We all know it happens, we all know it is difficult to stop, but piracy is something which is constantly hitting the headlines. It is sad therefore to report on a flourishing company, as is the case of Alpine Miniatures, which has been forced to put a ''Customer Advisory'' on its webpage. The full story can be seen here:

Link to Item

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Thanks for letting us know Jim. I'll certainly keep my eyes open for any AM figures sold without the proper boxes.

Does he state which area the seller is in? I know that in my area, the local seller is an authorized retailer.

On a related note, those of you who visit Ebay on occassion can see the same thing. In the Character Figure subsection of the models, there are a lot of folks in Singapore, on other countries that are selling recast vinyl and resin figure kits. Not only is this illegal, but it is unfair to the original kit producer as they receive no royaltys from these recasts. As any sculpter will tell you, there is tremendous time, effort and sometimes cash that goes into these things. Re-casting them and selling them for your own profit is just wrong. The recasts do look very very nice, but, I for one refuse to buy them. Being as they are overseas it makes prosecution difficult. The only thing I can do is to pass the word, DONT BUY THEM!! Pass it on. "Q"

There is of course a very serious aspect to all of this which some may care to take into account...

First of all, if Alpine's business is seriously affected, then the chances are he will decide enough is enough - losing yet another producer.

Secondly, the copies are never going to be as good as the originals. Softer detail etc.

Thirdly, if the temptation is to buy them, just remember one thing. You support criminals like this, you are helping to sink people who had the creative energy to design, sculpt, and market their own creativity...

Don't be fooled by the imbecilic response 'But resin is too expensive' yes, it's expensive but it's better expensive and available from legitimate producers than not available at all...Jim

Can we see some pics of the original and the fake ones? Haven't seen item from Alpine Miniatures here in the Phil so I want to know what they look like (both orig and fake)

I agree but but simply saying that if it aint got a box its fake!!! isnt good for people like me ?
i have sold a few sets of alpine miniatures on e-bay all genuine alpine! i might add .,i just discarded the boxes to store them better, and when i decided i wouldnt need some ,i sold them on ! but re-casting is piracy, i agree and hurts all in that prticular chain ,i am a sculptor and i wouldnt like someone making a farce out of my "sweated over" creation! plus as such i have a good relationship with who ever i'm working for at the time, and do so in order for them to sell THIER Product,not for someone to produce a poor replica of it! the same thing has happened with aber etch too ,i read K.M.Y. is producing it and some still says "aber made in poland" on it! not cool!

I agree that we need to know what area, so that at least the modelling fratenity in that area can boycott this individual.

Grey sales hurt markets as much as black market sales and fakes.

If anyone needs to know what the Alpine boxes look like - it's remarkably simple. Look at Alpine's webpage....

What Taesung was saying was very straightforward, the boxes are very distinctive. If they aren't sold with the boxes, the chances are they aren't Alpine products....Jim