Premium DNA

[fac]

The IP owner is the one who would lead any investigation or legal stuff I think - they have a lot more to lose in terms of copyright if they didn't attempt to pursue unauthorized release of their IP.

In this case it isn't the typical bootlegging as what was being sold is fully packaged. For most bootlegged figures it seems clear that someone turned on the factory line for a bit extra outside the order (either seeing it was an aftermarket hit and getting the molds out or simply overproduced from the get go until they ran out of the raw materials/paints being used) - and selling that figure loose (rarely full packaging). As long as that represents a fraction of legal production and it is done after the main product has been in stores for awhile, I suspect the companies turn a bit of a blind eye if 100 or so figures make it to eBay this way.

 

[Damien]

The IP owner is the one who would lead any investigation or legal stuff I think - they have a lot more to lose in terms of copyright if they didn't attempt to pursue unauthorized release of their IP.

Absolutely. In this case it makes sense for it to be a joint venture because the IP was being infringed, but that infringement included unauthorized distribution of the licensee's physical product. Although the idea that PDNA could afford to pursue that anywhere NEAR the level of someone like Interplay is silly.

In this case it isn't the typical bootlegging as what was being sold is fully packaged. For most bootlegged figures it seems clear that someone turned on the factory line for a bit extra outside the order (either seeing it was an aftermarket hit and getting the molds out or simply overproduced from the get go until they ran out of the raw materials/paints being used) - and selling that figure loose (rarely full packaging). As long as that represents a fraction of legal production and it is done after the main product has been in stores for awhile, I suspect the companies turn a bit of a blind eye if 100 or so figures make it to eBay this way.

I -think- in most bootlegging examples, it's not even the original factory. It's usually (from what I understand) a totally different factory that gets hold of the production samples or even the finished retail releases, and just copies them. That's why bootlegs so often look and feel like bootlegs. They're not, in any way, the official product. If it's the main factory doing it, it's less a bootleg and more an 'unauthorized production' (I think that's the term, I may be mistaken).

But yeah, it's just not something that's easy to deal with and that's why it keeps happening. If a company could just step in and stop it, we wouldn't be able to reliably buy Dragonball Z bootleg and unofficial merch constantly. There's two or three companies where that's basically all they produce and no one has been able to actually stop them.

 

[fac]

I -think- in most bootlegging examples, it's not even the original factory. It's usually (from what I understand) a totally different factory that gets hold of the production samples or even the finished retail releases, and just copies them.

Interesting, I assumed they had access to the mold and the specs to make the figure, not copied/reverse engineered it. This depends a bit on the bootleg, I am not talking about the instances where they took figure X and used it to make knockoff figure Y, but as an example when you could get ToyBiz Dragon Man on eBay loose for a few years in what I thought was likely using the same molds and paint masks and so on (although I never actually saw one in hand, so maybe it was rougher and more obviously a bootleg).

So yeah, unauthorized production is more what I meant, kind of like a few items falling off the truck...

 

[Damien]

Interesting, I assumed they had access to the mold and the specs to make the figure, not copied/reverse engineered it. This depends a bit on the bootleg, I am not talking about the instances where they took figure X and used it to make knockoff figure Y, but as an example when you could get ToyBiz Dragon Man on eBay loose for a few years in what I thought was likely using the same molds and paint masks and so on (although I never actually saw one in hand, so maybe it was rougher and more obviously a bootleg).

So yeah, unauthorized production is more what I meant, kind of like a few items falling off the truck...

Yeah like, just for example, there were bootlegs of the Vitruvian HACKS blanks. But they were notably rougher-looking and the tolerances weren't quite right for the joints and stuff. Those were 100% bootleg; just fairly advanced methods of copying an existing product and reproducing it to sell on your own. There's some Chinese building block brands that bootleg LEGO sets, as well; the parts are all copied from LEGO parts, but aren't made by the same factories and therefore don't have the same precise tolerances or plastic quality.

Then you've got stuff like Dragon Man or Earthworm Jim that are almost definitely (or in Jim's case - confirmed definitely) made by the factory producing the official product, but were released outside official channels. That does happen a lot too.


There's also, from what I understand, some cross-over here of the 'official factory' making sub-standard versions of a product that wouldn't pass QC with the license holder, but get released locally for whatever reason. I think a lot of bootleg NECA product is of this type. Like back when you could get all the bootleg Predator figures but the joints were all loose and they felt cheap - but the paint masks and details were all totally correct.

It's a whole different world over there in China. But clearly it's never a big enough issue, as you said. Most of these companies just can't be bothered to spend tens of thousands of dollars, or more, pursuing claims against a factory that sold 200 fake LEGO sets.

 

[fac]

I really can't blame them. The workers in those factories probably don't make enough to cover the retail price of a single Marvel Legend in a day. If 10 people staying an extra hour, or during some down time, work together to make an extra 100 units from excess materials that could clear $1,000 or more on the open market, that is like a bonus of a weeks paycheck for everyone.

 

[Damien]

I really can't blame them. The workers in those factories probably don't make enough to cover the retail price of a single Marvel Legend in a day. If 10 people staying an extra hour, or during some down time, work together to make an extra 100 units from excess materials that could clear $1,000 or more on the open market, that is like a bonus of a weeks paycheck for everyone.

I think it's mostly the people running the factory that are skimming the money off those extra sales and the workers are just getting paid what they would normally be paid to be at work. It's more like.. produce stuff for NECA Mon-Thur and then produce a batch to sell on the side on Friday. The workers are still only getting paid to be at work Mon-Fri either way.

 

[fac]

I think it's mostly the people running the factory that are skimming the money off those extra sales and the workers are just getting paid what they would normally be paid to be at work.

Just let me have my slightly more optimistic view that the workers benefit, even if they probably don't...

 

[Damien]

If it makes you feel better, part of the reason pricing has increased steadily over the years despite higher levels of factory efficiency and sometimes lower raw material pricing is that Chinese factory workers, generally, make a lot more and are treated a lot better than used to be the case. It's not quite the sweatshop-pay-is-a-bowl-of-rice conditions some people still make accusations about.

 

[supreme_d]

Are the Earthworm Jim figures from Chinese sellers the same quality as other sites? I forgot about this line, but saw several people have them on Alieexpress and considered pulling the trigger.

 

[Damien]

Are the Earthworm Jim figures from Chinese sellers the same quality as other sites? I forgot about this line, but saw several people have them on Alieexpress and considered pulling the trigger.

From what I understand - yes. There's no notable quality difference between the basic EJ and the exclusive EJ/other EJ characters.