Banpresto Dragon Ball Z: SCultures Son Goku Metallic Ver. figure
CHARACTER AND TOY LINE DETAILS
The appearance of Son Goku when he was still a kid might have already been buried since Dragon Ball Z has been a long-running anime around the world. Whether you’ve seen the Kid Goku or not, it’s true that the anime has aired episodes showing him as a little humanoid ape that he was.
Goku as a kid has a long tail and was always full of energy. Even before, he would devour as many bowls of rice as he could. During this phase of his life though, he would transform into a giant ape when it’s a night of a full moon, and that would make him go berserk making him a ferocious creature that destroyed many landscapes. The chain of events that happened in the anime helped him overcome his natural ability to transform, but then again, his appearance as a kid with his ape tail was recreated in the Banpresto Figure Colosseum.
In 2017, Banpresto released the SCultures Son Goku Metallic Ver. figure in honor of Matsuura Ken, its sculptor, who challenged his way in the figure sculpting competition. The significant design truly holds value, and this was taken advantage of bootleggers to make their own cheap version.
ORIGIN OF FAKE
Bought on: AliExpress
Origin: China
Vendor: toyscamp Store
Distribution Area: Worldwide
Planning to get a piece to add to your collection of Dragon Ball figures? Then, it’s best to stay away from AliExpress. Yes, you’ll be able to find a lot of anime figures there, but there’s no assurance that those will be authentic. The website is just crawling with a lot of bootlegs, and if you’re not careful, you might end up with one.
With online stores like toyscamp Store eyeing to catch their prey, be one of those collectors who do their research well. Study this bootleg SCultures Son Goku (Kid) figure!
DESCRIPTION OF FAKE
And to our surprise, the fake Son Goku figure has a box of its own. There’s no telling though if it’s the legitimate box design because there are a few missing logos.
The fake figure's box - front
The fake figure's box - left side
The fake figure's box - right side
The fake figure's box - back
The fake figure's box - top
The fake figure's box - bottom
Close up on the front portion of the box
Close up on the front portion of the box
Close up on the right side of the box to show the low quality res print
Upper flaps of the fake figure's box
At the back, it does say that it was manufactured by Banpresto, but their logo is nowhere intact on the packaging. This has been a strategy of bootleg makers so as to be lowkey and not incur further criminal liabilities. Well, you could say that the Banpresto logo might not be on every Banpresto figure packaging, but for the copyright sticker to be missing, it just adds to our primary suspicion.
The quality of the box isn’t something to be amazed of. It’s thin enough to be torn easily, and the print just seems a bit off. You’ll notice the low quality resolution on the right side of the print. And if you open the box, the obvious thin cardboard flaps look weak to support the figure inside.
The fake Son Goku Kid figure inside the plastic casing
The fake figure sealed in thin plastic
The fake Son Goku Kid figure - front
The fake Son Goku Kid figure - facing right
The fake Son Goku Kid figure - facing left
The fake Son Goku Kid figure - back
Luckily, the bootleggers were generous enough to provide a protective plastic casing for the fake figure. It’s also sealed inside a thin plastic, but from the looks of it, the manner it was sealed was done poorly.
From a fair distance, the fake figure looks as near as an authentic figure, although you might want to consider rejected figures being sold off online. These rejects may have major to minor flaws and could be very much inconsistent with the standard of the design. You might suspect this for a factory reject once you have taken a look closer at it.
A view at the scratches on the fake figure's head
Dent and glue stain on the upper left portion of the head
Glue stain and dent on the upper right side of its head
Close up on the back of the fake figure's head
View of the hair's tips
Starting with its head, damages are visible on the frontal area of its head. There are a couple of scratches that show the inner material of this area. The dents are visible on the left and the right upper side. Although the texture feels a bit normal, there are a few tiny lumps that are hanging on the tip of its hair. And with little magnification, you could notice that there are a couple of glue stains as well.
That was only the head, by the way. Once you look at its face, the flaw count decreases while the figure’s shouting gravely for help.
Close up on the fake figure's face
The fake figure's left ear
The fake figure's right ear
Close up focus on the fake figure's mouth
As you may have noticed, the right eye has a few tiny scratches while the left cheek is dotted by a couple of dirt. The skin color though looks genuine for the purpose of fooling collectors into buying such an item. The mouth, on the other hand, has depth in it, and you could pretty much insert a stick inside to check.
The left ear looks suspicious as it’s quite torn. You could check the regularities by looking at the right ear. Apart from these flaws, the face could be close enough to an authentic, which is why this bootleg is being suspected as a factory reject.
View at the fake figure's body
Close up towards the center of the body and logo
Close up on the left armband
Close up on the right armband
The Son Goku (Kid) Metallic Ver. wears a uniform that lusters in the shade of orange. Fair enough, the fake figure shows a good quality of metallic orange on its uniform, but there are still quite a number of flaws in the area.
For a start, the wristbands are painted inadequately as the inner edges missed the blue paint making it look weird when you the figure is viewed from its back. The bootleggers also added a little bit of luster on the chest as you’ll notice a bit of glue stain in there. On the uniform’s front logo, there’s a minor scratch as well.
Because of its poor packaging condition, the cane accessory is a whole lot bent. The rope tied around the front of its body also looks faded at the area of the knot. The back seems a bit flawed as well since there’s a scratch at the center of the uniform logo. The cane sheathe at the back looks awfully detailed too.
Close up on the lower body and the sash belt
View of the figure's sole
View of the figure's sole
The fake figure’s lower body, admittedly, has a few flaws. Regardless of the count, you can spot these easily even while you were viewing the upper body photos.
The dent on the belt is really unacceptable. It’s like a crater on a smooth surface. From the same angle, you can see that there’s an issue with the paint job on the right shoelace. The area looks inaccurately painted.
The paint under the shoes look a bit off though it’s an area which you wouldn’t really see when the figure’s on display. The tail’s awfully detailed if you’ll be comparing it with the authentic’s model below.
The real SCultures Young Son Goku Metallic Ver. figure
The real SCultures Young Son Goku Metallic Ver. figure
Fake VS Real of both figures
The real SCultures: Son Goku Kid Metallic ver. figure feels very smooth when you look at it. Of course, it’s flawless unlike the bootleg, but what sets it apart from the inferior item is that it’s detail-oriented and refined. The price for the authentic isn’t also something to be worried about because it’s affordable and totally worth it for its quality.
PRICE
If you’re looking for the same authentic model, it would probably go for around $38+ USD. However, there’s a special version of the figure which is the metallic color version where the bootleg was based from. Basing upon the current pricing, it could go as much as $80 USD. Considering that it’s a collector’s item, it’ll still go up as stock replenishment may have been already discontinued.
On the other hand, the fake Goku Kid figure only has a price tag of $8.78 USD. Admittedly, it’s a tempting price, but after seeing the indicated flaws, you might want to consider spending for an item that’s deserving to be thrown in the trash bin.
WHERE TO GET A REAL BANPRESTO SCULTURES SON GOKU KID METALLIC VER. FIGURE
The real SCultures Son Goku Kid figure is still available on Ninoma – The Japanese Market. Although it’s the basic figure, it’s still the same model plus it’s the authentic one.
Of course, why would you waste your time reading this article if you won’t even be able to get information on where to get the metallic version of the figure. However, you have to take caution since the only chance to get the figure is on Amazon.
The metallic version of the SCultures Son Goku Kid figure is still available on Amazon. You have to be wary though since the website could still be crawling with bootlegs. The item posting did describe the item as an authentic item from Banpresto, so you have that to hold on to.
The metallic version is $76 USD while the original model costs roughly $39 USD on Ninoma.
OUR VERDICT
Perhaps, the bootleg Son Goku Kid figure could be a factory reject since it comes close to the authentic’s design. Although it does hold a resemblance to the real one, you would definitely be bothered by the flaws that it possesses.
Overall, the fake is a mixture of a disastrous paint job, dents, and irregular carving. It’s still far from the original craft that is why it isn’t worthy to be displayed nor even put inside Banpresto’s branded box. This fake should be totally ignored, and for that reason, it will be punched with a 75% terrible rating tag.
