From Texas!

[Texas Fire]

Originally Posted by King Peter

When a 0 parasite joins in the fun, it ain't looking good

Yeah it sucks! Wish we could push for like an eBay investigation on low feedback bidders like this. Sucks, cause I was content on that $950 price tag, but this is creeping out of my wallet range now (All because of low feedback bidders). I've seen some bids get retracted, so I'm hoping like the top two or three get taken back at least...

Ok, there's another defective Amiibo on eBay. That's not tooooo surprising, however the item descriptions are too similar. Is this just a red flag in my head? Both from different locations and stuff, but I don't know now. Everything LOOKS factory sealed and authentic, but who knows. Especially in the day and age we live in with fakes/counterfeits...
Any opinions on this?









TF

[Texas Fire]

Anyone familiar on how easy or difficult it would be to stealthily open the package, alter the Samus figure to have two cannons, and then magically "Seal" it back up?
This pic is somewhat raising eyebrows for me.





I'm not a toy collector, but I do collect any and all things videogame related, hence my interest in this...

TF

[KnightOfTruth]

Originally Posted by Texas Fire

Anyone familiar on how easy or difficult it would be to stealthily open the package, alter the Samus figure to have two cannons, and then magically "Seal" it back up?
This pic is somewhat raising eyebrows for me.





I'm not a toy collector, but I do collect any and all things videogame related, hence my interest in this...

TF

Hey TF, the similarity of the two auctions does raise an eyebrow here too, but maybe someone simply copied that listing word for word as it was doing so well?

Regarding the "stealth opening" - I'm thinking it is nigh near impossible to do so... there are several videos on how to open these things with "minimal" damage to the outer packaging, but I haven't seen a single way to open it with NO damage anywhere. They all involve cutting/slicing either the cardboard below the plastic or the plastic itself. Any of the methods that actually remove enough of the plastic to get the figure out all seem to cause damage to the cardboard in some shape or form and this auction does not show any of the damage.

The BEST method (and what I'll likely use for mine) involves cutting the bottom of the plastic (the perforated part) and then using needle-nose pliers to pull out the metal disc on the bottom so at least they can be used, but that method does not leave enough room to remove the figure at all and still shows some damage. If I was a betting man, I would consider that the odds are certainly in your favor of the legitimacy of the piece. Even if there was some method for somehow removing the glue without ruining the colors, the auction was put up so soon that there wouldn't have been enough time to do so for anyone who didn't have inside-access to these.

The plain shield Link is actual the first I've heard of it (whereas the Samus one was announced on launch day or sites like Kotaku and such). So can't vouch for that.

Hope that helps you!

[Texas Fire]

Originally Posted by KnightOfTruth

Hey TF, the similarity of the two auctions does raise an eyebrow here too, but maybe someone simply copied that listing word for word as it was doing so well?

Regarding the "stealth opening" - I'm thinking it is nigh near impossible to do so... there are several videos on how to open these things with "minimal" damage to the outer packaging, but I haven't seen a single way to open it with NO damage anywhere. They all involve cutting/slicing either the cardboard below the plastic or the plastic itself. Any of the methods that actually remove enough of the plastic to get the figure out all seem to cause damage to the cardboard in some shape or form and this auction does not show any of the damage.

The BEST method (and what I'll likely use for mine) involves cutting the bottom of the plastic (the perforated part) and then using needle-nose pliers to pull out the metal disc on the bottom so at least they can be used, but that method does not leave enough room to remove the figure at all and still shows some damage. If I was a betting man, I would consider that the odds are certainly in your favor of the legitimacy of the piece. Even if there was some method for somehow removing the glue without ruining the colors, the auction was put up so soon that there wouldn't have been enough time to do so for anyone who didn't have inside-access to these.

The plain shield Link is actual the first I've heard of it (whereas the Samus one was announced on launch day or sites like Kotaku and such). So can't vouch for that.

Hope that helps you!

Thanks for the input. I'll definitely see what happens come end of this auction though. I'm still very curious as to how many of these escaped out into the public...

P.S. - The seller sent me some responses in reference to an authenticity question I had. What do you (Guys) think?








TF

[Iwatasan]

There's a matching crease/whatever on the other side too. Watch this video and tell me it couldn't be re-sealed if it was done meticulously. Note how he uses the knife to slice right up to where the creases/whatever are on the Samus figure in question.



Then again, holding my amiibo under a lamp I was able to reproduce glare in those exact spots. Ask for close up photos of where the plastic meets the card at the top two corners. With two photos (from different angles) of the same spots it should be obvious whether the creases/whatever are actually glare or something more.

[Texas Fire]

Originally Posted by Iwatasan

There's a matching crease/whatever on the other side too. Watch this video and tell me it couldn't be re-sealed if it was done meticulously. Note how he uses the knife to slice right up to where the creases/whatever are on the Samus figure in question.



Then again, holding my amiibo under a lamp I was able to reproduce glare in those exact spots. Ask for close up photos of where the plastic meets the card at the top two corners. With two photos (from different angles) of the same spots it should be obvious whether the creases/whatever are actually glare or something more.

Damn, good vid...This is raising a flag for me big time now. In your opinion, do you think it's a fake or legit?
What's the exact link to this YouTube video you just posted? I would like to share this around the web if possible...

[Iwatasan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmhRiG4cC-U

Search YouTube for opening amiibos and you'll find many more videos, but this one doesn't seem to damage any of the plastic in the process. I don't think it would be impossible to carefully cut as per the above video, and then re-glue with a light coat of super glue or something. The chances of there being some visible evidence of tampering in that case is likely pretty high though. Then there's the separate matter of modifying the Samus figure.

As far as my opinion, I'd prefer to reserve judgment until I see more photos. Cuz like I said it is still definitely possible those marks are just glare. Hold one of your amiibos under a lamp and you'll see what I'm talking about.

[Iwatasan]

Check this out:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/YOSHI-PURPLE...item1c4a1fce9b