PokéShiny FindsBootleg or original?
The visual guide to not buying a fake. No single tell is conclusive: it's weight of evidence. One flag = ask; three flags = walk away.
The 6 physical tells
Crisp, deep engraving: «©Nintendo · Creatures · GAME FREAK» + maker (TOMY/Bandai) + «Made in ___». On vintage Tomy the string is ©Nintendo ·C·G·T·S·J TOMY.
Missing, blurry, misspelled, wrong company, or with paint bleeding into the engraving. A recast copies the stamp of an existing figure → it loses sharpness.
Clean lines, soft gradients and shading, correct color. Eyes well aligned. Factory finish (pearl, even metallic) that reads as part of the plastic.
Paint outside the lines, crooked/crude eyes, flat with no shading, over-saturated or dull color, greasy sheen, and paint flaking at edges.
Tomy figures are 2 glued halves: the seam runs visibly along the body (typically across the belly).
Missing or very faint seam = recast (copy-of-a-copy erases it). Or an exaggerated seam with poorly trimmed flash.
Quality PVC/ABS, smooth, little odor. Weight consistent with the original.
Greasy or brittle, strong raw-PVC chemical smell, resin with bubbles, a «shrunken» piece, or a clear/shiny variant the official run never made.
Matches the entry (~5 cm on MonColle, 1/40 on Zukan, 1/20 on Scale World).
Lighter/hollow, or the recast comes out a few millimeters smaller due to shrinkage.
Beaks, claws, ears and fins sharp and well defined.
Rounded or deformed detail (a recast tell), odd proportions, or a pose that matches no documented official variant.
Tells by brand
The most faked (fakes are everywhere on eBay). Erased belly seam, soft TOMY stamp, whole colors wrong even with a stamp, brown base where it should be clear.
⚠️ «AULDEY TOMY» = licensed, NOT a bootleg (lacks the C·G·T·S·J string).
Soft matte vinyl 4-5 cm, hollow. Tells: crooked paint, shallow stamp, vinyl too hard/shiny, strong chemical smell.
Loose without a box is NOT fake — they came in a small box.
One per gashapon capsule. A cheap, brand-new «complete set» box from AliExpress = strong bootleg signal. Tells: big seams, odd support peg, missing stamp.
Made by Yujin / Takara Tomy ARTS, not Bandai.
Check the era: Jakks 2006-2013 → Jazwares 2019+. The copyright must match. Tells: loose articulation, blurry mold, misspelled stamp, packaging with no security seals.
🇨🇳 The Chinese market: original vs bootleg
Almost the entire ORIGINAL catalog (Tomy, Bandai, Hasbro, Jakks/Jazwares) is also made in China under license — the stamp says so directly ("©Nintendo ·C·G·T·S·J TOMY... Made in China"). The country of manufacture proves nothing; the license does. The right question isn't «where was it made?» but «who paid to make it?».
Unlicensed recasts sell mostly on AliExpress, Taobao, Wish and Shopee — stores listing «wholesale lots» (50-100 assorted figures) or «leaked never-released prototype». A seller whose whole storefront is «vintage» Pokémon figures at $3-8 each, all «available now», is a factory outlet, not a personal collection.
A recast doesn't copy the design: it molds silicone directly off an already-finished original figure, and that silicone shrinks as it cures (typically 1-3%). Every copy generation loses sharpness — that's why the stamp comes out «fat»/blurry and beaks/claws round off, even when the color and pose match the original exactly.
🚩 Purchase red flags
- A rare figure too cheap (check eBay «Sold Listings», not asking prices).
- Quantity >1-2 available of a vintage piece = active production = bootleg.
- Only catalog/stock photos, or the same photo across many sellers (reverse-image search).
- NO close-up of the base stamp — the #1 reason to walk away.
- «Cake topper / party favor / desk decoration» categories that dodge brand scrutiny.
- Misspelled brand («Tommy», «Pokénon»), «overseas version» (a euphemism for recast).
✅ Checklist before buying
- Reverse-image search the photos (same image across many sellers → bootleg).
- Ask for a close-up of the base stamp.
- Compare against MyFigureCollection (it flags known bootlegs in red).
- Check measurements vs the entry (recasts shrink).
- Real price via eBay Sold Listings.
- Quantity available (>1-2 on vintage = active production).
- When in doubt, ask the community (r/PokemonFigures, MFC forums).
Want the per-figure step-by-step? Each entry in the catalog includes that figure's ID guide.