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Y/S.N.T Trademark
The trademark
you see on the back of all M.U.S.C.L.E. figures, stands for
Yudetamago, Shueisha, NTV,
and Toei. Yudetamago was the the author of the Japanese comics,
Shueisha is who published the comics, NTV was the television network that
aired the Kinnikuman cartoon in Japan, and Toei, was the animation company
that made the Kinnikuman cartoons.
The first,
and most obvious way to tell if your M.U.S.C.L.E. is fake, is to look for
The Y/S.N.T Trademark located on the back of the figure.
If it's missing, you have a bootleg M.U.S.C.L.E. on your hands. In
many cases... molds were made directly from legitimate M.U.S.C.L.E.
figures, so sometimes the Y/S.N.T trademark will be present. However,
many times it will be very faint or almost non-existent. I have seen
Trademark imprints that are very clear, but there are other indicators that
can prove the figure to be counterfeit as you'll see below...
Color
A very important factor in determining if your M.U.S.C.L.E. is real or
not. Legitimate M.U.S.C.L.E.'s are a pinkish color, not tan, beige,
or any other color that's not listed on our official color
chart. When mixed in with a legitimate pile of
M.U.S.C.L.E. figures, a bootleg tends to stand out rather boldly.
Quite often, a
legitimate M.U.S.C.L.E may be a half shade lighter or darker than the
pinkish color you see above. This can be attributed to different reasons
such as weathering, chemical exposure, water, humidity, or any other
condition that may cause the plastic to oxidize. As you attain more
M.U.S.C.L.E., you'll be better able to discern these color variations for
yourself.
Plastic consistency
and detail
M.U.S.C.L.E.
figures are not known for their flexibility. They also have very crisp
clean details and nice smooth edges.
Notice the
"tags" on the edges of the fake M.U.S.C.L.E. above. This comes
from inferior molds, equipment, or both. Be aware that Kinnikumen
(the M.U.S.C.L.E.'s cousins from Japan) were made in many colors, and while
they are a little more rubbery than M.U.S.C.L.E., they will always have the
Y/S .N.T Trademark
on their backs. Kinnikumen collecting is a whole different ball game,
and you can learn all you need to know at the little rubber guys
Kinnikuman forums.
When you make a
photocopy of another photocopy, a considerable amount of quality is lost in
the transfer. The same can be said when casting molds directly from an
existing figure, or even a figure that has already been counterfeited. The
fake M.U.S.C.L.E. on the left is SO much smaller than the real one
on the right, it leads us to believe that a mold was cast off of a figure
that was already bootlegged to begin with (possibly more than once).
Images
I've seen
some god-awful knockoffs over the years, but the guys in
this
picture are probably the worst ones I've seen to date.
Some bootleggers were actually bold enough to package their
knockoffs. Checkout a couterfeit 5-pack I purchased on
ebay.
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