Banpresto SCultures: Dragon Ball Super Golden Frieza figure
CHARACTER DETAILS
We all know Frieza as an evil villain from the anime, Dragon Ball. Perhaps, the word ‘villain’ could be an understatement for him, but there was little to nothing that was mentioned in the anime that he is actually an emperor — an evil tyrant to be precise.
If you have ever heard of the Roman emperor, Nero, then Frieza most likely carries the same reputation as he’s also ruthless and rules the universe with absolute tyranny. He conquers and destroys planets as he pleases with an oversized military at his disposal, although, he could just basically do everything alone. He may not be the strongest in Dragon Ball Super, but he is sure a wicked villain that could bring utter chaos in Universe 7, especially now that he attained a new powerful form — the Golden Form.
For such a majestic Frieza transformation, Banpresto wouldn’t just let this pass by. As one of the designs chosen in a figure sculpting competition, the Banpresto Figure Colosseum, the SCultures Golden Frieza truly images the raging villain from the anime.
There’s barely a doubt that bootleggers have locked their targets on this prestigious design of Frieza. Nonetheless, it would pay to know a thing or two about the bootleg.
ORIGIN OF FAKE
Bought on: AliExpress
Origin: China
Vendor: Desen Toy Store
Distribution Area: Worldwide
If you’ve ever been to eBay, then most likely, you’ve seen a bunch of sketchy sellers who have posted suspicious items – that make you stare at them for a while just to make sure it’s a legitimate item. On the bright side, though, eBay is still used by some legit sellers as a platform to do their business online. Because, why not? It’s easy to set up shop on eBay, and most likely, if you have disputes, then the website helps you with that as well.
However, it’s much worse in AliExpress. If you ever find a single, authentic anime figure on the website, then better let us know in the comment section below this article as we’ve been dying to find one for a very long time. There are just a lot of bootlegs in this website that you wouldn’t bother find the authentic figures. On top of that, AliExpress might not be able to help at all if you mistakenly ordered a bootleg figure.
Why would we even buy bootlegs in the first place, you say?
There’s a saying that goes something like: “to overcome your enemy, then you must think like the enemy.” And that has never been so right. With a solid information on bootlegs, you’ll be able to distinguish which is an authentic figure or not.
If you’ll just look at this fake SCultures Golden Frieza figure, then you’ll get more of what we’re talking about.
DESCRIPTION OF FAKE
The fake SCultures Golden Frieza figure has a box of its own. However, having a packaging does not completely answer whether the figure is a fake or not although it’s merely a stepping stone to an absolute realization.
Front of the fake SCultures Golden Frieza figure's box
A view on the side of the fake figure's box
A view of the other side of the fake figure's box
Back portion of the fake figure's box
A close up on the fake figure's box
A close up on the fake figure's box
A close up on the fake figure's box
A close up on the fake figure's box
A view of the fake figure's from the top
The fake figure's box when opened
Let’s first describe the fake figure’s box.
Overall, the box possesses an art of Golden Frieza and Son Goku in Super Saiyan Blue. The Zoukei Tenkaichi 5 SPECIAL collection indeed has both of the figures. But what’s odd about the art is that, at a closer observation, you’ll be able to notice that the resolution is pretty low considering that some areas of the art are pixelated and blurry. The Japanese texts also forms the same appearance.
There’s no doubt that the box alone seems sketchy enough. Even without us mentioning that it’s fake, you’ll already notice the inconsistency.
For the tangible quality of the box, its appearance may say it all. The box suffers from a thin and flimsy quality. It has an irregular shape, and you would be able to see that the top of the box bulges warranting a feeble seal. It’s called a bootleg for one reason, and that’s because it will absolutely fail quality control.
The fake figure's components in plastic
The fake figure's components
The fake figure's base
The fake figure's base
The fake base's bottom
Out of its ailing box, the fake SCultures Golden Frieza figure comes with the figure itself, a base, and the connector.
The base looks a bit okay at first glance, but if you remember the art at the back of the box, then you’ll realize that it’s flawed as it should be — since it’s a fake, obviously!
The art feels like there’s destruction in the surroundings of Frieza and Goku, but for the base, it just feels that it’s out of its world. It’s utterly deficient from proper shading. The bottom of the base, on the other hand, is so much worse that it has sharp edges that’s just unexplainable. It still has a face to brag an imprint of Banpresto even though it already gave itself away.
The fake SCultures Golden Frieza figure
The fake SCultures Golden Frieza figure
The fake SCultures Golden Frieza figure
The fake SCultures Golden Frieza figure
Close up on the fake figure's upper body
Close up on the fake figure's face
Close up on noticeable dents
Overhead view of the fake figure
View of the fake figure's stained chest
View on the dents on the fake figure's arm
View of the fake figure's back
There’s much more to say about the fake SCultures Golden Frieza figure. Although you’ll spot that the fake figure stands well on its base, its appearance deserves an insult that it will always remember.
Starting with the face, you’ll notice that its eyes are unaligned, and a little bit faded. Its mouth doesn’t look so good as well. It looks filthy as it’s filled with scratches. The messy paint job adds to such a horrid sight.
Damages on fake figures aren’t unusual. Actually, they are filled with it, and if you look at this fake figure’s head, then you’ll notice a bunch of them. On top of that, the dents all over its body disguises well as part of the figure’s muscles, but with a keen observation, this is definitely unacceptable.
A glimpse of the fake figure's tail
Close up on the fake figure's tail
The fake figure's connector slot and legs
The fake figure's semi-attached right leg
A view of the lower body from the right
If you think that the fake SCultures Golden Frieza figure’s upper body is bad, then you’ll see how worse its lower body is. If you would dare, we can start with its tail.
Primarily, the tail’s texture is so annoying that you wouldn’t touch it twice. It’s unusually rough which might be the result of cheap quality paint that was used on this bootleg. It isn’t only coated in bland gold, but it also projects a glittery coating which is alarming since cheap materials consist of harmful chemicals. So don’t be surprised if your hands get itchy if you get your hands on one of these figures — hopefully not!
The feet is no different from the tail as it’s also coupled with an inconsistent texture and a whole lot of dents. On top of that, the right foot seems dislocated from the knee opening an undesirable crevice. The lower body, generally, bumps onto the base with its tail which is also odd since there’s a lot of space for the figure.
The front of the real SCultures Golden Frieza figure box
The top portion of the real figure's box
The real SCultures Golden Frieza figure by Banpresto
Looking at the real SCultures Golden Frieza figure, a door opens up for a few more flaws of the fake — we’ll be starting with the box!
The fake figure’s box, while grabbing the original art from Banpresto, missed out on a few details as well. A Banpresto figure will obviously have its logo on the box, and as a prize figure, there will be a Craneking logo present as well. As a part of the SCultures collection, a logo of it can be found below the Craneking logo. Needless to say, the authentic box won’t be complete without a sticker from Toei Animation as they hold rights on the anime.
The real SCultures Golden Frieza figure by Banpresto
Fake VS Real of both figures
For the real SCultures Golden Frieza figure, it seems accurately painted for obvious reasons. The shading and colour are just spot-on unlike the fake which has a sloppy paint job of gold. You’ll notice that there are a lot of color details that the fake figure missed out especially the feet which are supposedly match its hands. Instead, the fake figure just sluggishly painted it most parts with a single shade.
Regardless, the real figure is definitely astonishing for its explicit details. With its clear base connector, you would feel that the figure is actually floating. How much would you be willing to spend for such a stunning figure?
PRICE
Looking at the prices above, you may think that a cheaper figure will get your wallet a sign of relief. Sure, yeah, $8 bucks won’t hurt if it’s for the sake of trashing your own collection by putting an awful piece of chipped plastic figure in it.
Although for $35, the real SCultures Golden Frieza is still affordable considering that it’s actually an investment if you’re going to collect the whole bunch of Dragon Ball Super figures from various manufacturers. Saving and waiting for the right time to buy the perfect figure is totally worth it — rather than rushing yourself to buy a despicable bootleg.
WHERE TO BUY THE REAL BANPRESTO SCULTURES GOLDEN FRIEZA FIGURE
The authentic SCultures Golden Frieza figure, although released last 2016, is still available from trusted websites. Luckily, the figure’s refreshingly stocked in Ninoma.
Relatively, the authentic figure is pretty cheap from Ninoma since we’ve a lot of prices ranging up to $45, but don’t worry, as we’ll be recommending affordable options.
While there are suspected fakes from Amazon, there are still a lot of authentic figures from the website. The key, of course, is reading through reviews and such an item with the Amazon’s Choice tag would most probably give you the confidence in buying the item.
OUR VERDICT
Nevertheless, the fake SCultures Golden Frieza figure is just full of dents and inaccurate details. Its rough surface would tell you that it isn’t made from regulated paint. As such, the fake figure may impose harmful effects when held for a long period of time — which you won’t even do since it doesn’t deserve that much appreciation.
This bootleg shouldn’t even be called a Golden Frieza since its bland color suggests that the makers wouldn’t care less about the quality. It’s absolutely an unworthy figure! Hence, the jury calls for a sentence with a 90% terrible rating.
