OMG NOOOO!!! You got a fake!? How horrible. Comes with the territory, but it doesn't mean we can't educate ourselves and band together to try to get a refund.
Please post here what store you got your Ace from and when. Also, if you got an authentic one, it might be neat to see where those came from as well.
Reference Photos:
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Things to note:
Things to look for:
*Skin: Real is more matte and lighter, fake is shiny and a different plastic altogether. Real has plastic like Grandline Men early series
*Hat: Real has matte beads on the hat, fake has shiny ones
*Hat Strap: The skull should have brown/sepia tones, not black
*Necklace: Real is lighter than the fake
*Face: Real has sepia tones and details around the eyes and mouth, fake uses none or black
*Log Pose: Real is crisp with a dot of red, fake is messy and almost half/half
*Belt Buckle: Real is crisp, with a darker red that is just a few shades more maroon than his necklace. Fake is badly done and is very red, badly painted all around.
*Pouch: Real uses a more sepia tone for shading and doesn't use as much. Fake has a lot more orange shading on it.
*Boots: Real is beautiful, with wonderful shading and great texture on the top. Fake has less texture, more orangey shading, and the distressing isn't as nice or as plentiful
*Back Whitebeard Tattoo: Real is crisp, and a lighter purple. Seems smaller than the fake as well.
*Dagger: Real is crisp and well painted, fake is messy.
*Belt: Belt on the real one is a more shaded orange, the fake is more of a plain orange color (the part that's connected to his pants, in the belt loops holding his pants up)
*Right arm: Real has better glue, and the place where both parts meet looks much more clean and less noticeable than on the fake.
I hope this helps anyone in doubt. I purchased mine from Play-Asia in April, 2010, and it was shipped in December the same year. I am an avid Arlong Park Collectibles Forum member and there are reports that others have gotten fakes in the December batch. Play-Asia has restocked these figures a few times. Play-Asia currently just got a restock AGAIN, this month, being June 2011.
I have contacted Play-Asia, I will see what they say. At this point I expect a full refund of all charges.
A special thanks to Sensui for alerting me to the fakes probably over 2-3 months ago. Also thanks to One_Up who finally made me get curious and open one of my fakes, and the forum members on IRC who bugged me to take photos.
**THE LIST
Maggie**: 1x authentic purchased the week of release from Mandarake, 2x fake from Play-Asia purchased in April, shipped in December 2010, 3x Authentic from NCSX
Elisaheart: 1x fake from Ibuyxyz, 1x real from Ebay (seller?)
SieteFleur: 1x Play-Asia placed the order in April, 2010 (received the confirmation e-mail April 26, 2010) and it was shipped out to me on December 1, 2010.