How to identify recast Sideshow ALIENS 1:1 Busts

I apologize if this is old news, but I was shocked to see so many recasts of the Aliens bust on ebay. They're even recasting the Predator Cinemaquette as a bust now.

The weird thing about the Aliens one is that it looks very close to the original to me--just judging by the pics. It's kind of scary that they can make them so close to the real thing. I fear that it's only a matter of time that people buy them thinking they're getting the real thing.

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

I think its a bit of a scam.
I currently own a real Alien Warrior and aesthetically, I cannot see any real difference in the Ebay recast photos.
The pics look soooo real, but then somebody posted this which looks drastically different...



Not sure if they are from the same seller, but ultimately I do think there will be a quality difference. The proof is in the pudding, you cant really fake how awesomely detailed the warrior is; at least I hope not.

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

Balsquat said:

Not sure if they are from the same seller, but ultimately I do think there will be a quality difference. The proof is in the pudding, you cant really fake how awesomely detailed the warrior is; at least I hope not.

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Sure they could. If the recaster was reasonably talented, it would be difficult to distinguish from the real thing. Most likely, yes, the recasters aren't good enough to make a piece that could pass inspection, but I wouldn't bet on it. It just makes sense to carefully inspect auctions with this particular piece for sale.

The simple reason there are so many recasts of the Aliens bust lately is because it's worth an enormous amount of money.

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

dr_teng said:

Sure they could. If the recaster was reasonably talented, it would be difficult to distinguish from the real thing. Most likely, yes, the recasters aren't good enough to make a piece that could pass inspection, but I wouldn't bet on it. It just makes sense to carefully inspect auctions with this particular piece for sale.

The simple reason there are so many recasts of the Aliens bust lately is because it's worth an enormous amount of money.

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Very true. But, the recasts have definitely hurt the value of this busts over the last year.

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

well im not supprised as its a popular bust and its gone to a stupid price some as high as $4500 or around £2000 , so its bound to get recast at them prices. i know this will get me flamed and burnt alive but why pay that price when you can get one for 1/4 of the price . Ive seen the re-casts busts and they are on par with sideshow build / paint, and more than likely the paint wont flake off this one in years to come lol

basicaly only thing diffrent is its not numbered with an artwork box. so........... if your not bothered whats is on the BASE of your statue that you never look at and are not an AN*L box collector this is a good choice

good option for people late into the collecting game

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

LOL at your flaking comment! It would be funny if the recasters made IM busts that didn't flake. While they're at it, they could make Ripley Powerloader dios without the thousands of problems the SS ones had.

Because I know people here get nutty about recasters, I just want to clearly say I don't support it at all--I just think it's a funny thought that recasters may be able to send out products that don't flake like the real stuff.

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

well im afraid the flaking comment is sad but true, you would think that a company that asks top end money for its products would at least sort out this flaking problem or give us a reason why it is happening, but as usual they just ignore us so we have no idea if our models will flake in 2-3 years time. so thats why i refuse to pay some of the 2nd hand market prices as recasters can produce a better product, it may not be origional but it will last longer that the sideshow version

i recently had flaking problems on 2 of my busts, so have cancled every sideshow order i have for my lifesize busts. now if i recaster picked them up i WOULD rather buy from them ! !

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

Out of curiosity, which of your busts have flaked?

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

Raider,
Where did u see a recast that was on par with the sideshow version? Are you talking about in person or just from a picture?

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

Balsquat said:

Raider,
Where did u see a recast that was on par with the sideshow version? Are you talking about in person or just from a picture?

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I'd like to know, also.
Because, of all the pics I've seen, the recasts look like crap. The paint makes it look like a candy cane alien and the tendons don't blend in at all. It looks like some kind of mask rather than part of it's face.

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

to me a recast isnt even a collectible. the sideshow version is extremely rare and valuable while a recast is something they can make any # of and imo holds no real value except as a decoration.

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

The ebay sellers are probably showing pics of the original in their photos and then sending a recast which will look completely different. But after all the shipping charges back and forth they probably don't have too many complaints - after all the buyer got something worth $4500 for $1000 - except they didn't.

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

Darklord Dave said:

The ebay sellers are probably showing pics of the original in their photos and then sending a recast which will look completely different. But after all the shipping charges back and forth they probably don't have too many complaints - after all the buyer got something worth $4500 for $1000 - except they didn't.

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That is the part that is so crazy. The only reason the original even merits 1000 bones is because of the Stan Winston name. Take that away and why would anyone pay tthat much for an alien decoration is beyond me.

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

ozzfan84 said:

They're even recasting the Predator Cinemaquette as a bust now.

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I've seen the Alien bust recasts (duh) but not this piece.

Sideshow don't seem to care to much as of right now but maybe Cinemaquette would?

Can I see a pic of the recast pred?

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

https://cgi.benl.ebay.be/ALIEN-LIFE-SIZE-1-1-RESIN-BUST-BRAND-NEW-HIGH-QUALITY_W0QQitemZ170425490755QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item27ae269d43

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

Balsquat said:

I think its a bit of a scam.
I currently own a real Alien Warrior and aesthetically, I cannot see any real difference in the Ebay recast photos.
The pics look soooo real, but then somebody posted this which looks drastically different...

Not sure if they are from the same seller, but ultimately I do think there will be a quality difference. The proof is in the pudding, you cant really fake how awesomely detailed the warrior is; at least I hope not.

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Ill agree with you on this picture that that one looks rubbish , the recaster must of had a bad day

Balsquat said:

Raider,
Where did u see a recast that was on par with the sideshow version? Are you talking about in person or just from a picture?

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Ill Hold my hands up and say i decided to buy one 2 weeks ago for $700 i notice now they have gone a bit more expensive

Darth_Pain said:

I'd like to know, also.
Because, of all the pics I've seen, the recasts look like crap. The paint makes it look like a candy cane alien and the tendons don't blend in at all. It looks like some kind of mask rather than part of it's face.

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The only diffrence is they do not have the blue tint in the paint sideshow seem to have but for a saveing of $3300+ i can live with that.

Darklord Dave said:

The ebay sellers are probably showing pics of the original in their photos and then sending a recast which will look completely different. But after all the shipping charges back and forth they probably don't have too many complaints - after all the buyer got something worth $4500 for $1000 - except they didn't.

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most of the pics shown in the auctions are of the actual busts, there could be 1 or 2 that use sideshow website pics but i not seen them.

Axel said:

I've seen the Alien bust recasts (duh) but not this piece.

Sideshow don't seem to care to much as of right now but maybe Cinemaquette would?

Can I see a pic of the recast pred?

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Nope sideshow dont care, like they dont care about this flaking paint issue, this is why we pay them top dollar because they produce good quality collectables, but if they carnt get the main part of the business right the PAINT then they are worthless in years to come. They are NOT a good investment.

Would you be happy if you bought a brand new car and the paint came off in less than a year ??????? you would go sick at the car company

i fully belive anything sideshow has put out in the last few years is dangerous to buy and your takeing a risk with your money, i have worked in Quality Engineering all my life and if this was a car product there would be massive recalls the problem is a company like sideshow are not tied down by BSI / ISO standards so they can produce any old c*ap and the QA stickers they stick on well i know from many companys that just becomes a chore to a production guy and after a while they will just stick them on without even looking, so all the people shouting that sideshow is a far better product than anything i will 100% disagree with you

Sorry for the rant but quality is my business and it just anoys me how people can defend the pi*s poor service / product that we recive, all if another company was on par with sideshow for produceing stuff im sure a lot of people would move to them

im sure this will get edited by the mods but its how i feel

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

from what i can see its the mouth tendons that seem to be different between the real bust and the recast.

The recast seem to be clear while the original seem to have some paint on them.

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

These recasts a worthless and not worth the asking price IMO.
If I didnt already have an original I could live without it.
Original or nothing a recast does not have a place in my collection,
but that's just me.

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

If you are speaking of this bust as a recast of the Cinemaquette version,
I believe it is actually a recast of the Hell Resin kit. I would love to have the real kit of this.

https://cgi.ebay.com/PREDATOR-1-2-H...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item27ad81aeb9

Re: What's with all these recast Aliens 1:1 busts on ebay???

I bought a fake Iron Man Exclusive comiquette.
I didn't know about it for over a year.
It burns me that I paid $400 bucks for it and I can't get it back.
But for 12 months I enjoyed that statue. I look at it now and know that besides the shoulder plates being on the wrong way it is pretty much the same statue. But WAY over valued in the market today.
I know mine is pretty much worthless, but someone would buy it, probably for more than I paid for it and love it.
It probably pains me more that if my ex hadn't frozen my finances at the time I could have kept my order for the original exclusive.
I am in two minds about recasts. I love to hate my Iron Man. But at 25% of the current price, and inspite of a couple of flaws this alien bust is not bad. With some touching up it could be great.
Sideshow should be protecting their product and consumers.
This thread is a couple of days old and the listings are still active.....