I‘ve noticed an increasing number of figures for sale on eBay and on Amazon, too, that are obvious Chinese knock-offs of products by legitimate manufacturers like Alpine, Stalingrad, Soga and Bravo6.
I’m used to seeing them on AliExpress, but personally disappointed seeing them on supposedly reputable, American sites.
I confess that before I realized this to be the case, I tried a couple of them, and they were Crap!
The castings are poor, the instructions non-existent and they arrive in non-descript packaging.
Please take my advice and avoid ripping off our dedicated manufacturers. Spend your money wisely and on the quality products produced by reputable vendors.
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Yes Ralph there are a lot of them out there unfortunately. I confess also that I purchased a five figure set of US Sherman crew for $26 a while ago ( didn’t realize it was 5 figures at first, I just wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing when ordering off my phone !! Shame on me! ) that actually turned out to be a horrible copy of an AC Miniatures set. His sets go for $100 and up; I should have been more careful. They’re so bad as to be unpaintable. Id be better off sculpting them my self. And the seller was right here in New York where I live. I’ll never make that mistake again.
Show up on his doorstep and demand your money back.
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Sounds like the same diligence was used copying this old advertisement as those figures…
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Lol I know. It’s my own fault for not paying attention, I should know better.
I too bought some Bravo 6 knock offs about 5 or 6 years ago, I didn’t think about them being knock offs, I just thought I was getting a good deal at the time, the castings were actually very good just like the originals just minus the photo etched bits for the helo helmets, what was odd was when I started to cut the casting blocks away a strange oder struck my nose, I decided to put these figures away, I started to wonder that if I primed them for painting would they turn into resin blobs.
Not figures but a few years ago I found a great deal on a set of 1/350 PE from a company called CNDragon. When it arrived I realized it was a copy of a WEM set. Even used the WEM instructions. The metal itself was weird. Thick and stiff. You can still find CN Dragon stuff on ebay.
One of the best ways to avoid this is to go to the vendor’s website or Facebook page directly and avoid eBay entirely. This is especially true for resin garage kit makers that run as a small business.
For sales, wait for the Holidays and Christmas where most vendors knock 10-30% off the list price. Sometimes there is a mid-year sale around Easter or Summer, but that all depends on the vendor.
On eBay, the seller should list the manufacturer and Item number. If there are none, that is a good indication that the seller is a Chinese recast. While many legit figures are indeed cast in China and sold under Western brand names, ALL legit resin figures and kits come with item and stock numbers.
Yes, I noticed exactly the same, his figures are very distinctive, I recognised the set I saw on ebay from his Facebook posts when he was sculpting them.
Got an email today asking me to rate the product, shipping and service for those figures I received. I gave them no stars; and left a comment that called them out for ripping off a well known quality manufacturer. And shame on me for not recognizing it before I made the purchase as I said earlier.
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Good move… screw those a-holes
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Sound like they earned that rating! 
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You can report it to ebay as a counterfeit item, and may be able to get your money back with a paid for return label. You may only need to send links to the legit maker’s website to demonstrate it.
It can be a hassle dealing with ebay over complaints, but I have got money back before (I bought a hobby lamp that arrived broken, and the seller resisted the return, but was forced to take it back.)
In some ways it’s the only thing that makes it harder for people to sell fakes, if ebay force them to take the stuff back, and potentially delist the items and possibly bar the seller. Obviously the seller could create a new account, and continue, but it’s more work for them, and they have to pay for the return.
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Good point for sure. I will be doing that more vigorously from now on.
I received an email this morning from the seller of those figures, fashionzon , apologizing for my unhappiness with the product they sold me. They asked me if I wanted a refund and also to keep the figures. I said yes but the figures are unusable and will be thrown away. I also made it a point to tell them they ripped off another artist who works extremely hard at his craft and that it is illegal. They said people buy them because they are cheaper than the originals! At least they admit it lol. We’ll see if they come across with the refund…
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I agree what those people are doing is piracy.
I am one of the small cottage/ garage industry companies . we work hard to develop masters , molds and customers.
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They actually had the balls to ask me to take back my negative comments about their product and not to make any more. Unreal
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It pisses me off that Amazon and eBay don’t shut them down. I tried to find a way to inform Amazon - no luck
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