[ukmu]

Neither actually.... it is where they are manufactured. There is little to no retailing of them there. That being said,they are real. Usually factory seconds, rejects or most likely over production pieces. ALL the toy companies with factories there do the same thing. They sort their 'extra' (see above) by plastic colour. Sometimes they recycle them and use again by.grinding, melting and re-pelletizing the plastic, but the good ones they sell them off by weight.

Apparently, auction houses buy the bulk and hold auctions every Sunday. That is where the eBay resellers come in. I have been told this.by four different eBay sellers from China...I ask a lot of questions. Anyway, what you buy could be anything from sloppy paint to two left hands to a perfect figure. Kind of a gamble. For the most part, I have been happy with the purchases 95% of the time. Also, if something is wrong...the sellers work very hard to.correct it. Just take a pic and send it to them and they will ship.you another.

The sellers and the auction house know if they are terrible, no one will buy them. So generally, what the do sell is good stuff. Most of it is just over flow. Say your quota of production is 1000 pieces and then you hit 1000 with fifteen minutes until quitting time. It takes 15 minutes.to change the moulds out.... you just carry on and let the next shift deal with it. That is where most come.from, and they always want to make 4% extra for breakage. Easier to run extra while it is set up than have to go back and change it for a small run later.

The rare pieces, like the recent Starfox and Nebula SDCC pieces are stolen by employees and sold to resellers. After SDCC you MAY see a few pop up that were overproduction or rejected for what ever reason. Sometimes these "bins" where they sit (the different colours of plastic) at the factory can take two years to fill. That is why it isn't uncommon for an older figure to suddenly make an appearance on these sellers sites.