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Modeling in General: Advice on...
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AliExpress purchasing
russamotto
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Utah, United States
Member Since: December 14, 2007
entire network: 3,389 Posts
KitMaker Network: 625 Posts
Posted: Friday, March 01, 2019 - 10:08 AM UTC
Does anyone have experience with AliExpress? They appear to have a service similar to ebay that offers a kit I am interested in. "RealTS", or Real Toys, is the vendor. The price is the best I can find online but I want to make sure it is legitimate.
retiredyank
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Arkansas, United States
Member Since: June 29, 2009
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Posted: Friday, March 01, 2019 - 10:44 AM UTC
I have ordered from them on multiple occasions and never had any problems. Sometimes, delivery takes +1 month but it does arrive. A good portion of the resin figures they sell are pirated. The kits are on the up-and-up.
russamotto
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Utah, United States
Member Since: December 14, 2007
entire network: 3,389 Posts
KitMaker Network: 625 Posts
Posted: Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 03:34 AM UTC
Thanks, Matt. I will clear it with SWMBO and order with confidence. I saw delivery was estimated at 23 days but that would give me time to prepare.
brekinapez
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Georgia, United States
Member Since: July 26, 2013
entire network: 2,272 Posts
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Posted: Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 08:26 AM UTC
Not too ashamed to admit I have bought 'alternate' market Magic the Gathering cards from Ali, and while it can take a few weeks depending on vendor location it does arrive. Kits seem legit, but Matt is right about the bulk of the resin figures. Stuff like that is very easy to copy since all they need is to cast a mold from one just the maker pretty much does in the first place. A lot harder to produce all the tooling for a plastic kit to be an effective pirate.

Sad thing about the 'alternate' Magic cards is the card stock is actually better quality than the legit cards have had the past couple of years. I buy them because the secondary market has placed certain early cards in the $1000's of dollars, and I can get these slightly off-color proxies for less than $2 each. The company's reprint policy actually created the counterfeit market they currently face.
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