Recently I spotted this Chinese bootleg of the Digivice iC 10x floating around on eBay. It's being sold by "ordergracias," and "offergreat," both located in China. I have not seen detailed documentation about how to spot bootleg iCs, so here's a rundown of what's wrong with this one;
- The most obvious flaw is that the logo reads DIGIGAME instead of DIGIMON.
- The iC was only manufactured in
orange + white (iC 101), blue + white (iC 102), gray + purple (iC 201),
and gray + red (iC 202). Special editions include the 111 Rize Red (red
+ white) and 121 W Red (red camouflage pattern). The fake 10x mixes
gray and black.
- As seen in the picture below, the bootleg has no three-pronged connectors on its underside. (Presumably because it was copied from a Data Link mold.)
- The included plate has an LCD sprite of Fladramon crudely stickered onto it. None of the iC plates have LCD sprites on them; they all use icons representing the type of Digisoul they confer, or Bandai artwork relevant to the Digimon presented.
- The manufacturer is listed as "Chinese Factory Homegrown products" rather than Bandai, and the item is listed as being unbranded.
This seller seems to be taking advantage of the current pricing crisis the iC is undergoing. What was once a generally-stable Digivice that could be bought for $20-25 has been incrementally rising in price throughout 2015, currently sitting close to $30 at the cheapest, and seems poised to jump. By offering a bootleg at just $17, the seller is hoping to take advantage of a market that may not notice the flaws right away.
