Black Series Archive 6" Boba Fett vs Counterfeit Boba Fett

This one may be a little bit different, but here goes.

I recently found out through a bit of research that the 6" Boba Fett I bought a little while ago is actually a counterfeit one.  So when one of the first figures in the new Archive 6" figure range from Hasbro Black Series was Boba Fett I decided to get a genuine Boba to replace my fake one

As far as I can tell from the reviews I have seen on the Archive series Boba it is exactly the same as the original release, it just comes in the archive bubble pack rather than a box.



I don't still have the package from the counterfeit Boba, but I gather that most are identical to the Hasbro box, but with slightly softer printing on the back.  It's not as sharp as the original boxes.

So here is a side by side pic of the 2 figures.  Whenever the figures are shown together here the Hasbro is always on the left, and the counterfeit on the right.



So at first sight the most obvious differences between the 2 is the colour of the chest armour, and the colour of the cape.  The Hasbro clearly has a darker shade of green than the rest of his armour, whilst the counterfeit has nearer the same colour.  The cape on the counterfeit is only 2 colours and has a brighter red used, where the Hasbro is actually 3 colours and a more subdued red.  The Hasbro cape is also a much nicer material, and I think sits better than the other one.
There are other differences which I will point out later when I show some more details pics.
They are both the same size, have identical articulation and have the same accessories.
Here is a closer look at the Hasbro:


And a close up of the counterfeit:


So onto some more of the differences.



So in this pic we can see more clearly the difference in material used for the capes.  The grey coloured hip and thigh pouches are textured and painted a slightly darker grey on the Hasbro, but the counterfeit version has no texturing or paint on the pouches.  I think the Hasbro also has slightly sharper moulding on the lower legs and wookie scalp braids.  The paint application overall is slightly more carefully applied on the Hasbro too, although not always.



Here we can most clearly see the 3 colours of the cape on the Hasbro, and 2 on the Counterfeit.  The small silver buckles at the back of the belt are not painted on the counterfeit version, and the backs of the ankle joints have also not been painted on that one leaving a light coloured rectangle in the back of the heel.



The Jet packs are very similar, with the Hasbro having slightly more weathering, and perhaps slightly sharper moulding once again.  On the Hasbro the small white marking to the left of centre at the bottom of the pack is in 2 pieces, where the counterfeit is one white piece.  I believe some counterfeits are also missing the red dash on the other side of the jet pack too, but this one does have that.  The red dashes on the jet pack nozzles are also higher on the counterfeit.



The weapons of the counterfeit are similar, but the paint application is not as sharply executed, and both the rifle and pistol have small disc shapes on them from casting.  The paint on the Hasbro is much better applied, and there are no casting marks.

A couple of shots with the figure with their accessories fitted side by side:



On the whole the counterfeit version stands up very well against the Hasbro with only a few minor differences.  It is however a counterfeit and was sold to me as something which it is not, and I know that it is not the Hasbro figure.  That may not matter or bother some, but for those that want to make sure of what they have like me I hope this post will help identify which is which.

Lastly here is the new Boba with all the crew:



I hope this post proves helpful for some, and as always any observations an comments are welcome.

Paul

Nice comparisons. I seriously wonder if people who work at the factories are themselves making these bootlegs to help bring in more money...

Cool to see you have an official one. I'm really jealous of your 1/6 BH collection. Very cool. (But I do have that Tusken Raider on its way -- so YEAH!! Very excited. Thanks for your insight on that one).

Thanks for this! It does make me wonder how many times people looking for a good deal get swindled. O.o


Like you, I like to know that what is in my collection is really what I thought I was paying for. I wouldn't mind owning a bootleg, but only if I knew from the start what it was.

Stryker2011 wrote:Nice comparisons. I seriously wonder if people who work at the factories are themselves making these bootlegs to help bring in more money...

Cool to see you have an official one. I'm really jealous of your 1/6 BH collection. Very cool. (But I do have that Tusken Raider on its way -- so YEAH!! Very excited. Thanks for your insight on that one).

No problem mate, I'm glad to have been of help with the Tusken. Its a lovely figure.

I would love to think that these counterfeits were somehow helping the families of workers to get by, but I suspect is more likely to be someone who is making a lot of money by either recasting, or who has access to the back door of the factory.

I forgot to mention in the review I did that of course the biggest giveaway of a counterfeit is the price.  If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is.


I love my BH collection in 1/6 too.  Every time I see them it makes me smile which for me is what this hobby should be all about.  I nearly have the ESB Bounty Hunters in 6" too now.  Just waiting on Zuckuss here in the UK.

Paul

skywalkersaga wrote:Thanks for this! It does make me wonder how many times people looking for a good deal get  swindled. O.o


Like you, I like to know that what is in my collection is really what I thought I was paying for. I wouldn't mind owning a bootleg, but only if I knew from the start what it was.

Sadly there are lots of these out there it seems.  I am sure a lot of people think they are buying Hasbro but actually getting something else. I did

As you said if you know it is a counterfeit and that is what you want then thats OK and actually this figure is very good.  It is very close to the Hasbro and a very good figure.  So good in fact that if you are buying online then it would be difficult to tell what you are getting from photos of the figures in the box.  But they are never sold as 'copies' and so most buying them will I suspect never know that they don't have a Hasbro.

As I said in my reply to Stryker2011, the price is usually the biggest indicator of what you will receive.

Paul

Yeah that's understandable.

I tend to purchase my figures solely online, as I don't have very frequent transportation atm, nor many decent stores that would carry such things in my immediate area.  So ebay , amazon, or other sites are my only source for figures of all scales.

I've purchased a TON of figures 'loose' - especially the ones in 3.75" scale -- as unless it's a super rare carded figure, I don't particularly care about the whole 'mint on card' side of things. I mean, with the tiny figures, I care more about the figures themselves being in decent condition, even if pre-owned. I've always found it hard to be willing to pay oodles  more money for something just cause it's stuck on a piece of unblemished cardboard.

But that does mean that in some cases I wouldn't even have the card/box to compare with the real one. All of my 6 inch black series so far -- all three of them, lmao -- have been bought new in box, but it does make me wonder.

I'll be double checking everything now, lol.

Thanks for the heads up and the comparison. I only recently acquired a Boba Fett in this scale, but it was from the Hasbro Archive collection, so no danger of getting a knock off. That said, it looks remarkably good.

GubernatorFan wrote:Thanks for the heads up and the comparison. I only recently acquired a Boba Fett in this scale, but it was from the Hasbro Archive collection, so no danger of getting a knock off. That said, it looks remarkably good.

That's a good point, GF -- I tend to forget that one can purchase things directly from a company's website. XD

skywalkersaga wrote:That's a good point, GF -- I tend to forget that one can purchase things directly from a company's website. XD

Well... I didn't. It came via Big Bad Toy Store with three other Archive collection figures. It just happened that they had a "wave" of four figures I did not have and wanted, which seems very rare -- they keep insisting on stuffing these offerings with Sequel and (no offense) Prequel things I don't care for, so I had never gotten a "wave" box yet.

GubernatorFan wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:That's a good point, GF -- I tend to forget that one can purchase things directly from a company's website. XD

Well... I didn't. It came via Big Bad Toy Store with three other Archive collection figures. It just happened that they had a "wave" of four figures I did not have and wanted, which seems very rare -- they keep insisting on stuffing these offerings with Sequel and (no offense) Prequel things I don't care for, so I had never gotten a "wave" box yet.

Ohhh, gotcha, I misread , my apologies.

I think we are much safer with the new Archive line as the packaging is harder to copy than the original Black series boxes. Fakers find it harder to fix a bubble pack to a card convincingly than they do make a box with a window in it. I gather the fixing of the bubble to the card is one way that counterfeit carded vintage 3.75 inch figures get found out.

Buying from reputable sources is always a safeguard too, but with many of the older figures thats not always an option.

Paul

scalawag wrote:I think we are much safer with the new Archive line as the packaging is harder to copy than the original Black series boxes.  Fakers find it harder to fix a bubble pack to a card convincingly than they do make a box with a window in it.  I gather the fixing of the bubble to the card is one way that counterfeit carded vintage 3.75 inch figures get found out.

Buying from reputable sources is always a safeguard too, but with many of the older figures thats not always an option.

Thanks for the explanation re: the packaging, I hadn't realized that, but it makes sense.

And yes, for someone who is trying to collect retrospectively, you are right...sometimes you can't just purchase it from an official distributor.