Identifying Counterfeits

BlockedUp

I bought a auction lot of Lego Minifigures from eBay. It was from a US seller who sold other things besides legos. I was excited to receive them in the mail today. I looked at two similar minifig that were only released in one set. I noticed under the feet, one had one leg stamped Lego and the other had no stamps under the feet. What are your thoughts?

Bobflip

It's also worth checking the top of the legs piece, there's sometimes a logo between the elongated studs.

BlockedUp

Thanks Bob flip! Yeah they both have the Lego logo there. They are both identical in every way except for the one Lego logo under only one of their feet. It's just one foot too. Color and feel are the same. Might just be something weird happened at Lego that time frame...?

boad

Also watch out for Lepin!

BlockedUp

What is Lepin?

MaffyD

^ That is a deeply philosophical question! Unfortunately, it has a very literal answer:

http://bricksetforum.com/discussion/16099/lego-fight-against-chinese-counterfeit-lego#latest

BlockedUp

okay, got it...Lepin is the rip off manufacture. Are these knock offs all marked Lepin or do they stamp Lego?

CCC

Lepin do not have any Lego marks on them.

Bobflip

BlockedUp said:

Thanks Bob flip! Yeah they both have the Lego logo there. They are both identical in every way except for the one Lego logo under only one of their feet. It's just one foot too. Color and feel are the same. Might just be something weird happened at Lego that time frame...?

I'm guessing it's just a switchover of molds during the set's lifespan. I've learnt from here that this is reasonably common!

What was the figure, out of curiosity? Might help get the time frame to confirm which molds were used. Though it's not entirely my area, people here will surely know.

Pitfall69

@BlockedUp , it would help if you would tell us which minifigures are in question. I know that The Lego Movie CMF's had only one foot "stamped" with the Lego logo and the other did not.

BlockedUp

Sorry, yeah they are the Fantasy Era Gold Knight released in 2009. I also received 2 weeping jesters in the lot making me think it was legit. Guy probably got to sets for Christmas or something...

prevere

CCC said:

Lepin do not have any Lego marks on them.

Are there any clone brands who DO put Lego stamps on parts?

Pitfall69

BlockedUp said:

Sorry, yeah they are the Fantasy Era Gold Knight released in 2009. I also received 2 weeping jesters in the lot making me think it was legit. Guy probably got to sets for Christmas or something...

Interesting. I don't think any minifigure pre-2010's had Lego stamped inside the feet. When was the last year that particular minifigure was made?

BlockedUp

2009 in only one set...

http://brickset.com/minifigs/cas415/Fantasy-Era-Gold-Knight

BlockedUp

Maybe there are two to collect of this minifig...one with foot stamp and one not stamped...which one is more rare? ???

Pitfall69

I don't get how it has Lego atamped inside to foot. I didn't think that new leg mold was made yet. The minifigure was available until mid 2010. It isn't in any other set besides Drawbridge Defense. This is a head scratcher.

BlockedUp

Check out the slight height difference (all prices are pushed together tight)...plus the curve of the legs. Could be from the mold change over...the one on the left has higher feet too. Again, obvious mold change.

BlockedUp

Could just be the angle I am looking at it...they are both pretty identical though.

BlockedUp

BlockedUp

BlockedUp

BlockedUp

May just have a rare mold change over...lol they are pretty spot on. 

BlockedUp

Other figures in the lot mix also in the draw bridge defense set...leading me to believe both are original.

TigerMoth

Pitfall69 said:

I don't think any minifigure pre-2010's had Lego stamped inside the feet.

Not so. I have a #30006 with both feet marked, another #30006 with just the left foot marked, and a #4899 with just the left foot marked. All were acquired in September / October 2009.

BlockedUp said:

May just have a rare mold change over...lol they are pretty spot on. 

With way in excess of 100 million (probably double that these days) minifigures produced every year, there is no way they haven't got more than one mould, for each of the parts, on the go at any one time in each factory.

Bobflip

prevere said:

CCC said:

Lepin do not have any Lego marks on them.

Are there any clone brands who DO put Lego stamps on parts?

Absolutely none! It's the counterfeit manufacturers that put LEGO stamps on... ;-)

Runslowalksalot

HI guys, first post here.  I'm not a collector or broker, I just like to build things with my daughter.   Due to their cost, I usually buy a "box of loose legos" from Ebay or Goodwill, and hope for the best.  While I'm not planning on selling them any time soon, I  don't like buying Chinese knockoffs.  I hate the way Goodwill not only  hides whats in the box with booklets that might have nothing to do with the sets,  but pulls the minifigs out and sells them separately, forcing one to pay a premium for them.   
     My question is 2 fold.   Is there a way to spot a counterfeit minifig in a photo, or possibly a cue based on the box's other contents that it might be.   Also Is there another Website or source you guys might recommend for someone looking for legos to play with and not necessarily for the high value pieces?
   Thanks in advance.

iamlego

I was at a comic con event in my state yesterday (RI) my question is this, there were two venders selling minifigures both advertised as Lego what scares me is they were selling just about every super hero produced how can they have hundreds of each piece without buying them in bulk from Lego.. Are the knockoffs

catwrangler

If they have hundreds of each piece I would be wary, personally. They wouldn't be buying in bulk from Lego because Lego want us to have to buy the whole expensive set to get a given figure; they make more money that way than if you could just get the likes of Captain Marvel or Maria Hill on their own. 

madforLEGO

iamlego said:

I was at a comic con event in my state yesterday (RI) my question is this, there were two venders selling minifigures both advertised as Lego what scares me is they were selling just about every super hero produced how can they have hundreds of each piece without buying them in bulk from Lego.. Are the knockoffs

I would say ask them if they are LEGO, and even go as far to look for LEGO markings on the figure.

There are vendors who have no problem selling counterfeits (trying to pass them off as 'LEGO', and typically the organizers of the shows do not seem to care.
If they were selling counterfeits, I would get their bus card (if they have one) and report them to LEGO, but that is just me.
HOWEVER,
There are those that could run a bricklink store, OR just sell off the parts and keep the figures, or buy figures from eBay and Craigslist, etc to sell. It sounds a bit wonky (as I cannot imagine they are really making enough to justify that) but it could be that as well.
I would say investigate before assuming.

Runslowalksalot said:

HI guys, first post here.  I'm not a collector or broker, I just like to build things with my daughter.   Due to their cost, I usually buy a "box of loose legos" from Ebay or Goodwill, and hope for the best.  While I'm not planning on selling them any time soon, I  don't like buying Chinese knockoffs.  I hate the way Goodwill not only  hides whats in the box with booklets that might have nothing to do with the sets,  but pulls the minifigs out and sells them separately, forcing one to pay a premium for them.   
     My question is 2 fold.   Is there a way to spot a counterfeit minifig in a photo, or possibly a cue based on the box's other contents that it might be.   Also Is there another Website or source you guys might recommend for someone looking for legos to play with and not necessarily for the high value pieces?
   Thanks in advance.

Figures seem to look a bit different (if you can get up close to look before buying) and likely will not have LEGO stamped on them anywhere. As for parts, sadly IMO there really is no great way to tell about parts by photo. Sometimes you can tell parts are inferior quality, or another manufacturer (colors look off, or if good enough you can tell LEGO is not printed on them) but with companies like lepin you have some pretty good quality and sadly more of those in the US who do not care that they are copies (one could argue illegal in the US at least) and lump them together in the LEGO bin, not unlike Megabloks, which is a legit source of bricks in the US. So Im guessing you will have a hard time, but like most folks that buy lots, you buy them to either enjoy, or part out as LEGO in which case you sit there and pick all the non-LEGO out.

nexander

iamlego said:

I was at a comic con event in my state yesterday (RI) my question is this, there were two venders selling minifigures both advertised as Lego what scares me is they were selling just about every super hero produced how can they have hundreds of each piece without buying them in bulk from Lego.. Are the knockoffs

From what I have seen there are 2 things to look at.

Do they have figs Lego don't make? Eg alternative hulk bigfigs. If so I would assume they are all fake. 

Price. Are they cheap or set price (eg 3 for 10) regardless of fig = fake. A batman minifig will never be the same price as deadpool and deadpool will never be cheap.

Tbh its more than likely they are fake but sell one or two real sets so they can say they sell Lego.

77ncaachamps

Which clone has an anchor as their stamp over their stud?

SprinkleOtter

77ncaachamps said:

Which clone has an anchor as their stamp over their stud?

Biker Bloks.

77ncaachamps

SprinkleOtter said:

77ncaachamps said:

Which clone has an anchor as their stamp over their stud?

Biker Bloks.

You... had me Google it! LOL