WHILE The Force Awakens for Star Wars fans across the globe this Christmas, some children may be in for a stocking full of dangerous counterfeit action figures. Cashing in on the popularity of major movie franchises, dodgy retailers are flogging cheap rubbish to unsuspecting parents with no regard to safety standards..au found them awash with knock off Star Wars, Lego, Avengers, Minecraft, Superman, Pokemon, Nintendo, and Disney products.Some of the fakes are quite convincing, like the Avengers Lego sets pictured above, featuring the The Hulk, Iron Man and Captain America. The packaging is shiny and they really look the part at first glance, but look a little closer at the logo. That’s not LEGO, it’s “LEBQ”.In other cases, it’s the details inside the packaging that are off.These “Space Wars” figures may have copied the Star Wars images and used the same font, but any fan will notice that they also for some reason have C3PO riding on a decidedly non-canon skateboard.Likewise these “Justice Fighters” action figures have a familiar Teenage Mutant vibe.
And while every 8-year-old on the playground will tell you at a glance that they seem a bit naff, they could also prove to be dangerous.“Counterfeits are getting more sophisticated,” says Tom Godfrey, from consumer advocacy group CHOICE. “So in some cases the toys may well look good from the outside, but what we find is that they won’t meet any of the safety standards. Genuine toys will have all the materials tested, all using the types of plastic that are known to be safe. Counterfeit goods haven’t gone through any of these tests, and so they won’t have an approved mark on the back showing the suitable age range for the product.”This squad of fake super heroes may have been lost in translation when they boldly claim to be “The Best Welcome Gifts For The Children”, whatever that means. They also appear to contain small sharp toothpick sized weapons that may breach safety rules. “Genuine toys go through drop testing,” says Tom, “to see if it’s possible for them to splinter into small pieces, and then a sharps test to check if any of the items pose a danger.
These requirements change by age, so you’d be looking at whether a small child can take a piece off and put it in their mouth. Counterfeit toys haven’t been put through any of this, so they’re really taking a child’s life into their hands.”So what should you do if you’ve been stung? “If you think you’ve been duped or something isn’t as described,” says Tom, ”take it back to the shop as a first port of call. You can also report it to the office of Fair Trading. Certainly price can be a good guide as to whether something is the genuine article.”So how should you make sure you’re getting real deal? We asked Hal Rosenburg, the owner of Just Collectables, Melbourne’s top genuine action figure shop for over 20 years. “The key thing is to buy from people that are reputable, places that you know and trust” says Hal, “in terms of the boxes you just gotta have a feel for it ... looking for insignia that’s wrong or something that’s missing. In my book it’s also the experience, the way it feels and smells.”“
If you do need to buy something from a website,” says Hal, “you want to look at how complete the descriptions are, and the level of communication. If you see something on eBay that’s listed as just a loose figure in a bag, you don’t always know what you’re going to get.”In terms of making payment, says Hal, “make sure you use PayPal because you’ve got a layer of protection there. What they do is automatically hold your payment for a period of time so you have recourse straight away if something isn’t right and you can get your money back.”Thrones LegosGame Of ThronesBootleg GameSale BootlegStuff RussFucking BearScifi FandomAnd Or AwesomeTv GameForwardBootleg Game of Thrones LEGO mini-figures. I know of at least 2 people who would fight a fucking bear for these.272 page inspirational book 1210 white and transparent LEGO® bricks Endorsed by top architects, Studio is your chance to create LEGO® models that will leave friends and family in awe. This cutting edge set of 1210 monochromatic pieces comes with an inspiring coffee-table guidebook of architectural legends.
History of LEGO® Architecture Facts about Lincoln Memorial For Lego Clone Wars-related subjects, see Lego Star Wars. Mega Bloks building block (above) and Lego building brick (below) Best-Lock and Lego bricks compared. From left, Best-Lock followed by Lego repeated. A Lego clone is a line or brand of children's construction blocks which is mechanically compatible with Lego brand blocks, but is produced by another manufacturer. The blocks were originally patented by The Lego Group in 1961 as "toy building bricks",[1] and the company has since remained dominant in this market. Some competitors have moved to take advantage of Lego brand recognition by advertising their own products as compatible with Lego, with statements such as "compatible with leading building bricks". The underlying patents of invention are long expired, opening the field to rivals. At least two of the largest clone manufacturers have been challenged in court by Lego. The lawsuits have been mostly unsuccessful, for courts have generally found the functional design of the basic brick to be a matter of patent rather than trademark law, and all relevant Lego patents have expired.
The Canadian company Mega Bloks was sued on the grounds that its use of the "studs and tubes" interlocking brick system was a violation of trademarks held by Lego. On November 17, 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld Mega Bloks' right to continue selling the product in Canada.[2] A similar decision was reached by the European Union's Court of First Instance on November 12, 2008, upholding an EU regulatory agency's reversal of opinion following an objection by Mega Bloks against a trademark awarded to Lego in 1999.[3] On September 14, 2010, the European Court of Justice ruled that the 8-peg design of the original Lego brick "merely performs a technical function [and] cannot be registered as a trademark." The English company Best-Lock Construction Toys sued Lego in German courts in 2004[5] and 2009.[6] The German Federal Court denied Lego trademark protection for the shape of its bricks in the latter case. The Lego Group did score a success in 2002, when its Swiss subsidiary Interlego AG sued the Tianjin CoCo Toy Co., Ltd. company for copyright infringement.