Commentaries

angel

sergeySafonov

804 2515 1650

14 years ago

Do we need fake toys here?
angel

doc18

1593 19 280

14 years ago

LOL interesting! Maybe it is useful to help people not to be fooled by bootleg figures? :P
angel

sergeySafonov

804 2515 1650

14 years ago

Let's make the Fake section then, this section might be huge :)
But there should be no manufacturer listed, only artist name, ok?
angel

CoMus

171 468 619

14 years ago

Bootlegs are not good for anyone. :(
DMS

75 34 104

14 years ago

I think bootlegs are great for everyone (who isn't bothered about having the original!). Bootlegs that are a parody of the original piece are cool IMO, bootlegs trying to pretend to be the originals are a different kettle of fish.
angel

CoMus

171 468 619

14 years ago

I have previously mentioned I don't like KAWS and I am not going to talk about KAWS as everyone has their own opinion about how original his creations are (I do consider them to be over priced pop art fyi)

Bootlegging devalues everything for everyone. Justifying it's fine just because the original one is expensive or the artist has "sold out" doesn't make it valid.

- Someone is making money off of someone's work.

- Devalues the brand/design, (which is the WORST thing) by having it in all these dodgy bootleg stores/flooding the market/low quality/consumers not understanding the product. NOT only for KAWS but for all designer toys.

- Someone may potentially be fooled. (Bootleg companies don't give a shit about their market) Just because you are "in the know" and it seems VERY clear its a bootleg, not everyone will.

- Official prices rise (this is a common practice by official companies to set the bootlegers clearly apart for consumer) This may also sets a price range for other designer toys.

Official re-productions are fine, just like posters of artwork. Yet most paintings are in the public domain anyway. Then again, paintings are a poor example as its not like someone is re-producing the brush strokes.

Is there a tipping point for finding what is considered "ok" to bootleg? What if some company decided to bootleg Uamou?
angel

CoMus

171 468 619

14 years ago

I don't know how you can say I am missing the point? I said bootlegs are not good for anyone and you voiced other opinions, so I explained my stance. Devaluing through residual effects is very damaging.

To say that everyone knows the price point is a bit off. I first saw KAWS in a music mag, many people buy various culture mags on a whim. People truly do not know the market price of various toys. People still are shocked at the designer toys around the 50-80 mark, they wouldn't expect something to be much more than that for a KAWS piece.

People do not instantly understand the designer toy market; pricing and what artist is what. People are coming in from all directions and can easily be mislead.

I am sure you have friends that don't collect but have found some of your pieces really cool without knowing the price point, official packaging or where to get it from. Or friends that are shocked when you say "you might not want to drop that as it cost $200"

I am talking about bootlegs as a generalisation, it affects any market it touches. Companies pushing up market price point to distinguish it isn't a bootleg, is a common marketing strategy in other production fields.

A company can still be affected by the residual effect of bootlegs, even if they are not making direct profit off of the limited release they did. They release the next variant and people don't buy it as they have already purchased the previous bootlegged version for example or they don't buy their products any more as they want a level of exclusivity.

I agree with your stance on KR and their "limited' runs, yet its not a reason to bootleg them.

Bootlegs are not good for anyone as the residual effects affect the designer toy market as a whole.

- A legit store trying to sell official products can't compete vs the bootleg store down the street.

Stores selling bootlegs may not know who designed them and/or know they are "designer toys". They would have just ordered them from one of their suppliers thinking it was cool and not have known it was a bootleg.

- Suppliers don't sit back for hours doing research, they may be dealing with a whole seller that deals 10% in bootlegs without knowing it. Something slips through the cracks to store fronts with the belief that it is legit.

- It won't stop at KAWS (and hasn't) for bootlegging and will continue on.

- Bootlegs can get VERY close to the original and almost perfect quality. This can be easily witnessed with the bootleg anime toy scene.

Bootleg suppliers have a HUGE market share in various places around the world. Even my small little china town is filled with various bootleg products of toys the general consumer wouldn't know was a "designer" piece. A bootleg manufacture might come across Uamou design take it up and flood the market with it.

If someone buys a bootleg knowing it is a bootleg for the mentioned reasons above, good for them if they are happy. Yet it isn't good for the market at all and to believe otherwise is part of the problem with bootlegging.
angel

CoMus

171 468 619

14 years ago

Catch you next time <3
topqualitypro

45 2 8

14 years ago

Nice you can see it but I know a lot of people who would mistake them for the original,good to know and identify the fakes and the authentic figures
angel

CoMus

171 468 619

14 years ago

What are the identifiers on this piece to know its not original?
hR

72 77 44

14 years ago

They look cheap to me. The biggest difference between these and the real thing is that these are at least 5 or 6 inches shorter than the genuine Companions. It's not too difficult to spot that difference. Plus they look very shiny. The original Companions are matte.
larzor

340 182 58

13 years ago

I don't really like the Kaws figures, but I would love to own something like this simply because it's a fake of something really exclusive. I think I may want it more than an original :)
larzor

340 182 58

13 years ago

I now have these, but with matte surface. They're really nice
angel

Tristan

343 224 314

13 years ago

The matte finish is actually fake.
TonyStark

50 18 43

11 years ago

I think these are funny. I'd buy buy it just to put next to the original with his hand resting on his head.
Coelho_Marina

920 1 18

11 years ago

WTF is this doing here? This is NOT a bootleg, it's counterfeit, shouldn't even be listed here.