Why you shouldn't buy counterfeit kits...

An artist sculpts a baby from clay and then decides whether or not to produce it in vinyl. They can do this themselves or work through someone else — the producer. In this text we call them "the artist," but that term really includes both roles.

The artist must send the clay baby safely, specially packaged, halfway around the world to have a mold made in copper and brass. That mold-making is an artisan craft in itself and comes with a price tag, because a skilled craftsman must work on it for many hours.

Although parts of the process happen in a factory, almost all the work is manual. Machines are used, but each step of turning the mold into a kit is handled by hand, one by one. The kits are also pulled from the mold one at a time, which is not easy. The environment is hot and the work is hard and time-consuming. I estimated that about 2.5 kits are produced every 12 minutes.

When the mold is ready, the artist receives a number of vinyl test pieces (for a fee) to check whether everything comes out of the mold correctly and to see where adjustments might be necessary. These are the prototypes.

The artist seeks out several reborn artists to paint and root these prototypes so prospective customers can see how a blank kit could look when finished. Then the pre-sale (pre-order) begins so the artist can estimate how many kits to produce. The usual minimum is 500 pieces.

In the pre-sale, stores that plan to sell the kit based on photos of the prototypes can estimate how popular the kit will be and that determines the production run.

The shipping costs for sending prototypes to the reborn artists are paid by the artist. Once orders are known, production starts and must be paid for in advance.

A kit from AliExpress or any other platform like Amazon or Shein does not require making the baby from clay (and you can imagine how many hours of work that is). They also don’t have to have the copper/brass mold made.

They buy a kit — just like you and me — and then make a copy of it without the maker’s permission. They even counterfeit the certificates that come with the kit.

You might say: “Yes, large companies like Nike and Puma also have counterfeit problems — that’s just how it is.”

Those mega-companies are indeed harmed, but they are so big that they have legal teams to fight counterfeiting and often insurance that allows them to take action.

Our artists, however, are usually a single person who shares their hobby with others. They invest their personal time, attention and money. They cannot know in advance whether they will make a profit or sell enough kits to recoup their investment.

Although the law gives the artist rights to protect their work, enforcing those rights is often impractical. Legal action usually costs more than the loss itself.

All of this is reflected in shop sales figures, which are falling drastically. That means production runs are getting smaller because fewer kits are sold. Some runs have shrunk from 2,000 pieces to 500. In percentage terms, kits are now almost twice as expensive because the costs remain nearly the same.

It now looks like vinyl kit production may disappear in the future because many reborners prefer to buy cheap knock-offs.

As a result, originals are becoming scarcer and more expensive, and high-quality artists have stopped producing altogether.

This trend will continue if people keep buying fakes.

You can only buy genuine kits from the artist or from a specialized reborn store anywhere in the world — not on large marketplace platforms. Only then are you assured of authenticity and originality.

There are also artists who produce with a single Chinese factory. Not all factories are the same. There is one manufacturer of vinyl kits in China that operates under Western conditions. This means that this factory does not exploit children or women, unlike many other factories in China where working conditions can be unsafe and people of all ages are pushed to work long hours for starvation wages.

This particular factory has had an excellent reputation for years.

Fortunately, we are protected by many laws against human-rights abuses. In addition, Western regions (the EU, the U.S., etc.) have safety regulations that keep toxic substances away from us and our children.

China does not always follow these same laws and regulations. There are differences in oversight — for example regarding food safety and pathogen controls — compared with Western standards.

The Chinese factory that our artists use does comply with our legal requirements, standards and values regarding normal labor practices, and therefore can do business with Western companies. Make no mistake: they are under scrutiny and must undergo regular audits.

If, after knowing all this, you still decide to buy counterfeit kits, you must realise that you are contributing to the continued decline of our hobby and actively supporting human-rights violations.

Of course everyone is free to make their own choices.

Please think about the consequences and support the artist despite the higher costs. Without them there will be no new kits!

Supporting illegal trade is a choice, too. Just because you are not prosecuted for an offence does not mean you are not committing one. Throughout the counterfeit kit chain, every link is punishable — from beginning to end. The producer and the user are both liable for the same offence, just like with drugs and similar illegal trades.