Welp, now that City of the Wolves is practically out, I have nothing left to post about KOFXV. But wait, there’s still the greater world of KOF to talk about, and as a fan, that’s what I’ll be doing until KOF16. Today we’ll take a look at some of the items available on Ali Express, in particular, the Marui acrylic stands. In short, if you have money, you should try to find the original release but this will be beyond the budget of most people.

Marui is a department store. Why or how there was a collaboration with SNK will remain an intriguing mystery as someone was convinced that the mainstream footfall would be interested in such an old retro vintage brand, and this was in Fukuoka, not Tokyo, as far as I know. What was interesting, however, were the illustrations of the kof characters in casual wear.

The Marui stands were very particular as they appeared as part of a very limited production run at a pop up shop as a collaboration.

Original dimension Material: Acrylic
Size: [Main body] (approx.) Height 16 cm x Width 7.7 cm [Pedestal] (approx.) Length 5 cm x Width 7 cm

THE KING OF FIGHTERS POP UP SHOP in Hakata Marui was held at the Hakata Marui 5F event space in Fukuoka City from July 10 (Fri) to July 19 (Sun), 2020.

Literally 9 days and then they cleared it all out. Can’t get more limited than that. It was still available from online stores but they have all but run out of stock.

Fast forward to the present. I keep an eye out for SNK goods, you can still find some acrylics on Zenmarket or Yahoo Auctions and other places but usually it’s between 5-$15 not including shipping or customs charges, if it’s in stock. It seems there are some scalpers or sellers trying to artificially raise the price on Amazon jp, otherwise the rarity has really boosted the value.  Either way, it’s ridiculous!  Some say these are not even in stock, take a look below…

Pre-order Price 1,600  (Ami Ami) / 9.96 euros
Released at 1,800 yen (Event page) / 11.21 euros
Today, on Amazon jp, the prices are going beserk:

Good luck trying to find the Marui edition.  25K yen is 155 euros btw…

So…. in comparison, the AliExpress price is €4.89 lolllll

When they appeared on AliExpress, they obviously caught my eye. The advantage of AE is that they have a global shipping infrastructure, which means you can often get free shipping, and there are many promotional sales. However, there are plenty of counterfeit goods hiding on the shelves, even if AE will give you a refund if you find one.  Technically I could get a refund for all of these.

Sometimes there is a joy in finding a replica of an official good, especially if the quality is the same. In this case, it is not.

The base is the clear giveaway that this item isn’t legitimate. The originals have the characters’ names while these carry the generic KOF logo.

The edges of the acrylic are sometimes sharp and could hurt your fingers. Looking closely at the print, Rock Howard is of a too low resolution, his zipper is pixelated.

When you have items like belts and ribbons, every artist knows that removing the background is a painful process and some detail can be lost by using an automated process or an unsteady hand. This has happened here.

Also, some of the colours are not solid and deterioration can be seen around the edges, representing the compressed image that was probably used.

However, if you put the item on the shelf and don’t look too closely, it’s ok.

But are you satisfied with “ok”?  Is Terry?  Does he care if you’re ok?

To reduce the cost further, customers could wait for AE’s seasonal sales and use a coupon. But as a real fan, ultimately, your heart will not be satisfied.

Considering the legitimate acrylics are either sold out or far too expensive for the average fan, it might be something to consider, but the real dream is to get the original.

So what would you choose?  A cheap inferior copy?  Is 5 euros still too expensive for an acrylic?  Will you die like a dog without your favourite merchandise?  Or will you bleed until you get the real deal? The choice is yours….