London Anime Con 2011 July 30th - Fake figures
Now, I'm not saying all the stalls there were selling fake figures. Infact, there were quite a few there who were completely against selling fake figures.
However, there was one stall being run by 'AnimePang' that was selling all fake notebooks, bags and figures.
In a past post, I showed the differences between a fake and real Azusa nendorioid so when I came across these guys selling fake Azusa nendoroids for £20, I felt I must confront them and ask if they knew they were fake.
At first, he told me they were legit, so I took it upon myself to tell him they are not, and how I could tell. He then went on to say that even if they are fake, people still buy them, and it means they are able to buy figures at a cheaper price than the original (despite legit nendos retailing at around £25-£30...).
I don't think that he got the point, but this left me feeling rather angry.
I decided to leave and calm myself down by talking to the guys from CityAsia.co.uk, where we talked about the importance of selling legit goods. These guys seemed knowledgeable and honest, so it was nice to come across their stall after such a bad experience with AnimePang.
Check out the site at AnimePang.com and judge for yourselves. Does being young mean they are somehow allowed to stock fakes, maybe they don't know any better? After speaking to them at Anime Con though, it's hard to believe that they don't know they are stocking fakes...
So, tell me what you think, what's your opinion of people selling fakes?
Check out our full article on the event which will be up in the next few days over at www.ElectricBloomWebzine.blogspot.com .
It sucks that they sell bootlegs. I'm always scared at Cons when buying stuff that they might be bootlegs so I usually only buy from vendors that I've bought from before.
I think it would be to much for work the staff of the con to go through all the merchandise being brought to the con to see if everything is legit and not bootleg. Though it would help to stop the bootlegs from finding a way to the cons.
I do the same! I only buy figures from those who I KNOW sell legit figures. I once didnt buy a Len Petit because it was bootleg and even told the man, he was rather shocked. I was surprised he didnt know, haha!
Bootleg figures are just not cool because when you see the real thing, you notice how bad it really is. Its especially bad when its a major series like Nendoroids.
Their reasoning is pretty funny.
People still buy them? (wait until you let them know those are bootlegged goods)
They are buying it cheaper so it's all good? (except they thought they were buying cheap on authentic product, or maybe they didn't even know better how much they were to suppose to be)
burn them on the stake
BURN THEM ALLL
This along with your original article on fakes make great reading and is a must for anyone who is new to Nendorioids.
Thanks for the info.
What we want now is an article on Real and Fake figmas.
I just studied my nendos and I noticed my Ciel and Sebastian are shinier than my k-on nendos >_>. And Ciel's stand only says 'Made in China' ; _ ; a fake but it really is good quality. Only slight scratches on his eye patch and I can't find anything wrong with the paint job.
Sebastian is shiny face too but I also couldn't find any paint mistakes either. Only problem is that the arm with the tea tray won't stick well and sometimes fall off. And he can't stand on his own stand that came with him XD. Man....I am quite upset now :( I didn't know.
I resent this man andrian yu pang he sold me a fake nendoroid telling me it was authentic and my friend bought some plushies for £20 each and said that is the normal price for plushies so i added him on facebook i reported him a sent my nendoroid back and got a refund!!!
Some places are just cheap. There was a con that took place in my hometown and there's an anime store that stocks fakes. A user on Facebook posted his 'loot', both his BRS Tony Taka Miku were bootleg. Really wanted to let them know, but decided not to.
I've chatted with the store's owner, suffice to say, he's a cheap SOB/can't believe how much legit anime products cost.
*Black Blade BRS. He also has fake nendos. :/
Since being burned a few times, I learned to always look at the higher-priced items. Nendoroids are usually around 40~50+ USD, depending on how rare they are. Touhou Nendos for example are generally $60~$80 a pop! Sure it's expensive, but it gives much more satisfaction and a sense of nerdy pride knowing that you got something that is legitimate.
Hi everyone, figure collectors/lovers about Fake topics having some sharing tips on how to identify:
1. Every exported figurines has a origin supplier sticker (which people still can forge)but what have to take note is sticker have to be reflective as in 3D when ever flip side to side.
2. Notice the origin transparent plastic display tends to be tight and box made of quality paper not normal card box.
3. Looking properly @ the figure which some crafting & color are different especially Nendorioids plus lastly pricing wise for one example like snow miku jap ver costs $139 but fakes $20(sing dollar).
so this is not about cheap or expensive is about the quality which we consumers/figurine lovers aimed for^^.. so be leaving you guys a jap ver url on fake and real from goodsmile support: http://www.goodsmile.info/page/ja/post/all/kaizoku/all/all/all/published/1.html
Hey I was t the London Anime Con as well and after the last time I decided I was going to buy a nendorioid, especially a Yui one. I have had a bs experience in the past of buying a fake Azusa Alter figure so I now know what to look for in fakes as well. The first thing that confirmed it was a fake was when the guy said it was a 'bargain' at £18. As the real things cost a lot more I jut walked away. I didn't notice any of the holographic seals on them either so I'll just buy mines from a trusted seller that I know on eBay.
I was quite aware that the wallets, plushies
Sorry I pressed send by accident.
I was aware that the wallets, plushies, key rings and most small merch would be fakes but fake figures I am totally against. The other stall, I think it was AniMetal, was stocking the exact same fake Azusa figure I had bought earlier in the year so it made me question how real their other K-On! figures were, especially the ones I hadn't seen before.
There was another stall who was at LAC and Hyper Japan and they looked like they were selling high quality real figures. It was just a pity they didn't have what I wanted.
I also bought a Mirai sigma in TokyoToys earlier in the week but it didn't have any holographic seals on it but I didn't expect her to. It looks pretty real to me but it's my first figma so I'm not sure. Is there any way to tell a fake figma? It would be extremely bad business for them to be selling fake figures.
Agree what you say but for the holographic seals/supplier seals it depends on the supplier itself to put on else it may have get direct from figurine company itself.
For fake figma here's the jap ver url you would like to check it out: http://www.goodsmile.info/page/ja/post/all/kaizoku/all/all/all/published/1.html
find 'Maxfactory 製：「セイバー/Zero」' @ end of page it's quite similar in identifying the figma figurines^^
Oh God, I hate bootlegs!!
I just got caught out at Manchester expo too..! ):
I don't care if they're cheaper, I'd much rather spend more money for legit goods!
As an organiser of London Anime Con, I can assure everyone that we take the matter of fake-merchandise very seriously. We do our upmost to ensure that every exhibitor attending adheres to our anti-fakes policy, and if one of them has broken this then it was done with our our knowledge and we would offer our most sincere apologies. Would the reviewer be so kind as to contact on info@animeleague.com with further information on this matter asap, thank you.
Typo, ^ If one of them has broken this then it was done WITH OUT our knowledge.
Hi there,
This is a staff at Animepang, we're just here to say we are also shocked that the our so called nendoroids are fake, we did not realize this and most customers have said that these figures were real, we have not realized this until someone told us in the LAC.
What we can do in Animepang is stop the import of such goods in the public from us, note that we are a pretty young business/group so we will need to rely more and more from the public to tell us the real from fake.
There is one problem we do find odd about the article and that has been how we have been accused of selling all fake goods, first thing first our bags and notebook are made with there own designs and was note copied from another product.
Secondly we also sold our own manga as well as our own posters and drawings, which we have clearly designed and produced by ourselves.
Thirdly we have to protest that we have told all our customers that we were told that these nendoroids were legit, we have always said we brought goods at a certain price and sell them out at a certain price, we have never gone with the market price so if prices seem peculiar we have never copied others.
We understand how annoyed most people are like how we are as well, but at the end of the day it is up to you the customers to buy or tell us what you think about it, we have always given a refund to any customers that have been unsatisfied.
As I have said before we are still a pretty young group and you may say we are still inexperienced, so we will still need the help of the public, regardless to what we have supposedly say in this article we do not agree nor do
we acknowledge that we have said the accused accusation.
We would like to also talk to the writer of the article to mediate this problem, the email is animepang@live.co.uk
yes, you are a relatively new company, however, I am firm in the belief that if you start a company, you need a good knowledge of the products you are selling before you even begin. If you believe a Chinese wholesaler is selling you legitimate figures, then you haven't researched nearly enough.
I actually believe that if you were to go down the route of properly sourcing legitimate figures, directly from the companies who sell them (such as straight from Goodsmile, thus would be able to prove they were real) then you could become a great company. You cannot rely on people to tell you that things are fake or real when you, the sellers, are not sure.
If people believe they are buying the real deal, when they are not, this is misleading, and a huge breach of several laws.
Feel free to contact me at ElectricBloomMagazine@hotmail.co.uk.
we thank you for your reply in this subject and will take your advice into account.
we also understand that it is our fault for not getting the right information, however don't you think it is also misleading that you have put up something that we have not said, also accusing us that everything we sell is fake. Isn't that also a lack of knowledge of what we sell, just because you are unhappy with one thing.
Yes we have made a slight mistake on our part, but for your information big companies, such as HMV have imported fake Final fantasy figures before, and what happened at the end, they were told that it was fake so they stopped importing them. It is that easy for a large company to make a mistake not just us, so that is why we still need you the customers to sometimes point out the things we have missed, only by doing this may we be able to get rid or lower down the level of piracy. If you just cut a limb of another can replace it, by working together we can target the root of piracy.
While I can see why many people might be angry by what you've said I might point out that you've twisted exactly what Animepang said.
When I spoke to animepang they said to me they wheren't entirely sure if the figures where real or not but said they got them from a Hong Kong supplier who claimed they where. I was then told that they wheren't sure if they where or not but sold them at the price of £18 because they where not sure if they where real or not.
Because they where not sure they where selling them for less to be fair as often figures from a supplier are expensive, when asked I was told they made very little profit from each as you had to take into account how much it cost to get a stall at the places as well as cost of importing the stuff from other countries and transporation to the place.
I myself bought a figure and was quite happy with it. I have seen the same figures that you are saying are fake for tripple the price so thank you Animepang for having the decency to not sell them for a lot more.
Think about both sides here instead of insulting people. The fact is you probably also took photos of this stuff without permission. As well as the notebooks I have seen at Tokyo Toys the exact same ones for double the price they where selling them. I also know for a fact these and the bags are the real thing.
Finally the fact that you are twisting what they said to you is quite horrible and awful. The fact is a lot of people don't have the money to pay for expensive stuff and yes there is the excuse of saving up. But some people just want cheap figures regardless of if they are real or not.
The fact is they said to you they wheren't sure. And I know they didn't tell you they where cheap so it didn't matter as I know they said if you wheren't interested they'd offer a full refund as I was offered the same thing. They said to me and everyone else I know that if they are not satisfied they can always return it for a full refund.
So if you want to insult someone get your facts straight and don't twist their words. I have always come to this website to check for stuff but the fact is I see that you are clearly twisting peoples words to make them look bad rather then telling the truth as to what they said.
I am in fact quite shocked and apauled and you have lost me for one as someone who comes here for advice on such things.
First of all, I was invited to the event as a member of press in order to photograph and review stalls and other things at the event.
Second of all, your comment about me twisting their words is unfounded. You were not there while I was talking to them, so surely cannot know what conversation I had?
I tried to write in an unbiased and non-slanderous way - I simply stated what I saw and heard.
Buying fake figures from a wholesaler who sends out fakes to sell to others negatively effects the companies who originally make the legitimate products, and in turn, fund people who are ripping off the legitimate companies. As a supporter of the legitimate companies, I like to make sure that people are aware of these fake items so that they don't make the mistake of purchasing them without knowing that they are fake.
We agree to your point that as a supporter of legit companies you should encourage the purchase of real goods, and thanks to that we have come to understand what we should look for when we come to purchasing legit products.
However about the conversation, we have always replied the same answer to all, if we may recall the only information on that day with a reporter went like this:
Reporter: Are these legit?
Us: Hmm, well we wear told by a lot of customers that they were legit, so probably.
Reporter: well I can tell you these aren't legit.
Us: O really, you are the first one to tell us they are fake, well I guess we have to sell them at a cheaper price (since they're not legit)
If you had also stayed longer maybe at the sunday event you would have found out we wear giving them out for free for people who spend money on our other legit goods, yes but then we could not do anything about the fake products by then, whats done is done.
We know your just an honest reporter and were also an honest business/group, what we should do is help each other spread out the awareness of fake goods, however I would like to repeat even if you are to write an article please don't twist the conversation, and also check your information, if you got to know us you'll know we're reasonable people.
My apologies, when I said “all fake notebooks, bags and figures” I did not mean all your products were fake, just the notebooks, bags and figures. I am also sorry because technically your notebooks and bags are not fake, they are just items which have been made using copyrighted images which were not made for that purpose (for example, pictures used on the Fate Stay Night Saber Lilly notebooks were taken from an issue of Type-Moon).
As a side note, I'd like to add that HMV are primarily a seller of music and DVDs, not a seller of figures and toys. One would of course expect to trust a big chain store, although when a large chain is selling something different to its usual stock, slip ups can be expected. You are focusing on Anime related goods, so are expected to really know your field, much like how HMV can be relied on for the company's knowledge of music. You are focussing on selling anime related goods, thus meaning you should be careful about what you are selling, as one mistake can potentially lead to ruining a whole business.
Regarding the figures, may I suggest HobbyLink Japan. They do all sorts of figures from Japan, and they also do wholesale http://wholesale.hlj.com/ . Maybe it would be worth a shot emailing those guys and seeing if you qualify. If you started getting items from a place like HobbyLink, it would help your business and probably get you guys moving in the right direction.
Either way, I am very sorry that I have come across to you as slanderous, this was not my intention. I look forward to seeing how you and your business progress in the future.
Thank you for the link, your cooperation and your understanding, we will now proceed with more caution.