How to Identify a Recast Garage Kit

Bootleg garage kits (often called ‘recasts’) are an unavoidable part of the hobby. If you’ve searched for garage kits on marketplaces like eBay or Yahoo Auctions then you’ve probably come across them and you may have even purchased one without knowing it.

There are plenty of reasons to avoid adding recast kits to your collection, but here’s two big reasons to avoid them:

1. Don't Support Thieves
   Even if buying a recast of that 40 year old, long out-of-print garage kit seems like a victimless crime, keep in mind that big recast operations actively recast new kits. That means they’re offering bootlegs of new, otherwise available kits, and stealing from active manufacturers. 
   
   Look at any of the major recast shops (we won’t name them here for obvious reasons) around the time of big events like Wonder Festival and you’ll see a lot of kits sold at the events suddenly available for order. That’s because these operations send folks to events to purchase new kits that they can then recast.
   
   
2. Recast Quality
   A recast is what it’s named—a recasted version of a production kit. That means they’re making a new mold off an existing kit rather than the master and more often than not, quality suffers. Whether it’s recast in a different medium or it’s missing out on extras like multimedia bits or decals, or just adds a lot of flash you'll have to clean up – you're getting an inferior kit. 
   

Recasts can come in many forms. Elfin was a prominent recasting company based out of South Korea that was active in the '90s. Even with an effort on packaging quality, there are still obvious signs this is a fake: a photo as the only identifier as the kit inside, the recaster's name featured prominently with no mention of the series, character, or licensing information. Plus the assortment of different kits on the back kind of gives it away, too.

How to Spot a Recast

So how do you spot a recast and avoid buying one? We’ve compiled some of the biggest telltale signs a kit may be a bootleg. Ultimately, not all recast kits are created equal and not all of these suggestions will apply — use your best judgement and consider all the evidence before making a purchase.

Where’s it Sold From?

Sites like eBay are rife with overpriced recast kits of a low quality and many of them seem to be from sellers located in Thailand, China, or Hong Kong. This is not an indictment of those places because there are legit garage kit shops out of places like Hong Kong and recasts are sold by folks in the US and Japan, too. 

If you're looking at an online shop, pay close attention to what else they're offering. Are they selling lots of newer kits? Offering older kits for "pre-order?" Then they're probably selling recasts.

An obvious recast of a Sailor Moon kit. The photo of the completed model and the serial code with no series title, manufacturer name, or licensing details gives it away.

Another obvious recast. Notice the completed photo, serial number, and recast shop name featured prominently.

Look at the Box

The box the kit comes in will be the biggest tell if a kit is a recast. There are a lot of aspects of the box that can give it away, so consider the following:

• Look for the licensing sticker. Most garage kits produced in Japan will have some sort of licensing sticker. These are typically small (around 1/2”) and are often (but not always!) printed on a metallic paper stock. Older kits produced in large numbers by companies like Kaiyodo or Kotobukiya will typically have licensing stickers displaying the licensing company, while limited run kits sold at events like Wonder Festival will have a generic Wonder Festival kit sticker for the event it was sold at. 
  
  If there’s no licensing sticker, it may be a recast.
  
  
• Is there a label? Recasters rarely go to the extra mile of making a professional looking label. If the label is just a photo of the completed kit and a product code… it’s probably a recast.
  
  Lots of older recast kits from the ‘90s just came with a photograph (like, from a film camera) glued to the outside and no label to speak of. Rarely do recast kits mention the manufacturer or the series or property a kit comes from. Legit kits typically do.
  
  
• Compare online. Unless you’re looking at an incredibly rare event-exclusive kit from years back, there’s probably a photo of the kit available online. Compare the kit for sale with other examples online to see if they match.

Two licensed kits with obvious licensing stickers (look for the gold circles).

An example of a Wonder Festival licensing sticker, this one is from Wonder Festival Summer 2012.

Sometimes licensing stickers fade, as in the case with the one on this B-Club Metal Siren kit. Notice the outline of the licensing sticker in the lower right.

Look at the Listing

A couple things to look out for with obvious listings for bootleg kits:

• Photos of the completed kit, often at an event. Recast listings on sites like Yahoo Auctions almost always show the kit in it’s completed form, either from a magazine photo or a photo taken at an event. Ebay listings often show a photo of the completed, painted kit. This isn’t a surefire way to spot a fake, but it’s very common and a good reason to take a close look at the rest of the listing for clues. 
  
  
• No box. It’s rare to find a legit garage kit that isn’t in some sort of packaging, be it a box or plastic bag with cardboard tag on top. If the listing only shows the parts of the kit and the instructions… it’s probably a recast.

A listing from Yahoo Auctions. Notice that the primary photo is an old image from a hobby magazine and the photos of the parts don't include instructions or a box. There are other telltale signs, too: it's an older kit that was originally cast in a darker grey or beige resin, but this is cast in a light colored resin. The plastic packaging is individually partitioned, but older kits were just packaged in clear baggies stapled shut.

A likely recast kit, also from Yahoo Auctions. Notice that the first photo is from a hobby event, and photos of the pieces don't include a box or any other packaging.

An obvious recast from eBay. No box, parts in one big baggie, and a photo of the kit at an event included without any sort of proper packaging.

Use Your Head

When it comes to spotting recast kits, there’s no single rule that applies. Remember the suggestions above and use your best judgement. Consider where the kit is coming from. Consider the circumstances — is the price too good to be true? Does the seller have a lot of other kits all packaged in the same way? Recast kit manufacturers and sellers don’t put much effort into covering their tracks because they’re relying on your naïveté and their low prices to make the sale.

Do your homework and do your research before clicking “buy” and you can avoid ending up with an unsatisfactory kit.

The best way to make sure you’re getting a legitimate garage kit is to buy from a trusted seller. At garagekit.club we make sure that our used garage kits are verified and authentic and will never sell a recast kit.

If you’re looking for legitimate garage kits to buy, check out the garage kit section of our shop now to see what we’ve got in stock.