angelphilia Warning for potential new AP recasts

Angel Philia dolls are trending lately, particularly on Chinese social media where people are going crazy for the "AP style" aesthetic. The high demand has unfortunately had consequences - the type M head was found to have been recast and sold as a resin version as of last year.

Recently, I've been seeing more posts featuring AP heads with features such as modified eyes not present in the official sculpts, and the other day I came across someone on a Chinese platform documenting their progress of creating "D versions" (recast/counterfeit) of every AP head and also openly selling them, claiming they are made of vinyl rather than resin. They're justifying their business by saying that since the products are clearly labelled as fake, there is no harm done.

The screenshots have been translated and cropped to remove identifying details.

Examples of heads and text posted by the maker

I know posts like this inevitably reach people who intentionally seek out counterfeit products, but I want to spread awareness and warn those who want the legitimate version; please be careful when buying blank or custom heads. It's also worth noting that many Chinese collectors are firmly opposed to recasts and counterfeit dolls, but the popularity of these heads will undoubtedly cause these fakes to spread.

 

 

 

Thanks for the warning! 

Vinyl is very difficult manufacture small scale. If they really are vinyl that would be a shocking scale of reproduction, because the metal molds for casting them can cost thousands (have to hire a factory, pay actual production costs for casting too). If that's the case they have to really be expecting meaningful volumes of interest in counterfeits 😦

I wonder if these are cast in flexible polyurethane resin instead? That would make sense for a (relatively) small scale operation.

12 minutes ago, gj581g said:

I wonder if these are cast in flexible polyurethane resin instead? That would make sense for a (relatively) small scale operation.

I believe the two DD recasts we've seen produced were resin. I know Miku was, but I can't recall for sure if Saber was. 

21 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

I believe the two DD recasts we've seen produced were resin. I know Miku was, but I can't recall for sure if Saber was. 

The Snow Miku I have is definitely NOT resin.  She has a hard plastic skeleton of lesser quality than Volks and the vinyl shell is also harder and smoother than actual vinyl.  It's not resin or hard plastic so it's some kind of squishy plastic similar to vinyl.  The head is made of the same harder material as the body shell.

I have yet to see a bootleg Saber in person so I have no idea if she is the same as my Snow Miku or not.

 

Billy