It stands out as this type of very "realhead" style i see from time to time--especially later on down the line until now. so it's nice to have a bit for the collection. The vinyl base is a peanut butter brown with silver, coppery red, black and blue.
The dark spray around the eye and contrasting chest spot really are representative of the figures from the micro run era and beyond. I also notice they tend to have more overspray than the old figures. Always wondered if that was unintentional or a deliberate stylistic choice.
A couple more shots before i packed them away. The Gatchigon was a nice surprise getting it back again. i don't think it came with an omake, but i'm not sure--it's been so long. The Bigaro was an awesome find--out of the early releases on glow vinyl, I likes this one best because the feet were glowy too.
That mixed glitter is really nice. I wish I had more toys with that dense glitter. I wonder if it's hard to work with at the factory.
Is there any way to tell a micro run from a random (skillful) custom in cases like this? I've never seen this one before and would not have been certain it was "official".
Akum6n is a nice resource, haha. but i think it's easier to know what's what if you were there when it was all kind of happening. Much of what i have is stuff i either owned one time before, or something i saw in my searches long ago. A few pieces were surprises--but if they're customs being passed off as micros--i can't tell; the feel is very true. Except for a bruised Chaosman (which would've been an easy aftermarket mash-up) I don't think anything i have is suspect.
I guess my answer would be that there is no surefire way to tell skillful customs apart from the micro runs. For myself, I have to either do it by memory or comparison. Over the years, I tried to keep records of all the secret and micro releases that came up, but I'm sure there were many that did not get documented online. For those, I usually do a visual comparison to other RxH figures from the same time period. RxH (or maybe, Mr. Goto) has certain fingerprints in the color choice and paint arrangement that are usually pretty consistent. Most custom figures that I see either deviate from those or just make customization choices that are different from all other RxH figures (e.g., handpainting details), and so I can usually tell them apart on that basis.
I'll try to post photos & explanation later this week on the Bootlegging Scumbags thread, but l want to get a heads-up to active collectors here first. Long story short, I'm having a hard time lately but had some cash to burn and got sloppy on YJA. I bought four RxH adults from four different sellers, and three of them I'm 90% sure are bootlegs. I've had very good luck on YJA until now and I don't think I have any other bootlegs in my collection so I'd advise anyone collecting to be extra careful. I'm sure I don't need to tell any of you this, but look out for the obvious things: - Sellers without much feedback (although one of them had a ton of good feedback so that's not a guarantee) - Bad pics - Few bids on a popular sculpt - "Reasonable" but high opening bid price. Real auctions for pieces that are going to go high tend to open absurdly low (like 100 yen). - If it's a release you don't know anything about, be very careful. Try to find any photos you can / old sales to validate the details. But generally, if anything seems off, just let it go.
Deeply sorry to hear this man. I pulled the trigger on an expensive RxH boot myself just recently, felt truly stupid when I compared it to the real pics. I ended up just losing a PayPal case and leaving it after that, but I hope you get some kind of restitution--or paid back in toy karma. It's funny, this must be a normal feeling for collectors of larger-run lowbrow art, KAWS and the like. But it was so new as a kaiju doll collector, I just felt totally crushed.
When you have time to share, I would be curious to know which figures these were, and what gave them away as bootlegs. Granted I don't really buy the adult figures these days, but I wasn't aware there were bootlegs in circulation. The information would definitely help others be aware.
For me the dead giveaways are the paint caught in the chest area. Either spray or rub. Sometimes it’s not blatantly obvious though. These bootlegs are made from existing RxH so the proportions tend to be wonky, usually on the skinner side. I’ve never held one, but in-hand, people say it’s obvious right away. If it’s been featured on that IG account, sofubi sales mother fucker, or whatever, I’d avoid that sculpt + color.
Atom A Aliman for me. It is obvious when you look at the chest, as Nicky said. Also missing or incorrect sprays in various places. Areas of translucence also gave it away -- the hands on the real toy, and the chest, seem to be a translucent vinyl with the sprays fading out. On the bootleg they are panel-lined and solid white vinyl.
I'll try to make this as comprehensive as possible using (1) figure as a case before moving onto other examples. Camo painted Shikamark: This is generally consistent between authentic and fake rxh. Making a mold from a vinyl toy shrinks everything, but in weird ways, not just a slightly smaller version of the figure. Now for more examples using what we know from above. Authentic will be on left, Fake on the right. Reiden: The vinyl should have a micro glitter. Colors slightly off. They forgot to paint the right arm details with black. Harder to tell on Chaos Trooper bodies, so they tend to bootleg ones with minimal paint. But even without having RxH knowledge, if you look at these two pics long enough, the fake starts looking a bit squished in places. Also most fakes using the "scarf" piece, doesn't glue foam to the inside, which a real one should have (especially on older pieces, not sure if Mori still does it). Dracoman: Colors slightly off, proportions are wonky. Dragon scale texture is almost not there in the hands. Boomiman: Colors are off, chest details are more shallow. Bearosman: I chose a colorway with minimal paint detail, but even between these two photos, you can see a LOT of detail is lost in the chest on the bootleg. Not to mention the colors are slightly off (again). In most cases, like all fakes, if the price is too good, there's probably a reason. As mentioned above, try and check if it was featured on Instagram first. But also be warned, some photos on that account, they'll grab and steal authentic photos to use. This is an open invitation to anyone on the board, if you need a legit check before purchasing a RealHead piece, you can message me. If it's urgent (the auction is ending or something) DM me on IG. Hope this helps!
Exactly as Nicky says and shows. Deeper cleavage in the chest, shallower grooves on the abdomen. Sort of a pinched look on the upper chest and around the lower back (like they've been in corsets). I wouldn't have been sure from the face paint or details--in fact one of them the head looks entirely legit. The vinyl feels about right, consistency and shininess is good. Wonky waist joints. Will post pics soon. I don't mind getting fooled once--that would be a learning experience--but three times in one swoop? I'm telling the kids that pachi RxH is all the rage. The dim silver lining is it gives me renewed appreciation for how beautifully done actual RxH figures are, and how Mori has navigated his popularity with more grace than some of his peers.
I think most of the telling signs were already covered but offering my two cents as well. In addition to seller feedback, I check to see if the seller has other active listings, as well as look into the older YJA listings from the feedback page. The legitimate sellers tend to have a history of high-priced auctions under their belts.
looking at the "sales" ig now. I was vaguely aware of it but I'm so out of the loop I didn't even realize he was a bootlegger. Looks like he did maybe a hundred different Fake Heads last year alone.
Yeahhhhh. I'd argue a lot of the fakes sold can be traced back to this main account. A few ended up on eBay, stateside.
Oh wow, thanks for the detailed comparisons and information. I didn't know there was a bootleg Raiden out there. (The others have been so expensive, I don't even look at them anymore. )
I got the guy on the left at Rotofugi around the time of the Toy Karma show when both of these were released. I didn't get the standard release (probably just didn't have enough $ for both). 15? Years later they are reunited. I tried to look up exactly when this was & which Toy Karma but I couldn't figure it out. There were also a few unpainted of the guy on the left. If anyone has one and wants to part with it, I would be more than willing to provide a good home.
In light of Nicky's post: Hamlet (Hamlien?) Took this last year but I'm way behind on photo management
And here are the lousy bootlegs for those curious. The Soitsu is on black vinyl painted red (you can see the narrower chest and weak lines on the abdomen discussed above). I didn't check the teal Bearos but I assume that's also the case.
