Figma One Punch Man Saitama Figure (China)

 March 6, 2018  Toys

Character and Toy Line Details

Yellow-clad Saitama may be an unassuming and downright odd-looking fellow, but he’s powerful enough to give prettyboy Superman a run for his money. Not to mention this bald, blank-faced weirdo stars in an anime that’s simply a joy to watch, thanks to its hard-hitting action and laugh-out-loud parody of the superhero genre.

One Punch Man is definitely a lucrative brand, which explains its inclusion in the beloved Figma line of super poseable toys via its protagonist, Saitama. Because if anyone deserves the action figure treatment, it’s a superhero so strong it only takes him a single punch to fell the mightiest of monsters and supervillains.

Unfortunately, both One Punch Man and Figma’s popularity have roused bootleggers to action, which is why we now have illegal reproductions of Figma Saitama figures.

Origin of Fake

Bought on: Flevans MKTOYS Store, AliExpress
Origin: China
Vendor: Flevans
Distribution Area: Worldwide

If you’re an action figure collector who aggressively shuns bootlegs, perhaps one of the worst places to go online toy-hunting is AliExpress. The sad truth is many Chinese online stores openly flout laws concerning licensing and the legal manufacture and distribution of toys. In other words: expect such stores to have a surplus of bootlegs.

The fake Figma One Punch Man Saitama action figure we purchased from AliExpress is a good case in point. According to his seller, this is a “brand new” toy of the Flevans brand.

Flevans is a not a law-abiding toy maker or seller.

The credit of manufacturing Figma products goes to Max Factory, while their distributor is the renowned Good Smile Company. Stating otherwise is a complete lie, and should already paint a troubling picture of the figure being sold.

Description of Fake

The fake Figma One Punch Man Saitama figure comes in the standard Figma packaging. Everything you’d expect printed on an official Figma box is present, including the product number (which in this case is 310), series logo, Max Factory logo, links to the Figma and Good Smile Company websites, contact information, the appropriate barcode, a whole lot of Japanese characters, and more.

Admittedly, the box resembles the real thing extremely closely. But we did notice two things off.

The fake’s box is smooth, and glossy enough to be reflective. In contrast, the boxes of the most recent official Figmas have a matte finish.

Secondly, official Figma boxes come with a sticker from Good Smile Company. As you can see in the image above, this sticker features a warning about small parts, and provides the link to the company’s customer support center.

You can also see through the box’s window that Saitama’s head is not attached to his neck.

This figure’s true nature becomes more apparent when we open the box.

Basically, these two images sum up our most memorable experiences playing around with fake Saitama:

Remember the time in the anime when Saitama literally lost his head? We don’t either.

Sadly, fake Saitama’s head only very loosely attaches to his neck, so that it takes the tiniest effort to pull it off. Anything just slightly above a gentle handling of the figure will pop fake Saitama’s noggin off.

Compounding problems is the fact that the neck itself is loose, and can also be detached from the upper torso surprisingly easily.

The legs lack tightness, too – particularly the left one. You can slip them off without breaking a sweat! The same can be said of the left foot.

The figure stands just short of 14.5cm tall. Viewing him from a distance, Saitama looks fairly legit. It’s a different story when you give him a closer examination, however.

As Figma collectors ourselves, we can attest to the quality of the official Figma products. These figures boast exceptionally clean sculpts, flawless paint applications, and really, really tight joints.

This dedication to quality is not reflected in the fake Saitama figure. You’re already aware of the loose head, neck, and legs, but this bootleg also has arms riddled with tiny, ugly lumps, and a couple of black and white dots. The belt buckle has scratches, giving it a damaged, dirty appearance.

The chest, stomach, groin, buttocks and legs are sprinkled with dark smudges, as if this toy has been rolled around in the dirt. On the upper back, we see odd, white smears along with the black stains.

The paint is generally fine, but it isn’t the perfection we’ve come to expect from official Figma figures. Look closely at the beige collar, specifically the shoulder area, and you’ll see flaws in the paint application. There’s also discoloration in a few areas, with some of the yellow tinged with blue (sadly, this is tough to capture with a camera).

As for the joints, the elbow and knee joints aren’t very tight, allowing you to swinging them backwards and forwards and around with uncomfortable ease.

The toe joints, however, are exceedingly stiff, so much so that you won’t be able to bend them, thus preventing Saitama from doing some neat poses with his feet. As can be seen in the images above, the metal bolts holding the toe joints in place are protruding. If this were an official product, those bolts would be hidden.

There are also parts, like the right hand, where excess plastic is sticking out. Clearly, no quality management was employed in the manufacture of this figure.

The bootleg also feels dirty, as if he’s covered in a fine layer of grit.

Fake One Punch Man Saitama comes with a number of accessories.

The extra head is dirty, the area around the mouth marred by stains. Both the extra and default heads are lumpy around the very visible seams.

From the outset, you’ll observe the rip in the plastic housing the accessories.

The additional hands don’t fit too nicely on the wrist pegs – in other words, they’re loose, as well. The crossed arms fare a little better.

The mug is empty and remains so. In contrast, the official Saitama figure’s mug comes with a semi-transparent plastic “tea” piece, which can be inserted into the mug to make it look as if it’s filled with liquid.

The cape looks normal, yes, but the piece that drapes over the shoulders and back is rough to the touch. It’s almost like sandpaper.

But perhaps the most offensive accessory is the articulated stand. If you’ve come this far, then you probably know what’s what’s coming next…

Yes, the articulated stand is unforgivably loose. The joint connecting the two longest bars is unable to support the figure’s weight. While you can still use the stand to prevent fake Saitama from falling over when posed, you have no choice but to ensure his feet are resting on the ground. If you raise the figure into the air, the bars will fold over and said figure will fall.

Compare this to the official Figma Tracer figure in the images below. The middle joint of her stand is wonderfully tight; as such, it can bear Tracer’s weight without the stand’s bars bending, allowing her to stay airborne. You can therefore create a limitless number of exciting, gravity-defying, superheroic poses with Tracer – something you can’t do with fake Saitama.

Lastly, there’s the issue of pricing. At $16, this Saitama is far too cheap for a Figma. While some of the earlier Figmas cost over $30, most recent releases are priced at $60 and up.

One possible reason why this fake is so cheap is that it’s a factory reject. Sometimes, mistakes happen during the manufacturing process, which leads to defects in the toy. Toys with defects fail quality checks and are then thrown in the trash. Some people, however, take these discarded toys and resell them without the consent of the official manufacturer. So what you are paying for is literally garbage.

The other possibility is much worse: that the mold for this toy was stolen, and the toy was then illegally manufactured in another factory. Cheap plastic toys made this way (usually in China) are more likely to be tainted with hazardous substances called phthalates. Prolonged exposure to these chemicals have been associated with numerous issues such as skin and respiratory irritation, hormone disruption, kidney and heart problems, immune system damage, and even cancer.

As small children have the habit of putting things in their mouths – which is the quickest way to introduce these toxic chemicals into the body – tainted plastic toys are particularly dangerous to kids. The frightening thing is you don’t even have to swallow these toys to absorb the harmful chemicals. In a process called “offgassing,” cheap plastic releases toxic substances as vapor into the air. The vapors can then be inhaled, ensuring their entry into the body.

Price

The official Figma 310 One Punch Man Saitama figure is indeed more expensive at $65 and up. For this price, however, you’re getting the type of premium quality you’d expect from Max Factory and Good Smile Company: components unblemished by dirt or paint slop; smooth, clean sculpts; wonderfully tight joints;  and materials free of anything that’ll kill you.

See the official product below!

Where to Buy Real Figma One Punch Man Toys

Good Smile Company has an online shop where you can buy the company’s latest products. Unfortunately, Figma 310 One Punch Man Saitama  is currently out of stock.

Here’s the good news: Good Smile Company has a huge list of partner shops from all over the world. Many of these are popular, trustworthy online and physical stores boasting all sorts of toys – including Figmas.

One of those partner shops is American online store BigBadToyStore. Figma One Punch Man Saitama is available here for $65. 

Those in Europe can try the Figuya store. Here, Figma One Punch Man costs $98.

Don’t hesitate to check out those other shops in Good Smile Company’s partner list! And remember: you can always send these stores further inquiries through their websites, emails, or Facebook pages. These businesses are in direct contact with official toy distributors, so if a figure you want is currently out of stock, they might be able to make a special order from said distributors just for you.

Our Verdict

Figma toys are renowned for their quality – a quality this fake Figma One Punch Man Saitama figure doesn’t share. He not only looks and feels filthy, he’s also riddled with lumps and suffers from loose joints. The articulated display stand’s inability to support the bootleg’s weight prevents cool, airborne poses, defeating the purpose of owning such an exciting superhero figure. For all these reasons, we’re slamming this “product” with a 70% terrible rating.