I've written this little guide to help people who are looking to buy figures and don't want to end up getting scammed by those selling bootlegs.
1. What are bootlegs?
In short, bootleg figures are cheap knockoffs of actual licensed figures. These fake items imitate the authentic figures, but unlike real ones, the bootleggers don't have permission from the rightsholder of a character to make them, instead they produce copies of an existing legitimate figure, thus not only do they violate copyright, they also steal the work a legitimate manufacturer has put in the design and scultpting. Bootleg figures are usually sold for low prices to attract buyers, especially those who are not careful with their purchases.
Why are bootlegs bad?
As mentioned above, bootleggers seek to cash in on work done by others. When you buy a bootleg item, no money goes to the original creators. Manufacturing a figure takes a lot of work, it begins usually with an artist who creates artwork, when that artwork is adapted to a figure, you need 3d modelers to transform 2d into 3d. That is then followed by the work of sculptors, mold makers, production staff, painters, sales and marketing and so on. What bootleggers do is steal all that hard work done by numerous individuals by copying the final product and making knockoffs of that. So no money for the artists, creators or the brand you love.
Not only does buying a fake item hurt the people who created the character you love, many bootleggers use shady means to produce their knockoffs. When a legitimate figure manufacturer has to replace molds regularly to maintain production quality, the old molds are sometimes stolen and sold on the black market where bootleggers source them. And since the makers of fake figures don't mind stealing property rights and physical molds, it'd be childish to assume they abide to all the other laws either. Many use underpaid workers and/or child labour, some have connections to organized crime, usually they have no regard towards the health and safety of their workers etc. So ultimately when buying a bootleg figure you might be supporting one or more of these illegal activities as well.
A bootleg figure might also harm you directly. Legitimate manufacturers make sure the product doesn't include toxic chemicals. Same can't be said for bootleggers, some bootlegs have been found to use paints that include chemicals linked to increased cancer risk. Thankfully these appear to be rare cases though.
Bootleg figures are often inferior in quality compared to the official ones. They simply don't look as good as the real deal.
Selling pirated goods is simply illegal in most countries, and morally wrong for reasons listed above. And if the manufacturer or seller has led their customers to believe they're buying a real product instead of a knockoff, they're not only guilty of piracy, but fraud as well, with buyers being the victims of that crime.
Finally, depending on the laws of your country, importing a counterfeit item can be illegal. In Finland where I live, it is, although the worst that can happen is the Customs confiscating the item. Only if you were to import larger quantities or for resale you would face the risk of fines or criminal charges.
3. How to spot a bootleg figure
Now we come to the main part of this guide. Here are some tips on how to identify a bootleg.
-Look at the price. If it's suspiciously cheap compared to the guide price you find elsewhere, the figure is quite possibly fake. Keep in mind that some sell bootlegs for the price of the real product, so normal market price alone won't guarantee the product is authentic.
-The listing states the item is new and has no box. This is very suspicious as figures aren't sold new without a box.
-The listing calls the item a "China version". Official figures don't have separate versions for China and other countries (excluding stuff like Hatsune Miku V4 Chinese, which is of course a legit figure of her Chinese voicebank's box design. Calling a bootleg "China version" or "International version" is a bootleggers' faint attempt to dodge copyright and customer disputes in cases where someone who bought a bootleg notices it's different/inferior quality to the official product.
-Sellers based in China or Hong Kong are a red flag if you're buying what is supposed to be Japanese merch. China is by far the biggest source of fake figures. Licensed goods are NOT sold through Aliexpress/Wish and such, avoid them at all costs. Note however that Chinese voice synth merchandise is of course sold from China, usually through the manufacturers/distributor's own website or Taobao shop, or on shops accredited by the official distributor. Of course there are figure collectors in China who might sell their legitimate figures second-hand, so it's by no means a definitive rule that anything sold from China is a knockoff, but be very cautious. Also bear in mind that there are sellers outside China who sell Chinese-made bootlegs also.
-Compare the photos on the listing to official photos. If it looks different, it's probably a bootleg. Unfortunately many bootleggers rip the photos of an official product and use them to mislead potential buyers, but if the photos are taken by the seller themselves, inspect them closely.
-Search the internet for known bootleg versions. For example, Myfigurecollection has info on known bootleg products. Myfigurecollection by no means has a complete record of all counterfeit versions, but it's worth checking. GoodSmile Company also has some guides on how to spot known bootleg versions of their products. Again, not a definitive list by any means.
-Is the listing drizzled with an abundance of search keywords? Knockoff sellers often put as many keywords as they can in their listing to have it show up in searches better. The title might look something like this for example: "Hatsune Miku Vocaloid Figma Figure Anime PVC Statue Girl Figurine Action Toy 2021 Collectible Model".
Note that usually bootlegs don't mention the trademark or actual brand/manufacturer of the original product (GoodSmile Company, Sega etc. for example), while official figure listings almost always mention this prominently.
-Look at the quality of the figure itself. Is it poorly painted, are the colours off, is it weirdly distorted, does it have imperfections from casting etc. Compare it to the real figure. This applies more to scale figures, as even real prize figures tend to have small errors like paint bleeding or visible casting seams every now and then since they're in the end just cheap crane game prizes.
-Is the plastic soft and easy to bend? This is a telltale sign the figure is fake. Authentic figures are made to be firm and not distort. Bootlegs may start leaning or drooping over time due to poor-quality plastic.
-If you can compare the box to the original; check if it looks the same. A bootleg box might be lacking the manufacturer name or have it spelled wrong, have other spelling mistakes, have a poor print quality (janky outlines in logos and images), incorrest fonts, wrong colours etc.
-When you take a figure out of the box, it should have something I would call a pleasant plastic smell. In contrast, a bootleg may have a repulsive chemical smell due to the cheaper plastic and paint used.
-Buy from reputable sources.
Large companies that have a good reputation in dealing figures and other licensed merchandise are a safe bet. They won't risk tarnishing their company image or getting into legal trouble by selling fake merchandise.
Conventions are infamous for having sellers trading fake merchandise. Of course not all goods are sold at conventions are knockoffs though, but check the figures they're selling for warning signs. Nowadays many convention organizers, large ones especially, are doing their best to keep dodgy sellers out, but the problem still exists.
-If you're suspicious, ask others. You can ask people in online communities where you're likely to find people who can help determine between real and fake. I'm personally happy to help if I can, and I'm sure some other members on Vocaverse are too.
I have accidentally bought a bootleg. What should I do?
If you've just bought it recently, you can try getting a refund. If you've bought it from a physical shop you might be able to. This depends on the laws of your country, but in Finland at least you're entitled to return the item and get your money back within 14 days of purchase.
Getting a refund from an online seller is more unlikely, especially if the seller is in an another country, though you can still try.
If you bought yours online, you can at least leave a negative review and a comment warning others. Report it to Myfigurecollection if they don't have record of that particular bootleg yet (tip: take photos as evidence). You may also email the company that made the original product and let them know there are bootlegs of their product being sold (though I suspect they know, but again you can provide photos, and if you have the company name of the bootlegger, they might be able to take legal action, or at least post a warning of the bootleg on their own site).
If you bought yours at a convention, let the organizers know. At the very least they can ban that seller from entering their future events.
Whether or not to keep your bootleg figure or throw it away is up to you. Other collectors will usually understand that you've bought it without knowing better and won't give you a hard time. It is recommended to not sell the bootleg on, though this is only my personal opinion.
While importing a counterfeit item is illegal in some countries (like Finland), as is selling, you can't get into trouble simply for owning a bootleg.
Some will keep the accidentally bought bootleg while some choose to throw it away. In my opinion it's not morally wrong to keep it if you're comfortable with it.
_________________________________
Finally, collecting figures is a fun and rewarding hobby, and surely you agree that we don't want anyone getting scammed by bootleggers and the legitimate industry getting hurt by illegal copies of their products. So please do your best to avoid illegitimate products yourself and help others avoid them as well. It may be unrealistic to expect the bootlegs would disappear from the market anytime soon, but we can help the cause simply by not buying them, and that's what I hope this guide will help with.
1. What are bootlegs?
In short, bootleg figures are cheap knockoffs of actual licensed figures. These fake items imitate the authentic figures, but unlike real ones, the bootleggers don't have permission from the rightsholder of a character to make them, instead they produce copies of an existing legitimate figure, thus not only do they violate copyright, they also steal the work a legitimate manufacturer has put in the design and scultpting. Bootleg figures are usually sold for low prices to attract buyers, especially those who are not careful with their purchases.
Why are bootlegs bad?
As mentioned above, bootleggers seek to cash in on work done by others. When you buy a bootleg item, no money goes to the original creators. Manufacturing a figure takes a lot of work, it begins usually with an artist who creates artwork, when that artwork is adapted to a figure, you need 3d modelers to transform 2d into 3d. That is then followed by the work of sculptors, mold makers, production staff, painters, sales and marketing and so on. What bootleggers do is steal all that hard work done by numerous individuals by copying the final product and making knockoffs of that. So no money for the artists, creators or the brand you love.
Not only does buying a fake item hurt the people who created the character you love, many bootleggers use shady means to produce their knockoffs. When a legitimate figure manufacturer has to replace molds regularly to maintain production quality, the old molds are sometimes stolen and sold on the black market where bootleggers source them. And since the makers of fake figures don't mind stealing property rights and physical molds, it'd be childish to assume they abide to all the other laws either. Many use underpaid workers and/or child labour, some have connections to organized crime, usually they have no regard towards the health and safety of their workers etc. So ultimately when buying a bootleg figure you might be supporting one or more of these illegal activities as well.
A bootleg figure might also harm you directly. Legitimate manufacturers make sure the product doesn't include toxic chemicals. Same can't be said for bootleggers, some bootlegs have been found to use paints that include chemicals linked to increased cancer risk. Thankfully these appear to be rare cases though.
Bootleg figures are often inferior in quality compared to the official ones. They simply don't look as good as the real deal.
Selling pirated goods is simply illegal in most countries, and morally wrong for reasons listed above. And if the manufacturer or seller has led their customers to believe they're buying a real product instead of a knockoff, they're not only guilty of piracy, but fraud as well, with buyers being the victims of that crime.
Finally, depending on the laws of your country, importing a counterfeit item can be illegal. In Finland where I live, it is, although the worst that can happen is the Customs confiscating the item. Only if you were to import larger quantities or for resale you would face the risk of fines or criminal charges.
3. How to spot a bootleg figure
Now we come to the main part of this guide. Here are some tips on how to identify a bootleg.
-Look at the price. If it's suspiciously cheap compared to the guide price you find elsewhere, the figure is quite possibly fake. Keep in mind that some sell bootlegs for the price of the real product, so normal market price alone won't guarantee the product is authentic.
-The listing states the item is new and has no box. This is very suspicious as figures aren't sold new without a box.
-The listing calls the item a "China version". Official figures don't have separate versions for China and other countries (excluding stuff like Hatsune Miku V4 Chinese, which is of course a legit figure of her Chinese voicebank's box design. Calling a bootleg "China version" or "International version" is a bootleggers' faint attempt to dodge copyright and customer disputes in cases where someone who bought a bootleg notices it's different/inferior quality to the official product.
-Sellers based in China or Hong Kong are a red flag if you're buying what is supposed to be Japanese merch. China is by far the biggest source of fake figures. Licensed goods are NOT sold through Aliexpress/Wish and such, avoid them at all costs. Note however that Chinese voice synth merchandise is of course sold from China, usually through the manufacturers/distributor's own website or Taobao shop, or on shops accredited by the official distributor. Of course there are figure collectors in China who might sell their legitimate figures second-hand, so it's by no means a definitive rule that anything sold from China is a knockoff, but be very cautious. Also bear in mind that there are sellers outside China who sell Chinese-made bootlegs also.
-Compare the photos on the listing to official photos. If it looks different, it's probably a bootleg. Unfortunately many bootleggers rip the photos of an official product and use them to mislead potential buyers, but if the photos are taken by the seller themselves, inspect them closely.
-Search the internet for known bootleg versions. For example, Myfigurecollection has info on known bootleg products. Myfigurecollection by no means has a complete record of all counterfeit versions, but it's worth checking. GoodSmile Company also has some guides on how to spot known bootleg versions of their products. Again, not a definitive list by any means.
-Is the listing drizzled with an abundance of search keywords? Knockoff sellers often put as many keywords as they can in their listing to have it show up in searches better. The title might look something like this for example: "Hatsune Miku Vocaloid Figma Figure Anime PVC Statue Girl Figurine Action Toy 2021 Collectible Model".
Note that usually bootlegs don't mention the trademark or actual brand/manufacturer of the original product (GoodSmile Company, Sega etc. for example), while official figure listings almost always mention this prominently.
-Look at the quality of the figure itself. Is it poorly painted, are the colours off, is it weirdly distorted, does it have imperfections from casting etc. Compare it to the real figure. This applies more to scale figures, as even real prize figures tend to have small errors like paint bleeding or visible casting seams every now and then since they're in the end just cheap crane game prizes.
-Is the plastic soft and easy to bend? This is a telltale sign the figure is fake. Authentic figures are made to be firm and not distort. Bootlegs may start leaning or drooping over time due to poor-quality plastic.
-If you can compare the box to the original; check if it looks the same. A bootleg box might be lacking the manufacturer name or have it spelled wrong, have other spelling mistakes, have a poor print quality (janky outlines in logos and images), incorrest fonts, wrong colours etc.
-When you take a figure out of the box, it should have something I would call a pleasant plastic smell. In contrast, a bootleg may have a repulsive chemical smell due to the cheaper plastic and paint used.
-Buy from reputable sources.
Large companies that have a good reputation in dealing figures and other licensed merchandise are a safe bet. They won't risk tarnishing their company image or getting into legal trouble by selling fake merchandise.
Conventions are infamous for having sellers trading fake merchandise. Of course not all goods are sold at conventions are knockoffs though, but check the figures they're selling for warning signs. Nowadays many convention organizers, large ones especially, are doing their best to keep dodgy sellers out, but the problem still exists.
-If you're suspicious, ask others. You can ask people in online communities where you're likely to find people who can help determine between real and fake. I'm personally happy to help if I can, and I'm sure some other members on Vocaverse are too.
I have accidentally bought a bootleg. What should I do?
If you've just bought it recently, you can try getting a refund. If you've bought it from a physical shop you might be able to. This depends on the laws of your country, but in Finland at least you're entitled to return the item and get your money back within 14 days of purchase.
Getting a refund from an online seller is more unlikely, especially if the seller is in an another country, though you can still try.
If you bought yours online, you can at least leave a negative review and a comment warning others. Report it to Myfigurecollection if they don't have record of that particular bootleg yet (tip: take photos as evidence). You may also email the company that made the original product and let them know there are bootlegs of their product being sold (though I suspect they know, but again you can provide photos, and if you have the company name of the bootlegger, they might be able to take legal action, or at least post a warning of the bootleg on their own site).
If you bought yours at a convention, let the organizers know. At the very least they can ban that seller from entering their future events.
Whether or not to keep your bootleg figure or throw it away is up to you. Other collectors will usually understand that you've bought it without knowing better and won't give you a hard time. It is recommended to not sell the bootleg on, though this is only my personal opinion.
While importing a counterfeit item is illegal in some countries (like Finland), as is selling, you can't get into trouble simply for owning a bootleg.
Some will keep the accidentally bought bootleg while some choose to throw it away. In my opinion it's not morally wrong to keep it if you're comfortable with it.
_________________________________
Finally, collecting figures is a fun and rewarding hobby, and surely you agree that we don't want anyone getting scammed by bootleggers and the legitimate industry getting hurt by illegal copies of their products. So please do your best to avoid illegitimate products yourself and help others avoid them as well. It may be unrealistic to expect the bootlegs would disappear from the market anytime soon, but we can help the cause simply by not buying them, and that's what I hope this guide will help with.
