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Spotting Bootlegs


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potatochobit



Joined: 26 Aug 2009
Posts: 1373
Location: TEXAS
PostPosted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 2:17 am Reply with quote
sweatshops have been around since the 1800s, third world countries are very good at making clothes and tapestries. Premium Ink is also very cheap in china, they have no environtmental laws Mad
they now use machines, just scan and press a button *beep*
______

because so many clothes are produced in this world, and cheaply, many countries have import quotas on clothes, bedsheets, things made with cotton; usually coming from india and china to protect their local industries.

I do not specifically know what tariffs and taxes japan has, but that may be one reason costs are higher to purchase authentic items in Japan. chinese companies also do not need to pay for the artwork licenses of fees and such.

that brings up the next point, honestly, I just think japanese companies like to screw people over on their intellectual property rights. disney in america does it too.

what irritates me is you can have a character and it costs a certain amount to license but if you have that character and she is naked you now need to pay even more, lol. I guess that's the 'defamation' fee. So you have one dakimakura it is 60$, but if you want the stripping version, it is now 110$...
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Rukiia



Joined: 30 Aug 2010
Posts: 1897
Location: British Columbia, Canada
PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:37 am Reply with quote
I am not sure if anyone noticed but there has been an explosion of Rurouni Kenshin Complete Series boxsets popping up on eBay for stupidly cheap prices. I have been hearing people say that it is a perfectly manufactured bootleg. I purchased one myself recently and noticed a number of things:

- The screenshot photos on the back of the artbox plus the season boxset inserts are very washed out/grainy and just look terribly unprofessional for a supposedly legit release.

- The carrying cases are white/clearish despite the sets originally being released in black brick cases. The cases are also VERY flimsy and feel pretty fragile.

- The second season case was broken and yet I could not find the broken pieces of plastic (the item was described as being new and was sealed).

-There were smudges/fingerprints and scratches on some of the discs (which makes me wonder if the seller just resealed it).

- Upon inspecting the discs more closely I found that the written codes on the inner discs were completely different from the discs that are from my Premium sets. For example, the volume title "Firefly's Wish" is written on the disc from my Premium set, but it is not on the Complete Series boxset disc.

- And finally, the disc artwork looks VERY washed out in colors.

Here are a few photos of the set I purchased.








Left hand is from Premium set. Right hand is from Complete Series boxset.



Premium disc. (Apologies for it being hard to see, that was the best photo that I could get)



Complete Series boxset disc.


What do you guys think? Fake or legit? I am leaning towards it being an almost perfect fake.
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zawa113



Joined: 19 Jan 2008
Posts: 7357
PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:32 am Reply with quote
Someone has taken pictures and put them up on Amazon (seen here)
I do find it rather strange that your discs are in a clear case while the pics on amazon are in black cases. I'm not sure if Media Blasters did a second print run on that series where they might've changed it. I will say that some of their packaging case choices are downright terrible, they don't pick the best cases (case in point, Night Head Genesis has the worst 5 disc case holder ever, and I know it's legit, I got that set on TRSI)

It wouldn't be the first near identical bootleg out there, it took me quite a while to track down a legit copy of Orguss 02 (it doesn't help that the bootleg copy pasted the back blurb which includes something like "from Manga Entertainment comes..." on it). It also didn't help that there's not too many Orguss 02 discs out there to begin with, I saw more bootlegs than leg its in my search by far.

I'm still not 100% sure on yours, but now I'm curious. Could you take more pictures? That may help. I don't think the back of the disc code is enough because it looks like they redid the disc designs and logo anyway and might've added new previews, thus changing the contents of the disc and the need to change the disc lettering on the back inner circle. What do the front and back of each individual set look like? And what does the bottom of the set look like (where it says info like language and subtitles)?
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Rukiia



Joined: 30 Aug 2010
Posts: 1897
Location: British Columbia, Canada
PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 3:40 am Reply with quote
Certainly. Here are more pictures.

Also, after I unwrapped the boxset the top corner of it got damaged after I pressed on it slightly. The holding box is pretty flimsy too. Confused













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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23669
PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 5:57 am Reply with quote
One thing I would say is that that Rurouri Kenshin bootleg is better than most. Most bootlegs you can tell a mile away. That one actually requires a bit of looking. Good to warn people, though.
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lem



Joined: 29 Sep 2007
Posts: 734
Location: Land of trying to figure sht out
PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 7:07 am Reply with quote
Rukiia wrote:
...What do you guys think? Fake or legit? I am leaning towards it being an almost perfect fake.

Good 'ol resellers. I just love 'em.

I never bought that particular "complete" set. I knew of it's existence and thought about it, but I had already owned the show (I have the 3 individual dvd sets).

If the info below matches what you purchased then I'd be inclined to say that you have one of the official R1 releases. The disc art also matches the ones I have.

When comparing it to the Amazon pics though it does appear that the seller put yours in different cases? I'm sure other owners of this "complete" set can tell us otherwise...

ANN Encyclopedia wrote:

Encyclopedia information about Rurouni Kenshin (TV)


Title: Rurouni Kenshin - The Complete TV Series
Volume: DVD
Running time: 2375
Distributor: AnimeWorks
Release date: 2010-04-27
Suggested retail price: $159.99
Age rating: 13+
SKU: AWDVD-0928
UPC: 631595092875

Description:
The Meiji Era was one of great renewal for Japan, when swords and killing were outlawed. However, many survivors from the time of Revolution still live, lurking in the shadows and waiting for a chance to use their killing blades again. Only the legendary swordsman Kenshin Himura hopes to keep his swordsman's honor and still live in the new era.

Contains episodes 1-95.

(added on 2010-06-11, modified on 2010-06-11)
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Leland Lee



Joined: 25 Jul 2014
Posts: 208
PostPosted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 12:56 am Reply with quote
Hate to necro-post, but I actually just got that Kenshin set myself in today, and honestly....I'm really on the fence with this being a bootleg. :/

Yeah, you got the shoddy packaging and slight release inconsistencies... But it's not like Media Blasters has never ever ever ever ever had that problem with cheap reprints before. Rolling Eyes

The thing that convinces me though is when I actually pop the discs in my PC, it checks out. For comparison, I had an OOOOOLD ASS single volume I bought at Gamestop during the Triassic Period, and it just checks out. The encoding, file size, everything - even the DVD menu when decompiled is point for point (even with "perfect" bootlegs, menus are always re-compressed to preserve video quality of the actual show).

The ultimate test though? Bootlegs are always region-free, no matter what it says on the actual box. So for the hell of it, I popped one of them into my Japanese PS2, and nada - no dice.

Sooo...I'm inclined to think that this IS a legit re-print that...I dunno, just magically showed up on Amazon and eBay (Xenoblade, wink wink). If it IS a bootleg, then holy shit, this is the best I've ever seen - to the point where I wouldn't even care if it is. I got exactly what I wanted, and nothing less. :3
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potatochobit



Joined: 26 Aug 2009
Posts: 1373
Location: TEXAS
PostPosted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 10:23 pm Reply with quote
this figure was released about a week ago and I paid like 90$ MSRP for it
and it is already flooded on ebay with counterfeits

this is just getting ridiculous

To Love-Ru Darkness - Mikan Yuuki 1/7 Complete Figure
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Felis



Joined: 01 Dec 2012
Posts: 80
PostPosted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 1:50 pm Reply with quote
How to spot a legit looking Madoka Magica Blu Ray bootleg

I just saw this over at Reddit and thought I would re-post it here. At a quick glance on eBay, I couldn't spot any of these bootlegs but apparently they are out there.
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One-Eye



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Posts: 2260
PostPosted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 2:36 pm Reply with quote
Felis wrote:
How to spot a legit looking Madoka Magica Blu Ray bootleg

I just saw this over at Reddit and thought I would re-post it here. At a quick glance on eBay, I couldn't spot any of these bootlegs but apparently they are out there.

Yep seen those and others. Not only is the price usually a give away, but often you will see that the sellers have sold several dozen copies before. An individual who needs cash quick and knocks off $20 off their personal copy is usually only going to have 1 copy (some collectors might have 2), but who sells dozens of copies at less than 1/2 price? Did they find this golden treasure in a sunken galley off Key West? I think not. You will even see in some of the feedback stuff like "its a bootleg, but its a good bootleg", lol.

The OOP stuff is sometimes more enticing. I remember there used to be a whole bunch of Gunbuster bootlegs on ebay at one point. However, if they weren't using a stock photo you could usually spot some missing labels and again if the price seems too good to be true then it probably isn't legit.

Not a fan of AoA, but I hope people will try to support legit releases.
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Sohma_Curse



Joined: 07 Dec 2012
Posts: 512
Location: New York
PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 1:46 am Reply with quote
On eBay, nickjr.123 has multiple copies of the Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum Collection brand new and sealed for $79.98. He's got a bunch of bootleg titles among his other items for sale (including the aforementioned Rurouni Kenshin bootleg), but I've NEVER seen or even heard of this set being bootlegged. It looks exactly like the platinum set I have; although, he could just simply have pictures of one real one while actually selling poorer-quality bootleg versions.

Considering this set regularly sells for $100+ used (and $200+ new), something doesn't seem right. Anyone able to comment on whether or not this set is known to be faked?
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Felis



Joined: 01 Dec 2012
Posts: 80
PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 8:52 am Reply with quote
Sohma_Curse wrote:
On eBay, nickjr.123 has multiple copies of the Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum Collection brand new and sealed for $79.98.

Considering this set regularly sells for $100+ used (and $200+ new), something doesn't seem right. Anyone able to comment on whether or not this set is known to be faked?

I found this on Reddit that talks about Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum Collection bootlegs:

Quote:
The Platinum Collection that I linked from on eBay is a bootleg that is made to looks like a copy of the legitimate Platinum Collection Box Set. The real set has black cases while this bootleg has clear cases. Also the typeface for the logo is a bit too thick.

There is nothing we can do now. It has been quite awhile so that now many of these bootlegs are in circulation. The bootlegs also seem to be produced in a high quantity so even if we stop these sellers it won't get rid of the bootleg copies. All we can do now is inspect future copies that we buy and hope they are not bootlegged (but seeing the quality of these bootlegs I wouldn't be surprised if the creator would correct the obvious errors).
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Kruszer



Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 7981
Location: Minnesota, USA
PostPosted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 10:31 pm Reply with quote
So I'm wondering if this is a bootleg or not.

http://www.amazon.com/Teacher-Onizuka-Japanese-English-Complete/dp/B009L68IPS/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1429413579&sr=1-3&keywords=GTO

If it's an official release I'm getting it, but my instincts scream bootleg. Honestly still might go for it even if it is.
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Zalis116
Moderator


Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 6864
Location: Kazune City
PostPosted: Sun Apr 19, 2015 4:24 am Reply with quote
Kruszer wrote:
So I'm wondering if this is a bootleg or not.

http://www.amazon.com/Teacher-Onizuka-Japanese-English-Complete/dp/B009L68IPS/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1429413579&sr=1-3&keywords=GTO

If it's an official release I'm getting it, but my instincts scream bootleg. Honestly still might go for it even if it is.
Between the All Regions code and Justin's statements about the difficulty of licensing J-Dramas, I'd go with bootleg.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 8360
Location: IL
PostPosted: Sun Apr 19, 2015 7:50 am Reply with quote
Given that this is 99.9% the exact same release as this then this looks like yet another Malaysian produced bootleg that will claim authenticity but has zero legal rights or standing to be sold, so yeah, it's a boot.
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