Good Smile Company warns of Bootleg Nendoroid Red

Offers visual guide to identify fakes
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  • Thursday, December 17, 2015

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This article brought to you by Bulbanews, your community Pokémon newspaper.

In response to recent sales of bootleg versions of Nendoroid Red being sold on online auction and marketplace websites, the manufacturer Good Smile Company has released a visual guide to help identify counterfeit figures. The following visual guide shows an example of one bootleg figure, however please note that this is only one possibility. Bulbanews has had confirmed reports of these bootleg figures turning up on store shelves in some countries, so you should always be on the look out for anything suspicious. Bootlegs will typically be sold for significantly lower than standard retail price, and any strangely cheap or discounted figures should be seen as highly suspect.

In all of the following images, the bootleg version of the product is shown on the left, while the official product is shown on the right.

Bootleg Vs. Official Product: Packaging

Official English Language version packaging

Bootleg versions of Nendoroid Red do not include the Good Smile Company logo in the top right hand corner on the front of the packaging. Please keep in mind that the visual guide published by Good Smile Company does not picture the official English version of the Nendoroid Red packaging, which was the version sold by the online Pokémon Center store in North America. Though there are a number of significant differences between the official Japanese and English versions, both retain the logos in the same positions.


Bootleg Vs. Official Product: Shoulder Joint

The shoulder joint peg on the official Nendoroid Red has a blue color, while the bootleg may be the same Black color as Red's sleeve.

Bootleg Vs. Official Product: Neck Joint Section

The neck joint connector on the official Nendoroid Red is a separate part, while the joint section on the bootleg is fully connected to the face parts.

Bootleg Vs. Official Product: Base and Copyright Text

The official Nendoroid Red includes the copyright message '©2014 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc.' clearly printed on the base of the figure. This copyright text is often omitted on the bootleg product.

Nendoroid Red was originally released in September 2014 as a collaboration between Good Smile Company and The Pokémon Company. The figure is currently out of print, however Nendoroid figures of Cynthia and N are currently available for purchase in North America from the official online Pokémon Center store.