FW Ultimate Operation : Booty or Bootleg?

A topic that I have never discussed on the blog is the existence of bootlegs. This is a rather huge concept with everything from illegal duplication to knock-off products and infringement on trademarks. I don't have any personal experience in this field and I suspect there are far more lucrative areas for these practices than Gundam Shokugan and Gashapon toys.

Still, a while ago I stumbled on something out of the ordinary while browsing one of the second hand markets in the Bangkok Chinatown area. There I was minding my own business while suddenly an angry Asshimar was staring down at me from one of those compartmentalized shelves where people sell their random stuff. This shelf was stuffed to the brim with decidedly old looking Gundam model kits and dolls but I can spot that angry glare from anywhere.

It took me quite some time to process what I was actually looking at. Here I was face to face with what appeared to be the FWUO Asshimar and next to him I could see another two boxes with a Dreissen and the Prototype Gundam. In peculiar cardboard boxes. Something about them just screamed bootleg and I was really curious to find out what was inside the boxes. I made a note to return to the shop later to investigate them closer.

Upon closer inspection of these rather worn boxes, indicating the passing of time, they puzzled me even more. If you are familiar with the Ultimate Operation figures you can see the immediate familiarity of the box art as seen on the Japanese editions which normally come on J-cards.

FW Ultimate Operation figures as we are used to seeing them.

The most glaring difference is the inclusion of rather blurry pictures of the mobile suits slapped onto the background. Some of the text on the front is also blurry and too small to be read, giving a bit of a homemade impression. The rest of the artwork looked decent, someone must really have been going through a lot of trouble if these were not the real deal.

Fortunately there was a very distinct clue at the underside of each box; a sticker in Thai with a "Big One" logo. A quick search revealed that Big One Group is Bandai's sole distributor of candy toys and capsule toys in Thailand. Mystery solved!

Still, one has to wonder why the distributor (or more likely the production plant) has gone through all this trouble of creating alternative packaging for these figures. The original figures are tied down to customized plastic packaging (similar to e.g. STANDart figures) and here they just bumble around inside a plastic bag inside the box. Apart from the sticker there is no localized text for Thailand on the boxes, it is the same Japanese product descriptions found on the home market releases. Perhaps these boxes are actually made by Bandai for export purposes to other markets across Asia?

The figures themselves are similar to their Japanese counterparts, even down to the accessories and little description pamphlets. The Prototype Gundam even has the same hopeless feet as the home market figure (how it was chosen as a "Best" I'll never know). The only thing missing here is the candy, but then again the items I purchases were not factory sealed so there might have been something here that is now lost to time.

Can you tell the figures apart? The figures sold in Japan are on the left, and the Thai figures to the right.

I am curious to learn more about these figures. If anyone has any insight into how many of them were actually available in Thailand (and if they indeed came with some form of candy) I would be eager to know. Have you perhaps seen the same boxes in the Philippines, Indonesia or elsewhere?