1. Box and printing
Medicom Toy prints on thick card with solid colours and crisp small type. Blurry printing, greyish whites or soft cardboard are immediate warnings.
Where there is a plastic window, it is precisely thermoformed and does not float in its housing.
2. Logo and copyright line
The copyright line names Medicom Toy, the year and the artist or brand licence. Copies shorten that line or alter the typeface. Always compare with a reference photo of the same series.
3. Nine joints
A genuine Bearbrick has nine articulation points: head, two shoulders, two wrists, waist, two hips and head rotation. They turn with even resistance, without play or cracking.
Fakes are usually too loose, or jammed by excess plastic.
4. Paint and finish
Flat colours are clean, transitions sharp, chrome and pearl finishes even. Paint bleeding into a joint or uneven varnish is rare from Medicom and common on copies. On patterned models, check the pattern lines up between torso and arms.
5. The foot stamp
Under one foot, the Medicom Toy mark is raised, clean and legible. On fakes it is flattened, blurred, or replaced by a shallow engraving.
6. Weight and material
A genuine 400% weighs around 500 g and feels solid; a 1000% is clearly heavy. An unusually light piece points to thinner plastic.
7. Traceability
For limited series and collaborations, provenance matters as much as the object: original invoice, selling shop, series and year. A heavily copied reference with no history deserves closer inspection.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Bearbrick without its box suspicious?
No, but it is worth less and harder to authenticate. Without the box, everything rests on the object: joints, foot stamp, paint quality and weight.
How do I spot a fake 400% Bearbrick?
The three most reliable signs are weight (around 500 g when genuine), the sharpness of the Medicom Toy foot stamp, and the evenness of the nine joints. Paint bleeding into the joints almost always confirms a copy.
Do Bearbricks carry serial numbers?
Most do not. Limited series and some collaborations come with a card or certificate, but the absence of a number is not in itself a sign of a fake.
What do 100%, 400% and 1000% mean?
They are sizes: roughly 7 cm, 28 cm and 70 cm. The percentage indicates scale only, not rarity or value.
Where can I buy a genuine Bearbrick in Europe?
From a seller who inspects every piece and documents provenance. At KICHO DROPS. each Bearbrick is checked by hand before listing, shipped from Europe, VAT included and with no customs fees on delivery.