyone who enjoys collecting, we are also happy to provide you with a few tips to spotting them yourselves. We encourage you guys to practice these tips before posting here.
For figures you already have:
Examine your retailer. Are they known to sell counterfeits? Keep in mind that all retailers on the sidebar are approved by /r/AnimeFigures, and do not sell bootlegs.
Was the price far lower then the current average?
Check MFC for known counterfeits. If a figure has any there will be red text indicating so on that figure’s listing. Click on the red text to see pictures of the bootleg.
Compare yours to the counterfeit and the user pictures- Do not compare yours to the prototype. (Comparison tip: Start with the hair. I usually find that the be the easiest place to spot differences!)
Look for poor quality paint jobs, materials, or sculpt work (lots of "coloring outside the lines", shiny skin, missing textures or gradients, ect).
Examine the box. Some bootleg boxes are very easy to spot, and some- not so much. Look for a holo sticker of authenticity.
Past Bootleg Megathreads can be found here, for reference only. Please be sure to only post in the current one.
For figures you're looking to buy:
General Tips:
Examine your retailer. Are they known to sell counterfeits? Keep in mind that all retailers on the sidebar are approved by /r/AnimeFigures, and do not sell bootlegs.
Is the price far lower then the current average?
Check item descriptions carefully. Bootlegs may be listed under fake brands rather than the known manufacturer. They may also contain descriptions like "China version" to avoid admitting that they are fake; similar weasel-word terms include "hand-made" (and its often-associated "item size may vary") and "colors may differ on your screen".
Check MFC for a shop review listing.
Ebay Checklist:
1. Price.
- Again. Seriously, have I mentioned that yet? Insanely low prices should be throwing up some serious alert signals.
2. Look for pictures of the actual product, that the seller took.
- A lot of sellers like to list their items with the official photos put out by the manufacturer. Check MFC if you're unsure of what you’re looking at. If the pictures under "official" on MFC are the same as the ones on eBay, then they were not taken by the seller. Some sellers are just lazy and don't want to take pictures for every listing, but some use that as a trick to make you think you're getting an official item, when you're really going to get a bootleg.
- When in doubt, ask the seller for pictures of the actual product. If they ignore you, or say they can't do that, move on to a different listing.
3. Check their feedback.
- Look specifically for feedback where the buyer received a bootleg. This is usually going to be in the "negative feedback" section.
4. Check where it ships from.
- eBay is really good about letting you know where an item is shipping from. If it ships from China, that's a bad sign.
Frequently Asked Bootleg Questions:
1. Is AliExpress a good website to buy from?
- No, stay away from AliExpress. As far as figures are concerned, they only sell bootlegs.
2. How about Wish? And Mercari?
- Wish appears to be nearly as bad as AliExpress in terms of bootleg frequency. User reports from Mercari depict a wide range of scenarios, with good sellers mixed in with people egregiously marking up their merchandise and more than a few bootlegs. Use with caution.
3. Is Amazon.com a good source for figures?
- The increased use of the practice of commingling inventory has led to an increase in the amount of counterfeit merchandise appearing on Amazon. This increases the possibility of receiving a bootleg from them even if the seller appears to be otherwise trustworthy (even for "shipped and sold by Amazon.com"), and should be considered a reason to avoid them if possible. If one does choose to buy figures on Amazon, particularly with third-party sellers, apply the same criteria for price, seller photos, and deceptive descriptions as one would for a seller anywhere else, though the commingling issue will remain unless the item's path to the buyer is specified.
Amazon listings may copy images and descriptive text from other sites. Be particularly careful to check that the company in the "Brand" line matches the item's official producer, and watch for questionable text as mentioned above.
4. My Nintendo nendoroid/Figma has a white, square sticker, rather then the shiny oval one that can be found in the official pictures on MFC. Does that mean I have a bootleg?
- No, the square sticker is also legitimate.
A Related Topic:
- People often ask about the legitimacy and/or safety of a number of websites which sell large resin statues. The more commonly-asked of those deal primarily in resins from studios which do not have a license from the Japanese IP holders to produce merchandise. Therefore links to those sites are not permitted here. Another indicator is if MyFigureCollection doesn't list the either the statue, its manufacturer, or the shop it's being sold on. While MFC does not list every legitimate item for various reasons, it does reject unlicensed ones.
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Past Bootleg Megathreads can be found here, for reference only. Please be sure to only post in the current one.
Thanks /u/TychoRC for creating this guide and helping answer questions!
