recaster conterfeit

[Graham]

Bottom line is that recasters are thieves, criminals. People who buy what are obviously recasts are guilty of handling stolen goods, a criminal offence in the UK and many other countries.

Sadly, go round any market in the UK and you will see many stalls selling bootleg CDs, Perfume, DVDs and electrical goods. It is becoming part of accepted culture in this country. I was at a ‘Bank Holiday’ market recently and saw police escorting trading standards officers around the site so I followed them around for a while. I didn’t see them check out any of the stalls that were obviously selling bootleg goods. In fact one ‘trader’ (thief) even shouted a cheery good morning to them with a big grin on his face.

 

[Red Five]

I quit the business some 20 years ago because of recasters. I plan to start sculpting again with a vengeance and I must admit I’m not sure which way to go with sales!

Andrew.

 

[OldTaff]

Sounds good, Andrew......might I suggest perhaps considering numbered figures against subscribers, so they are identifiable ? Or maybe adding some subtle item or marking to your sculpts.
I'd really like to see a 75mm Roman with correct gear for the period stated from a chap who knows his stuff

Alan

 

[Viking Bob]

Some one on the Military Modelling site is in the process of painting a recast bust, he even admitted that he got it from China and it was cheap. How blatant can you get

 

[Red Five]

Thanks Alan.

Your more likely to see a 200mm Amy Johnson prior to her Australian flight in Jason and 12 inch marine mammals cast in bronze and resin.

Andrew.

 

[theBaron]

I see many of the Red Chinese pirates noting right in their descriptions that any given piece is a recast. For example, I'll see an auction for a 1/20 figure made by Brickworks, originally. The seller uses the original box art, along with a photo of the piece. I open the auction listing and read the description, and I see in plain text, "Recast". I like to report those.

And I've seen other auctions for similar pieces, again, using original box art, as well as photos of the item, which aren't listed as recasts. I'll send the seller a message to ask if the piece is original or recast. I'll get a reply to confirm that it's a recast. I report those, too.

But it's like Canute's ministers, beating back the tide.

Prost!
Brad

 

[theBaron]

Also, about a year ago or so, I noticed a trend among these pirates of 1/20 MaK figures and other genres, to set prices for their auctions similar to the retail price for the real thing. Again using Brickworks figures as an example, the genuine ones retail around $30 to $40 or so. The pirate figures used to be much cheaper, a quarter of the retail price, on average. I see pirate copies now going for $40 or more. I guess they think that the uneducated buyer will think the piece is legitimate and won't look any closer.

Prost!
Brad

 

[pinkfloyd]

Hi Ian, sorry for my delay! These re-casters got my figure kits from HOBBY EASY in Hong Kong, they use these kits for masters, I stopped offer my kits to HOBBY EASY just few month ago. And I only sell from my website and eBay ID: jeffshiu, no others.

 

[Woods457]

Thanks for the confirmation Jeff...

Most of the kits they list are quite expensive so for them to offer such a variety for sale they have either invested heavily in purchasing originals which leads me to think they are more than a "One man Band" or they have access to these kits through a supplier such as Hobby Easy and are borrowing and casting them like a small "Cottage Industry".

I still believe the only way large scale recasting can only be stopped or hindered is if you manufacturers and retailers work together and share sales data, so by Jeff sharing this information with us all you guys now know to be aware if/when dealing with this retailer!!!

@Jeff
Please excuse my ignorance but living in Hong Kong can you not take legal action against this recaster easier than say somebody living in a foreign country or are the
authorities over there not bothered about copyright laws what so ever??

Regards Ian

 

[Monsoon]

@Jeff
Please excuse my ignorance but living in Hong Kong can you not take legal action against this recaster easier than say somebody living in a foreign country or are the authorities over there not bothered about copyright laws what so ever??

That's what I was curious about. I THINK that copyright laws are different overseas and aren't taken as serious as they are here in the US, etc.

I read an article years ago about people buying bootleg computer programs like Windows and whatnot in India. The guy selling them sold safe copies to locals, but ones with viruses to Westerns since they knew they were buying something that was bootlegged and knew it was against the law but did it anyways.

 

[Tony Dawe]

One solution, albeit regressive, would be to have customers register with genuine sculptors and resellers as "confirmed" prior to selling figures to them. Each figure would then be sold to a genuine hobbyist rather than a known recaster.

Sounds simple, but it would be a nightmare to enforce and a pain in the arse to administer.

Recasting is a reality. We can't prevent it from happening, and so long as people buy recast figures and busts the practice is sure to continue.

I can assure you all that this is not a "cottage industry" in China. This is big business and the thieves who are making the real money by stealing artists work don't give a damn about the artist, the future of the hobby or the impact recasting is having on sales for legitimate resellers. He's not going to stop while he can make easy money stealing from others.

Sorry to sound so pessimistic folks, but getting angry isn't going to help.

The only real power we have is to not purchase recast figures and Busts. That will make us feel better, but it won't stop the millions of other Figure purchases who aren't on Planet Figure from purchasing their figures and busts from recasters.