Monday, March 26, 2007

the case of the bogus be@rbrick

What do Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Rolex, etc., and now, Medicom Be@rbrick, have in common?

They've all been faked!

Of the two Bloody Be@rbricks above, can you tell which is the impostor? In reality, the fake one (on the left) is much bigger (6 inches) than the original (2.6 inches). The original (on the right) is more angular, shinier, and simply better made. The hoax is made of softer plastic. And because of its rounded feet, the thing just won't stand properly.

How do I know? I have both! The fake one was a gift from a sweet, thoughtful and... clueless friend. :-D

The designer, Hiroto Komoto, toy enthusiast and lead singer of the Japanese Band High Lows, should either be fuming... or flattered! As Charles Caleb Colton said, 'Imitation is the sincerest form of...'

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey man, very good be@rbrick's blog. Thanks and please don't stop !
We're talking about you here, in France, http://altertoys.virtuaboard.com/Altertoys-news-c1/Altertoys-Asia-f9/-p34066.htm#34066

bearbricklove.com said...

Wowwowwow! Thanks, guys! I am very excited to learn that there are lots of Be@rbrick lovers in France.

I might be in Paris this April, just for a short vacation. Where are the toy shops in Paris? Please let me know – I would like to visit them. :-)

Anonymous said...

may i know what is the name of this be@rbrick?im having a hard time looking for this series.tnx.great blog.i've just started collecting be@rbricks but got a bit disappointed when i found out that the first 2 be@rbricks i had were fakes even if i bought them from american blvd in sm north.i only have 3 original be@rbricks right now. 2 basic be@rbricks-one from series 11 and the other one is yellow which i dunno to which series it belongs to, and the be@rbrick pattern series 15 which i bought from a bazaar in megamall.

bearbricklove.com said...

Talamaningning, that is the Series1 'Hiroto' Artist Bearbrick. It is very rare by now because it was originally released in 2001. Try eBay – you may still find some bears from this series there. Good luck! :-)

Anonymous said...

Hey -- love the blog! I recently bought the (legit) 400% version of this one from a shop here in Nakano and am continually floored by how cool the design really is. Totally biased as I'm also a fan of Hiroto in general, but there's a lot of graphic punch in it.

Naturally the 100% model is expensive as it's series one, but what I think is kind of funny is that the price has ballooned so much here that it's actually cheaper to buy the 400% scale MIP rather than buy the original loose. As always the funny world of collecting!