Bootlegs

In the past, it was very easy to spot anime bootleg toys.  They don't come with their original boxes, have weird company names, & are in very bad quality.  However, it seems bootlegs these days are improving.  They have actually reached to the point where you can't tell the difference almost.  You actually have to get them out of the boxes to see if they are bootlegs or not now.  This is happening more to PVC figures are they are the hot selling items.

This section will help you understand how bootlegs came about & how to avoid purchasing these pirated products.

How did bootlegs came about

Bootlegs tend to originate from China.  Back then, someone would buy a product from a store shelf & copy it through trial & error.  After a number of attempts, the bootleg company will mass produce the product using very cheap materials & sell them at a lower price.  This was when most things weren't made in China at the time.  However, since China produces cheap labour for companies, bootlegs started to appear even more.  Mainly because someone in the production factory steals the prototype.  Because of this, Japanese toy companies send a representative to supervise the production & make them responsible for the prototype.  After production is over, they either do the following to the prototypes: 1) take it back to the Japan head office or 2) destroy it.  However, no matter what companies do to them, the designs get leaked out or stolen.  But, the bootlegs aren't released during the hot selling period.  One reason I can think of is basically the time to copy the designs & waiting for the re-release period.  Most of the time, it's trial & error again.  You may notice that they tend to pop up when products are officially re-released again.  That's probably the time when the factories will get another chance to look at the prototypes again.

Quality of bootlegs

Bootlegs really have come a long way.  They really gotten to the point where they look too good to tell the difference.  Not only has it gotten from model kits to small figures, it reached the point where they can copy expensive products such as gashapons, PVC figures, & plushes.  Because of the popularity of anime, it has gotten pretty dangerous to purchase anime goods if you aren't familiar with the market.  These bootlegs have reached the point of having original tags/labels & packaging designs & boxes.  To make matters worse, some Japanese toy companies are using very simple packaging methods & designs for their products which allows bootleg companies to copy them with ease.  To sadden the situation more, these bootleg companies are now doing wholesaling to retailers.  Most retailers that are picking this up are the US retailers as the cheap prices are very appealling to them & want their share in the anime business.  However, some of these retailers don't know that they are getting bootleg products as they think they are getting genuine ones or having a nice substitute.

Signs to watch out for

Because of the quality of bootlegs improving, it's going to be hard to tell the difference between genuine to fake.  Luckily, bootleg companies haven't perfect this yet & you can still tell which one is real.  Problem is that some of these methods that I'm going to list out doesn't work when you are purchasing online.  It's always better to see the actual product with your own eyes.

1. Study the product through the company's official webpage.  Pay attention to the details such as molding shaping, colour, details, & the face.  Use that info to compare the product you are buying from.

2. For PVC figures, look at the details of the actual product through the box from its windows.  See if the paint colours are a bit lighter or darker than usual & if the molding job is very poor.  Also, check out the face.  The face is usually a dead giveaway.  If possible, check to see if there are any accessories missing.  For other products like gashapons or plushes, check the quality from the clear packaging.  Again, the face is a dead giveaway.

3. Pay attention to the packaging.  Look for any official stickers or labels from the anime studio.  For example, AIR products will have KEY labels & Fate/stay night will have TYPE-MOON labels.  If you can't find the labels, chances are the product is a bootleg.  This is mainly for blister card & PVC figures.  Gashapons & trading figures usually don't have this.  Problem with this method is you can't use it when purchasing online.  If you can, ask for more pics of the product & see if you can spot the official label.  Chances are you can't & the seller will tell you it's not a fake.  However, some official products don't have these stickers/labels.  Bandai Namco's Saint Saiya Gold Myth Cloth collection is a good example.  The Japanese version will have an official Toei animation sticker on it.  The Asian/Hong Kong versions don't have it, but those are official products since they come from Bandai Namco Asia.  This would reduce you to inspecting the product carefully.

4. If possible, stay away from Hong Kong sellers unless you are positively sure they sell real items.  Some of them sell products that are real & fake.  So, you must know them well.  I would prefer people to buy from Japanese sellers since they get the products from Japan & the risk of them selling fake products are low.  This is a good method when purchasing online.  Also, be careful of US sellers since some of them are starting to get their products from these bootleg companies at very cheap wholesale prices.  To insert some cheap advertisements, you can go to my online anime web store to purchase some anime goods at tamago toys.  Some of our stock does come from Hong Kong suppliers, but we have checked their products by purchasing from them for personal collection.  Also, we have a supplier from Japan as well.  I'm a pretty serious collector, so I know the feeling of getting fakes.

5. If the product doesn't come with the original box, I suggest not buying it unless you know the seller very well.  There's a high chance that the product is fake.  Also, if the product is used or from a personal collection without original packaging,  I would stay away from it too if nothing is mentioned about it being a bootleg.  This is just to be on the safe side.

6. If you are purchasing gashapons, make sure they have the gashapon papers as well.  That's pretty much the only method that I know of to prove that it's an official product.  Fake ones don't come with them most of the time.  Some trading figures are now putting these gashapon papers with the figures as well.  However, it's still too hard to tell if the product inside is fake or not if the boxes are very close to the originals.

7. If the price is too good to be true, then it's mostly likely is.  Don't be attracted to prices that are below the Japanese suggested retail price unless you know the seller well.  Although they may go easy on your budget, it probably won't make you feel happy in the end.  This is the very reason why honest sellers are having a hard time to compete in the market with bootleg sellers selling these fakes at very low prices.

8. Try not to buy from Hong Kong, Taiwan, or China sellers from online auctions like eBay or online shops unless you know them very well.  The chances are very high in getting bootlegs.  Most of the times, you can tell if they are selling fakes if they have cosplay clothing & accessories in their stores or listings at very cheap prices.  A lot of these cosplay items aren't from official companies as they are actually made from scratch by bootleg companies with cheap materials.

If you love anime, try to support it by buying the original authentic stuff.  The toy industry for anime goods is really struggling as you see companies merging together like Bandai & Namco & Takara & Tomy.  Avoid bootlegs as they won't make you happy when you take them home with you.

Last updated on February 19, 2008