NEO Awards 2012 - Winners Announced
- Thread starter Ian Wolf
- Start date
Rosencrantz
Dragon Knight
DaftSheep said:
Lol, doing good deeds does not excuse them from selling fakes, even if its not all their stock.
Going to conventions lets you sell direct to people and raise your profile. The only reason to not to go to a convention is becuase people can see what they are buying and you can bet there's some savy people around that will be pointing out any fake goods. Not going to a convention is essentially an admission of guilt.
And finally I don't like how they are charging 50% more for something I bought off my usual uk shop, I expect some price variance but that seems like they are seriously taking advanatge of the less savy fans.
Yeah, I think you're right there. My daughter was at the last MCM Expo with her mates. I asked her to get me a Hatsune Miku plush which she said she purchased from tokyotoys there. It was a blatant bootleg. The doll was cheaply stuck together and the costume was all wrong in position of dress. Even the tag had miss-spelled her name "Hachune Miku". Needless to say I was very disappointed, and if I was there I'd have walked away, but I can't blame my daughter for not knowing much about it. She thought she was doing her father a favour and it cost her dearly too which I gave back her money for. She knows better now. I'm surprised they haven't been bagged by OFFT by now. :xvashdaman said:
Muu_Puklip
Brigade Leader
Yes you can. You are choosing not to.AnimUK said:
Okay.AnimUK said:
Come on now. You know better than that. If that was true then some of those other companies you are choosing not to talk about wouldn't still be in business.AnimUK said:
I have some queries. Could you give us some means of sorting the officially licensed products from the unlicensed and the fakes? How do you go about getting your stock and ensuring it is all offically licensed? You must have some means of identifying what is legit and what isn't, so please share that knowledge with everyone.AnimUK said:
st_owly (witch)
Time-Traveller
The Blue Exorcist anime became crap after it diverged from the manga and had to make up an ending. The manga is currently in a long arc which the anime didn't even get to, and it's so much better.
Muu_Puklip said:
In terms of identifying products on retailers sites, the first thing to check would be if a manufacturer is listed in the product description. If a manufacturer is not listed, the chances are that the product is unlicensed or "bootleg". If a manufacturers name is listed, it's always worth doing some background research into the manufacturer to ensure they hold licenses for the series in question, which is usually information that is readily available on their own website. A second check would be to confirm the product image used by the retailer matches that of the manufacturers product image. If you then purchase the product and it does not appear to be the one in the image both on the manufacturers website or the retailers site, or if you have any other reason to suspect it may be a fake product, you are entitled to a refund under the Distance Selling Act or Sale of Goods Act (dependent upon the circumstances).
There are some other things that can indicate questionably sourced goods - product images supplied by manufacturers are usually (though not explicitly) provided on a white/plain background and are noticeably professionally taken/edited to present the best possible image for the product. For comparison purposes, the image found here is one of a licensed plush, whereas the one found here is not. There are also elements, such as the 13" logo on the second image that is common across a large range of fake plushies.
It's understandable that it can be very confusing to tell official merchandise from fake merchandise, though if you are ever in doubt always contact the retailer prior to purchasing and request additional details such as the manufacturer, licensee (where this is not the manufacturer) and the country of origin of the product. They should at least be able to point you to the manufacturers website, where you can check the product is listed there and you can then check they hold the license for the product in question.
It's also important to check the claims made by the company as to their stock range. Some companies may seek to mislead customers by not qualifying to what extent their stock range is licensed and make claims such as "the largest range of official merchandise", "we sell official merchandise" or other vague, ambiguous claims that in no way represent their entire stock range. It would be safe to assume in most cases, unless a company is stating that they sell 100% official merchandise, only official merchandise (or other claims that cover their entire product range), that they are aware of the fact that some of their product range is not official merchandise. If a company is stating that all items are officially licensed and is found to be selling bootlegs, this would lead to issues in terms of Trading and Advertising Standards and could result in legal action.
Whilst we've not mentioned all of the steps that can be taken to spot unlicensed/fake merchandise, there are also several comprehensive FAQ's online such as the one here that are well worth a read if anyone has an interest in avoiding such products.
Finally, to provide some information on how we source stock, this is done in a number of ways - some distributors have been recommended to us by licensed manufacturers and some have been sourced manually, though in every case we have ensured that enough research has been put into finding out the background of the company and their reputation and also the links they have with each manufacturer/licensee. Where there is any doubt as to the legitimacy of the products on offer from a distributor we always check with the manufacturer/licensee that they have a trade relationship with the company in question and if they do not, we simply don't deal with them. It's important to us that we only stock licensed goods and that the companies we purchase our goods from have the same standpoint when it comes to the products they provide.
Muu_Puklip
Brigade Leader
Thank you AnimUK. That is most helpful. It's a shame that the UK based mags haven't bothered to ask you the same questions.
Here's something for others to have a think about.
This is the unlicensed plush (look at the image) link that AnimUK included in the post above: http://www.you-q.net/goods-4716-Narutoplush.html
This is a link for something on a different site: http://tokyotoys.com/index.php?main_pag ... e&pID=4718
Draw your own conclusions.
Here's something for others to have a think about.
This is the unlicensed plush (look at the image) link that AnimUK included in the post above: http://www.you-q.net/goods-4716-Narutoplush.html
This is a link for something on a different site: http://tokyotoys.com/index.php?main_pag ... e&pID=4718
Draw your own conclusions.
I had a search on that you-q site and guess what I found? yep my Miku plush. It even has the same tag. anyone who knows Miku's costume knows her waist belt on the wrong side. She wear's it on her left, not right, also the headphone is missing the mic. also the one in this photo is in better shape than mine as well. :wink:
http://www.you-q.net/goods-9681-Vocaloidplush.html
http://www.you-q.net/goods-9681-Vocaloidplush.html
ayase
State Alchemist
You may be giving people a little too much credit for being ethical consumers. I imagine quite a few buy bootleg stuff knowing exactly what it is and don't really care. Price / quality trade off and all that.Muu_Puklip said:
Not that I think that's a good thing, but it is a thing.
st_owly (witch)
Time-Traveller
I think you're right, ayase. I do think people should be given the opportunity to make an informed choice though, and if they choose to buy a bootleg based on the available information, that's up to them.
Muu_Puklip
Brigade Leader
ayase said:
Not so much that. It's the information thing. I know a few well informed people who work out how much it would cost to import statues and so on themselves and calculate how much profit a seller is going to get before they consider buying from a UK seller.
It's generally true that if people have easy access to all the information they tend not to pay over the odds for things. Using that Naruto plush as an example.
http://www.you-q.net/goods-4716-Narutoplush.html
That's $5.63 plus postage. Most all of these bootleg wholesalers will sell to anyone so you can very likely order direct if you want to.
http://tokyotoys.com/index.php?main_pag ... ts_id=4718
Tokyo Toys are charging £14.99 (plus P&P?) for it. That's a whacking great markup.
So the logical thing would be to import it and save the difference. Wouldn't be good for Tokyo Toys' survival as a business if everyone who was happy to buy stuff whether it was legit or bootleg did that kind of calculation.
There is also the point that the consumer is just not that well informed in the first place and is trusting the ethical attitude of the seller. I know the old caveat of "buyer beware", but how many young people like my daughter, have been taught that, (Again I wasn't there with her to give her guidance. She is 18.) and how many retailers at these conventions are exploiting that. So to be fair these retailers must not knowingly stock unlicensed bogus goods in the first place. Unethical shops will not get my money if I have any suspicion of them being so. I simply can't understand people who buy bootlegs knowing that they are not getting the genuine article. They must have more money than sense. :roll:ayase said:
Muu_Puklip
Brigade Leader
Mohawk52 said:
I'm not entirely sure which way you meant that.
Tokyo Toys know exactly what they are selling. They have chosen not to be fair to consumers.
It would be nice if the decent retailers who are fair to consumers by only stocking legit goods would kick up a proper fuss about the bad ones.
I think Mohawk52 has a point though; while I think all retailers have a duty to understand exactly what they're selling, the fact is that the prevailing attitude in this country is often to completely overlook inconvenient things. A lot of people see ignorance as a forgiveable mistake rather than the shameful embarrassment it ought to be.
TT definitely know they're not sourcing legitimate products. I'm at a loss on how anyone can put a stop to the exploitation of buyers when complaints to Trading Standards seem to have no long term effect and a complaint to the ASA about certain unscrupulous magazines ended up with this hilarious response, "We can only look at specific claims in ads that may be harmful or misleading. For example, If [TT] advertised their product as 100 percent genuine and you were able to back up your challenge that they weren't, we may be able to look into this further.". In other words, the ASA see advertising bootlegs as fine so long as the shop actually sells bootlegs and nothing's being misrepresented. I'm so embarrassed to live in this country sometimes when the urge to turn a blind eye is so ingrained.
The system protects the rights of criminals first and foremost, just like the big guys who allow this activity to continue. I'm not sure how AnimUK and the other stores which value their customers can make a difference when all of the odds are against them, other than raising the issue with their suppliers and asking them to raise a claim against the counterfeit items to protect their merchandise rights. If nobody else, at least Square-Enix have allegedly mentioned it being a problem before, so perhaps they can start throwing their weight around and locking content away from unworthy merchants. Though as there isn't a single ethical magazine left here to promote their stuff, they'd be cutting off their noses to spite their faces in many cases.
Maybe someone can get Manga UK fired up about it? I'd like to see anyone try to run an anime magazine here with Manga blocking them from covering their content
The problem is that all of the rights holders are overseas with little direct access to our market; sellers in this country continue to be able to act as though it's the wild west since the system here allows it.
R
TT definitely know they're not sourcing legitimate products. I'm at a loss on how anyone can put a stop to the exploitation of buyers when complaints to Trading Standards seem to have no long term effect and a complaint to the ASA about certain unscrupulous magazines ended up with this hilarious response, "We can only look at specific claims in ads that may be harmful or misleading. For example, If [TT] advertised their product as 100 percent genuine and you were able to back up your challenge that they weren't, we may be able to look into this further.". In other words, the ASA see advertising bootlegs as fine so long as the shop actually sells bootlegs and nothing's being misrepresented. I'm so embarrassed to live in this country sometimes when the urge to turn a blind eye is so ingrained.
The system protects the rights of criminals first and foremost, just like the big guys who allow this activity to continue. I'm not sure how AnimUK and the other stores which value their customers can make a difference when all of the odds are against them, other than raising the issue with their suppliers and asking them to raise a claim against the counterfeit items to protect their merchandise rights. If nobody else, at least Square-Enix have allegedly mentioned it being a problem before, so perhaps they can start throwing their weight around and locking content away from unworthy merchants. Though as there isn't a single ethical magazine left here to promote their stuff, they'd be cutting off their noses to spite their faces in many cases.
Maybe someone can get Manga UK fired up about it? I'd like to see anyone try to run an anime magazine here with Manga blocking them from covering their content
The problem is that all of the rights holders are overseas with little direct access to our market; sellers in this country continue to be able to act as though it's the wild west since the system here allows it.
R
joanne_chan
Completely Average High School Student
I was jumped up and down all demented upon seeing that! AnimUK are a great new company.st_owly said:
Someone point out to Jerome/Jeremy that most of TokyoToy's counterfeit stock is Naruto and Bleach merch? Seriously, the majority of the store is Naruto/Bleach. Maybe going to Viz Media Europe might be a better idea in that respect, as the store does stock a fair bit of Viz Manga too.Rui said:Maybe someone can get Manga UK fired up about it? I'd like to see anyone try to run an anime magazine here with Manga blocking them from covering their content
I think another problem here though, is that anime merch simply isn't available here without importing, so the anime distribution companies here aren't really losing any money, as the fake merch isn't competing with their products. If TT sold bootleg DVDs, I'm sure it would be an entirely different story.
Peachy
Bumpkin
Joshawott said:Someone point out to Jerome/Jeremy that most of TokyoToy's counterfeit stock is Naruto and Bleach merch? Seriously, the majority of the store is Naruto/Bleach. Maybe going to Viz Media Europe might be a better idea in that respect, as the store does stock a fair bit of Viz Manga too.Rui said:Maybe someone can get Manga UK fired up about it? I'd like to see anyone try to run an anime magazine here with Manga blocking them from covering their content
I think another problem here though, is that anime merch simply isn't available here without importing, so the anime distribution companies here aren't really losing any money, as the fake merch isn't competing with their products. If TT sold bootleg DVDs, I'm sure it would be an entirely different story.
I'm fairly sure that one suppliers of merchandise at the first Plymouth Con was Tokyo Toys, if so, to add to the bootlegs, the man managing the shop was pretty freaking rude, looked like he didn't want to be there, not helpful .. it was pretty horrific.
To be honest, whenever I've been in TokyoToys' Trocadero store, I've found the staff themselves to be really polite. In fact, I remember one time I was in there before I had my social anxiety therapy, I was walking around trying to build up the courage to ask a member of staff for an item (as they protect everything in store). The guy at the till noticed me and asked me if I needed help, noting that I looked lost.
I do sometimes want to hang around the store for a day though and see if anyone has the balls to ask a female member of staff for one of the boob mousemats.
I do sometimes want to hang around the store for a day though and see if anyone has the balls to ask a female member of staff for one of the boob mousemats.