Legitimate or Illegitimate: The Differences You Need To Know

As the popularity of anime grows worldwide, as well does the amount of illegitimate products being sold as official to its fans. Many articles of bootleg have gone under the radar due to their similarities to official products. Generally, bootleg will be of a poorer quality although sold at a lower price. This for many anime fans is a happy compromise. However being tricked into buying a bootleg product is never enjoyable. This brief guide is intended to inform our patrons how to safely shop for DVDs and Anime Figurines. As a buyer, you should know what to look for in order to establish the validity of a DVD and Anime Figurine. The easiest way to know if what you’re buying is legitimate is to research the product before you buy it. Simply, if you know what the product looks like you’re less likely to get tricked into buying an illegitimate version. With this aside there are some telltale signs that will assist you in differentiating between a bootleg and legitimate product.

The following short guide is intended to demonstrate these differences visually, take your time reading the following information and looking at the pictures closely in order to train yourself to ascertain the differences between legitimate products and illegitimate products on the spot!

DVDS: How To Spot A Bootleg!

First let’s look at some telltale differences between legitimate DVDs and bootleg DVDs. Generally a bootleg DVD is really easy to differentiate from a legitimate, keep in mind the following information in order to ensure your purchase of a legitimate product.

Print Quality - Starburst or rainbow pattern on the DVD cover is usually an immediate and easy visual tell of a bootleg. Low quality illustrational prints rarely match the real factory-made prints. As so if the image on the DVD cover seems dull and poorly detailed it is more than likely a bootleg.

Cover Art – Whether white, blue, yellow, or any colour of the rainbow, endorsements/branding of logos such as DTS, Digital Sound bar, on the top of the front cover are for the most part illegitimate. Some non-bootleg releases do have this bar; however, publishers such as Disney DVD's will not have this. Also, if the cover artwork and the disc match each other exactly, there is a good chance that the item is a bootleg. Some legitimate titles will copy the cover artwork, but there are generally still differences between the two.

Region Coding - If the DVD lists “Region 0” or “All Regions” (also known as Region-Free) then be extremely careful, as you may be about to purchase a bootleg DVD. Less than one percent of legitimate DVDs have no region coding.

Chinese Subtitles - If an anime title has Chinese subtitles as well as English subtitles then it's a bootleg. No domestic US anime DVD has Chinese subtitles. Only anime DVDs originating from Hong Kong have Chinese subtitles and these are 100% bootleg. It is also worth noting that the subtitle translations found on these DVDs are simply awful and make little sense.

Packaging - If the anime comes in a foldout style case then there is a high chance it is a bootleg. It is very rare that official US DVDs use this style of packaging. See the following picture for an example of this:

Notice how the box-set folds out, very few legitimate products use this format.

Number of DVDs - Most, if not all, bootlegs will manage to squeeze a whole season's worth of episodes (12-26) onto 3 DVDs, thus causing the video quality to suffer. All US companies produce anime series on 6-8 DVDs to maintain the highest quality. See the following picture for an example of this:

No single legitimate DVD product will contain 23 episodes plus the end movie on a few discs. This is an example of an obvious DVD bootleg.

As can be seen much of the features of bootleg will be most noticeable if you are familiar with the product you are buying. Although it may seem like a slight inconvenience, try to remember to always research your products in order to ensure that you don’t get suckered into buying low quality bootleg merchandise. If this is not a viable option to you at least make sure to watch out for the obvious tell tale signs such as Chinese subtitles, box style, and amount of episodes per disc. Make sure to keep these differences in mind when shopping for anime DVDs.

Anime Figurines: How To Spot A Bootleg!

Now let’s take some time and look at some tell tale differentiations between legitimate resin figurines and bootleg resin figurines. The differences individually seem much more subtle, however if you look at a ‘questionable’ resin figure with all the following points in mind you will be much less likely to purchase a bootleg product accidently.

Packaging Difference – Know the look of the original package. Many times, a flashy graphic of the character/model on the box is all most potential victims will look at before whipping out their wallet. Examples of packaging differences follow:

· Details on the packaging such as crosshatching, and brand name printing will appear much clearer and well defined on the original box.

· The bootleg’s ‘Insert Color’ may be different from the legitimate version, for example sometimes the colors of the packaging are reversed.

· There may be spelling mistakes on the bootleg package as well; it is very rare that any legitimate product will have spelling mistakes on the package.

· Generally the genuine box art will have much more detail than the bootleg box art.

See the following pictures for examples of these differences; note the images on the left are legitimate whereas the images on the right are bootleg:

Notice the finer lines and details on the box of the legitimate product.

The official product has much clearer background detail.

The bootleg product box has a different color pattern than the legitimate version.

The legitimate box art has much more detail, whereas the bootleg box art presents itself with a more simplistic yet blatant image.

Orientation of Accessories – There are many differences between orientation of accessories between legitimate and illegitimate products. For example:

· Often the hair orientation of the character depicted will differ in comparison to the legitimate product.

· Often subtle details, such as stickers, will be reused on illegitimate products rather than appear as diverse as seen on legitimate products.

See the following pictures for examples of these differences; note the images on the left are legitimate whereas the images on the right are bootleg:

Notice how the bootleg orients the hair differently.

The bootleg reuses the same pattern, when in reality it is suppose to differ.

Different Accessories – If you have knowledge of the product you are buying it is also very easy to discern the legitimate product from the bootleg product when looking at accessories. For example:

· Normally translucent pieces become non-translucent, or vice versa. Slight differences such as these are very evident if you know what you are buying.

· Bootleg makers often (but not always) package together figures, outfits, and accessories from different packs. Once again if you know what you are buying it will be easy to discern the differences in this case.

· Often certain accessories and details will simply be missing from the bootleg version.

See the following pictures for examples of these differences; note the images on the left are legitimate whereas the images on the right are bootleg:

The bootleg item is sold with accessories from other product-lines, as well it lacks the official secondary costume of the legitimate version.

In the legitimate product the accessory is translucent.

The bootleg product is lacking the details and accessories of the legitimate product. As well the plastic can be seen to be of poorer quality.

Manufacturer Sticker – Genuine items usually have laser stickers on the box. These stickers are located in different places dependant on the product. Be sure to check your items for authentic laser stickers.

See the following pictures for examples of these differences; note the images on the left are legitimate whereas the images on the right are bootleg:

Notice the lack of laser sticker on the bootleg box.

Once again this bootleg product lacks a laser sticker.

Once again the legitimate product has a laser sticker, whereas the bootleg does not.

Quality of Detail – There are subtle details that can be noticed without knowledge of the legitimate product. These noticeable details come about from cheaper materials and methods being used to make the bootleg figurine. For example:

· Often you will find that cheaper plastic is used in bootleg products. This results in the bootleg appearing to have a sheen to it.

· Commonly cheaper inks are used. For example if a character has brown eyebrows the bootleg will display them in black instead. Keep your eye open for black highlights.

· Often the cheaper materials that are used for the body will affect the texture of the product, making it appear more granular, greasy, and/or rough.

See the following pictures for examples of these differences; note the images on the left are legitimate whereas the images on the right are bootleg:

Cheaper plastic creates an artificial sheen on the bootleg version. As well black ink is used for details on the bootleg version.

Cheaper material makes the bootleg texture appear ‘greasy’. Also notice the missing subtle detail on the bag being carried.

Amount of Detail – There are also various subtle details that will only be noticeable if you are familiar with the product. To easily find these details know what you are buying by doing research before your purchase. Some examples of these details follow:

· Many times the bootleg product’s skin colour will be different in comparison to the legitimate product.

· Bootleg resin figures often present the eyes differently. It is often the case that the colouring and shape will be different from the real product.

· Small details, such as a ‘weathered effect’ on certain pieces, will be commonly absent on the bootleg product.

· Items that are usually made up of different separate parts will often appear fused together on bootleg products.

· Often bootleg figurines will appear smaller than the legitimate version, this is as the cheaper plastic has a tendency to shrink.

See the following pictures for examples of these differences; note the images on the left are legitimate whereas the images on the right are bootleg:

The legitimate version actually separates the hair on the product, whereas the bootleg fails to do so. Also notice the colouring of the hair.

Notice how the bootleg item lacks the subtle detail of the legs being separate from the chair base.

In this image the bootleg item lacks the detailed ‘weathered effect’ on the legitimate version.

Notice how the eyes on the bootleg are very poorly done in comparison to the authentic version, as well the cheap plastic sheen is noticeably present.

In this image the bootleg can be seen to be misrepresenting the true skin colour of the legitimate product.

As can be seen in the previous examples, discerning if a resin figure is legit can be somewhat difficult. In order to ensure the product you are buying is legitimate it is best to make sure to do a Google search on your item before you get it. If you know the details of the item you are going to buy it is much less likely you will accidently buy a bootleg product. As well there are certain noticeable features that you will become more aware of over time that will help you discern differences on the spot (such as the quality of plastic). Remember to always keep these differences in mind when shopping for anime related products!

Spot the Bootleg!

In the following section there are a few images contrasting legitimate and bootleg resin figures and some other images showcasing legitimate and bootleg DVDs, using the knowledge you have gained from the previous sections see if you can spot the bootleg (answers can be found at the bottom of the page)!

Yuna from ‘Final Fantasy X-2’

Haruhi from 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya'

Samurai 7; Complete Collection

A Character from Pinky Street

Saber from 'Fate/Stay Night'

Tales of Eternia; Complete Collection

Naruto from 'Naruto'

Pinky Street Box Art

Blue Gender; Complete Collection

Nanoka from 'Trista of the Deep Blue Sea'

Why Should I Be Concerned About What I Buy?

It may be difficult to discern why one should care about which products, be it legitimate products or bootleg products, they should purchase. ‘Why?’ many ask ‘Should I even be concerned when the differences at times can be difficult to determine!’ When making a decision when searching for different products there are certain facts that must be acknowledged before you can make a fair decision. I will touch on two of those reasons here; purchasing legitimate products is usually a choice of quality, and of identified support.

It is clear that in nearly all situations legitimate products will be of a much higher quality than bootleg products, however it should be noted that often bootleg products are generally cheaper. Whether the difference in price justifies the poorer quality is a decision that each individual must themselves make. Remember, however, not to delude yourself about the quality of the different products, although legitimate and bootleg products may seem similar visually they will always be very different in terms of quality.

As well of key importance, it should be noted that buying a legitimate product supports the company that produced it. As such if you are attached to the company that made said product, and hope to get other products from them in the future, it should be of your prerogative to buy the legitimate anime product. Very often people think of this form of reasoning as idealistic, however in reality it is simply a fact of capitalism; if you want to support the company that made your product so you can get more stuff from them down the line, buy it legitimately.

Other than the two reasons mentioned there are many other reasons individuals use in deciding what type of product to buy. Regardless of your decision make sure to always be aware of what you’re buying and why you’re buying it, always being weary of the prevalent presence of bootleg merchandise in the anime community.

Answers to the ‘Spot the Bootleg!’ Section:

Yuna from ‘Final Fantasy X-2’: The Yuna on the right hand side is the bootleg. Notice how the blue colour is darker on the bootleg, and as well mixes more with the white colour almost as if it was spray-painted on. Another key hint that the right Yuna is a bootleg can be seen in the strange and overemphasized pinkish shading around her armpits and knees.

Haruhi from ‘The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya’: This is a difficult bootleg to discern. A key in realizing that the right is the bootleg comes about from comparing sizes. Remember cheap plastic shrinks, so often the real version will be slightly taller.

Samurai 7; The Complete Collection: Although this may seem a little bit tricky to discern due to its ‘style of case’ this is a legitimate DVD box set. A strong hint that can help point you toward this conclusion is the fact that the collection is made up of 7 discs for 26 episodes.

A Character from Pinky Street: The left is the bootleg. This is a very obvious bootleg, as almost all of the tell tale signs we mentioned are present. For example the bootleg figure is shorter than the other, the colouration is way off, and the plastic can be seen to have a sheen that comes about from the cheap plastic being used.

Saber from ‘Fate/Stay Night’: The Saber on the right is the bootleg version. The telltale signs of this bootleg can be seen in the yellow colouration of the character, most noticeably in the face, around the knees, and on the feet.

Tales of Eternia; The Complete Collection: This is an example of a bootleg DVD product. Some hints that can be seen on the cover are the golden ‘DVD’ logo, the ‘2DVD’ spelling mistake, the Japanese writing on the back of the case, the presence of Chinese subtitles, and as well the fact that the entire season is contained on only 2 DVDs.

Naruto from ‘Naruto’: Although difficult to discern through the packaging, the Naruto figure on the left is bootleg. Some hints to help you come to this conclusion can be seen in the different locations of the hand (remember to research your product!), the poor colouration of the bootleg’s skin, and as well the sheen identifying that the bootleg is made of cheap plastic.

Pinky Street Box Art: The product on the right is legitimate. One of the signs that makes this easy to see is the poor inking quality and detail on the back of the bootleg copy; notice how the bootleg version is faded.

Blue Gender; The Complete Collection: This is another example of a bootleg DVD box set. The two main hints that can help you to discern this are the foldout style of packaging, and the entire series being contained on only 3 DVD discs.

Nanoka from ‘Trista of the Deep Blue Sea’: The left Nanoka is a bootleg. In this case the strange colouration of the bootleg Nanoka is key in telling the figure is a bootleg, notice the yellow tinge for example, as well details on the box appear more out of focus than on the legitimate version.

Closing Note: There are slight differences to be found within a legit product line between the same products, although these differences will be very subtle. While using this guide to determine the differences between legit and non-legit products, be careful not to be over-zealous in your classifications. Usually the differences of bootleg are obvious when you know what to look for, however if you find a product that you are having difficulty discerning is bootleg or not despite your research and knowledge it is more than likely a legit product. This guides purpose is to prevent you as a buyer from being tricked into buying something you don’t want to. Use this knowledge wisely and refrain from nitpicking every little nook and cranny of every product you find, as if you do nitpick you may go insane.