How to identify a fake Nendoroid

I have bought one and regretted it tremendously. The price is low, but the quality is so trashy. I bought a fake Nendoroid 18 Misa Amane in the sunday second-hand marketplace at China Square Central, Singapore, for SGD $24.95. I bought it after a friend showed me. It was Sep 2007 release and I spot in in the market in April 2008. Thinking it is a second hand, I bought it.

Unless you want to do modding then go ahead. That requires a lot of re-finishing including repainting. Make sure you wash them thoroughy, and dont regret if the plastic disintegrate as they are really made of cheap material.

Now enough with the trashing (pun intended). How do you avoid one?

First of all back to that bargain price. If it is too good to be true, likely it is too good to be true and thus it is a fake, an imitation, replica whatever you call it. It is not the real thing and well if you are OK with it then go ahead. I have bought one and regretted it tremendously. You might think you have a bargain when you find a cheap nendoroid which price may range around SGD $19 to SGD $29. Normal retail price for regular release nendoroid is around SGD $40 - SGD $50 depending wheather you bought is via pre-order (cheaper) or at retail price. And dont talk about special release (in-store special, mail order special and web order special) and Wonderfest item! First of all they are only available in Japan, secondly they do not deliver overseas, so you have to pay proxy to obtain the item. Low quantity and high demand will push the price sky high multiple time above the listed retail price. The price can easily double and I have paid triple as well.


Yay! I spot slightly disfigured Nendoroid for SGD $21.90! I should be happy and buy!
NOT!

These are all fakes. Go ahead buy if you are satisfied spending money on this badly produced goods.

Secondly, buy only from reputable shop. They may not be the cheapest but you know the price range. Too far below the price range should ring some bell. Also shops selling games should be avoided because their main business is game software, not figurines. Likely their supplier is not very reliable, which means they may be supplied fake goods. I have seen a few game shop in Singapore selling fake Nendoroid. I found the same immitation only for SGD $19.90 at a game shop in AMK Hub, Singapore! Talk about rubbing salt to the wound!

Thirdly the packaging. If the fakers made the nendoroid with cheaper plastic, they will of course try to lower the cost as much as possible, including the packaging. Fake nendoroid is sold in box that uses thinner carton paper. Not only that there are plenty of tell tale signs on the box.



Top is from the box of the fake Misa Amane, bottom is from the box of the original Yuki Nagato.

The fake Misa Amane has sign:
Distributed by: ALTER SHANGHAI Co., Ltd.
Rm701, Walton Plaza, No.801 Chang Le Rd, Shanghai, 200031, CHINA


If you can open the box (if they let you that is, you might notice something odd (only when you have good memory). Packaging - Inside Layer: Left is from Yuki Nagato, Center is the suspect counterfeit Misa Amane, Right is Bincho-tan. Notice the originals has "Nendoroid" written upwards from left to right, while the suspect is upside down.




Forth is the completeness. The fake Misa Amane I bought has a missing cross necklace. The one my friend bought also have a missing cross necklace! That should ring alarm bell, but well, sigh... I was a new collector then. I hope you can learn a lesson from my mistake.

Fift is the quality. Some are really visible. The lightning bolt (Mikuru beam) from original Nendoroid 16 Mikuru Asahina is transparent green. The immitation has uglily painted solid green copy. The original nendoroid is never dirty. If it has dirty look (like washed in oil) and the box is sealed, well it could be original not taken care well, but likely it is a fake.
Notice the wash out colour for the face. The skin tone is a bit weird and there are oil dirt all over.













Well I hope you learn something from my painful experience. I have bought a second hand Misa Amane from a reputable online shop: Mandarake. It is cheaper than the release price and the box has been opened. However I have to spend extra for postage, so total cost of ownership is still more than original release price. Oh well, at least it is original.