Knock-off figures - general discussion

[Takama]

And yet you almost never see KO's of recent CollectA or Wild Safari figures...

Almost

https://www.amazon.com/AKLDPD-Triangular-Simulation-Childrens-Ankylosaurus/dp/B07S2KJ2CM/ref=sr_1_140?creativeASIN=B07S3KMFBH&linkCode=w61&imprToken=pIz3c7Wr0r92hptw4oVOiw&slotNum=0&dchild=1&keywords=Ankylosaurus&qid=1586043921&s=toys-and-games&sr=1-140&th=1

Also, Gotta Love how they call the Regeliceratops a "Horned Dragon"

On a Side Note

@REBOR_STUDIO

Isent That your Bendy Tail Ankylosaurus?

[stargatedalek]

And yet you almost never see KO's of recent CollectA or Wild Safari figures...

Almost

https://www.amazon.com/AKLDPD-Triangular-Simulation-Childrens-Ankylosaurus/dp/B07S2KJ2CM/ref=sr_1_140?creativeASIN=B07S3KMFBH&linkCode=w61&imprToken=pIz3c7Wr0r92hptw4oVOiw&slotNum=0&dchild=1&keywords=Ankylosaurus&qid=1586043921&s=toys-and-games&sr=1-140&th=1

They do certainly exist, but you don't see them appearing 4 weeks after every release like you do with REBOR and Papo.

[Dinoxels]

I recall seeing the Schleich Therizinosaurus repackaged with the Rebor Tenontosaurus corpse, and found it quite amusing.

[DC]

Two years ago I was in Hong Kong for the Toy Fair and that was a great experience. There were multiple distributors with exclusive product from a factory in Shangdong. They are very open about the factory they use. Each distributor has a variant of figures some repainted. The figures all seamed to be based on Schleich, Papo, Safari and CollectA.  The quality was less than the original but not terrible. There are other factories that do real low end copies. These were a higher production quality.  If you look close they often changed the size or the color even modified the pose slightly.  These would probably pass western infringement regulation.  Think Marx verses MPC verses JARU.  Some were exact copies which I find tasteless. In Europe an Italian distributor offered figures that look like they came out from Schleich or CollectA factory missing just missing the stamp. Speculation is that they maybe bootleg runs from the original factories not Shangdong copies.  I had a offer to visit the factory but I did not have the Visa for the mainland. Next time. If was in the figure stealing biz I would only steal the really good ones some of the copied figures choices were strange. A sign you are a major figure company is when they copy you. 

[CityRaptor]

Well, Copyright means right to copy, right? 

I wonder how MPC got away with it back in the 50s.

[SidB]

Since so many animals, especially in nature, endure through life beset with internal and external parasites, I suppose these big companies, relatively speaking, likewise have to put up with their human equivalent.

[Loon]

I don't know if anyone else has seen anything like this, but I've seen a lot of people post their collections online that are mostly knock offs. These are usually Rebor and Schleich figures, and they're just terrible looking. I wonder if a lot of these collections are this way because the countries these people live rarely get any decent figures?

[sauroid]

I don't know if anyone else has seen anything like this, but I've seen a lot of people post their collections online that are mostly knock offs. These are usually Rebor and Schleich figures, and they're just terrible looking. I wonder if a lot of these collections are this way because the countries these people live rarely get any decent figures?

or they just chose to get the cheap fake ones and hoping to pass them off as the real deal. in dinosaur/prehistoric figures groups in facebook, they usually get called out if they claim to have the genuine items.

[SidB]

I don't know if anyone else has seen anything like this, but I've seen a lot of people post their collections online that are mostly knock offs. These are usually Rebor and Schleich figures, and they're just terrible looking. I wonder if a lot of these collections are this way because the countries these people live rarely get any decent figures?

There may be the affordability factor too. If so, then it becomes incumbent upon these collectors not to claim that they own the real McCoy. I guess for many, though, silence is golden.

[Bokisaurus]

I don't know if anyone else has seen anything like this, but I've seen a lot of people post their collections online that are mostly knock offs. These are usually Rebor and Schleich figures, and they're just terrible looking. I wonder if a lot of these collections are this way because the countries these people live rarely get any decent figures?

There may be the affordability factor too. If so, then it becomes incumbent upon these collectors not to claim that they own the real McCoy. I guess for many, though, silence is golden.

This is really a very sensitive and complex situation.
I don't like the idea of knock off figures, but I do understand the why.
For many countries around the world, especially those ones that are not wealthy, the option for the real thing is not there, or even if it is, simply too expensive to afford.
Others don't have the luxury to spend $$$ on toy figure, but still want to collect, so cheap imitations is the next best thing.

I grew up in a country where we don't have the luxury for toys .
I know many collectors that all they have to prioritize between essential and "toy" so buying KO is an alternative.
I will never judge a collection and collectors for have KO.
I'm lucky enough today to have the luxury to buy these figures.

So it's a very complex and complicated issue that has so many ingredients that's simply difficult to resolve.

[SidB]

Historically, there certainly have been some very heated discussions on this thread over the issue. I know that I've taken the harder line in the past. I still don't push the idea of knock-offs, but I've come to realize, as you mention above, and I think that I remember @stargatedalek arguing, that there is a time and place where it's time for the Kantian ethicists (like me at times) to get off the bus. In some times and places there's simply no alternative, seemingly.

[terrorchicken]

what do you all think of that mentality of "if you cant afford a certain hobby (or high end brand) them maybe this isn't a hobby for you". In some ways I agree its the hard truth(stick to whats important/essential for your survival)  but other times it does feel a bit elitist. Ive heard this alot in the ball jointed doll community when the discussion of knock offs comes up.

[CityRaptor]

Well, I'm a collector on budget, but rather than buying KOs I wait for good opportunities to obtain the real deal. Does not always work out for me, but hey, that's life.

[Halichoeres]

what do you all think of that mentality of "if you cant afford a certain hobby (or high end brand) them maybe this isn't a hobby for you". In some ways I agree its the hard truth(stick to whats important/essential for your survival)  but other times it does feel a bit elitist. Ive heard this alot in the ball jointed doll community when the discussion of knock offs comes up.

That's a tough one. It's sufficiently thorny that I would generally refrain from saying something like that. However, the truth is, if you're collecting newer items, this hobby is a fairly modest expense compared to many others. But it can get really expensive if you chase variants or high-end maquettes like Chronicle makes, or Sideshow statues, or model kits.

In the end I want the hobby to continue. I want artists to be able to make a living producing new, well-researched sculpts. I want companies to find it profitable to bring them to market. Buying knock-offs undercuts those goals, especially knock-offs of items still in production. I have a little more sympathy for buying knock-offs of figures that have been discontinued for a long time, although I myself don't typically buy them because I specifically want knock-off manufacturers to find their enterprise UNprofitable.

[Skorpio V.]

Found these guys lurking on the Facebook Marketplace.

Sue? Is that you? Nevermind, just her violent nephews Sid and Sven. 

[Dinoxels]

I found this. I am cracking up.
https://imgur.com/tnuwq91

"Carnivourus Cattle Dragon"

Original site: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32974852138.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.327e5770cNBxQx&algo_pvid=724008b1-cd69-497a-82af-575143d7e4bf&algo_expid=724008b1-cd69-497a-82af-575143d7e4bf-56&btsid=0ab6f83915925174911421789e7ae1&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

[CityRaptor]

Muhaha. There is also a swollen dragon.

Hmm, something about those caged dinosaurs looks familiar:


Na, totally not knock-offs.


https://www.action.com/de-de/p/dinosaurier-im-kafig/

[Flaffy]

Knockoff Colorata Cephalaspis. The bootleggers somehow managed to make it more than twice it's original size.

[stargatedalek]

Those Cephalaspis look normal to me. Are you certain those are bootlegs and not some sort of overstock or such? Where are they from?

[Flaffy]

Those Cephalaspis look normal to me. Are you certain those are bootlegs and not some sort of overstock or such? Where are they from?

Definitely bootleg, it was made by some chinese company. Found them in a local toy shop that sells a plethora of bootleg animal (and prehistoric) figures copied from various companies.

Credit RobinGoodFellow, the real deal. Notice the size difference, along with the different shades of colours compared to the Colorata.