Looking for Cang.

[Ronald X]

The CMoN limited edition from a few years ago.  I did Viszeralyn, and I'm enough of a sucker for punishment that I want another gigantic dragon to paint.

 

I've seen it for sale on a couple dubious Chinese webstores, one of which is selling them for the bargain basement (relatively speaking) price of $177 with free shipping, but they need 10 orders, and they produce it themselves, so who knows what the casting quality would be.. anyone have any experience in buying from the far side of the world, or doing that kind of order?  Or know another place where I could get my hands on this thing?

[Dilvish the Deliverer]

Does this store own the molds/rights to cast the Dragon?

 

If not, then it's most likely an illegal recaster- this shady.

[Glitterwolf]

The Chinese Webshops are notorious for selling illegal copies of stuff at low prices and free shipping.

[Doug's Workshop]

Given that CMON had that as a limited release for their 10th anniversary, I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Chinese manufacturer is shadier than a guy selling "quality pharmaceutical products" out of the back of his 1985 Lincoln Towncar.

 

Cang is a beast, and well-detailed to boot.  I remember it selling out fairly quickly after it's release.  If you find one, you won't find it cheap.

[Ronald X]

I spent a little over $300 on Viszeralyn after shipping and duty, I'd be willing to spend about the same amount for this.  I'm not concerned about the morality of it as much in this case, as bad as that sounds, CMoN released it "once and never again", so it's not like they're losing anything by people making copies.  If they were planning on selling more, then I'd wait and buy one legit, but it doesn't appear that they will. 

 

My concern is the quality.  Photos they give are all of the original, not necessarily the recast version.  I suppose you get what you pay for, but even at a reduced price, that's a lot of money to risk on something sight unseen.  If I'm wrong and they're going to re-release, then I'd much prefer to buy direct from CMoN even at double the price of a shady Chinese recast.

[Mattnuke]

There's one for sale on CMoN right now.

 

Scratch that - I read the Cang the Invincable (1) as one available. He's out of stock.

Edited July 14, 2016 by Mattnuke

[Dai-Mongar]

I don't want to proselytise here or steer the conversation to beekeepers, but by purchasing something from a Chinese recaster you might not be depriving CMoN of a sale, but you're supporting a business that rips off other people's designs. Just be aware of what you're condoning.

[Ronald X]

I don't want to proselytise here or steer the conversation to beekeepers, but by purchasing something from a Chinese recaster you might not be depriving CMoN of a sale, but you're supporting a business that rips off other people's designs. Just be aware of what you're condoning.

Fair point.

[Egg of Coot]

I'm on the market for a Cang the Implacable piece myself - though I'm not at all interested in Chinese knock-offs.

 

The Egg

[Beowulfthehunter]

Wow, I am surprised this thread has not been shutdown yet for the mere mention of Chinese recaster. You say that and you might as well say you drown kittens.

 

I am only now getting into purchase recasts, I took a chance and the quality was pretty solid, but not sure I would chance it for over 20 bucks.

[Reaperbryan]

I spent a little over $300 on Viszeralyn after shipping and duty, I'd be willing to spend about the same amount for this.  I'm not concerned about the morality of it as much in this case, as bad as that sounds, CMoN released it "once and never again", so it's not like they're losing anything by people making copies.  If they were planning on selling more, then I'd wait and buy one legit, but it doesn't appear that they will. 

 

My concern is the quality.  Photos they give are all of the original, not necessarily the recast version.  I suppose you get what you pay for, but even at a reduced price, that's a lot of money to risk on something sight unseen.  If I'm wrong and they're going to re-release, then I'd much prefer to buy direct from CMoN even at double the price of a shady Chinese recast.

 

 

Our concern is legality, and protecting our property and Intellectual Property.

 

I am aware that this thread is about another companies product, and not Reaper's. However, we take the same attitude whether it is our own, a friends, or a competitor's. 

 

Recasting without license or copyright is illegal, and it is theft. We spend thousands of dollars (or tens of thousands, sometimes) every year enforcing our own copyrights, and I suspect that the other company involved would not be happy to learn that on the Reaper Forums, recasters are encouraged and supported, because they likely spend similar on the same efforts.

 

I want to be perfectly clear on this - whether or not it's a good price, it is stolen merchandise you are buying, and you are doing it knowing it was stolen:molded, and produced without license or legal right to do so.  This makes your actions criminal, and opens both you and the recaster up to legal action.

 

We're not purging this thread, because this is an important topic, but future posts supporting illegal and criminal actions will be purged. In fact, it's in the forum rules (bottom right hand corner of every page) that we can remove posts for promoting illegal actions (bloded for emphasis by me):

 

 

The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of this bulletin board. Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately by email. We have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary.

 

You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this bulletin board to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law.

 

 

We also retain the option to investigate, and if necessary, report those who admit to illegal purchase to the companies who have been violated. This is serious, and we take it extremely seriously. We will be opening conversation with our copyright attorney to determine what sort of liability your posts have opened us up to, and what our recourse is.

 

 

In case it needs to be said:

 

We support all parts of the industry through legal purchases by our employees, and at corporate levels. We take a dim view with zero tolerance of illegal recasting, even if the product in question is not our own.

 

All Users will refrain from using our space to encourage illegal sales.

 

Also, if you're considering buying stolen merchandise to further your hobby, perhaps you should take some time to re-think your life.

[TaleSpinner]

Well said Bryan! 

[Grumpy Cave Bear]

Confession time:  Back in the early 90's, when visiting my in-laws in Taipei, I found a little hole-in-the wall hobby shop and was introduced to the hobby of anime garage kit models.  Unknown to me, the handful of kits I bought back to the States were mostly illegal recasts (though in retrospect, I should have guessed).  After I later purchased original kits online. I learned the huge differences between recast and legit.  The quality was very hit-and-miss.  Some of the recasts I had purchased were so incredibly bad -- lost detail, warped castings, air bubbles, severe mold lines, resin that smelled of gasoline -- that I had to put in almost as much work as sculpting them myself.

 

I consider the time wasted in making the models even presentable was my penance for purchasing recasts in the first place.  I have since bought quite a few more legitimate models from the original manufacturers, so I don't feel quite so much regret about it now.

 

(And I won't even count the time a mail-order company sent me recasts, instead of the legitimate models I thought was paying full price for -- oh, that was an expensive mistake.  Never purchase anything COD; if I had been able to open and inspect the shipping carton beforehand, I would have refused delivery.)

 

Just don't do it.  Maybe the recasters have improved in quality in the decade(s) since I dealt with them, but good luck getting customer service or refunds if they haven't.

[Egg of Coot]

As a serious collector I've never purchased a knock-off, though I've had plenty of them offered (sometimes admitted to be fraudulent, but mostly offered as authentic pieces) to me over the years.  These have mostly been old OOP D&D modules and rulebooks - one guy memorably tried to mine a forum I moderated for info on how to produce convincing counterfeit OD&D White Box sets (we sent him packing) - but there have been miniatures as well.  I vividly recall one individual who was grinding out some of the worst looking "uber rare" Ral Partha AD&D Molydeus figs I've ever seen for a "mere" $75 each.  These people are bottom feeders who will happily rip you off just as they did the creator of the materials they're bootlegging.  Do yourself a favor, and don't give them your money.   

 

The Egg

[Dai-Mongar]

I'll admit that, when I first heard about Chinese recasters, I was tempted by the prospect of cheap GW minis. But I also noticed that they had Perry kits on their site as well, and I realised that the piracy was going beyond just "greedy old gee-dub" and could affect the industry as a whole. So I never did place an order.