Okay, thanks for the tip!

Jezza

Gents
First of all, thank you all for supporting legit products and Alpine figures.
As Alan kindly pointed out in his post earlier, I dealt with the eBay seller the way
it hurts him the most. Negative feedbacks!

I noticed that Chinese people are being singled out whenever counterfeit issue comes up.
Yes, there are many, MANY Chinese counterfeiters of all kinds. But I have to point out to you
that there have been and are counterfeiters from America and Europe. At the moment, a
counterfeiter from Poland is selling illegal recasts of Alpine figures on several European eBays.
As much as I would love to walk over there and rip him a new rectum, I physically can't. I'm in US.

The fact is that there are supplies and there are demands. And they coexist. There are 2 kinds
of people in this hobby: Those who try to keep the hobby clean and pure, and Those who shoot
themselves on the foot and shortsightedly support counterfeit market. Many small companies like
Alpine can not afford to sustain much damages from counterfeiters too long. Many small companies
have come and gone as you all know. (I'm sure there are innocent modelers who have been victimized
by counterfeiters)

I realize that there's no way to stop certain people from doing certain things.
If you have been buying illegal recasts on a regular base and feel smart to save a few $, that's fine.
I'm sure you would feel like a winner with those extra bucks in your pocket. Meanwhile, the rest of the
hobby community will move on. Move onto bigger and better things while you sit around and wait for
some sorry individuals to squeeze out illegal recasts.

On a final note, the financial loss coming from counterfeiters is calculated into MSRPs. And guess
who pays for it?!

Ahhhh.... it feels good to get it off my chest...

This is the cold hard truth. Short term gain for long term pain? No thanks.

Touché Taesung, Touché! Hopefully, these kinds of posts will alert the regular buyer to "be aware." It's probably the biggest thing that can be done - communication.

There are two or three specific figures I'm looking for...predominantly on eBay as a source. If they are complete with package and (as mentioned) acknowledged as a specific brand, then kool. If not? Next! I can wait for a proper figgy.

Mike