Spotting bootlegs?

[TheOwl98]

Hi!
I've recently gotten into collecting realistic insect figures, from companies like Kaiyodo, Takara Tomy, Bandai, etc.
I just got this devil's flower mantis figure from an eBay seller. It's awesome, but there were some inconsistencies that made me wonder of it was a bootleg or not. The legs are made of a really flimsy pvc, and are kind of warped (in the picture I have the legs secured with straw fragments, but without the straws to hold them in place they're not positioned correctly. Also, the paint job has a few errors. I'm wondering, is this just how the figure is, or is there something more nefarious going on?

[bmathison1972]

My giant flower mantis came with similar issues with the legs so I don't think you have a bootleg. Luckily it stands fine with the clear support base.

[TheOwl98]

Could you post a picture? I'm curious about the paint job.

[bmathison1972]

Could you post a picture? I'm curious about the paint job.

I already have, twice:

http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=16.msg30053#msg30053

http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=2715.msg30591#msg30591

[Fembrogon]

I've been growing interested in Bandai's Diversity of Life gashapon line lately, and while shopping around to gauge (after)market prices I found this listing and a few others from an AliExpress shop:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804810618193.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa&_randl_shipto=US
The prices seem good, and the reviews for the store seem generally positive (or at least not negative enough to be obviously shady), but what do you think? I don't know what kind of bootlegs might exist for this line, much less how best to identify them.

[bmathison1972]

I've been growing interested in Bandai's Diversity of Life gashapon line lately, and while shopping around to gauge (after)market prices I found this listing and a few others from an AliExpress shop:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804810618193.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa&_randl_shipto=US
The prices seem good, and the reviews for the store seem generally positive (or at least not negative enough to be obviously shady), but what do you think? I don't know what kind of bootlegs might exist for this line, much less how best to identify them.

@Fembrogon - those look legit to me. I have quite a few Diversity figures. I even started a thread for them, if you hadn't seen it yet: https://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=2979.0

if you have anything to contribute to that thread, please do (so far I only have arthropods)

[Fembrogon]

@bmathison1972 thanks for the input. Your thread and "Recent Acquisitions" posts are probably what first alerted me to the line's existence. I'll be glad to contribute to the thread once I have some of my own!

[bmathison1972]

@bmathison1972 thanks for the input. Your thread and "Recent Acquisitions" posts are probably what first alerted me to the line's existence. I'll be glad to contribute to the thread once I have some of my own!

Neat, thanks!