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Thursday, September 22, 2011

Warning: Play Arts Kai Metal Gear Bootlegs?

I never thought i would be writing a note of Warning regarding collectibles but i just had a close brush with a very suspicious Play Arts Kai figure yesterday. Unfortunately, i was not able to take pictures since the said figure has been with me for only a few hours. Good thing, the seller (whose name i will withhold since he's not a member of the local PA Kai community and probably not really aware of these figures) allowed me a refund but i advise all my fellow PA Kai collectors to gather as much info as possible before getting a Play Arts Kai figure from online sellers.

Older Play Arts - Final Fantasy collectors would be quite familiar with the bootleg PAs by now and could easily spot the tell-tale signs of a bootleg figure even if it's boxed. Of course, the Final Fantasy series is a bootleggers favorite so i was not really surprised to see bootlegs of the PA Kai Final Fantasy Dissidia figures that are now available in the market. However, i was deeply disturbed by the fact that the alleged bootleg figure i got is NOT from the Final Fantasy Series but from Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker.

(Insert Metal Gear Alert sound here with a HUGE overhead Exclamation Point!) Let me breakdown my findings on the alleged Play Arts Kai Peacewalker Battle Dress Snake figure so fellow collectors can  check the figures out before buying one as well.

# 1. Paint Apps Part 1. The one i got has a problem with the paint apps in his visible (right) eye. I know that Snake looks a bit teary eyed on the Battle Dress version (thanks to winterquick24 for that info) but this one is different. It looks like the painter suffered a shortage of dark paint for the eyes so the glaring white pupil stands out. I am also a bit uneasy with the color of Snake's face since it seems a bit too dark compared to online pics. The hair is also darker compared to other Snake figures.
# 2. Instruction Sheet. The small instruction in-lay in all PA Kai figures are folded and placed beneath the lower fold of the box while on this one it's not folded and is floating around behind the plastic tray of the figure. It looks poorly printed also.

# 3. Serial Number. The box is sealed with Circular tapes (now that's really disturbing) and even the texture and color of the box is very, very close to the original however this one is missing the serial number located on the bottom flap near the circular seal.

Upon inspection, all of my Play Arts Kai boxes have this serial number (4 letters followed by 4 characters starting with numbers) engraved beneath the box. Once again i thank bro winterquick24 for informing me that his Battle Dress Snake's box has that serial number on the bottom. This is also something to look for in Transformer cards and boxes. I am not sure though if that is indeed a requirement in all PA Kai boxes though the second batch of Play Arts Kai Final Fantasy 13 figures (with the corrected paint apps on Lightning's face) do not have these numbers beneath their boxes.

#4. Quality issues. The figure itself is very well painted though the left elbow pad on the figure i got fell off almost as soon as it's out of the box. I saw that it's connector is made of a very thin brittle plastic that is easily broken. I don't know if this is the same with the other BD Snakes though.

#5. Smell (?). If you are a long-time collector of Play Arts you are thoroughly familiar with that new toy smell right? This one smells different, the new toy smell is still present but there is a strong stench of paint and plastic. I don't know how to describe it exactly though. Quoting bro darkseraphoem from Pinoy Toy Kolektors forum: "The paint stench and crappy paint job have been the old telltale signs of old PA fig bootlegs."

#6. Paint Apps Part 2. Saving this one for last, the extra masked head on my BD Snake have blue eyes and blue eyebrows. Winterquick24 said it should be dark brown eyebrows with blue eyes and this made  him also doubt the authenticity of the figure.   

I am not confirming the presence of KO or Bootleg figures for non-Final Fantasy Play Arts Kai, but i will leave you to judge based on the findings i laid down. There are shops with suspicious number of stocks of Battle Dress Snake which is alarming since reputable hobby shops (as per Sir Malvin of Great Toys Online) will only get new stocks  by October. Again, i wish i was able to take pics of the figure since those will help a lot. If there is anything, i sure wish that those are with QC issues only or overruns and not KOs. Thanks and feel free to ask me questions about this topic. Good luck and happy collecting. 

41 comments:

  1. I'm REALLY hoping the mgs line has not been bootlegged yet. I've been checking my figs with a flashlight up and down like crazy.

    To those who know 100% they have own a legit figure, let me ask: are the ears shaded? if so, is it dark in color or very subtle? cause mine has little to no shading in the ears...
    Also check the back of the box if there's a tiny blue circle sticker if not there's a printed lined circle where the sticker should be. I'm curious to what the sticker mean.

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  2. Hi Stephanie,

    i would like to ask if your Play Arts Kai boxes have those engraved serial numbers beneath their boxes? the local community is trying to check also if this is a requirement in all PA Kai boxes or it's only present on some. The PA Kai Battle Dress Snake i briefly owned is missing those numbers the same with the bootleg PA Kai FF13 Lightning i saw before. Thanks in advance.

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  3. Hi,

    Sorry for the late reply, I didn't know I gotten a response. I currently own 7 of the metal gear solid series, but the last one I got today in the mail must be sent back because of the horrible quality. (arm join broken off, head very loose) But all of them do have the serial numbers.

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  4. What figure is that if i may ask? Anyway, looks like the serial number beneath the boxes are clear indicators of genuine figures. I've encountered a lot of PA Kai FF13 figs missing those numbers aside from the Peacewalker fig i returned to the seller. As for Metal Gear, only the Battle Dress version has a confirmed KO version so far.

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  5. Where are you guys ordering from? There is a Jungle and Battle Dress Snake on Amazon for $45 with free Prime shipping. Now you have me suspicious.

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  6. ^^ I get most of my stuff from Greattoys Online, though i buy unavailable stuff from fellow collectors locally (DMC4 Dante, etc). As far as we know there are no bootlegs of Jungle Camo Snake though it is confirmed that Battle Dress Snake was bootlegged already. look for the serial numbers engraved beneath the boxes to be sure. KOs don't have those.

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  7. hello i just recently bought a play arts kai metal gear solid: solid snake figure (pre-ordered) but i realized that my figure doesnt have a serial code engraved in the bottom of the box. is my figure bootleg? or is it because the figure is pre-ordered? it doesnt seemed that the figure or the box has low quality and it really looks original to me. ( i bought it in greenhills)

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  8. ^^i'll check on that bro but i think it was air shipped so it did not pass the usual checks. I have faith in GTO's products and they never sell PA bootlegs AFAIK. I don't think that Solid got a bootleg this fast, less than 1 week of release.

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  9. i was really hoping that my solid snake is not a bootleg. all of my previous PA kai MGS peacewalker and even my cyborg ninja has this serial code. this is the first time i actually encountered having PA kai with no serial code, so it really does bother me. and besides, PA kai has become more and more expensive, so it would be a shame if i spend 4k on a bootleg figure.

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  10. ^^i am sure everything will be cleared soon, i myself is under a bit of stress because of this. My review is a week overdue already. Let's be cool with the shops though.

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  11. I got a MGS Peace Walker Big Boss, Jungle Fatigues Ver, it as the he serial number located on the bottom flap near the circular seal. i don't remember if the Instruction Sheet. was sealed, but, it came with secret code 2 download a new comrade in mgs pw (idk, if that makes it legit,the glaring white pupil stands out, but it hink is like that, the only thing that makes it look like a bootleg, is that, you know that it in one arm should be the FOX sign and in the other, the MSF, sign, rigth? My figure has 2 FOX's Signs, dude, please help me, if something happens, im really fucked up, because this was a gift from a friend who lives in the USA, im from Venezuela, if this is a bootleg, idk what to do :(, help

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  12. ^^ Hi bro, as long as the serial number is present i believe that is a legit figure. the Sneaking Suit Snake's inlays (instruction sheet and DLC sheet for the PSP Peacewalker game) are sealed in plastic that is attached on the inner side of the bottom flap. I don't think there's a bootleg of that figure, perhaps it's just a factory defect. You can try asking your friend about the return policy but if it's with you for over a year i don't think it can still be replaced though.

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  13. sa divisoria ba specifically in 168 are they all fakes. its pretty scary today to buy play arts figures in random sellers because fakes are overruning the market. the best bet is that you go to gto safest bet actually. are you aware of the ebay ph seller slazenger 2010? who sells a bit cheaper kai figures?

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  14. ^^not sure about the stocks in Divi since i haven't checked them out personally but knowing the reputation of the place i'd rather get PA Kai somewhere else especially if the difference is just a few hundred Php. GTO, Maxi, Datablitz all carry 100% authentic Play Arts figures. As for Slazenger, i'm not sure but i think his figures are authentic as well since he's a reputable member of the PinoyToyKolektors community.

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  15. thats a bit of insult i got the snake 3200 and in datablitz its just 2500.. how is that felt wasted almost a thousand.

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    1. personally i don't mind paying a few extra hundred bucks just so i get the figure earlier but that's just me. i think it's still nice that you were able to get it earlier than the others so you have time to save up for the upcoming releases.

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  16. jeri whats your facebook so we can talk more and ill post my solid snake picture for you to judge. btw do you double your kai characters or just one per character? i think solid snake is better than grey fox figure.

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    1. Hi, i don't have a personal FB, it' a joint account of me and my wife that's why i don't use it here. i'm thinking of making an Angels and Summer Fan Page though. Anyway, i rarely keep doubles, i don't have that much budget, so i usually sell whenever i have extras (rarely). I do kept a Red Ninja though.

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  17. i went to divi area and saw couple of kai figures, do bootlegs have the inscripted code with circular tape too? because i find it disturbing that bootlegs are nearer and nearer to originals as days go by.

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    1. Unfortunately, yes, there are bootlegs with serials though the serials look different if you are thoroughly familiar with how the original serials look. Th boxes also hold tell-tale signs so you should familiarize yourself with those as well. I'm not saying that the Divi PA Kais are all bootlegs but i'd rather get those elsewhere just to be safe.

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  18. Hello i was desperately looking for anyone who knows if there are any bootlegs of play arts kai harley quinn!! Please i want to buy her from abctoy4me for 46 dollars but it seems to low for me to buy it confidently. I heard abctoy4me sells official licenced products but i just need to be sure!! Thank you, any help will be greatly appreciated!!

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    Replies
    1. haven't seen one yet though The Joker have one, i'm also not familiar with abctoy so i really can't answer if they are ok or not. Locally, Datablitz is selling a ton of authentic Harley figures. not sure with Greattoys Online though. maybe you should check out amiami, i think she's selling cheap there also.

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    2. Thank you soo much for your help and info, ill check it out, take care.

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  19. I have to say you got quite a nice blog here! I found all these tips pretty usefull, i've decided to start collecting p.a.k. figures (they're awesome)and i ordered Big Boss infiltration suit from a private seller on amazon . I'm afraid it might be a bootleg, maybe it's just the fact that it's my first expensive action figure! I'll definitely check it.
    I always liked action figures since i was a kid and mgs if my favourite videogame saga, such a shame solid snake and other figures are out of stock =(
    It would be great to share my passion with fellow collectors like you, keep up the good work!

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    1. Thank you for the kind words, i'm a huge MGS fan as well. i can drop all the other PAKs from my collection but not the MGS ones for sure. Rest assured there are no bootlegs of the Sneaking Suit Snake/Big Boss.

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    2. Yes you're damn right, there are a lot of cool pak figures but i think the mgs line is on another level so i'll focus on it.
      I'm reassured by your words, yesterday againts all odds i received my Big Boss (8 days before the estimated day!!) and he's definitely the best figure i ever put my hands on so far.
      There are a lot of private sellers on amazon or ebay that sells this figure at absurd prices like 150$ or more, i was lucky to pay it only 65$ (in italy these figures are a lot more expensive than in america)

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    3. COngratulations! yeah, that figure is definitely top notch and the price is really a steal. Wow, you're form Italy? I'd love to visit your country someday. good luck collecting the MGS line.

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  20. Just to check, are the serial numbers the same for all the boxes of the same figure? I know im just being cautious(paranoid) but my jungle fatigues snake has the numbers DGTC1011 deeply engraved like an authentic figure. Dont know if mine was opened by the shipment carriers but the tapes inside looked as if it were opened before. But the instruction sheet along with the peacewalker code was folded and taped to tge bottom of the tray inside a little plastic bag. Does it sound okay to you? I got him from the official konami website so itd be weird if i were to get a bootleg (assuming there is one of jungle fatigues) but i doubt it. He looks very well made and heavy, has the same familiar smell of pvc as my other play arts kai.

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    1. yup, they are the same style though different characters, sounds legit to me. there are no known bootlegs of Jungle Snake.

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    2. Thanks for being patient with my paranoia, and thanks for the info. Theres only bootlegs of battle dress snake right?

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    3. no problem buddy, yep, only BD Snake's got a bootleg so far...

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  21. Hey bro Jeri, I found a bootleg Kaz Miller in a store in GH. The spare head is cross-eyed and it doesn't have the a serial number at the bottom of the box. Hope it helps to add on the bootleg figures in your list.

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  22. Hi!
    Are there any bootlegs of PAK Solidus Snake and Meryl Silverburgh?
    I bought Meryl (still in the mail) from a guy from Hong Kong for $50 USD and I plan to purchase Solidus Snake for $120 USD (shipping included). Any help is appreciated.
    THX!

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  23. I don't think Solidus has a bootleg.

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    1. we spotted one locally without the serials and being sold in one of the bootleg havens here as for mery

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    2. as i was saying, for Meryl no news yet

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    3. Thank you very much for the answers. I will carefully examine my Solidus Snake when he arrives. Still new in collecting PAK MGS figures but if all goes well I'm one Raiden figure away (Custom Body Blue - can not find him anywhere) from having all five variants.
      THX!

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  24. Can somebody tell me how the serial number for Solidus Snake looks like and what are the numbers or letters. I have one with s/n D0TC121O. Is this OK?
    Thank you!

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    Replies
    1. The serial number on the bottom is DCTC1210, which numbers are you reffering to?

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  25. I came across DGT1210, is this one legit?

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  26. Lemme rephrase, it was DGTC1210

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