Forum - View topicToo good to be true? Vocaloid Figma
|
|
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Drewbear
Posts: 10 |
|
|||
|
Hi I have been searching for a while and always trying to find the best deals on pvc figures as I don't have a lot of money and don't want to pay $50 or more on shipping so I was trying to look at US shops first but I ended up browsing Ebay just for fun and came across what appears to be a steal.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vocaloid-Hatsune-Miku-VN02-Mix-1-8-scale-Painted-Figure-/220760489876?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item336659bf94 Vocaloid figure that most places with good prices have at 4-5x that price. The price seems too good to be true and there is free shipping. What are your guys thoughts on it? I contacted the seller already and asked about the authenticity and about the condition if its factory sealed and so on and hoping he replies but was curious what others thought since I really don't know much about fakes and the pictures are probably just off a online store website or something so no help there. Free shipping kinda worries me too since its likely going to be the cheapest and I don't want to pay for something that's going to get busted in shipping. The person also has some Black rock shooter figures too I'd get if I go through with the purchase. Whats your guys gut feeling on it? And please if this is a great deal and you think its legit please don't buy up all the figures and leave me hanging =D Thanks |
||||
|
||||
crovax_eve
 Posts: 4 |
|
|||
|
Definitely a bootleg. Price is the first giveaway, and the pictures also don't match what it should look like. Final nail in the coffin is that the pictures are the exact ones in the bootleg section of MyFigureCollection.net (http://myfigurecollection.net/picture/&search=item%3A13763+category%3A3).
|
||||
|
||||
|
Darksorrow29
Posts: 412 Location: United States |
|
|||
|
Absolutely a bootleg. Compare it to the pictures of the Max Factory one from any other site. What gets tricky though is when bootlegs start using the 'some' same pics.
Like this fake one - http://cgi.ebay.com/HATSUNE-MIKU-VN02-MIX-1-8-SCALE-PAINTED-FIGURE-/270700356887?pt=AU_Action_Figures&hash=item3f06ffa517 Uses some of the same Max Factory pictures but the last few look shady. It also says from China + it says painted figure, so i'd say it's fake. IMO i'd stay away from anything that says painted figure for the VN02 on ebay. Remember who makes it (Max Factory). If you want to buy a legit one, I think Robert's Anime Corner Store still sells them... but they'll run you a pretty penny. @Drewbear - If youre concerned about shipping costs, order from rightstuf for the freeshipping ($45 or more). Not sure if RAC does, as I do not use them much. Importing a figure from Japan to the US, I've never paid that much for shipping. If an item cost me 75,000 yen it came out to around $100 or so after conversion and shipping, I think. It's been awhile. Generally if you ghetto convert the 75,000 to 75 bucks, add 20-25 to that and that's usually what I pay when importing. |
||||
|
||||
|
crovax_eve
Posts: 4 |
|
|||
|
You're off by a digit. Currently 1000 yen is almost $12.
|
||||
|
||||
|
PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
|
|||
This depends on the figure and its design, actually. Miku will run the most because she's in demand the most. A 1/8 scale figure of Miku, with her normal blue hair, can easily fetch $100+. This figure, however, is an alternate version, and yes, it looks exactly like that: From the GSC website. This figure didn't sell well, and it's not surprising. It's not a very good figure. If you really hunt around, you can find her cheaper, I'm sure. I've seen her as low as $18 on Yahoo Japan.
I'm going to be honest here: if you like this figure, and you really want this figure, buy it. If you're truly concerned about bootlegs: stay the hell away from ebay. |
||||
|
||||
|
Drewbear
Posts: 10 |
|
|||
|
Thanks for the info guys. Thanks for the tip about "painted". Yeah I suspected it and the seller replied and said "its not original". I had looked at probably close to 10 sites and saw so many pictures of that figure but I wasn't sure what to look for. I could tell the box that was in the background of one of the pics was different than what I had seen elsewhere but I don't personally have any experience in figures so I'm glad for the input. All I have up till now are vinyl toys and I buy the cheap ones of those.
What exactly about the pictures is different though because like I said I looked at pictures of the item so many times and I couldn't really see any difference( I know the pictures on the ebay listing aren't the best too which only makes it harder)? The seller also didn't list the brand but I seemed to ask all the right questions and the seller was honest but I was posting this thinking if this was a fake that the seller wasn't going to be so honest about it which was a surprise to me but maybe people still buy bootlegs and don't care. Thanks for the help |
||||
|
||||
Rukiia
 Posts: 1897 Location: British Columbia, Canada |
|
|||
|
When in doubt: http://myfigurecollection.net/
This is an excellent site that shows you what figures are legit or fake. 
|
||||
|
||||
|
Drewbear
Posts: 10 |
|
|||
Why is it a bad figure? Im brand new to this and live in the middle of nowhere so I can't see any figures in person so what makes them good or bad? And I was planning on keeping it in the box so if its fragile or breaks easy that's not an issue for me. And why is ebay so bad? I can see how buying from china would be bad but since this is niche hobby it seems like so many stores do not have a brick and mortar shop and either ebay or amazon or private website is what a lot of people use to sell anime related merchandise. I need to look everywhere in order to try and find the best deals since I probably don't have the budget to buy figures in the first place but still am trying. @Rukiia Thanks for the link. Im checking it out now. I am looking at the fakes but how do I tell they are fakes? I wish they had comments or descriptions on the pics of why it looks fake as its hard for me to see why they are fakes. I remember with Tokidoki there were tell tale signs on the labels and marks and all sorts of things to look at but the figures are so small and you aren't going to see TM or brand names in most figure pics. K Im still checking it out and I'm liking this site. I think Ill learn a lot and Im checking its forums. I was new to ANN but I think this one might be better since its focus is strictly on figures and seems pretty active. Thanks so much for the link! |
||||
|
||||
|
crovax_eve
Posts: 4 |
|
|||
|
If you compare the pictures of the fake to the original, you can see that the face is a little uneven. It seems like the fake is also leaning to the side a little.
It's harder to tell in pictures, but the colors are usually slightly off as well. Many fakes also often appear shiny or oily due to the low quality of the paint used. MyFigureCollection is a great resource to compare pictures and see if a figure is commonly bootlegged. eBay isn't always bad, I've bought a couple figures from eBay sellers that were authentic. The biggest signs of a fake on eBay are a price much lower than what the figure usually goes for, and a lack of actual pictures of the item. Many figures also have a holographic sticker somewhere on the box. If an item does have pictures and you don't see the sticker where it should be, it's extremely likely to be a fake. Here are some links to legitimate shops, they're not likely to have this particular figure since it is older, but for future reference: Based in Japan: HobbySearch: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/ HobbyLink Japan: http://www.hlj.com AmiAmi: http://www.amiami.jp/shop/?set=english Otacute: http://www.otacute.com Based in the US: FigureHaven: http://www.figurehaven.com Toylet: http://www.toylet.net Kirin Hobby: http://www.kirinhobby.com These are just the ones that come to mind at the moment, there are others. RightStuf and Robert's Anime Corner Store also carry some figures. RACS actually has this figure in stock for about $160: http://animecornerstore.com/vomihavnmixb.html |
||||
|
||||
|
Drewbear
Posts: 10 |
|
|||
|
Cool thanks for all the help guys. I have been spending time at myfigurecollection.net and its pretty awesome. Thanks for the listing of shops. Im not really in love with that vocaloid too much I was just going to get her because that price seemed right.
I am still looking over things as far as what to buy. I bought a Hello Kitty figure that is pretty cool and thinking of preordering another. Do the figures sell out often and thats why preorders seem so popular or is it just to get your figure asap and save a few dollars since the preorders seem to be discounted my a small amount? |
||||
|
||||
egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
|
|||
It's more like Good Smile produced too many again. They shouldn't expect adult Miku to sell as well as young Miku for the following reasons: - the Japanese prefer younger characters - it's a modified version of Miku - you can't see her pantsu I own her, and I consider it a good figure, but I can see why it's not popular. I'd take her over this one any time. But then again, I never got into the original character, and I think her music is shit, so that must be why. Also, if you didn't recognize this obvious bootleg I'd recommend staying away from Ebay unless you're good at negotiating full returns. A few tips: - check if pictures match the original figure (check official sources like the figure collection site listed above) - you'll need to be able to tell the difference between official release images and seller images (official images are really well taken with excellent lightning and sometimes cool backgrounds, while seller images are usually pretty simple and sometimes darker) - check seller ratings, feedback, location, other items, prices on everything, check item's original price and compare it - if you're still in doubt contact seller and ask him if it's an original (under normal circumstances they'd say yes, which is why you just need to tell them straight away that you'll claim full return if it's not) - Japanese sellers are safe for the most part, but you're better off (never had any trouble with them) checking where they dispatch the figure from rather than their location itself (seen one claiming Japan as they location but dispatched from Hong Kong) - Hong Kong, Malaysia usually have shitloads of bootlegs up, so that's a risk area to import from, while Taiwan seems to be a lot safer these days Here's my list of safe sellers: http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/zenasas&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSX:SELLERID [url]http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/freak_trading**&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSX:SELLERID[/url] http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/inx_station&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSX:SELLERID http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/japan-trust777&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSX:SELLERID http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/nendoroidsaber&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSX:SELLERID http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/ninjalyzamurai358&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSX:SELLERID http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/otakudaze21&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSX:SELLERID And here's a nice club you could check out if you can't recognize bootlegs. http://myfigurecollection.net/club/139_bootleg_finders |
||||
|
||||
|
Darksorrow29
Posts: 412 Location: United States |
|
|||
|
@Drewbear
If you're new to figure collecting, I highly advise you to take a look at the "official figure thread" where ever that is... i think it's in the anime forum? Poke around there and there's a tidbit about figure maintenance. Also I'm not very aware of figure blogs etc, but I like to go to Tomopop.com . It's a blog that fully covers figures, does reviews, etc. It has a review for the Miku VN02 but the pictures are pretty bad compared to other pics. Still better than what you've seen probably. The figure is perfectly fine to take out of the box as long as you take care of it (keep it out of the sun, out of high temps, keep it dust free). I own Miku VN02 and I love it, but it's all about personal preference. How can you guys tell if a figure has sold well or not? The only thing I really look at is if it's sold out on AmiAmi o.o. |
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group