darkSpyro

Quote: melvimbe

It bothers me that people seem to assume that the seller has malicious intent, to mislead the customer into thinking they are buying something they are not. I don't see that.

While I do not agree about the sellers intent, let's move on quickly to the other point here. This isn't just abut the seller, but also about the buyer. These "custom" figures are going to end up in one of two places. 1) In the hands of a collector who purchased it because of the cost prohibitive nature of the legitimate figure. Or 2) In the hands of someone who will try to re-sell it at an inflated price by trying to pass it off as a legitimate figure.

While there is no harm with scenario #1, scenario #2 leads to many problems. The FACT that once these leave the original sellers hands, there is no guarantee that they will be labeled as custom in future sales. The FACT that because these are now on the open market, and no one knows where they end up, the entire translucent variant market will be jaded by possible fakes. No one will know if any green figure is real or not. Not to mention any possible future or past translucent variants. If he has made green versions, what is stopping him from making red, clear, blue, or any other color that may come out? We know he has the ability to mold, repack, and tint the resin to the needed color. It is just a matter of desire now.

"The FACT that once these leave the original sellers hands, there is no guarantee that they will be labeled as custom in future sales. The FACT that because these are now on the open market, and no one knows where they end up, the entire translucent variant market will be jaded by possible fakes. No one will know if any green figure is real or not."

Exactly, Siowm6. Unfortunately, there are a bunch of short-sighted people in the community here who will step-up and defend Skylanderex with statements like, "What happens to the replica/fake after the sale isn't his [the seller's] problem!!"

Skylanderex could have made ANY color Skylanders ... but he chose to make these the exact (or nearly exact) same color as an authentic line of rare chase variant Skylanders ... and then sell them. Too many users here fail to realize that the release of high-quality replica/fakes into the marketplace cheapens the entire Skylanders franchise and cheapens the value of all our personal collections, too. Furthermore, it threatens the value and credibility of ALL Skylanders collectors. Once the general consumer base (outside of DarkSpyro) gets wind that fans are able to replicate and sell counterfeit Skylanders on eBay, there will be big-time backlash (relatively speaking). Those of you that treasure your personal collections of clear SSA figures (among others), you really need to recognize that your "precious" variants could become worthless if enough high-quality replica/fakes get introduced into the marketplace.

Totally agrree siowm6.

Quote: TheLurk

I find it very interesting how much more effective your argument of inconsistency fits you yourself. It's terrible if it's an image used for an avatar, even the site itself must be used to make some shady profit, but somehow, a guy making a remarkably close facsimile to an original down to using the original packaging is totes legit!

Except for the part where I said this possibly wasn't legal. But you missed that part, because it makes your argument so much more difficult.

What I'm saying is that it isn't a clear-cut case as some folks try and make it out to be.

Again, dude took an original figure that he paid for and modified it. The core issue isn't that he put it back in the package or that it looks like an existing variant... it's that he made the "figure" - but to what extent did he "make" it? The Base and the RFID chip are the real, legitimate product, after all.

Quote: BahamutBreaker

Those of you that treasure your personal collections of clear SSA figures (among others), you really need to recognize that your "precious" variants could become worthless if enough high-quality replica/fakes get introduced into the marketplace.

This is exactly where I was trying to point. The WERDS, and Blue Bash would be too low of a profit to make it worth the time. So I am glad you narrowed it down after my generality. But to take it further (expand on your "among others" point), All the S:SA clears, clear Whirlwind, and good luck to all that try to buy a red Camo if it turns out to be real. I would be willing to bet that both are now actively being worked on at this time by less than legitimate sources.

But why not take this further. What is stopping him at clears? Why not go for the GITD version too? That opens up a whole group of figures as well. All it would take is desire and know how...

Edit:
The question here is, what one is the fake one, and which ones are the real ones? Take your guess...

#1)
#2)
#3)

It's impossible to tell, since those images are all of different quality/lighting.

Quote: Matteomax

It's impossible to tell, since those images are all of different quality/lighting.

That is the point... So how is one supposed to know if an item is legit or not based of the color of the item in the future. Thank you for proving my point right off the bat.

Sounds like a good reason not to spend hundreds of dollars on a little plastic toy in the first place.

Quote: UncleBob

Sounds like a good reason not to spend hundreds of dollars on a little plastic toy in the first place.

Forget hundreds. People pay tens of THOUSANDS of dollars for toys.

Quote: siowm6

Quote: melvimbe

It bothers me that people seem to assume that the seller has malicious intent, to mislead the customer into thinking they are buying something they are not. I don't see that.

While I do not agree about the sellers intent, let's move on quickly to the other point here. This isn't just abut the seller, but also about the buyer. These "custom" figures are going to end up in one of two places. 1) In the hands of a collector who purchased it because of the cost prohibitive nature of the legitimate figure. Or 2) In the hands of someone who will try to re-sell it at an inflated price by trying to pass it off as a legitimate figure.

I'm just not going to assume that some stranger, whether it be the creator or some future seller is going to do something malicious with it. Yes, it's possible. But I don't feel it's probable. I also don't feel like these 2 figures are going to destroy the whole market all on there own.

Quote: siowm6

While there is no harm with scenario #1, scenario #2 leads to many problems. The FACT that once these leave the original sellers hands, there is no guarantee that they will be labeled as custom in future sales. The FACT that because these are now on the open market, and no one knows where they end up, the entire translucent variant market will be jaded by possible fakes. No one will know if any green figure is real or not. Not to mention any possible future or past translucent variants. If he has made green versions, what is stopping him from making red, clear, blue, or any other color that may come out? We know he has the ability to mold, repack, and tint the resin to the needed color. It is just a matter of desire now.

I don't think the sky isn't falling. If someone were stupid enough to try and resell this as an actual variant, there is a high chance they get caught. It's in the box, but it's been opened. A buyer is going to see that. The figure is not an exact copy. As stated, it has imperfections in it that won't be found on the real deal. And the market is already jaded by possible fakes, that didn't start with these 2 figures. Any buyer should know that fakes could exist (they certainly do for other expensive/rare/collector items) and should watch out for them.

And I don't understand your point about skylanderex now having the knowledge to make customs that look like variants. Because he knows, he's dangerous? Are you suggesting something be done about that? If he does start creating these figures in mass, I agree that it's a problem. He hasn't. It's not a crime to have the potential to commit a crime. And are short there are 1000s out there that are also capable of creating figures like these if they had the desire.

I can understand why you think my viewpoint is short sided, and that's fine. I don't think we're going to agree on that. However, I'd be shocked if 6 months now, the market is flooded with enough fakes that the values are destroyed. I doubt even further that we'd be able to point back to these 2 figures as the beginning of the end.

Quote: Matteomax

Quote: UncleBob

Sounds like a good reason not to spend hundreds of dollars on a little plastic toy in the first place.

Forget hundreds. People pay tens of THOUSANDS of dollars for toys.

This sums that statement up.

Quote: UncleBob

Except for the part where I said this possibly wasn't legal. But you missed that part, because it makes your argument so much more difficult.

What I'm saying is that it isn't a clear-cut case as some folks try and make it out to be.

Again, dude took an original figure that he paid for and modified it. The core issue isn't that he put it back in the package or that it looks like an existing variant... it's that he made the "figure" - but to what extent did he "make" it? The Base and the RFID chip are the real, legitimate product, after all.

You've mostly been saying "it's fine", "who cares", and "there's nothing wrong with it". That's why I figured you felt it wasn't illegal and that you might have only said it "might not be legal" because you want to cover yourself for the "remote" possibility, just in case. Not to mention, you've been the biggest and most vocal of his supporters for his actions in this thread.

If what he's doing is legal, why are none of his supporters asking Activision to step up and support him? Are his customs proudly displayed on the Skylander website, stating they are "customs", and showing them in the original packaging like the ebay picture? Or explaining happily to the fans on there how to make their own customs, open a sealed box without damaging it and putting it back on so it looks unopened? And yet, I haven't seen this occur. Maybe I just missed that one.

Or maybe, just maybe, it's illegal and he knows it. I call on him to "put his or his fans' money where his mouth is" so to speak. I dare him to actually prove that it's "fine" by posting the ebay pic of the resealed in box "custom" and proclaim to all Skylander fans that it is his custom, explain exactly how he made it, the fact that he resealed it in an original box, and also he sold it this way. If he's legit and all, Activision will be cool with it.

If you are so sure they're illegal, why aren't you asking Activision to speak out on the illegality of it?

The rest of your argument is half strawman, half ignorance.

You want to know how he did it, etc., etc? Go read the customs thread on this very forum. He pretty much details the process of making the figure.

PS: Want to know how to open a Skylanders package and reseal it (or anything inside of it) without damaging it and without it looking obvious it's been opened?

Put the figure in the freezer for about ten minutes. Tug on it. Many will pop right off. You might need to repeat this process and put a little more 'pull' on them.

To seal it back up, take some clothespins, a small paint brush and some clear school glue (Elmer's is my suggestion). Squeeze some of the glue out on a scrap piece of paper, dip the brush in it so you get just a tiny amount (you might "paint" the scrap paper a bit to get some of the extra out of the brush). Now, paint the glue onto the plastic bubble, where it meets the cardboard backer. Make sure you use a super-thin layer. Go around all four sides of the plastic. Now, line the bubble up with the card and use the clothespins (one on the left bottom, right bottom, then two across the top, one from the right, one from the left) and leave it to dry.)

I'm curious - for those who are 100% convinced that this is illegal...

Let's say he took an S1 Boomer, stripped the paint off of him, repainted him silver, then resealed him in the package and sold it as a custom.

There'd be no replicating of a figure, since there's mold creating, etc., etc. It's all 100% real parts.

Would *that* be illegal, in your opinion?

It doesn't matter what he does to the figures. He's still profiting from Activision's label without permission.

At least in Japan, there's definitive proof it's illegal to sell custom variants and it may land you in jail to buy or sell them. http://kotaku.com/5738494/do-n...ill-lock-you-up

You want more proof? Ask a lawyer: http://www.lawqa.com/qa/if-i-h...s-and-trademark

It doesn't really matter what we think about it though, because it's up to Acti to pursue it. If they choose not to because it's small potatoes, oh well. http://www.wired.com/culture/a...currentPage=all I think his Santa version of Fright Rider looks pretty cool. heh

By that logic, every single reseller on eBay is profiting from Activision's label without permission. Luckily, we are under "First-sale doctrine" here, one of the traditional safety valves that work hand-in-hand with copyright law to protect both copyright holders and consumers. Basically, you don't need to get permission from a copyright holder to resell a product that you've legally purchased.

Regarding the Kotaku article and this topic, the major difference is that the original figure wasn't based off of a Kamen Rider figure. With the Silver Boomer example, it'd be more akin to repainting your car, then being told you can't sell it because it's not the factory original color.
W/R/T the custom Green variants... this is where it gets interesting and why I said I'd love to see a court case on it. Since he's using the original parts from the original figure and only customizing part of it, I can see how it could go either way.

Except if I buy a legit figure and resell it, I am not taking credit for making it. Whereas, in this example, a seller is taking credit for re-making Skylander figures. If you repainted a figure and sold it, you'd be claiming credit for making a unique and custom variant.

Unlike repainting a car, changing an action figure's look (color and/or pose) changes the figure itself and its value to collectors. More unique items are worth more.

Another question posed here was, how to spot a fake variant from a real one? A better question might be, if these custom variants were labeled as "artwork" and signed by the creator - would they be more palatable? Would it still be an illegal copyright violation?

Because in my mind, that would distinguish them more readily as custom work, and in fact, would make them worth even more than chase variants, especially if they're produced in very limited quantities and numbered/signed like artwork.

Quote: UncleBob

By that logic, every single reseller on eBay is profiting from Activision's label without permission. Luckily, we are under "First-sale doctrine" here, one of the traditional safety valves that work hand-in-hand with copyright law to protect both copyright holders and consumers. Basically, you don't need to get permission from a copyright holder to resell a product that you've legally purchased.

I was under that impression too UncleBob and listed original Dell Windows installation disks on eBay for sale only to have them removed because Dell/Microsoft told them too. Why ? i bought them legally and was the rightful owner of them.

Krush, that's not a problem with Microsoft or dell. It's with Ebay.

Quote:

Original equipment manufacturer (OEM), bundled, or recovery software, is included with the purchase of new computer hardware. It is eBay policy that sellers can't list these types of software unless they are selling it with the original hardware.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/software.html

What he said. Illegal isn't eBay policy. Example, I can't sell BB pellets on eBay, but they're not illegal to sell.

Quote: Concept

Except if I buy a legit figure and resell it, I am not taking credit for making it. Whereas, in this example, a seller is taking credit for re-making Skylander figures. If you repainted a figure and sold it, you'd be claiming credit for making a unique and custom variant.

If I bought a '53 Chevy Bel Air and restored it, are you saying that I can't take the credit for the restoration work I put into it?

Quote:

Unlike repainting a car, changing an action figure's look (color and/or pose) changes the figure itself and its value to collectors. More unique items are worth more.

A) The law doesn't really make special provisions for "collectable" items.
Cars are collectable and changing the color of the car can change the value of the car to a perspective buyer. Seriously, paint your car flamin' hot pink with snakes, blood and skulls on it. While you might get a few prospective offers, you'd probably get more money if you painted it a solid, more neutral color like red, black or white.

Quote:

Another question posed here was, how to spot a fake variant from a real one? A better question might be, if these custom variants were labeled as "artwork" and signed by the creator - would they be more palatable? Would it still be an illegal copyright violation?

Of course, that doesn't help if the figure is opened... But, more to your point, wouldn't signing it be *more* of the individual who did the customization trying to take credit for the work?

I'm not entirely sure who it was that created customs but I think I know. Anyways if it's who I think it was he never meant any harm and I would like to ask that we forgive him for that. I do have to ask though, is it ok to make them and post pictures? Because I would sure hope that's not illegal.

Ninja9351 -- it's perfectly OK to create custom figures (even replicas) for one's own personal use, or to give to friends as gifts. It's perfectly OK to share pics of them here on the forums, too.

What is NOT OK is selling replica/fake Skylanders in a public marketplace, such as eBay. This is especially true when the replica/fake is an exact or near-exact imitation of an authentic rare Skylander, re-packaged in the authentic original Skylanders retail packaging. I personally can not believe that Skylanderex hasn't been ashamed or respectful enough to remove the eBay listing after all the discord here. Money talks, I guess. Whether his intentions originally were benign or not is irrelevant at this point. To be honest, since everyone knows it's his item being sold on eBay right now, technically his photos in the "CUSTOM FIGURES" thread are advertising ... and therefore disallowed on this website. I doubt the Moderators will do anything about it, though, because at least one of them is hiding an undisclosed relationship with Skylanderex.

Really shady and political and hypocritical, in my opinion.

To once again correct some misinformation - *if* making a custom figure (to whatever extent) were to be illegal due to copyright, then no, you cannot give them as gifts to friends. That would be distribution. It doesn't matter if you do it for free or you charge for it, distribution is distribution.

It helps a lot to have the slightest clue what you're talking about.

I'd also like to point out that Matteomax, the moderator that keeps getting slammed in this thread is NOT a moderator on the Skylanders forum and, therefore, cannot delete or edit posts here.

I really don't get the modding here. This site isn't THAT huge that it warrants islands of moderation. If promoted to moderating they should be able to employ the required actions, period. King Dark Spyro can rule them all.

It is weird, I'll agree.

I just had a morbid thought.

What if someone made a custom variant, repackaged it, and planted it in a store for someone else to "discover"?

Or what if they made 50 of them and sent them to people to distribute them all across the country to make the hoax seem more real?

Sounds like a lot of effort for nothing

Why does anybody care? As long as you aren't the ones buying these then it doesn't matter. You won't be able to shut down all sellers nor is it your job to do so. Let ebay or activision handle it.

Quote: P1anet Fun

Why does anybody care? As long as you aren't the ones buying these then it doesn't matter. You won't be able to shut down all sellers nor is it your job to do so. Let ebay or activision handle it.

No way.
If the Seller of this item is an active member of these forums and community, then he is dragging ALL of our reputations down by selling this counterfeit/replica/fake variant. The part that's really irksome is that at least one staff Moderator here (and possibly more than one) is doing absolutely everything within his (or their) power to prevent people from reporting the Seller to eBay. I could start a short novel with all the posts related to this counterfeit/replica/fake that have been removed by the Moderators over the past 72 hours.I think the entire community deserves an explanation on that from whichever Moderator (or Moderators) is doing that.

The eBay bid price for this counterfeit/replica/fake is now up over $105 with 18 hours or so left on the auction. Considering that the actual authentic green Chop Chop variants are selling for $165-$225 on eBay, I think it's safe to say that bidders are being deceived by this counterfeit/replica/fake, no matter how many times the Seller writes, "this isn't real!!" in the footnotes.

To any of ya'll that believe this isn't a big deal and that it's harmless or whatever, I predict that you will be sorely mistaken in the future. If this sale of the fake/replica goes through for triple-digit dollars, with the staff of this well-known fan-site basically turning its head the other direction with willful indifference ... it's probably going to open-up a deluge of Skylanders counterfeiting. Money is too strong of a draw. If quality fakes rake hundreds of dollars, people will start making plenty of fakes. And once that happens, the value of the rare Skylanders in the collections of people on this board will precipitously drop.

Am I being too dramatic or pessimistic about that? Perhaps, but I don't think so. The real question here is: do you really want to take that chance??
Given the "investments" and expenditures of some of the more aggressive collectors on this forum, I can not believe that you all are not taking a MUCH firmer stance against Skylanderex's eBay sale.
You're shooting yourselves in the feet, and instead of condemning Skylanderex, who is loading the proverbial gun for you in this case, you're condemning me for alerting you to the fact that you're aiming the gun at your own feet.

I get that many members of the forum dislike me. That's fine, really. But that's not what's important here, and that sure as heck shouldn't be the rationale you use when deciding if Skylanderex's fakes/replicas on eBay will have ramifications on the credibility of this community, the value of the Skylanders franchise, and the value of your personal collections.

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: GhostRoaster

Quote: UncleBob

I, personally, don't see a problem with the "repacking" of it. Custom figure creators do that ALL THE TIME. It makes the figures look nicer. Period. Making the figure look nice is the whole point of customizing them.

So, if I go to torrent sites and download movies I should be paying for, does that make it all right since people do that ALL THE TIME?

Tongue in cheek comment, but people do bad things all the time. Doesn't make it right.

Continue gang. I'm out of this one.

I missed this post, but to answer - two sides to this...

A.) Legally - Once I purchase something, package included, I should be able to sell that item. If I want to repackage a turd inside of a Skylanders package, then it's not illegal in any way, shape or form (although mailing it would be an issue).

B.) Morally - So long as the person doing it makes it clear that it's not original, as I stated before, I have no issue with it. I enjoy a nice looking product package - it's a part of the charm (I broke down and bought the NES edition GBASP based off the nostalgic package alone).

In response to A.) Repackaging:

Actually, this is just is indefensible as using images as avatars. A company can readily claim that doing so negatively impacts the representation of its products by presenting an infrerior product (be it a fecal specimen or a custom fig) as if it were an original product.

Once again, it is like the avatar example with respect to the issue often being more effort than it is worth for the company (especially in terms of bad flow-on PR from doing so) but that does not mean the the company does not have to right to do so.

I don't think the sky isn't falling. If someone were stupid enough to try and resell this as an actual variant, there is a high chance they get caught. It's in the box, but it's been opened. A buyer is going to see that. The figure is not an exact copy. As stated, it has imperfections in it that won't be found on the real deal. And the market is already jaded by possible fakes, that didn't start with these 2 figures. Any buyer should know that fakes could exist (they certainly do for other expensive/rare/collector items) and should watch out for them.

I feel that the truth is somewhere in between - the sky is not falling but let us also consider a couple of aspects:

1/. It is not difficult to open packaging and reseal it in such a way that it is non-trivial to see that it had been opened.

2/. As I have mentioned prior, reproducing a translucent figurine is exceptionally more intensive than painting one a different colour (such as gold). Hence, the average consumer is far less likely to expect a possible fake when evaluating one.

Quote: chaosworrier

Actually, this is just is indefensible as using images as avatars. A company can readily claim that doing so negatively impacts the representation of its products by presenting an infrerior product (be it a fecal specimen or a custom fig) as if it were an original product.

It'd be a tough sell, legally... Even more so in a case where someone isn't selling it as a representation of an official product.

Curious as to what your thought would be - if I took a package, removed the figure, then resealed the empty package and sold that on eBay...

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: chaosworrier

Actually, this is just is indefensible as using images as avatars. A company can readily claim that doing so negatively impacts the representation of its products by presenting an infrerior product (be it a fecal specimen or a custom fig) as if it were an original product.

It'd be a tough sell, legally... Even more so in a case where someone isn't selling it as a representation of an official product.

Curious as to what your thought would be - if I took a package, removed the figure, then resealed the empty package and sold that on eBay...

People sometimes sell boxes for video game consoles, clearly say it's just the box, and get buyers angry because they thought they were buying a console.

http://www.escapistmagazine.co...box-One-on-eBay
Here's a related article, actually. Though there's very little information on the actual listing.

Quote: UncleBob

Curious as to what your thought would be - if I took a package, removed the figure, then resealed the empty package and sold that on eBay...

UncleBob, what you're describing is not counterfeiting. It is not a replica, either. You'd just be selling an empty box.

The eBay listing being discussed here (Counterfeit/Replica/Fake green Chop Chop variant) absolutely IS a replica item. By eBay's standards and definitions, a replica item is essentially the exact same thing as a "knock off" item or a counterfeit item. If you don't believe me, just check eBay's published customer support files regarding counterfeiting and replicas.

"If an item has a company's name or logo on it, but it wasn't made or endorsed by the company, it's not allowed on eBay."

"We don't allow replicas, counterfeit items, or unauthorized copies to be listed on eBay."

"It's illegal to sell counterfeit or fakes of any product. In order to comply with the law, we don't allow these items to be offered on eBay."

I think all those that have brought this concern to light should take solace in knowing that there has been 3 bidders likely educated from this thread and have had their bids removed from the "fake green chop chop" auction.

Quote: Krush_Hour

I think all those that have brought this concern to light should take solace in knowing that there has been 3 bidders likely educated from this thread and have had their bids removed from the "fake green chop chop" auction.

I was just coming in here to post about the bid retractions as well. It's all the higher value bids too.

In my opinion...I think the buyers probably didn't read it carefully enough to know it was a custom. They probably just saw the picture. The seller represented the item as a custom openly in the text. From a personal point, I disagree with selling a custom in the original packaging. I think it's shady (even if that is not the seller's intent). I think how people customize these figures is pretty awesome, but don't like the idea of putting it back in original packaging and then trying to sell it.

So, there's no issue with reselling a package. Cool.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Skyland...8875affa&_uhb=1

Just want to point out this one, which is another "Custom" of a Dev Team Fire Kraken.

Quote: Reimu

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Skyland...8875affa&_uhb=1

Just want to point out this one, which is another "Custom" of a Dev Team Fire Kraken.

Which also looks more bronze than gold. Fail.

Quote: UncleBob

So, there's no issue with reselling a package. Cool.

An empty package? Aye, no problem there.

A package that contains a near-identical 'knock-off"/replica/counterfeit? No, that's a huge problem.

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: chaosworrier

Actually, this is just is indefensible as using images as avatars. A company can readily claim that doing so negatively impacts the representation of its products by presenting an infrerior product (be it a fecal specimen or a custom fig) as if it were an original product.

It'd be a tough sell, legally... Even more so in a case where someone isn't selling it as a representation of an official product.

Curious as to what your thought would be - if I took a package, removed the figure, then resealed the empty package and sold that on eBay...

It is actually an easy "sell" as the person consciously placed an item in the packaging, resealed it and tried to resell it. They chose those actions.

Legal intent is not defined as intent to actually cause the deed but consciously performing actions which lead up to it.

Okay, Devil's advocate time...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skylan...=item3cd982814d

Same seller, an item repackaged but now an item quite obviously a custom.

Kosher or not?

I say no as it is still re-packaged. Sure, it keeps it dust free but there are other ways of achieving that.

I still disagree - as the seller also very clearly labeled the auction in multiple places. But we've been over that.

Next question - if I bought a figure, broke the character from the base, then resealed the base/RFID chip in the original package and sold it... legal or illegal?

Illegal? I don't think so.

Misrepresentative to the manufacturer? Yes. Doing this makes the manufacturer look like they have (even more) lack of quality control. I expect that if a person did this repeatedly, there would be a cease and desist order instigated.

C&D means nothing if there's no legal teeth behind it.

Many folks seem to be hung up on the idea that he's repackaged the figure and that someone else could resell it as an authentic variant later. If he sold the figure outside of a package, couldn't someone buy it, buy a new one off the shelf, then swap 'em? What would the difference be?

Quote: UncleBob

C&D means nothing if there's no legal teeth behind it.

Many folks seem to be hung up on the idea that he's repackaged the figure and that someone else could resell it as an authentic variant later. If he sold the figure outside of a package, couldn't someone buy it, buy a new one off the shelf, then swap 'em? What would the difference be?

C&D is merely the polite start.

As for your next example in a long line of strawmen, if someone else re-packages then the onus is on them, not the original customiser. Of course, if the customiser made a custom which looks the same as an authentic variant, then they are still producing a replica but at least the replica has more limited appeal/saleability when not packaged.

C&Ds are sent out all the time. Heck, I can send you a C&D telling you to stop using the letter "u". Our legal system is awesome (heh) that way.

So, if someone else repackages the figure and tries to pass it as authentic, then it's on that someone else.

But if someone else buys the repackaged figure and *then* tries to pass it as authentic, then it's on the customizer?

It seems like you're hung up on the fact that it's repackaged (which is the *easiest* part of this whole equation). But you say it wouldn't be illegal to sell a re-sealed empty package or a re-sealed package with a purposely broken figure inside. Interesting.

BahamutBreaker is completely right on this matter. Especially when it comes to a certain green fake that has been resealed. If you make a fake version of an actual chase variant it should not be sold on ebay in any capacity sealed or not. If you make a custom that is unique and doesn't not look at all similar to an actual "real" variant I do not see a problem with it being sold on ebay as long as it is not resealed.

You're dealing with two completely separate legal issues here.

First, Copyright Infringement. This would be up to the copyright holder (Activision) to enforce. There are three possible situations here:

• Creating a custom figure of a character using parts of an existing version of that character.
  
• Creating a custom figure of a character that *looks* like another existing version of that character using parts of another existing version of that character.
  
• Resealing a modified figure into the original packaging.
  

Now, I'm not familiar with any court cases in the US based off of any of these three situations... but I'd be surprised. Personally, I don't think the courts would see much of a difference between the first and the second - it would just come down to the fact it was a custom figure in and of itself. As far as the third one, I think it's a reach to say putting a modified figure into a package would be considered illegal. To what extent would the modifications be okay? What if I opened the figure, played with it in the game, leveling it up, then resealed it? I still modified the original figure. I would be surprised if the courts would rule against someone on this (and, again, encourage anyone to cite existing US cases where this has come up).

It is my (admittedly, I am no expert and do not purport to be, thus wouldn't be on here accusing people I don't know of crimes based off of a complete lack of legal understanding) opinion that each of these three things would be okay. Many folks here, who are against this particular case, seem to agree with one or more of these same points, but seem to reach a different conclusion about this particular case.

*Now* - the thing that I question is the *process* by which the custom figure was created, as you *are* creating a second figure... although, only partially. Since it uses significant parts of the original figure in the final product, I feel that this could go either way. And, as I said, I'd be interested in seeing a court case on this.

The second legal issue would be Intent to Defraud - if the seller was trying to pass off the figure as a legitimate variant (regardless if there was an existing version of this or not), then the seller would run into issues. However, the descriptions of the auction, along with the claims that the seller is contacting bidders to make sure they're aware of what they're bidding on, I believe he is doing due diligence in communicating that the figure is a custom figure, and this is not defrauding anyone.

All this aside, there are several possible "moral" issues surrounding this. That's a whole different ball of wax.

^Nice and factual summary