So for a long time in the community, recasts have existed. What are they though and how do you avoid them?
Re… casts? What’s that?
A recaster will buy kits from events or online marketplaces (Or steal from each other!) and cast them to make copies, sold without permission nor credit to the original artist. There’s also various downsides to working with them as well. Casts can become smaller as they are cast multiple times as well as lesser materials being used causing clear resin, for example, to turn yellow much faster than higher quality materials.
A size difference comparison can be found on PyramidCat’s blog. They also outline some knowledge regarding older releases of kits.
Okay to start off… I thought Japanese sites were safe!?
These are sold by a few sellers, either knowingly or not.
The ones knowingly selling recasts have several points that are common so use these as a guide:
- Codes in the item’s name (W_XXXX for example)
- Uniform boxes (Examples provided below)
- Carefully laid out parts pictures
- A lack of original documentation or documentation containing watermarks that does not match the theme of the product
- “Overseas Product” translations in the description
- Prices too good to be true
Okay… So can you give me some examples?
The following are taken from 2 Auctions I looked up using the ガレージキットkeyword on Yahoo! Auction. I haven’t listed the seller’s names as they tend to change frequently and I will be unable to keep up with these so please use these examples as a guide.
This auction was for Mayano Top Gun from Uma Musume. Sculpted by the circle “セラタイ堂” (info from MFC) Observe the listing uses the sculptor’s images and no packaging images are shown. The price is also very cheap. The kit itself was priced at ¥12,000 from the original event!
If one scrolls one image to the left…
This image almost always indicates a bootleg. The layout is clean and numbered by a recaster. As most people selling their kits are selling them second hand, they do not usually go to this effort.
・ Since it is shipped overseas, it usually takes [20-40 days] from the shipping notification to the arrival of the item.
Please note that.
・ In rare cases, transportation may be delayed due to strengthened inspections at customs clearance and the recent increase in logistics. (If more than 75 days have passed, we will refund the money by bank transfer.)”
Translation via Google Translate
The above mentions that this is an overseas product so cannot be trusted.
My next example is of this Summer BB sculpted by the circle Primal Heart (info from MFC)
The parts images are a lot less “high quality” than the previous example however they are still laid out neatly and no original kit packaging can be seen in the listing
[Specifications] Garage kit unpainted and unassembled
[Material] Resin
[Size] 1/6
【scale】
[Made overseas]
[Accessories] Eye decal”
Translation via Google Translate
This example from the description mentions both that it is “Made overseas” and the shipping fee will be a whopping ¥3000. This is another risk that recast kits can pose as since they are shipping from countries like China, you will foot the extra shipping.
So it’s just Yahoo Auctions right? I’ll just avoid them and go to Mandarake/Surugaya etc!
Not quite… Since these are second hand goods and such a niche hobby, recasts can fall through the cracks in various stores… It is rare however.
One example I can give was an issue with Surugaya my friend Zonnia had. He spent 25,000 yen on a Mysterious Heroine XX kit from FGO and received a recast from a Chinese factory. The listing on Surugaya did not contain any images and he believed that Surugaya hired staff knowledgeable in the topic.
To reiterate though, this is very rare and I have personally only seen 2 or so listings for recasts on Surugaya and Mandarake over the past 5ish years of collecting.
Hang on… How do I buy my kits second hand then??
Some tips I can provide are as follows:
- If you’re unsure of the kit’s original packaging, look up twitter, previously sold listings on Auction, Surugaya, MyFigureCollection… (I’ll provide some images of what kit packaging can look like later in this post)
- MyFigureCollection has loads of resources on finding out how to type names of characters and circles in Japanese. Some people even post loot photos!
- Ensure that photos of the actual item are available to see and not just images of the kit provided by the sculptor.
- Ensure that the item is not an “Overseas product” in the description
- Avoiding shops such as e2046 and GK-Model and being wary on marketplaces (I’ll explain these in the next part…)
So what should I visually look out for?
GK-Model and e2046 are the most common names you will hear in the English speaking communities around Reddit, Youtube, Discord etc. People also, knowingly or unknowingly, sell them on Japanese second hand sites too. They’re the most common that you’ll see people selling second hand in English speaking spaces.
e2046 aggressively markets to an English audience so even searching the terms “Garage Kit” will bring them up at the top result on Google making beginners believe they are picking up a legit kit. They do have their own “Ori” line which are original sculpts by the company however the money still goes to them in the end so whether you support them or not is up to you.
GK-Model are advertised less, however are hugely used as an alternative.
The CarToy PolyLee (red box) was gifted to me and I’m assuming they are a shop on Taobao? I haven’t heard anyone speaking about them in English spaces…
Okay so… what does an original kit look like?
As there are many many circles who create kits, there are also as many types of packaging. here’s a small sample of kits I own… They can come in boxes, and bags and have images or none. Kits obtained from various festivals usually contain a sticker stating which event they came from.
Two of the main events that kits are sold at are Wonder Festival and Treasure Festa. These events require sellers to place stickers on the kits that are being sold.
These are examples of the stickers with Wonder Festival (WF) on the left and Tresure Festa (TF) on the right. The colour and design of the WF sticker changes with each event while the TF one is the same through both the in person event and Online event (TFO).
In addition, various companies also add their own stickers to the mix. Type Moon, Kodansha and Kadokawa are a couple of notable ones.
With mail order becoming a more common way of distributing kits, stickers are less common. However most licensed characters will contain some sort of sticker or copyright engraved onto the kit itself.
In conclusion, hunting down your grail of a kit will be tough but super rewarding in the end. With mail order/online sales becoming more accessible, it’s honestly the best way to both support the artist with your own cash (Rather than buying second hand which may be super overpriced depending on what you’re looking for!) and get something fun to work on. The majority of my collection was found on second hand sites however I am moving more towards direct sales.
For links to mail order sites, I can recommend this guide by my friend Muntoe over at Plum Workshop! She has put in a ton of effort to hunt down many sites and stores of sculptors! Linkie (She also has a fabulous guide to how to begin the hobby too!) There’s also my guide for how to access the online event, Treasure Festa Online which can be found here!
