Illegal figures

Pretty sure some are stolen?

Jump the gun much? I thought the point of this thread was to get to understand why this happens, and not just blindly accept what you're told at the top of the page here? That, and your "speak for yourself" comment...his "for me" implies that he IS speaking for himself.

Now, granted, I assume that there's probably shady work at play here. I'm guessing they don't have the most legitimate means for acquiring these figures, but for the most part, they're seemingly legit figures that aren't any worse than you'd get if you bought it here in the US.

Case in point - I picked up one or two for customs. They arrived in the same condition that you'd get if you bought a figure at Toys R Us and opened it yourself. No accessories, of course, but like I said, they were gonna be used for parts so I didn't care.

Moral of the story? If you don't care that your figure MIGHT be bootleg, then the risk is yours to take. You're always safer just buying at retail, but that's a given. And that's ALL of eBay; I've had more problems with US sellers than I've EVER had with overseas.

Me, I've gotten some DC/Marvel/WWE stuff from these sellers, and none of it's been poor quality. However, I've always felt more comfortable buying from retail, or online sites like Ringside or Amazon for the stuff I want to keep for my personal collection and not paint, alter, or take apart.

Heard alot of complaints from people about sellers there and they all seem to use the same pictures in their auctions. I wont buy anything outside the US because another thing Im worried it will take too long to get here or get damaged on the way.

Not to say some aren't stolen or bootlegs, but I've purchased a few of those Jakks RA figs from oversees in the past. The ones I purchased looked to be factory rejects (random parts swaps like "joesgonnakillu" mentioned above). However, all the ones I ordered were received as shown, so I may have been lucky - I never felt deceived or ripped off.

Also, the ones I ordered were for customs, so they were going to be taken apart and/or repainted anyway.

As one of the wfigs members residing in Singapore, I do understand a little about these illegal figures.

Now, before I get flamed for anything, I would like to state that I am not one of these illegal sellers. If you do not believe me, then you can stop reading and continue scrolling down, or just close your browser.

Mattel figures are made in China, and the sellers get them from the factory there. There are fake WWE T-Shirts from China/Hong Kong which look like the real deal too. Although they tend to be made of poor material and have fake tags on it. (WWEShop tshirts aren't that great either. They have bad print quality)

Anyway back to the topic, there is indeed a shop in Singapore selling these stolen/bootleg/whatever figures, and prices range widely, from as low as around US$2.50 up to US$25.

In fact, these people get their shipments really quickly. They have been able to get the WM Undertaker, the new BOPPV series with Big Johnny. However, I have never seen them with the accessories they come with, which leads me to think of it as a conclusion that these are in fact, factory rejects.

These figures tend to come with scratches, stains and markings, but are usually cleaned before they are put out for sale, such that they appear to be in normal condition. However, I can't tell which stages these figures are rejected at, because they vary. Some do not even have the bottom leg stamp, some do, and some have the stamps on both legs in different fonts and numbers. (I'm talking about the white colour codes at the sole of the boot)

As for the prices being almost retail in the US, well, they are still surviving thanks to the local customers. Until Mattel helps Toys R Us get rid of the hundreds of E2 Batista, E3 HBK and E3 Cena, there is no other way us Singaporeans can get the figures we love. Although the prices aren't helping either. It's 40 USD for 1 Elite figure in TRU, and it can be up to US$65 for us to get the newer figures MOC here from those specialty toy shops.

Not that I do not wish for Mattel to get their money, but Mattel and the local TRUs have to step up their game, else more people (most likely Asians) are going to be getting their figures from these sources because they don't have a choice. I am not an advocate of these illegal figures, but they will still find their way onto evilBay, and people will still continue buying, because that's their only source of figures at reasonable prices.

Jump the gun? Lol
look buddy, if I want to give an opinion i'm gonna do it. If you feel offended go to the jakks tna section.
Use common sense and you might understand.

I have bought many items overseas but it was usually stuff like clothing, Takara Transformers, and Bandai of Japan items.

Only once I was less that satified. I bought a GoW Kratos figure and when I got it in the mail it was obviously a factory reject since there were missing paint apps, his golden fleece armor was missing but the attachment points were on the figure, and the hot stamp on his blades were way off.

But to the sellers credit he told me the deal with this figure that it was a factory reject, and he shipped me out 2 sets of golden fleece armor, and new swords at no cost, for a figure that was $20 shipped. I can't complain really.

I buy from etoys. Great figures. Great prices.