The number of Nendroid collectors in Manila is increasing, as is the number of fake Nendroids floating around on the local market. If you are a new collector, how can you tell the fakes apart from the originals? Fortunately, Good Smile Company — the manufacturer of genuine Nendroid sets, has put together a quick guide. However, the guide is in Japanese, which makes it difficult to understand for collectors with very little grasp of the language.
This post aims to help these people by providing an English translation of the Good Smile guide, as well as a quick five-point list of the most important points when trying to spot fakes. Do take note that the items on the left with the red tags are the originals, and the ones on the right with the blue tags are the fakes.
Packaging
The quality of printing on the packages of original Nendroids is generally clearer and crisper, and have more accurate colors. On the fakes, small details are either obscured (like the lace pattern on the boxes of the Death Note Nendroids) or swapped (like the borders on the picture in the Hatsune Miku Nendriod package).
Resin Quality
The lustre of the resin on original Nendroids is more matte and paler compared to the shiny, reddish, plasticky texture of the fakes. Also, on the originals the body and clothing parts are cast separately from two types of resin, giving each one a different texture. On the fakes they are cast from a single mold so they are usually a single block of cheap plastic.
Paint Job
The paint jobs are obviously more accurate and more fine-grained on originals than on the knock-offs. The colors are also closer to the catalogue pictures used by the manufacturer for advertisement purposes. The detailing on fake toys can be very sloppy and haphazard, so as soon as you spot them on a figure stay away as it is most probably fake.
Parts Fit
Swappable parts on genuine Nendroids have a good fit — not too loose as to fall apart at the slightest prodding, and not too tight as to prohibit their removal. All pegs, slots, and other crevices are smooth and cleanly cut. Lastly, there are no unsightly, oversized gaps where pieces are supposed to join together to make a whole.
Base
Although both the originals and the fakes are manufactured in China, and it says so on both the box and the base, the name of the collaborating company of the piece (for example: Crypton, Kyoto Animation, Shonen Jump, etc.) is clearly embossed on the base and not just “Made in China”.
That’s it for the translated Good Smile guide. I will also try to come up with larger photos I have taken myself, similar to the mix-style guide I posted earlier. If anybody has a pair of original and fake Nendroids of the same character, please let me know if I could please borrow them for the afternoon? Thanks guys!
All photos are from the Good Smile Company website.
JPOP Manila 
Such a big help! I’ve always wanted to get a Nendoroid but I’m not too confident buying the ones at Comic Alley. Parang iba. Thanks for this. 🙂
LikeLike
ahahahah CA — that right there should be a sign not to purchase the item >.>
LikeLike
Thanks for this. There are some Nendoroid I wanna purchase and this would really help.
LikeLike
lol if you’re getting nendos you should stick to trusted specialty stores or quality online stores like HLJ or HOBBY SEARCH.
LikeLike
Thanks! I’ve seen plenty of Nendoroid not just at CA but also in smaller toy stores in some malls. At first it was exciting to find it at such a cheap price (P500+ or so), but looking closely, I wasn’t too happy about the craftsmanship. This helps confirm my suspicions.
LikeLike
…damn,my L nendroid is a fake,so that explains why its so painted badly hehe ^_^’
LikeLike
Uhmm.. seriously Comic Alley’s Nendroid are fake.. its a good thing i didn’t buy from them.. i love Shana nendroid.. but im not really satisfied with the paint job so i thought its fake.. and it really was! Thanks for the guide and i hope that other nendroid fans could really read this!
LikeLike
my friend sent me one (actually two but I’ve noticed it the first time he sent me the first). I was a bit excited and then I’ve noticed the ‘flaws’ and thought it’s fake. The paint job felt odd, and most importantly is the fit of the swappable items as I’ve previously know that the items will fit perfectly. Then I saw the ‘made in china’ but I’ve speculated that not all made in china products are fake. I’ve known japanese people to be quite meticulous on quality so I doubted the products from Comic Alley.
LikeLike
hi guys! yes, always remember that a bad paint job is the surest sign that an item is fake. good luck and happy collecting.
LikeLike
Wow this is very helpful indeed. Last time I bought L, Kira and Ryuk nendroids. I happen to bump into a stall with a cheaper Ryuk. I compared them and the cheaper one is obviously fake by its paint job.
Our eyes may help us but with excitement upon seeing cheap ones may be quite deceiving. Geniune ones are more worth it.
LikeLike
OMG, I HAD A FAKE!!! I was tricked!! I read this too late!!! CA how dare you!!!
LikeLike
aw fake ung nabili ko sa comic alley 590 pesos p nmn 😦 syng fakeshiny ung mukha tpos ung nka upo cia lack of paint
LikeLike
DAMN YOU COMIC ALLEY !
LikeLike
ang presyo talaga ng isang nendoroid series na original is arround 3000Yen sa japan.. sa Pilipinas naman is 1600Pesos.. if ang benta ng CA is arround 1k for that fake nendoroid series then pwede po kayo magsumbong sa DTI lalo na kung ang presyo ng Original Nendoroid at Fake ay pareho..
isa pa pong tip sa mga bibili sa CA tignan nyo po yung Gold Sticker sa BOX if meron syang Gold Seal palatandaan po iyon na unique ang nabili ninyo ito po yung sample
LikeLike