Are 3rd Party Unlicensed Resin Anime Figures Legal & Worth the Risk??

I'm not the kind who trusts anyone easily, and yet here I am, potentially making one of the most expensive mistakes in my hobby of anime figure collection.
In the past few years, third party, unlicensed, prepainted resin anime figures are on the rise, capitalizing a notable vacancy left behind by Japanese figure companies in the anime figure market: overlooked anime characters that never got any decent figures made. However, these third party figures are often a hit or miss. Despite that, would you take the risk and order one knowing your deposits will never be refunded, and you are at the mercy of the relatively unknown resin figure manufacturer?
And oh, are they even legal in the first place, or are they overglorified bootleg figures? Today we discuss it in this video!
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[@nameinvalid69]

I see this the same as drawing arts - artist can make and sell their own arts of those characters. As long as it's their own original work, not copying the original artwork and sell them for personal profit.

[@CamKoudo]

Here's hoping that the figure turned out well! Looking forward to review!

[@blablooo]

Haha that’s funny cause this video came to me at the perfect time. In the thumbnail of this vid, you included the Ichinose Asuna GK. That was the resin I have been eyeing on for a few weeks now. Never purchased a resin before but super tempted to. Looking forward to the unboxing!

[@EXkurogane]

For me i have been looking around a bunch of Marin Kitagawa figures but for a start i thought I'd go for something simple as my first purchase. And honestly, I dont want to collect too much stuff from seasonal anime.

[@3dM3]

Thank you for discussing the dilemma I’m having now because I’m considering to purchase my first third party figures. Been looking at it for the past few days, can’t deny that the sample pictures they have is very tempting. Yes I agree the price is very “ SPICY” for those figures with a lot of effects and stuffs. I think I’ll consider to purchase or not after I watch your unboxing video of Marin.

[@EXkurogane]

Well Marin is just one figure from one company, and there are countless companies out there pushing out these figures. In the end I think we need to pay attention to every single one of their releases and do our homework, you know, see how consistent they are over many releases so that we know which one to trust more.

[@3dM3]

@@EXkurogane It’s true that there’s tons of 3rd party studios out there and finding those which are good ones is not an easy tasks. I agree that more research and studies should be done. If their production speed is as fast as those licensed ones such Bandai for example, that would lighten our burden and time in my opinion 😅. Anyway keep doing what you do on this channel! 👍👍💪💪

[@djdelsol7]

Those are very nice figures indeed! ❤ !. I remember when I had to make a choice about this character, as there are plenty of figures from her. In the end I picked up the ABsinthe studio ones, swimsuit and school uniform ones. 😂😂. They are as good as most of my other licenced figures. Hoping to see your review about the figure soon !

[@michealsmith3407]

One of my biggest obsessions is browsing all the new resin statues / figures that are announced as well as pvc anime figures. With unlicensed or even licensed resin statues, the risk is so high. When you see the promotional pictures always expect the finished product to be a downgrade. And any obvious flaws you see will most likely be in the final product as well. So much of the resin anime figure market is made up of first time buyers that think because they spent 300-400 dollars on a statue including shipping, it must be good. Most resins that come out are not worth buying at all. However, pvc figures have their issues too, I always notice how plasticky lots of pvc figures are. Resin is bit more like a rock. Some avoid that issue for some reason. Resin figures usually are made in bigger scales like 1/6 or 1/4, for pvc you have FREEing who just make bunny figures and the quality of them is pretty rough, some turn out a bit better. With resins you get bigger scales, niche characters, and nsfw versions. I would never recommend to a new person to collect resins though, always try collecting pvc figures and go from there. Resin statues can be terrible value for money because of shipping costs adding 30%-60% cost to the statue. And studios realized they can make a statue extremely overpriced and someone will still buy it. Prime 1 sold their new 2B for 250,000 yen and it sold out. Having said all that I own / ordered some resin statues - LX Studio 3 captions Luffy, Law, Kidd - Lemon studio Beach ver. Marin Kitagawa - Di Tai She 1/3 Zoro - Lightyear Studio Ghostblade Princess Yan (licensed) - Vlad Black Clover Asta - DTalon Gojo The worst thing about them is the giant amount of space they take up. The boxes they come in a more are than a metre long and weigh 10-20 kg. Apparently Princess Yan will weigh 60kg with one 40kg box and one 20kg box. So be careful buying bigger scale pieces or ones that have a large base, or alternate body.

[@ImSumYungHo]

Great video! I started collecting one piece resin statues not too long ago. I Own 3 Jimei palace pieces, a soul wing and a light year studio piece. One thing I can say about licensed is they usually cost more but the quality depending on the piece is top notch. I’ve debated buying unlicensed due to some licensed pieces I need for my collection not being available or costing a ridiculous amount once sold out. But I can’t bring myself to buy unlicensed. Feels wrong to me. That’s my opinion though and I won’t hate on those who buy unlicensed. Thanks for the video

[@Steamypot]

dude i ordered the sfw version of that Marin! I know its a risk! I hope it turns out good! hahahahaha

[@zodius]

Man of culture, me too!😂

[@Steamypot]

@@zodius fingers crossed! hahaha

[@nezhokojo1641]

I collect both licensed and unlicensed. I can tell you that it solely depends on the studio that is making the unlicensed statues/figures. If you are buying from a not so well-known studio, it's always a gamble. There is protection in terms of some studios sending replacement parts if they break in shipment, but resin is fragile, and you should always stock up on super glue and white/blue tacks to make sure parts are secure. It's always a hit or miss shipping such a fragile piece in a big box by air or sea freight. Unlicensed statues/figures are a way to obtain a centerpiece that you may never get from licensed companies. Think of buying unlicensed statues/figures as something going beyond the normal because you are bored of small scales. That's how I feel about collecting figures in general. I decided I want to expand my collection to the next level and that's why I appreciate unlicensed companies creating unlicensed statues/figures. It's not for everyone. It's a high-risk hobby. If you have the space/room and money, then why not if you are obsessed in figure collecting. Licensing is licensing. I could care less. It's a competitive world and this should drive other companies to come up with better alternatives or improvements as far as competition goes but unlicensed figures aren't going to damage the market as they are big/expensive while also is limited in quantity based on pre-orders and number of production units released based on the studio's calculations. Bootlegs (exact replicas) of already released figures have very good quality like Native's Mizuki and if it's a cheaper alternative for someone who doesn't have enough money but want to appreciate the art of collecting figures then whatever. But once you start collecting, people will always most of the time appreciate and lean towards owning something "genuine".

[@Jun-kun-iu4ls]

Its the same thing like Transformers Figures If third party does the job better than the official figures, might as well get those (like holy sheet the transformation engineering thise third party people have are unreal)

[@eufrosniad994]

I personally do not own any unlicensed, BUT, I think it’s not too different than the licensed market in some sense. The prototype to final product being downgraded is something we do often see with licensed products as well. So if I were to collect these, I would only preorder if the particular studio has successful well received releases under their belt. If they do, then I think preordering is reasonable. However, if this is like the first release by the studio or they are yet to release figures they previously had up for preorder, then I would just wait till release and try to pick it up then. If it’s a new studio, there is a good chance that few will still be available at the time of release. Plus, the savings from preordering is around $50 max, which isn’t worth the deposit. In that sense, I think you can come out on top as a customer almost all the time. I think the much bigger problem is that since these are resin, the shipping cost is huge. So with the custom fees, one is looking at paying almost the price of the figure in shipping and taxes. Pretty difficult to keep collecting with the hobby taking up that much money.

[@metalsteel5631]

what do you think of maruko studio?

[@tonyhoyx]

Are there any sites like MFC that allows users to upload their nice photos of 3rd party resin figures? MFC dont support these figures correct?

[@EXkurogane]

Yes that's correct. Mfc do not support them. I do wish that there's a proper site with all that figures in one place though. I'm not aware of any in existence yet.

[@ensanityx5391]

Sir, Anywhere or website I can watch or see a picture or sample of 3rd Party Unlicensed Resin Anime Figures like this? A review or showcase of this kind of figure like this? I really want to see some .

[@EXkurogane]

I usually rely on Facebook groups, such as this one facebook.com/groups/1580328138836230

[@SerpensRgn]

Really enjoying your content! Would you consider company like E2046 to be safe from unlicensed products? I've had good service with GKs from them and am getting a couple of whole figures soon, just wanting to make sure I know how to know whether I'm walking into a potential rabbit hole.

[@EXkurogane]

E2046 sells unlicensed garage kits, both painted and unpainted ones like pretty much everyone else selling Chinese brand resin figures. Just that they are one of the oldest stores around in this business, they were already a thing even before these resin figures rose in popularity in the recent couple of years. For that reason E2046 is regarded as one of the safer places to buy these figures from. If the figures turned out bad, then the blame mostly lies in the company that manufactured these figures.

[@SerpensRgn]

@@EXkurogane thanks for the response! Insight is another brand that I really like the look of quite a few figures but I've heard some stories about them.

[@EXkurogane]

@@SerpensRgn Insight is actually a legit licensed brand if i remember correctly. Their figures appear in Japanese sites and also in MFC's database. If you noticed, mainstream Japanese figure sites like amiami don't sell unlicensed figures. Some genuine, licensed figure brands also use resin, such as Prime 1 studio, Kaitendoh, Bfull and Fots Japan. Whether the figure quality coming from Insight is any good is a separate topic. Personally i don't have any experience with their figures to be able to judge them fairly.

[@ndviet92]

iirc Insight is just 18+ rated subbrand of Bfull/Fots.

[@EXkurogane]

@@ndviet92 now they have my attention lmao

[@ceejayyungco5882]

Uncle Steven I want to know what figure with the umbrella beside Rem? Thanks more power!

[@noccio]

She Is a prize figure of Sei Shonagon from Fate Grand Order. I think that is from Furyu and if i remember correctly Steven made a video about her.

[@EXkurogane]

Yup it's Furyu's Sei Shonagon. Not a very good figure unfortunately but it really is just a temporary placeholder while we wait for a scale of her. I think it's Phat Company who already revealed a prototype.

[@ceejayyungco5882]

@@noccio Thank you Antonio really appreciate it!!

[@ceejayyungco5882]

@@EXkurogane Uncle Steven I think its a great figure but you are right the paint job is really not that a high quality but the overall for me is good nice review for the Sei Shonagon Figure I would might purchase her because of your vid.

[@jocman7339]

Oh boy. I was so close to buy one based on prototip pictures. After release I was shocked seeing actual product by users pictures. Um ... my tastes are higher quality or as prototip look end product. Basically that means if I do, than I would go with much more expensive licensed resin figures. But I will take a poke into that video anyway. Thanks.

[@EXkurogane]

In the end i suppose we need to see each of these companies release more figures over time before we can gauge their consistency and trustworthiness

[@jocman7339]

@@EXkurogane I totally agree. But I have heard that such manufacturers often come and disappear or change their company name. For me, despite the flirtation and long-lasting desire to own such a figure, this is currently too much of a gamble. Maybe one day I'll just gain more knowledge and experience and trust in particular manufacturers in question.

[@moemoekuyn8317]

Really hit or miss with the unlicensed resin thing. I mean if you get your hand on Hobby House studio Marin then it's a steal because her price went double now. Dodomo version, well... anyway, I'm still waiting for my Marin from other Studio, hope she turn out as good as prototype

[@EXkurogane]

My favorite one is probably the Lemon Studio version but i didnt preorder anyways because... well eh i don't want to collect too much seasonal anime stuff. Dodomo is famous for their recent Power figure which went on preorder after a foreign cosplayer tried to make a drama out of it

[@TheKillerAngel]

Would you consider having some sort of subscription service (Patreon, etc) where you can upload stuff that is not allowed on KZbin?

[@EXkurogane]

I'm actually weighing my options in this regard. You see, i don't buy x rated figures often, not to mention reviewing them. In addition, in future when i make more figure photography tutorials i might reserve the more technical stuff to places like patreon. Learn from me over there. And probably I'll make my figure photography works available as 4k wallpapers too. A lot of work to be done. For this Marin I think I'll just make it available in a Google drive folder for now.

[@majest1cco.763]

I don't support unlicensed figures, but in my opinion, it all depends to the collector if they want something unique and if they are happy with it, then it's ok. It's just that final products are usually hit or miss, and some unlicensed figures or statues has different face based from the original source material. And I think some Chinese studios take advantage of the hype from a franchise to gain more sales and they can produce faster than the licenced manufacturers. But in the end, it's your wallet, it's your choice.

[@obamaosama5410]

Do have GK figure have site like MFC to check the GK brand and their product, because wanted to give it try but don't know any of GK brand

[@EXkurogane]

Unfortunately, no. I'd like to know whether there's a website with all the unlicensed stuff in one place as a database but so far i haven't heard of any in existence. I rely on Facebook resin figure groups to be informed of new stuff, but it's no replacement for a proper database.

[@obamaosama5410]

@@EXkurogane actually except from buy from taobao do have website like amiami sell GK ?

[@EXkurogane]

@@obamaosama5410 so far, i know two sites that do sell these, but I'm sure there are more out there. weareanimecollectors.com/ www.e2046.com/

[@wingonn11]

Did you buy the resin figure from taobao?

[@EXkurogane]

Yup

[@gundamOPS]

I believe there's a bit of missing context for the disney takedown. They only did it to prevent spoilers because the figure was not supposed to be sold let alone revealed before the film release.

[@Earo]

Aren't most resin figures non-licensed? I'm new with resin figures but most of the sites I visit don't have many licensed resins.

[@EXkurogane]

Yes, all are unlicensed, otherwise mentioned. They are very popular nowadays because licensed figure brands refuse to make figures from popular games or anime. Just look at Genshin Impact. Over 3 years after the game came out, we don't have a singe Yae Miko or Raiden Shogun scale figure.

[@ChibiZerocchi]

I honestly have to say, I don't have any problems purchasing unlicensed figures. Of course, I check the company first, see how their reputation is but they often offer characters or poses that no official company offers. And second... I have been disappointed way too often by the quality of those official figures lately. So, I don't see too much of a difference in taking a risk in that regard... in contrast, I got a handful of really beautiful and nice 3rd party figures. I would not knowingly buy bootlegs though.

[@EXkurogane]

Indeed, with licensed figures we are seeing the pattern where everyone wants to play it safe, by making figures only from the most popular games or franchises while others get ignored. Everyone wants a slice of the same pie, so we have boatloads of figures like Ram and Rem, or Miku. It's really too much and I have complained about it in the past.

[@shiichan32]

now what is it if a genuine figure maker copies a 3rd party figure tho i wonder

[@EXkurogane]

Already happened lol kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpS3iK2ObaaphJo

[@zodius]

bootleg in my opinion is similar like you are using photocopy machine to copy a colorful poster with a nearly empty cartridge... misery...

[@anthonytigris2049]

I have pick up five statues and four of them have been great one is good. Also anyone selling art or anything of any anime character is considered rape like if it is not sold by the license person. There is no gray area only companies don’t want to go after them because it would make them look bad in the small people do this business wouldn’t be able to pay.

[@cottonycloud-]

Unless the original creator explicitly provides approval for fan-made goods (for example, D&D and some game development companies have licenses), then they are legal gray area. This all depends on the country you are in. Consider some of the Pokemon and Disney takedowns in the USA, where the Pokemon company takes down fan-made games and Disney forcing the removal of murals for a childhood nursery. As for being worth the risk, the answer for me is generally no. As someone who never bought 3rd party, the three primary factors are how popular the IP is, the reputation of the figure producer, and whether I can obtain the good in-person. (1) is because in general there's not much point in going 3rd party for say a Rem figure unless you really want to catch them all. As for the other two, it's really due to what I've seen in the crazy artisan mechanical keyboard marketplace, where some people pre-order and wait for 2 years and may obtain substandard products with poor warranty (or outright scams).

[@EXkurogane]

I heard that for the likes of Aniplex USA you just have to nicely ask for permission to sell, for example, your photos / fan arts of their characters or figures in anime conventions, for example. As for Disney, Disney is just a patent / copyright troll like a number of other American companies such as RED. The Star Wars example i gave is under Disney too. If you know about the full history of Disney, you wouldn't want to support them, and their recent actions on trying to be too politically correct isn't helping - though that's a separate topic. My concern with third party unlicensed stuff is the same as yours. Back then when i preordered this pair of Marin figures, Aniplex's version didn't even exist yet. 3rd parties are often a compromised but viable solution to get a figure of a character that doesn't exist in the genuine Anime figure market.

[@murielpelaez8302]

Hi, are Chinese resin statues safe? Meaning the materials.. chemicals...paint that they use?...do Chinese resin statues made of toxins?

[@EXkurogane]

Resin is non toxic once it is fully cured and solid. Liquid resin that's not yet cured or solidified is extremely toxic. So, the figures are completely fine from a hazardous chemicals standpoint. I'm telling you this as someone who also 3D print Resin stuff on my own. I have four 3D printers in my studio.

[@murielpelaez8302]

@@EXkurogane oh, okay, thanks! Because I have bought 4 resin statues from China but I still worried that those statues might not be good to be in my house. Since I don't know everything that they do to it.. Thanks! ...

[@Sabin-Sinister]

I barely understood a word he said

[@anbuzero367]

I think the resins Are better then the licenced holders figures 😅

[@EXkurogane]

On the surface they do appear to be more sophisticated with the dioramas and extra parts but sometimes it also feels like they are overcomplicating a figure, just to justify a premium price tag

[@anbuzero367]

@EXkurogane 100% agree with you on that one. There are so many studios. you need to research and self judge the pre-production CGI photos. The risk we anime fans take aye 😂 all for the love of our favourite characters

[@logandashiell2584]

Unlicensed figures are not "legal", it's not even a grey area, but they are mostly "tolerated" by companies. Disney is particularly notorious for being highly protective of it's IP and Trademarks.

[@EXkurogane]

Derivative works should be protected under fair use laws, though that may differ from country to country. You see, trying to antagonise your own fans or customers is not a very wise thing to do. Disney used to go after people who take photos of Star Wars figurines and posting the pics online saying it's copyright infringement, but if the customer paid for a legit genuine figure, they should have the rights to do whatever they want with it. Including creating derivative works, fan arts or photography work. The backlash, needless to say, was massive. The more derivative work a franchise has, the more popularity it will have. Third party figures are no different from fan arts, except they are in figure form. As long the art the figure is based on, isn't stolen art that is, i don't see a problem with it. You need to remember, all these concepts of legality and the laws that were made to protect intellectual property, copyrights, or patents, are designed with capitalism in mind. The profits of large corporates are prioritised, to the extent patent abuse or IP trolling is either tolerated or rampant, especially in the US. That's partially why some consumers don't always respect copyrights - they hate the corporate greed behind it. Not saying that i support copyright violation, but as a photographer, artist and content creator myself who wants to have more freedom with my content creator, i cannot support Disney (and a few other Companies) ways of doing things.

[@logandashiell2584]

Sure, a figure of a "cosplay," for example, would be a "derivative" work, but something simply being derivative does not make it fair use. And yes, derivative works (of copyrighted material) can be transformative enough to be considered fair use, but this could only be determined in a civil suit. Ideally, as a person making fan art or merch, you wouldn't want to find yourself in that situation. My go-to example of this is The Wind Done Gone. However, the issue with characters is that they are copyrighted and trademarked, in the same way that an actor's likeness is. That is a higher bar, and if it's a particularly good likeness, the unlicensed statue's manufacturer is potentially more at risk of that being the case.

[@EXkurogane]

@@logandashiell2584 the problem with all this is you are picking fights with the very people that adores your products and art in the first place. It will backfire, and your company will get boycotted and cancelled. That's why, unlike in the west, over here in Asia we don't really have problems with artists and photographers running into copyright infringement issues with existing trademarked characters. We are free to sell our derivative works without requiring any permission because the small quantity of sales we make do not really result in loss of profits or revenue for the rights holders. We are not seen as a threat. Meanwhile in the west? It's corporate greed above all else, trigger-happy with lawsuits, where a photographer can't even sell a print of a figurine for 5 dollars. The only Japanese brand i can think of which are exceptionally strict, are rights holders of Ultraman, for example. You can't even cosplay as one in any Anime conventions. As for your comparison with real humans like celebrities and their likeness, once again, here in Asia we don't view fictional art and real people as equals. That's also why you see stuff like loli stuff being widely accepted as a norm and a part of Anime itself here. Even if you showed loli art to a police officer, as long it's not pornographic they won't even bat an eye.

[@logandashiell2584]

@EXkurogane You choose to go on and on about Asia and how it's different, but for the most part, it's the same in the west. And there is a myriad of reasons for it. That does not mean that selling fan art or works is fair use of trademarks and copyright not owned or licensed. These statues and other fan works exist because they are tolerated by the IP holder or made in a country that refuses to protect the rights of IP holders for whatever reason. Personally, I don't have any moral qualms about buying unlicensed merch. But the legal reality is that it's illegal to profit from IPs and trademarks not owned by you. And the rights holder has the right to go after you.

[@EXkurogane]

@@logandashiell2584 It is illegal on paper simply because the laws are scripted in an unfair way to side with large corporations.

[@ExiledGundam]

Well both licensed & unlicensed figures came from China :P

[@EXkurogane]

That's actually correct haha. Myethos, Apex, those are licensed stuff

[@trihard42069]

The unlicensed ones are actually available, affordable, and have much better designs and even leds imbedded in them. Kinda hard to justify licensed figures, other than the fact they're official... which is a shame. I think 1/7 scale licensed figures are still decent in all categories, but statues and anything bigger (or dare I say more creative) unofficial seems the better option.