At Ontario Mills Mall in Ontario California! There is a booth called Kool Stuff Zone, in Neighborhood 1 in the corner in front of Cost Plus World Market, Sam Ash Music and Marshalls. BEWARE THEY ARE FILLED WITH BOOTLEG ITEMS! I could not find one item in the entire cart that was a legitimate item. The Max Factory Saber is a fake, it’s missing the type-moon sticker and the HJapan Sticker that proves it’s authenticity. See Good Smile Company’s site that has more information on this bootleg figure. I do apologize for not getting better pictures of the cart, I mentioned to my brother that the figure was fake and the lady who was running the cart then gave me the “evil eye” so i only got this picture of the bootleg figure in question for reference and it was taken with my brother’s camera phone, thanks onii-chan!.
2:55 pm on October 15th, 2008 1
Oh damn, this makes me wonder if my Konata Figma (winter uniform) is a fake T_T It didn’t have an HJapan sticker T_T
IcyStorms last blog post..Happy 21st birthday, Aya!
3:14 pm on October 15th, 2008 2
@IcyStorm:
no figmas don’t come with the Hjapan sticker, so don’t worry about that. and from what i know they don’t make fake figmas, but then were did you get her from? if you get it from a reliable retailer then there is no worries.
3:26 pm on October 15th, 2008 3
I love how the site tells you to look at the ahoge to spot the fake!
Hungs last blog post..Anime + Manga Trends: Bigger is Better?
3:42 pm on October 15th, 2008 4
Yikes! I better avoid that place!
3:49 pm on October 15th, 2008 5
Eep! I’ve only been to Ontario Mills mall a few times but I’ll be on a lookout if I’m there again.
4:01 pm on October 15th, 2008 6
Why didn’t you throw some gazoline on all this crap and crak a match ?
4:03 pm on October 15th, 2008 7
Out of curiosity, aside from stickers of authenticity, are there any other ways to spot a bootleg? I’ve got a terrible eye for figures -_-
Snarks last blog post..Re: Cutie Honey Review
4:11 pm on October 15th, 2008 8
@Hung:
well it also shows how max factory makes sure their ahoge points in he right direction and the bootlegers don’t care.
@yaku:
if i see even one fake in a store i avoid the store all together
@Coco the Bean:
i used to go more often but the quality of that mall has gone down a lot.
@louki:
idk, maybe cause i would have gotten arrested
@Snark:
really the best way to make sure you don’t get fake figures is to get them from reliable retaielrs, HLJ, Hobby Search, Kid Nemo, Play-asia, just to name a few. But gsc, Max Factory and Alter PVC Figures all have the Hjapan sticker on the back. Except for Nendoroids and Figmas. But if you see an Alter, Gsc or Max Factory figure without it it’s a fake for sure.
5:18 pm on October 15th, 2008 9
aww
you seem to have bad experiences with purchasing figures ;___;
btw, there are quite a few fake figmas on ebay
it takes time to produce fakes
if you see the first gens, (mikuru, haruhi) for sale and unbelievable low prices, it most likely is fake
I hope the kyon thing worked out for you
5:25 pm on October 15th, 2008 10
Sorry dq, i was joking
6:38 pm on October 15th, 2008 11
most anime seller in here (Melbourne, Australia) sell fakes.. I only know 2-3 shops that have all genuine items….
ron~s last blog post..Saimoe 2008 Round 3
7:04 pm on October 15th, 2008 12
Yep, I’ve been to ontario mills many times and have seen that cart. I thought it was funny that they were selling dvd’s of FF 7: Advent Children before it was even out in the US. Downtown LA has tons of these bootleg anime goods stores as well. Some of the shop owners even confessed they were in fact selling bootleg anime goods.
Benus last blog post..Linebarrels Of Iron Simulcast
7:58 pm on October 15th, 2008 13
@potatichobit:
well i’ve only bought one fake figure in my entire collecting time. it was a first figure but i was able to sell it later, this post is more of letting letting others know about this store and to avoid it
@louki:
nah, don’t worry i figured
@ron~:
i heard that fakes are rampant in Australia, that’s got to suck badly
@Benu:
yeah in little Tokyo and china town there are a few legitimate anime stores (for figures at least) but for actual anime they mostly sell bootlegs…
10:40 pm on October 15th, 2008 14
The basics in watching for bootleg figures are easy.
It’s just don’t get too excited when looking for a figure you want.
Bootleg either way is bad and collectors like us have to look out for them…
11:27 pm on October 15th, 2008 15
@Rin:
for me the best way to check if a figure is bootleg on sites especially like ebay is that if the price is too good to be true, it usually is. If you spot this max Factory saber on ebay for $10 you know it’s a fake since she’s retail price $50+ with shipping http://www.hlj.com/product/MAX04089 , not another way to check on ebay for sure if the figure is legit is to ask for pictures in it’s original packaging from the seller. If they want to make a sale they’ll send you a picture, if not they aren’t worth your time.
4:15 am on October 16th, 2008 16
At least there are stores selling bootlegs in Melbourne, here in Sydney we don’t even have that ^_^;;
Oh well, I buy all my figs online anyway, HLJ and Hobby Search. Going good so far!
Bootleg figures look so bad, I’d hate to mistakenly get one.
Acesans last blog post..Final Fantasy Tactics: The Secret Pen-ultimate Scene – Spamfic
1:39 pm on October 22nd, 2008 17
Is there a page in the GSC site that lists all the bootleg comparisons aside from the Saber one?
1:47 pm on October 22nd, 2008 18
@acesan:
yeah online through reputable sites is really the best way to get figures.
@char:
there is also this http://www.geocities.com/hgurl_2000_99/Fakes/fakes.htm
and this forum where they link ebay stores and such that sell bootlegs http://forums.zero-type.com/viewforum.php?f=12&sid=d11c0b083eed3b28686f48783c2d1293
9:47 am on February 26th, 2009 19
im in singapore and I have actually seen a fake saber figure with the typo moon holographic sticker. didnt expect to see the sticker on a bootleg
9:47 am on February 26th, 2009 20
^ type moon sticker i meant
10:17 am on February 26th, 2009 21
@deadbeat:
now that’s scary, damn bootleggers