Monday, October 15, 2007

the real spidey saves the day!

News Flash: Real Spiderman Be@rbrick (right) finally arrived to save would-be buyers of the fake Spidey (left).

News Flashback: (June 2007) A reader wrote me to say how happy he was with his brand new Spiderman Be@rbrick which he snatched up in Singapore. But routine investigation proved there existed no such Marvel-licensed bear at the time. (In fact, the real one was released only last September 2007.)

In the end, I took the burden of telling him that his prized acquisition was a fake. The bad news left him very distraught – I felt it in his e-mail. Couldn't blame him – it was the very first Be@rbrick that he bought! :-(

Postscript: The fake Spidey is not only available in retail stores around Asia, it is also traded online – I've seen a lot on eBay. Consider yourself warned!

Related Stories: The Case Of The Bogus Be@rbrick / Part 1 & Part 2.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fake merchandise? No way. That is messed up. Great photo of the spiderman influenced item. Lots of fake merchandise comes from other countries and many are crafted so well that they appear to be the real thing.

bearbricklove.com said...

Yup, that is why I am trying to inform toy collectors of the existence of these counterfeit Bearbricks. Thanks for dropping by, Nicole! :-)

Watergirl said...

Do any of the fake ones have those holes in the feet? I noticed that other than proportion of head to body, shoulder and arm details, er pelvis? hinges, there are the holes on the feet.

bearbricklove.com said...

You've got it, Mila! That's a very distinguishing feature. I don't know what its function is, though... :-)

Anonymous said...

i don't know how so many people voluntarily fall for it. its not like a pair of sneakers, with a bearbrick its so obvious which is fake and which isn't.

bearbricklove.com said...

Hi, Jake, the people I know who bought the fake ones are mostly non-collectors of Bearbricks who have never seen a real one prior to their purchase of the fake – they simply didn't know any better.

Thanks for visiting Bearbrick Love. :-)

Anonymous said...

ah, well that's fair enough. my mum bought me a keyring she thought was a bearbrick in new zealand. the thought was definately there. :)

ps have been reading your blog for almost a year now, just this was the first time i commented. keep up the good work!

bearbricklove.com said...

Yes, you definitely can't fault such thoughfulness. Thanks for your compliment, Jake – it's been my pleasure from the beginning... :-)