Counterfeit HT Figures

[LesMartin]

Hi all,

Kind of new to HT and a bit of a neophyte collecting figures produced by HT and had a question I was hoping someone could help me out with.

I have read from many dealers that there are quite a few counterfeit figures on the ma5rket and am just curious as to how the people selling these are able to manufacture the figures and all the packaging that goes along with the figures.

Also, curious as to how to determine a figure or vehicle is authentic when it comes in the proper packaging, other than looking for copyrighting marks on the figure itself.

Thanks, Les

 

[KingB]

Hi all,

Kind of new to HT and a bit of a neophyte collecting figures produced by HT and had a question I was hoping someone could help me out with.

I have read from many dealers that there are quite a few counterfeit figures on the ma5rket and am just curious as to how the people selling these are able to manufacture the figures and all the packaging that goes along with the figures.

Also, curious as to how to determine a figure or vehicle is authentic when it comes in the proper packaging, other than looking for copyrighting marks on the figure itself.

Thanks, Les

Your best bet is to buy from someone who is reputable like Sideshow or from someone on here. That is what I would recommend.
That is what I would do anyway.

 

[ecanes09]

Best advice buy from licensed distributors like SSC, BBTS ..ect and on eBay look at the sellers rating and history.

 

[LesMartin]

I am not wondering so much as to what sellers to avoid as much as I am as to the HOW is it done.

 

[ALWAYS_RIGHT]

I am not wondering so much as to what sellers to avoid as much as I am as to the HOW is it done.

Just as I thought.....your the counterfiter, or at the very least trying to be one. Clever, cloak you intel gahtering in the guise of "warning" us about counterfiters. LOL.

 

[LesMartin]

I'm busted! LOL!

No, seriously how is it that a company that has to hire sculptors and have mold casting equipment, and intricate packaging is able to have their product so readily counterfeited when they do not produce that many of their figures (supposedly).

 

[mr.x]

Oh....you mean Enterbay?

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3-lIOO5KYE"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3-lIOO5KYE[/ame]

 

[LesMartin]

LOLOLOLOL!!!!

 

[Grosby]

No, seriously how is it that a company that has to hire sculptors and have mold casting equipment, and intricate packaging is able to have their product so readily counterfeited when they do not produce that many of their figures (supposedly).

I'm not sure I understand this. Do you mean that they're so rare that it's a mystery how a counterfeiter can get their hands on one? HT figures are produced in the thousands - anyone who wants one can get one.

I'm not greatly familiar with these things but I think the only counterfeit figures you see are the older ones that go for high amounts on eBay, such as Wolverine. And I believe there's only three or four instances of complete figure counterfeits (Wolverine, Hellboy, for example. Plus I've seen MJ Thriller even though the official thing sells for crap-all), and Wolverine is the only I know of that's been entirely counterfeited down to the packaging. At the moment you don't have to worry about buying a recent boxed figure and it ending up being counterfeit, if that's what you were thinking, that's not something that's happening just yet as far as I'm aware.

You also see a lot of recast heads on eBay, those can be from new figures and old. Those are just people who have presumedly bought the head, made a mould of it, made copies and had them painted. It could be one man at home, no different than me or you, or it could be a larger operation. Usually you can tell these clearly from the poor paint.

 

[LesMartin]

I just bought a DX Nicholson Joker and had pre-ordered it. The dealer was affiliated with SS. When pre-ordering, he informed me via email that the figure would ship after the initial overseas lots went out and "after all the counterfeit versions" had already started their circulations into the market.

So from his statement I am wondering how is it even possible for counterfeit figures to be made or mass produced in the first place? Especially after not being out for the general market for that long.

I'm not worried about having purchased any counterfeit figures. I am just curious as to how this is done. I can see the reason for the demand as HT figures can be quite expensive and are supposedly only made in numbers of a few thousand each at best.

I am just curious as to how counterfeit figures are made; i.e, the heads, bodies, clothing, packaging, etc.,etc.

 

[Grosby]

I've never heard of the Nicholson Joker being counterfeited. Does anyone else on here have any information on that?

I think there's two ways counterfeiting happens:

1) The official figure is bought and a person takes it apart and makes copies. They recast the parts. They can undo the sewing on the clothing and make patterns for copied clothing. They can scan the box and use that to make a bootleg box.


2) The factory (or someone who works there) that produced the original figure makes extras or keeps hold of the original molds and uses them to make bootlegs that they sell themselves.

People say the second is what happened with Enterbay, where you see their Bruce Lee bodies and a lot of heads on eBay.

I can see the reason for the demand as HT figures can be quite expensive and are supposedly only made in numbers of a few thousand each at best.

I think the price is the only motivator. If there was a figure that was released in a quantity of one million and people were still paying $100 for that figure's head, then that's $100 a bootlegger can potentially make if he can come up with a head that looks close enough to the real thing.

 

[krec9]

I've never heard of the Nicholson Joker being counterfeited. Does anyone else on here have any information on that?

I think there's two ways counterfeiting happens:

1) The official figure is bought and a person takes it apart and makes copies. They recast the parts. They can undo the sewing on the clothing and make patterns for copied clothing. They can scan the box and use that to make a bootleg box.


2) The factory (or someone who works there) that produced the original figure makes extras or keeps hold of the original molds and uses them to make bootlegs that they sell themselves.

People say the second is what happened with Enterbay, where you see their Bruce Lee bodies and a lot of heads on eBay.



I think the price is the only motivator. If there was a figure that was released in a quantity of one million and people were still paying $100 for that figure's head, then that's $100 a bootlegger can make if he can potentially make if he/she can come up with a head that looks close enough to the real thing.

i know there are recasted heads on the bay .

 

[Grosby]

Yeah, I see them. I was thinking of a full counterfeit figure but probably he was just talking about heads.

 

[darthviper107]

The counterfeit figures are usually done by a Chinese factory--they're outfitted with the equipment that is used to make that stuff so they'll just buy a figure, they can make molds of it or use computer scans or whatever, it's extremely cheap for them to do production.

There was also fakes of the Iron Man Mark I, since the value had gone up so much, and they were surprisingly close to the original.

Best way to avoid is not buy from unknown Chinese sources, better is to make sure they are an actual distributor from a trusted store.

 

[Singuy]

The value of these expensive figures comes from the quality of the craftsmanship. Counterfeiting figures is kind of counter-intuitive. If you can't make an exact replica of the original (ie. a high resolution digital copy of an art work, or bootleg blu-ray movies), then why even bother? All you are doing is making a Neca/Medicom quality figure and calling it Hot Toys.

No one is going to buy a Neca quality figure and pay HT pricing for it..because you are paying for the craftsmanship, not really the license.

People may pay half price for a solid HT impression of a figure, but then it's probably not worth it to counterfeit.


I really don't see the point of counterfeiting figures when you can buy numerous lackluster 1/6 figures of a particular license for 40-50 bucks.

 

[mmmmBrains]

The counterfeit figures are usually done by a Chinese factory--they're outfitted with the equipment that is used to make that stuff so they'll just buy a figure, they can make molds of it or use computer scans or whatever, it's extremely cheap for them to do production.

There was also fakes of the Iron Man Mark I, since the value had gone up so much, and they were surprisingly close to the original.

Best way to avoid is not buy from unknown Chinese sources, better is to make sure they are an actual distributor from a trusted store.

 

[thundergod76]

While we're on the subject of recasts etc. What's the story with Head Play making 1/6 scale heads? Are they legit? They even make a convincing DK Joker with PERS. I recently bought the Bale head sculpt from some seller in Hong Kong. I don't like to support the bootleg market but I couldn't be happier with it. Sure beats paying HT another $250 just for a bad ass Bale head sculpt.