Why you DON'T Buy Bootleg Anime Merch

by AesthelJanuary 20, 20210 Comments

 


    In this week's YouTube video I am showing off this giant Wish haul of fandom merch- including figures, plush, and a mystery bag! All items are themed around one of my all time favorite characters, Hatsune Miku!

    I knew that anime merch, especially figures would be really bad from Wish, but who knew it could have been quite THIS bad? I wasn't mad about the extremely poor quality though, I ordered this stuff mainly for the video so I could show them off to you guys and show just HOW bad bootleg items can be. The message I really wanted to send with this video is that bootleg merch may sometimes be cheaper, it definitely is NOT worth it! Ordering your merch from sites like this is never worth it- you won't ever get what you think you're getting and what you do get is absolutely NOT worth the money you paid for it!

    So today I want to take some time to show off each of the bootleg items that were featured in this video so you can see just how bad they all are and see a comparison between what I recieved and the original product.


2019 Snow Miku Figma

Photo of the real figure from Good Smile Company

Photo of the bootleg figure from Wish


Differences:
  • Color is slightly off
  • Her skin is yellowy almost greenish in tone
  • dings in the paint
  • generally not as clean paint job
  • loose joints
  • less detailed
  • generally lower quality
Price:
  • Original: ¥5,556 (Before Tax)
  • Wish: $33.00 
Legitimate Sources:

Hatsune Miku Noodle Stopper Figure

Photo of the real figure from FuRyu

Photo of the bootleg figure from Wish


Differences:
  • Color is dull in comparison to original
  • mouth is low on the face
  • paint job is not clean, it goes out of the lines
  • plastic is textured
  • hair is weirdly sheer by her face
  • hair is very flat in color everywhere else
  • No box or proper packaging
  • generally lower quality
Price:
  • Original: Prize Figure
  • Wish: $18.00
Legitimate Sources:

Hatsune Miku Nendoroid #539 Harvest Moon Ver.


Photo of the real figure from Good Smile Company

Photo of the bootleg figure from Wish
The bootleg figure standing next to a real Nendoroid figure for comparison



Differences:
  • Colors are off
  • proportions are off
  • faces are mega derpy
  • paint job is VERY messy, colors blur together
  • hair is transparent
  • DOESN'T HAVE FINGERS???
  • stand is not secure
  • significantly and very noticeably lower quality
  • misspellings on box
  • C H O N K Y
Price:
  • Original: ¥3,889 (Before Tax)
  • Wish: $23.00
Legitimate Sources:

Hatsune Miku Nesoberi Cushion

Photo of the real plush from Sega
Photo of the bootleg plush from Wish

Differences:
  • Colors aren't as pastel
  • craftmanship is poor
  • bad sewing and attachments
  • poor material choices
  • missing hanger
  • wrong brand on label
Price:
  • Original: Prize
  • Wish: $15.00
Legitimate Sources:

Hatsune Miku SPM Figure Ribbon X Heart

Photo of the real figure from Sega
Photo of the bootleg figure from Wish




Differences:
  • God where do I even start
  • heavily textured plastic
  • visible seams in the plastic
  • extremely messy paint job
  • lines? what are those? never heard of them.
  • some areas completely missing paint
  • shes just been flattened somehow?
  • hair pegs are very messy and don't match shapes
  • foot pegs don't match base
  • face is off and stretched
  • foot broken off
  • no packaging at all
  • RIP Miku
Price:
  • Original: Prize Figure
  • Wish: $28.00

Legitimate Sources:

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    So clearly you can see that what I received from Wish is absolutely not what was advertised to me! Not that I was expecting any of it to be the real products, but I still think it is important to show off these kinds of things.

    My biggest concern when it comes to all of this, is the people out there that don't know what to look for when it comes to shopping for figures. Anyone who is really into the world of anime figures knows a few signs that will tell when they are shopping, but someone who has never ordered a figure before, doesn't know where to properly research, or someone who is buying a gift for someone else could very EASILY run into figures just like these on the internet. And I can only imagine the disappointment someone would feel opening a package to one of these instead of the beautiful nice figure that they were hoping for.

    I'll be writing another article in the next couple of days talking about my experiences with ordering legitimate figures online and some tips I have for shopping for anime merch and how to avoid bootlegs! I hope that will be helpful for any of you that are looking into starting a figure collection in the future! Definitely be sure to come back to this page later to see when that article is up! But for now I hope you all enjoy my YouTube video on these monstrosities!

- Aesthel

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