Figure/model kits?

[SillyLilPuppet]

So does anyone else do figure kits? I've got the Moebius Bride of Frankenstein kit and the Elvira kit from the same company being worked on right now. Wanna move up to doing resin anime or fantasy kits but the hobby shops here don't carry them and nervous about getting one off Ebay since they're like 99% bootlegs. Anyone got any suggestions, or awesome finished kits to show off?

[snake]

I've done a few of the 1/35 gundam kits,but kind of got out of that and collect the figures now.if you like gundam and have the money to buy them,the 1/35 models are worth building.you never know if you are getting a bootleg kit no matter where you get them from,it really doesn't matter there really isn't that much differance in the quality if any just make sure never to pay more than you are willing to spend on any kit.

[Siead]

i picked up a predator one online once, but the vinyl got warped in the shipping. i would almost recommend that, if you have Cons for anime or etc in your area, to search them for model kits if you ever go.

[SillyLilPuppet]

I greatly prefer not to buy bootlegs (I like having the original box and manual, among other reasons), and generally stick to... well... girl kits >> I like painting pretty girls! Still trying to find a reputable place to order frilly lolita-esque anime girls from. Basically anything cute, super frilly, and maybe a bit pinup-ish. Havent been to any cons since moving but the ones I've been to in the past have been more statue/figure/plush/merch heavy. Very little by way of any craft or hobby kits and very heavy on relatively inexpensive pre-finished character goods. Maybe its a regional thing?

[MeltedCaramel]

I know this is an old subject but I may be able to help:

Go to myfigurecollection.com, and search under "garage kits". Find anything you think you might like. Also, the best place to find unfinished, true garage kits is Yahoo!japan. Use an automatic proxy to get what you want, like shoppingmalljapan.com . If the proxy is worth their salt, they'll help you search in Japanese if you don't know the search terms. And on Ebay not everything is a bootleg. Check to make sure where it's coming from. Korea/China is a red flag. It doesn't mean that it's not authentic, but those are the two countries that sell the most bootleg items. If it's from Japan? You're pretty much good.

Hope that helps a little!

[VirgoVertigo]

I know this is an old subject but I may be able to help:

Go to myfigurecollection.com, and search under "garage kits". Find anything you think you might like. Also, the best place to find unfinished, true garage kits is Yahoo!japan. Use an automatic proxy to get what you want, like shoppingmalljapan.com . If the proxy is worth their salt, they'll help you search in Japanese if you don't know the search terms. And on Ebay not everything is a bootleg. Check to make sure where it's coming from. Korea/China is a red flag. It doesn't mean that it's not authentic, but those are the two countries that sell the most bootleg items. If it's from Japan? You're pretty much good.

Hope that helps a little!

also on the subject of shady/not shady ebay places, i've found Taiwan, Japan, the UK, and Germany to be darling places to order things from. Hong Kong is pretty hit or miss, so just be sure to check the seller's feedback. if you're going to order from China, Hong Kong, or Korea, make damn sure that there's a "top-rated seller" badge near their name. anything below 98% positive feedback means no!
i think ebay gets a lot of flak where it shouldn't. i've never had too rough a time with ebay, aside from the fact that overseas communication is shoddy at best and shipping can be bumpy. but no place is perfect! it just depends on how much you trust yourself and whoever you're buying from.

[MeltedCaramel]

SquishyPies, you wrote:

also on the subject of shady/not shady ebay places, i've found Taiwan, Japan, the UK, and Germany to be darling places to order things from. Hong Kong is pretty hit or miss, so just be sure to check the seller's feedback. if you're going to order from China, Hong Kong, or Korea, make damn sure that there's a "top-rated seller" badge near their name. anything below 98% positive feedback means no!
i think ebay gets a lot of flak where it shouldn't. i've never had too rough a time with ebay, aside from the fact that overseas communication is shoddy at best and shipping can be bumpy. but no place is perfect! it just depends on how much you trust yourself and whoever you're buying from.

I just want to point out that for things like Model kits, figures, etc, even if there is a "top rated seller" badge next to their name, there is still an extremely good chance that they're bootleggers. The amount of people that don't research what they're buying (even to the best of their ability) is STAGGERING, leading to positive feedback being piled up for bootleg items and no one being the "wiser" (I personally wince when I go on these seller's profiles and see positive feedback for what I KNOW is bootlegged merchandise). I know several "top rated sellers" that sell Nothing. But. Bootlegs. The thing is Ebay doesn't care because no one (or not enough) people are complaining and that seller is making them big money, so yeah, Ebay lets it slide despite what they preach about "reporting fraud immediately". What they really mean is "If you report fraud from a seller that isn't making a lot of money for us we'll ban them and make a good image for ourselves, but if you report fraud from a bootlegger that's making us big money in revenue you'll get a refund and a pat on the ass from us."

Ebay deserves a lot of the flak it gets because it's not policing where it should, simply because it would mean a signifigant loss in revenue. As for the communication...I personally have found overseas sellers (from Japan, China, and Singapore personally) to be extremely nice, and despite the language barrier they're the ones most eager to please and help the buyer. I had a Japanese seller make a stock mistake on a VERY rare item, and first there was profuse apologies, and then he went out and personally found me another one to buy, and he was so proud of himself because he knew it wasn't the money I was disappointed in, it was that I had wanted the item (doll, damnit, DOLL OKAY!? XDD) and he was happy on my behalf. Honestly, the only problems I've really had is with a few European companies that knowingly sell bootlegs, but they cheat the system by adding a tiny disclaimer that mentions the "unaffiliated nature" of the item (i.e. boot-freaking-leg) and one of them got into such a long winded argument with me because I refused to send the item back for them to resell it for more profit because I found their business practice unethical (I had asked for a small partial refund and was just going to keep the item for my 'off chance I'll need it' rubbish bin) and they escalated it all the way until the day before I could send all my emails to ebay (I pointed out that they had made no such disclaimer on my item and so I wasn't responsible for "knowing it was a bootleg" (oh I'm sorry, "Chinese version")) they suddenly changed their tune and issued me a full refund without asking for the item back ostensibly because "I didn't know what I was receiving" which pretty much translated to "We look like giant d*ckheads this entire correspondence and really don't need to alert Ebay to our presence in case we're a good target to make an example of."

So yeah, extremely long story short: Be careful with ANY item. Also, don't be afraid to ask a seller who has sold an item in the past if they can get ahold of it again for you!!! I've found they're extremely helpful!! <3

[zirconmermaid]

Gerald and I love model kits. We have a lot of them. We tend to not assemble them though, but just see how they are made. I have a gorgeous Belldandy kit partially assembled, and one of Anthy Himemiya from Utena that I bought in Japan that I have to decide how to set up.