Member Gordon has more pics of bootleg Gundams and Figures found at his local store in Singapore. Items with yellow stickers are half price of what originals cost. Does this mean there is a tacit understanding that yellow-sticker-items are bootlegs? Have any of you purchased or would purchase bootleg figures knowing that they cost half of what originals cost? The thing is that some original figures can be discounted up to 70% off the original when it comes to a sale time. I notice Amazon Japan discounting heavily when they order too many of one figure. Some of the discounted figures are crap but some are good.
I wouldn't want to take the risk... I tend to be very picky on certain things and hate wasting money (please don't call me a scrooge, I just don't want to end scammed... As consumers we are already on the losing side each darned time). This money can then be used for better stuff than bootlegs.
Indeed, better not to take any risk with Gunpla, as from the sound of it those who have seem to regret it.
i cannot stress how pissed these gundams have made me. I've lived in china for a few years now and when i first moved here i quickly located a place to buy some gundams, but ran into model GD and bought a few. *biggest waste of money ever* i bought the meteor unit but that was just horrible; the pieces didn't fit together and the plastic was that of low quality which made it seem melted. ultimately i found other *real* gundams from other stores.. but seriously, don't even waste money on these model GD
i'm agree with you hmm.. it is definitely a wrong decision to buy it... not just risk... bootleg gundam s**ks... low quality plastics... 0 accuracy...
Actually I did purchase a bootleg 1/144 Wing Zero Custom in the Montreal china town a couple of years ago that I modded with LEDs. I can confirm that they are made of very cheap plastic and poorly crafted. I stick with the Bandai ones.
I guess I have seen those... Don't tell me you went to the 100% bootleg shop...!
There are lots of this stuff here too! It even come with PG! But the quality is half of the original too! I dun buy those stuff since u will have hell lots of thing to touch up! By the way i heard that this bootleg gundam used the original mold that Bandai sold to them! This mold are sold to them after it has reach its lifespan! So this bootleg gundam are made by used mold!
It's then moldy material. (Excuse the lame pun, but I couldn't resist on that one) XD
That's what i thought too, but the truth could be some chinese merchants from mainland china just bought the more popular models and cast from those straight out of the box kits. I don't think Bandai would sell any of their old molds to anyone to prevent these sort of inferior products leaking into the market.
Agreed. Otherwise Bandai would harm itself in the process and that surely wouldn't a wise strategy.
It's said they're good for cheap spare parts though.
it a fake Gundam You gonna take a week too make
one thing i've learned is that you should never ever buy PG bootlegs, my friend learned that the hard way. i've bought some bootlegs before, but only to use them for spare parts and for kitbash with heavy mods. some parts don't even fit together, that's when you start carving stuff with design knife. the plastic is inferior to originals, but once you paint it over, you can't really tell. its better to invest in the original even if they are more expensive.
What model was the PG?
i believe it was a strike
no, there isnt PG strike freedom, that figure is an MG strike freedom but is the fulll burst mode
eh? i'm not talking about the strike freedom...although they should probably make a PG of that, i'd buy one. i'm talking about the basic strike
CHINESE BOOTLEGS GUNDAM MODEL KITS MAKES ME ANGRY!!!!!!
i see you're very passionate when it comes to modeling gundams.
*Nods*
*nods* 2nd...
never seen any bootlegged Gundam Kits not even when i was in Korea and Philippines , even Australia is legit with their Japanese goodies but like others have said , i guess they would be good as spare parts
Dont know if the shop is still there now but Hobby Japan had bootleg figurines in melbourne among a large collection of bootleg dvd's hehe.
I don't think I would buy the bootleg the quality might be bad and the part might not even fit and able to assemble too....and also they might use "lead" paint...
I would never buy a bootleg figure no matter how heavily discounted it was. Would either throw it away, leave to rot in a cupboard/garage or sell it on eBay with a note saying it's bootleg. Also, after looking at your tours of the offices, I wouldn't dare go bootleg. The amount of time, detail, passion and quality control that goes into making a figure/Gundam makes me want to reward their hard work with my money. Thankfully, all my figures and other random goods are legit.
A good deal of the cost of a figure is in the markup the retailer puts in. Overstocked items will be sold closer to or even at cost (the price they bought it at). The figures you see in stores are made from a very carefully crafted master figure, but remember that after they get to mass production, there is no love that goes into injecting molten plastic into nondescript moulds. If you're talking about character figures, I can understand as details need to be finished by hand, but things like gunpla I am less sympathetic to.
I have never ever bought any bootleg figures unless the Dragonball Z figures i bought back in 1999-2000 were bootleg. At the time i didn't collect figures yet. And these Bootleg Gundam toys are not new to me. Here in Downtown Los Angeles Toy District there are wholesalers and retailers that sell bootleg Gundam toys as well as other bootleg anime goods.
I attempt to not buy bootlegs from model kit manufacturers. In the Gunpla department I can say that bootlegs are CRAP and arn't even worth half the original cost of the original copy. Some of my kits (warships) are chinese made, and although I try to avoid buying from China some of their bootlegs actually arn't that bad. MiniHobby Model's 1/350 USS Missouri is coming out just fine, though I would prefer to buy from Tamiya. Like anime DVDs, I prefer the original thing.
First time I ever saw bootleg model kit was in Johor, Malaysia. They were some Gundam and Gasaraki and cost about 1/4 the price of an original kit in Singapore. I was so excited I bought 2 different Gasaraki kits, only to find out went i finally got back to Singapore to fix them up, that the quality of it was so bad; plastic of extremely poor quality, joints don't fit well, and even if they do fit, they come off easily. That all happened a few years ago( can't remember when exactly). Until now, the second box of Gasaraki is still completely untouched...
dun remind me! It is a total nightmare! Those SD bootleg that i got was even tougher than making a MG! Back then when i first brought it! I didnt even know tat they were bootleg stuff!
I knew what it was when i bought it, just didn't know how bad could it be. Besides, the price was so cheap, I was just so easily suckered into buying 2 boxes of it.
i prefer all things original. i'm a sucker that way. however, there are time when i do end up with the bootleg version like when i first bought an evangelion model from bendi. i knew close to nothing about those things at that time. and i was pissed off after realizing it. that model has since then been replaced by an original version. sturdier and nicer.
thanks danny for featuring this. ^^; ironically if u look at the top left corner of the pic u will see the bootleg crossbone gundam. the chinese characters 海盗 means pirate. it holds double meaning. lol.
lol, marvin had a picture of the crossbone on his blog i think. but i guess danny didn't want to use that picture too.
marvin came to singapore for his holiday not long ago. he also visited the same shop i took these pictures from.
by any chance, is this shop located in vivocity??? cuz i swear i've seen these crappers there sometime ago...
yes it's at vivocity.
i hate bootlegs... they are rampant everywhere! not just bootleg gundams or figures, i hate recast statues from hk. there are couple retailers that try to pass these off as legit.
Some recast resin kits are actually better than the original one.
If you wanna experiment with your painting skills without risking your bank account or need parts for gunpla kitbashes, then pirated gunplas are worthy alternative. Otherwise, avoid it like a plague.
Agreement. ^^
2nd on that thought...
couldn't someone tell that Strike Freedom is FAKE?
oohhh... bootleg.. time to get my spare parts for those i lost for my MG strike...
Yea, I'm gonna search for the Strike Freedom bootleg edition to fix my original Strike Freedom.. He lost his hand while fighting with Shinn's Destiny Gundam..
I won't risking myself getting these =/ Kinda surprised when I saw this for the first time. Looks dangerous O_O;
I have very bad EXP when talking about boot leg. So starting that time, when talking about modelkit, i prefer the one that saying: "Bandai" and or "Made in Japan".
bootlegs? they're great for diorama but not much else
I didn't know they bootlegged Gundam models, thought they only did bootleg on figures but now that I think of it, if you can make bootleg figures, why not Gundam models -_-
if a product sells, u can expect a bootleg soon after.
Well, at least they got the SF's model number right XD I haven't gotten any bootlegged Gunpla, because I'm in fear of the "open it up to find a part missing" stuff. I can't say the same for some other items that I have though...
i always laugh when i see bootleg gunpla and figures. the lengths that bootleggers go to to leech money from innocent consumers
When i was in Middle School back in the Philippines, with no knowledge of which is legit and fake cause I'm still new to Gunplas, There are a lot of vendors outside my school that sells fake Gunpla. The G Gundam and Endless Waltz were the most pirated of them all. I bought a HG Deathscythe Custom and when i got home, the pieces for the head were missing. The annoying thing was that the next day, i went back to return it and get my money back but the vendor lady doesn't want to refund my money saying that it "was" complete before i bought it. I told her that it was missing some parts but she didn't believe me and just brushed me off. Lesson learned - Don't buy from shady vendors on the street... ^^;
i need MG freedom leg skin, put to much putty in it, it look damned grey....
bought a copy on ebay.. didn't know it was till it got here.. was cheap so didn't send it back.. quality was a disaster.. fit was wrong.. detail was super soft.. plastic quality.. waxy.. all in all a waste of money.. couldn't even use it for spare parts.. i'm not sure of quality today.. but i avoid bootlegs like the plauge
The quality of this China made Gundam are crap. I saw my cousin brought and the plastic look so bad. I prefer original and i dont mind paying high price for it.
I hate bootlegs, so no thanks. Why pay for something that is a copy, it's better with the original.
I wouldn't buy a bootleg Gunpla. But I hear they're pretty good for spare parts if you damaged an old one, or maybe looking at doing a kitbash. My policy on resin kits is a lot more murky tho. I'll buy official if I can, but that's just not possible sometimes, esp for older kits.
FAKES! Ahh... Now I feel much better...
FAKES!!! ahh... yeah you're right i do feel better somehow...
I bought a Model GD Gaia Gundam before. It was a terrible experience trying to even get the parts to fit each other. Such a waste of my money and time. Never again will I even consider buying one, except maybe for spare parts.
I saw it somewhere else before, I will never buy it(go for original)..
think of it this way, its more challenging to assemble a bootleg and really shows you how much skills you have. plus, you'll be able to invest more time with the money you've invested. aren't i a positive thinker?
Bought some when I was a kid. The price was too attractive. =P
I always buy original, but know one shop here selling not-so-original figures, like for example bootleg Nendoroid Haruhis.
hmmm well.... i know that godd stuff costs money so that's why i'm always buyin Gunplas made by Bandai
There is some bootleg figures and figure kit at my country, but I always import figures from Japan, the original one. I wouldn't regret spent more money for original one. Coz it has more value for me.
Wow, if there are fake:- - DVDs (Movies, Animes ETC) - Music "SHIDISU" - Figurines - Gunpla - Toys - Manga! (I haven't seen them yet, but I bet there are!) Why don't the government do anything about it? Those items are popular, like once, Pokémon Cards... They actually once taught cops to look out for FAKE pokemon goodies because of its popularity! Why not for any other goods?! Yeah, protect a kids pocket money on cards, why not Gunpla? CDS? Manga, figurines? oh, China is worse... even HK, I land in HK last summer, all I ever saw was bootlegs... I "LOLLED" but hey, they need to stop it because I walk in a shop and stare at the bootleg and back at the till guy, wanting to say, "EY, You selling fakes dude..." Like they care... >.> Sorry for my Ranty, but, someone, needs to stand up and smack some dude and like, do something o.o...
