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Armor/AFV
For discussions on tanks, artillery, jeeps, etc.
YU FAN AT IT AGAIN AND PROBABLY WILL NOT STOP
Trisaw
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California, United States
Joined: December 24, 2002
KitMaker: 4,105 posts
Armorama: 2,492 posts
Posted: Sunday, January 12, 2020 - 04:53 PM UTC
Yes, the wrinkle folds similarity is uncanny---it does appear to be a close copy of the Legend figure.

The Chinese have been copying kits for decades. A recall a store owner who used to fly to Japan's WonderFest Convention and buy original resin Garage Kits sold ONLY at WonderFest and not online. One has to be at WonderFest, stand in line, and pay cash for the kits. Miss the chance of attending that weekend in Tokyo and one could only hope to find it at a Japanese auction such as Yahoo Japan.

Anyway, he told me that he stopped flying over to WonderFest, Tokyo, because it wasn't worth his while. He said that the Chinese Recasters showed up in line with fistfuls of cash (back in the 1990s) and bought as many original Garage Kits (GKs) as possible to recast and sell cheaply. Some of these original GKs were never sold at official online stores like HobbyLink Japan; the Chinese Recasters hoarded them and either recast them or didn't, meaning that the world never even knew that these kits existed outside of web photos (back in the 1990s)! That means that there are resin Garage Kits from WonderFest made and exist but cannot be bought because they were all purchased by a recaster that the sculptor unwittingly sold to (money talks).

The hoarding for original kits for recasting trend continues and some Japanese GK makers will NOT sell and ship to China at all. There are loopholes around that, obviously, such as ship to a friend outside of China and that friend ships to China.

I have noticed that resin figures are the most copied. Mechs, AFVs, guns, wargaming, cars and trucks, and conversions don't seem to be as recasted as figures (I could be wrong). EBay seems rife with recast kits and the best way to tell is the Country of Origin: "China," MPN #: "Does not apply" and Brand: "Unbranded." These answers mean that the kit is a recast as it has no Kit Number, brand name, and lacks any form of serial identification from the original manufacturer.
Removed by original poster on 01/19/20 - 01:17:22 (GMT).
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