So, detecting bootleg figures?

[SteveH]

OK, I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about bootlegging. There are obvious signs -poor paint, shoddy materials, crappy packaging, amusing 'Engrish' in random places, and of course Chinese ideograms instead of Japanese.

When it comes to video or CD, there will usually be some boilerplate English about copyright and such.

But figures, like Figmas, I hear there are bootlegs that are just basically 'extra production off the books' from the manufacturing runs for Max Factory, or Bandai etc. Have I heard that right?

Used to be the 'hanko sticker' was a safe way to judge, but with Bandai abandoning actual licensing stickers for pre-printed marks on the boxes, I would think anything goes now.

So I just got the Figma Attack On Titan Erin from a Japanese seller, everything seems fine, nothing is brittle or soapy plastic or otherwise 'off', but it smells like gasoline!

Nothing feels funny, no oily texture to the plastic. Might it just be some spray at customs, for bugs and sickness? My SH Figuarts and other Figma don't have this smell.

So, bootleg? bug spray? MIND CONTROL DRUGS? (because I do find myself wanting the other AoT Figmas... )

Opinions welcome.

[greg]

Hmm... I when I think of the gasoline smell, I think of China. I haven't heard of bootlegs coming from Japan, but rather from China and Thailand. Was the package sent from a genuine Japanese post office? I once bought some window decals from a seller claiming to be in Sendai, however the package was sent from Thailand. They claim that they are in Japan, but I even wrote them in Japanese once and they couldn't read it. To me, that tells me that they are definitely not located in Japan.

[SteveH]

Hmm... I when I think of the gasoline smell, I think of China. I haven't heard of bootlegs coming from Japan, but rather from China and Thailand. Was the package sent from a genuine Japanese post office? I once bought some window decals from a seller claiming to be in Sendai, however the package was sent from Thailand. They claim that they are in Japan, but I even wrote them in Japanese once and they couldn't read it. To me, that tells me that they are definitely not located in Japan.

Definitely Japan. The Amazon 'storefront' is called N-Lion, out of Shizuoka. Customs sticker is from Japan Post, Postage Meter stamp, everything says Japan.

It may be just material outgassing. Erin's jacket is made of a soft, rubbery vinyl different from the ABS and Stryene plastics. I dunno, I guess I just have a hair-trigger on this sort of thing.

[llj]

Well, if you're REALLY curious, you could take the figure outside, light a match near it and see if it catches...

[Animusubi]

I know there's several guides for detecting bootleg Figmas online. Sometimes it's easy to tell, sometimes it's not. I know packaging is a factor, such as how shiny it looks, if it's faded, if there's a very specific bit of writing in Japanese that's not there. The plastic can look cheaper, or the design a little off. I think there's even Youtube videos on it. Makes it kinda scary! XD;

[_D_]

Got lots of bootleg Chinese translated manga before the country got rich and secured legal rights to reprints. Was pretty common back in the 1980s and 90s...