How To Spot Bootleg Anime Figures

Collecting anime figures is a fun hobby, but it requires being on the lookout for various telltale signs that the toys aren't counterfeit bootlegs.

One of the easiest ways for people to show off their fandom for a particular fandom for an anime franchise is by collecting figures. These items are perfect for showcasing the coolest characters and even allowing fans to recreate epic battles from the shows. Unfortunately, the biggest bane in the hobby is the ever-present danger of buying bootlegs.

Bootleg anime figures are an issue for many reasons, one of them being that it keeps the official product from being supported. Thankfully, these infamous figures can be easy to spot, with imperfections and small idiosyncrasies acting as a warning sign. By carefully noting these telltale problems, it can be easy to avoid buying counterfeit anime merchandise.

RELATED: Gundam Style: The 15 Best Gundam Designs, Ranked

One easy way to tell if an anime figure or collectible is the real deal is by looking out for a seal of authenticity. Different franchises and companies will implement these directly on the box to note that a product is a legitimate part of a certain series or property. In most cases, said seals will be a sticker that may or may not incorporate a brand-specific emblem/symbol.

Given that many of these are stickers, however, it's easy for them to perhaps be peeled off by kids in stores or arguably lost in transit. These fairly understandable circumstances are legitimate reasons why a seal of authenticity might be missing. Likewise, manufacturers themselves can be very inconsistent with these stickers. Thankfully, there are several ways to tell if the product is fake.

A frequent mistake that bootleggers make is halfheartedly copying the official logo of a product — if even going that far. If the logo and text on the packaging don't resemble what's usually seen on physical shelves or online through official retailers, the figure is most certainly a fake. This extends to company logos, which are themselves a sort of seal of authenticity. The most blatant examples are when the logos are something completely unrelated to the franchise the toys are meant to represent.

Sometimes, things will look almost exactly the same as the packaging of the real toy, with the only difference between misspellings and typos. These are obvious signs that it's a counterfeit product, and it's highly likely that said packaging wasn't even produced in a country where the intended language of the text is spoken.

RELATED: 10 Best Redemption Arcs In Sailor Moon

This is another situation where it helps to be familiar with what the ofifical product and its packaging look like. Bootleg anime figures usually come in packaging that's either tacky and gaudy or bland. In the case of the former, images may be super-imposed and lack stills from the official anime.

Likewise, dull-looking bootleg packaging will typically replace the signature designs, layouts, and backdrops of official branding with simple white, black, or otherwise un-extravagant background fillings. Some may have little design work or text at all, simply bearing a picture of the toy itself and text that's likely in Chinese or some other foreign language. Another issue may be images from unrelated parts of a franchise, such as young Goku from the original Dragon Ball seen on figures for Dragon Ball Z.

The plastic bubbles holding the figures might seem irrelevant, but they're a majorly overlooked sign in pinpointing a bootleg. Some bootlegs are blatantly not made to coincide with their plastic bubbles, which requires excessive amounts of tape to keep them joined. Excess tape can also be used to disguise that the bubble is damaged.

The plastic in bootleg plastic bubbles is also very flimsy and sometimes brittle. This will result in it chipping away (sometimes to a sharp degree) or bending about aimlessly. Either way looks very unprofessional for what's likely meant to be merchandise for a major property, signaling that it's a fake.

RELATED: 10 Best Sailor Moon Crystal Characters, Ranked

The figures themselves sometimes make it abundantly clear that they're cheap knockoffs, with the faces and eyes being dead giveaways. If the character's facial features look sloppily carved or painted, it's most definitely not an official product. The paint quality might even be runny or caked on, which is another indicator of a botched job.

Anime characters are known for their hair, and this can be another way to detect a fake. For instance, a figure of Raditz with Super Saiyan blond hair is an obvious fake, as the character never achieved that form in Dragon Ball Z. Similarly, if the hair is painted in a way that looks like it's painting over something else, the figure could very well be a bootleg of another mold that's being recycled.

Given that anime figures can be used to recreate iconic poses, attacks, or intense battles from the anime, it's important that they can actually be moved and configured. That's not always easy with bootleg toys, however, which have joints that are either too tight or too loose. The former makes it to where achieving even the most basic movement with the toy can nearly break it.

Conversely, if a joint is too loose, the figure's arms, legs, or other parts might not be able to stay in a certain position. This can make it impossible to so much as display them without stands. It's also particularly problematic if there are special or integral features that require a certain poise.

RELATED: The 30 Strongest Dragon Ball Super Characters At The End Of The Series

Part of the fun of anime figures is using the exclusive weapons, tools and similar accessories that they come with, as these are many times items associated with the character. With bootleg figures, however, these accessories may be completely absent. This is bad enough, but it's even worse when the toys are packaged with weapons that don't even work.

Said faulty accessories may be missing key parts or features of their own. Likewise, due to the poor sculpting and quality of bootlegs, these weapons usually won't fit in hand or on pegs as well as the official version. Thus, a Naruto figure doing an attack or packaged with a Kunai might not even be able to hold the item or connect with a figure base. The weapons may also be flimsy or dull, looking more like cheap hunks of plastic than anything else. The same extends to larger role-playing accessories and collectibles meant for human hands.

A definite area of concern is the size of the figure, especially for anime fans with large collections. A Sailor Moon collector will want figures of all the Sailor Scouts, but this visual on their shelf won't work if the toys are completely different sizes. Bootleg manufacturers are known for making oversized versions of anime figures and passing them off as larger, more "robust" collectibles.

Usually, the online listings for these won't have them next to another figure. Once placed by the real deal, however, it's obvious that these toys are incompatible and based on entirely different molds, waves, and perhaps even different toylines. Boxes and packaging should again be referenced to note how big they should appear to house the correct figure.

RELATED: 18 Dragon Ball Villains Ranked From Weakest To Most Powerful

This goes back to how important the quality of the figure's paint job is. Bootleg anime figures will sometimes try to seem special by featuring characters in wildly different costumes and/or color schemes. What sounds like a potential selling point is actually an unmistakable sign that the product at hand is fake.

Anime figures are usually made to only represent official forms, costumes, and color schemes, with random repaints being more of a concept used in Western franchises. Thus, if a Goku figure is seen wearing what looks like street clothes or a camo gi instead of his iconic orange and blue gi, it's definitely a fake.

Starting an anime figure collection is definitely fun, but it's also incredibly expensive, especially for rarer pieces from older anime franchises. Thus, many fans might want to save a few dollars and find an online retailer with the best deal on a figure. As tempting as it might be, however, this is an easy way to end up ordering a bootleg.

If the price is too good to be true, it likely is. For instance, the Nendoroid line of figures has toys for several iconic heroes, including the characters from Demon Slayer. These usually range from $30 at the absolute cheapest to over $60, depending on the character and rarity. Needless to say, any website selling them for around $15 or under is definitely hawking bootlegs and said fake products should be avoided without question.

Timothy Blake Donohoo is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he majored in Communication and minored in Creative Writing. A professional freelance writer and marketing expert, he’s written marketing copy and retail listings for companies such as Viatek. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, playing video games, watching documentaries and catching up on the latest Vaporwave and Electro-Swing musical releases.