Portrait of Pirates

Portrait of Pirates (sometimes referred to by fans as One Piece: P.O.P.) is a figurine series based on various One Piece characters.

Product Information


Portrait of Pirates figures are produced by Megahouse and have high quality detailing as they're part of their Excellent Model brandline. The figure stands about 22cm/9in tall (1/8 scale) and comes with a base for support. The figures do not have any articulation, and the main purpose is for collecting or displaying. Each figure was issued with additional removable weapons and accessories. Amongst One Piece fans, they are highly sought after and often considered the best One Piece related figurines.

The series has been re-issued with the name "Neo" attached to it. The figures of the Excellent Model Neo series are identical to their original counterparts, however they feature some minor changes. Among the Neo figures are also brand new models never seen before.

On May 2009, the Neo series has returned as Neo DX with the release of Aokiji and Mihawk. It seems like Megahouse wants to brand Neo DX as a simple continuation of the more global Neo series, as the manufacturer is only releasing distinct characters under both the regular Neo brand and the Neo DX one. The jump in quality at the expense of a higher pricing range justify the new term: DX stands for Deluxe.

On December 2009, the POP brand name has spawned yet another subline, POP Strong Edition. It involves the Mugiwara in their new clothes as found in the 10th OP film, Strong World.



Some figures under the Excellent Model MILD label have begun to be issued after Neo series 4. This label focuses on rendition of around 10cm tall, half the size of figures from the regular Excellent Model label.

The first series to appear within the MILD brandline is the CB series. CB is probably the acronym for Chibi (small child in Japanese). As its name implies, the CB series is focused on childhood rendition of characters.

On July 2009, Megahouse begun to release figures under the Mugiwara Theater series, although Chopperman already made a prelude to it since November 2008. The Mugiwara Theater series is the adaptation of the "omake" found in the One Piece Log Books.



With the ever growing success of the One Piece brandname, Megahouse has begun to release some POP figures under its Excellent Model LIMITED label since early 2010. This label is entirely dedicated to one-shot limited edition releases of figures, available only on MegaTreaShop, one of the e-shop sites of Megahouse, or on temporary partner e-shop sites. Most of the times, figure availability on the Internet is foregone by a release during some events (for instance in theme parks or some editions of toy fairs).

Excellent Model - original series
It spanned through 4 parts, series 3 and 4 being noticeably better than series 1 and 2. It's comprised of 12 distinct characters, with Nami having 2 versions, and Usopp and Chopper released on the same box, for a total of 13 distinct figures spanned through 12 released boxes. Despite the improvements in the Neo series, the original run of figures are usually more sought after than their Neo counterparts.

Series 1
Released on late April 2004 at 3,990¥ each (3,800 and VAT of 5%)
 * Luffy
 * Nami
 * Zoro
 * 8 and 3/4 in, 21.5 cm

Series 2
Released on October 2004 at 3,990¥ each (3,800 and VAT of 5%)
 * Sanji
 * Usopp and Chopper
 * Chopper's not in scale (smaller than his actual size at 1/8)
 * Nico Robin

Series 3
Released on March 2005 at 3,990¥ each (3,800 and VAT of 5%)
 * Ace
 * 8 and 3/4 in, 21.5 cm
 * Tashigi
 * Vivi

Series 4
Released on late December 2005 at 3,990¥ each (3,800 and VAT of 5%)
 * Nami (2nd version)
 * 7 and 3/4 in, 19 cm
 * Bellemere
 * Smoker

Excellent Model - Neo series
It's currently spanned through 7 parts and 2 extensions. Each part, apart from series 6, has new improved versions of figures from the original series. The improvements are really remarkable for the ones originally issued in series 1 and 2 (more robust, more faithful to the manga counterpart, more detailed), but less noticeable for the ones from original series 3 and 4. It's comprised of 17 distinct characters, with Nami having 2 versions, for a total of 18 distinct figures.

Neo 1
Released on late September 2007 at 4,200¥ each (4,000 and VAT of 5%)
 * Luffy
 * 2nd run of previous model
 * Nami
 * 2nd run of previous model

Luffy

 * The leaning post from series I is gone, replaced by some pegs on the base for the feet to attach to.
 * The painting job has improved, this is particularly visible with his skin color.
 * His head has been completely revamped:
 * Now, Luffy's face really looks like his manga counterpart.
 * His hair doesn't have this "going through the wind" feeling anymore.
 * His hat has been equally revamped:
 * Its border doesn't have the enlacing straw pattern anymore.
 * The overall circular pattern, simulating straw composing the hat, has been replaced by a more complex weaving pattern.
 * The hat string is shorter. So although that was not needed before, now you must pop Luffy's head off before to be able to put the string around his neck (in series 1 version, you can't remove the head and both arms).

Nami

 * The leaning post from series I is gone, replaced by some pegs on the base for the feet to attach to.
 * The painting job saw on overhaul revamp: her short trousers color goes from light purple to dark brown, and her skin and her hair look more natural.
 * Her face expression slightly changed.
 * Her bikini breastband has a more complex and detailed pattern.

Neo 2
Released on late October 2007
 * Ace
 * 2nd run of previous model
 * 4,200¥ (4,000 and VAT of 5%)
 * 8 and 3/4 in, 21.5 cm
 * Vivi
 * 2nd run of previous model
 * 4,200¥ (4,000 and VAT of 5%)
 * Franky
 * 4,725¥ (4,500 and VAT of 5%)
 * 9 and 1/4 in, 23 cm
 * Not in scale (he should be taller)

Ace

 * His skin color is a little more rosy, and so more natural-looking.
 * His right arm is further away from his torso.
 * The strap end loose of his bag on his left leg has an increased effect of depth.

Vivi

 * Her dress is more translucent, so her underlying skirt becomes more outstanding, and her skin coloring has slightly improved.
 * There are more pleats on her cape.
 * Her Neo rendition is looking up compared to the original run version, she's not lowering her head anymore.

Neo 3
Released on late January 2008
 * Zoro
 * 2nd run of previous model
 * 4,200¥ (4,000 and VAT of 5%)
 * 8 and 3/4 in, 21.5 cm
 * Mr. 2 Bon Kurei
 * 4,725¥ (4,500 and VAT of 5%)

Zoro

 * The leaning post from series I is gone, replaced by some pegs on the base for the feet to attach to.
 * His initial pose on his base has been tweaked with a global rotation of about 30° to his left for a better effect.
 * On the original series, he was looking straight forward, now on the Neo run, he's looking to his right.
 * The painting job saw on overhaul revamp:
 * His hair color changed for a darker green.
 * His skin looks less rosy, with some shadowing, and more natural.
 * His goggles changed from pure white parts to silver ones.
 * His red sword saw his hilt going from a vivid red enlacing pattern to a dark purple one.

Neo EX
Released on mid February 2008 at 1,890¥ (1,800 and VAT of 5%)
 * Chopper
 * 3 and 3/4 in, 9 cm

Neo 4
Released on mid May 2008
 * Sanji
 * 2nd run of previous model
 * 4,200¥ (4,000 and VAT of 5%)
 * Nami (2nd Version)
 * 2nd run of previous model
 * 4,200¥ (4,000 and VAT of 5%)
 * 7 and 3/4 in, 19 cm
 * Shanks
 * 4,725¥ (4,500 and VAT of 5%)

Sanji

 * The leaning post from series II is gone, replaced by some pegs on the base for the feet to attach to.
 * The painting job saw on overhaul revamp: clothing colors are darker and more classy, skin looks more natural.
 * His face expression slightly changed to more closely match Sanji's character.
 * His shoes are now shiny.

Nami

 * The position of her head and her eyes have slightly been changed: while, in the original series, she's lowering her head and looking down forward, in the Neo re-release, her head is straight forward and she's looking to her left.
 * She now has nailpolish.
 * Her right hand touches her right leg, in the original series, it doesn't.
 * The area of the chest between Nami's neck and breasts has been lengthened.

Neo 5
Released on mid July 2008
 * Sogeking (Usopp)
 * 5,040¥ (4,800 and VAT of 5%)
 * 8 and 1/4 in, 20 cm
 * Robin
 * 2nd run of previous model
 * 4,410¥ (4,200 and VAT of 5%)

Nico Robin

 * The leaning post from series II is gone, replaced by some pegs on the base for the feet to attach to.
 * Her initial pose on her base has been tweaked with a global rotation of about 30° to her left for a better effect.
 * The painting job changed for the better, Robin's skin looks more natural.
 * Her shoes are now shiny.
 * Her eyes have been reworked to match Oda's style more closely.
 * Her Neo rendition saw the addition of a slight bit of more detail on the backside of the trousers.

Neo 6
Released on mid December 2008, 23.5~25 cm tall
 * Brook
 * 5,250¥ (5,000 and VAT of 5%)
 * Not in scale (Brook should be twice the size of Luffy whereas the figure rendition is barely taller than Robin)
 * Rob Lucci
 * 5,040¥ (4,800 and VAT of 5%)

Neo EX 2
Released on late March 2009 at 5,040¥ (4,800 and VAT of 5%), 18 cm / 7 in tall
 * Carue

Neo 7
Released late June 2010, both are the 2nd run of previous models
 * Smoker
 * 5,985¥ (5,700 and VAT of 5%)
 * Tashigi
 * 5,250¥ (5,000 and VAT of 5%)

Smoker

 * Although his foot spots didn't change on the base, his upper body turned a little to his right in order for him to face straight.
 * His jawline is larger and more defined.
 * The cigarettes have a better sculpting rendering.
 * The painting job changed as followed:
 * His hair has now some white effects to separate his locks,
 * The skin tone looks more natural,
 * The cigarettes on his jacket are of a darker brown and the inner side of his jacket is in a darker red with some shadings,
 * His jeans have improved gradients,
 * His boot laces are black.

Tashigi

 * Her head is turned more to her left.
 * Her left leg is more bent towards her right.
 * The painting job changed as followed:
 * Katana and scabbard colors are made of a slightly darker tone.
 * Her mouth now has a brown line running around to accentuate its presence.
 * Her jeans now have some gradient coloring to emphasize the foldings.
 * Her shirt now has a real yellow painting job instead of the yellow nude PVC color.

Excellent Model - Neo DX series
It's currently spanned through 9 parts. They are the most expensive figures of the entire collection because of their huge size or the amount of details Megahouse gave them. This disclaimer is true if Strong Edition figures aren't taken into account and despite the fact that Smoker Neo-7 is tagged at the same price as Neo DX 1 figures.

It's comprised of 14 distinct characters.

Neo DX 1
Released on late May 2009 at 5,985¥ each (5,700 and VAT of 5%)
 * Aokiji
 * 27 cm, 10.5 in
 * Not in scale
 * Mihawk
 * 23.5 cm, 9 in

Neo DX 2
Released on mid November 2009 at 8,820¥ (8,400 and VAT of 5%), 33 cm tall
 * Bartholomew Kuma
 * Not in scale (although the tallest POP)

Neo DX 3
Released late June 2010 at 7,140¥ (6,800 and VAT of 5%), 24 cm tall
 * Crocodile

Neo DX 4
Released on late August 2010 at 7,140¥ (6,800 and VAT of 5%), 23 cm tall
 * Boa Hancock

Neo DX 5
Released late December 2010
 * Jinbe
 * 8,400¥ (8,000 and VAT of 5%)
 * 25 cm tall
 * Whitebeard
 * 9,240¥ (8,800 and VAT of 5%)
 * 32 cm tall, 49 cm with his weapon
 * Monkey D. Luffy
 * 6,300¥ (6,000 and VAT of 5%)
 * 17cm tall
 * Portgas D. Ace
 * 6,300¥ (6,000 and VAT of 5%)
 * 18.5cm tall

Neo DX 6
To be released late January 2011 at 7,560¥ (7,200 and VAT of 5%), 24.5cm tall
 * Monkey D. Garp

Neo DX 7
To be released late February 2011 at 8,820¥ (8,400 and VAT of 5%), 26cm tall
 * Blackbeard

Neo DX 8
To be released late April 2011 at 6,300¥ (6,000 and VAT of 5%) each
 * Trafalgar Law
 * 22cm tall
 * Marco
 * 23.5cm tall

Neo DX 9
To be released late May 2011 at 7,140¥ (6,800 and VAT of 5%)
 * Perona

Excellent Model - MILD series
It's currently spanned through 5 parts and 3 extensions. It's comprised of 11 distinct characters and 19 distinct figures. Their height is about 12cm/5in tall.

CB 1
Released on mid June 2008 at 1,890¥ each (1,800 and VAT of 5%), 12 cm / 5 in tall
 * Kid Luffy
 * Kid Sanji
 * Kid Robin

CB 2
Released on mid October 2008 at 1,890¥ each (1,800 and VAT of 5%)
 * Kid Nami
 * 12.5 cm
 * Kid Zoro
 * 10.5 cm, 4 and 1/4 in
 * Kid Nojiko
 * 12.5 cm

Neo EX
Released on mid November 2008 at 1,890¥ (1,800 and VAT of 5%), 10.5 cm tall
 * Chopperman

CB 3
Released on mid January 2009 at 1,890¥ each (1,800 and VAT of 5%), 12.5 cm tall
 * Kid Vivi
 * Kid Franky
 * Kid Usopp

Mugiwara Theater
Those SD figures are an adaptation of the Mugiwara Theatre - Report Time. Released on late July 2009 at 1,890¥ each (1,800 and VAT of 5%), 10 cm tall
 * SD Luffy
 * SD Zoro
 * SD Nami

CB EX
This version of Robin is subtitled "Dereshi version" after the unique laugh of Jaguar D. Saul. Released on late September 2009 at 1,890¥ (1,800 and VAT of 5%), 7.5 cm tall
 * Kid Robin, "Dereshi" version

Mugiwara Theater 2
Released on late January 2010 at 1,890¥ each (1,800 and VAT of 5%), 10 cm tall
 * SD Usopp
 * SD Robin
 * Robin didn't appear in Report Time, so this figure is an original creation from Megahouse
 * SD Sanji

CB EX 2
This part called "Luffy & Ace ~Brothers' Bond~" is directly inspired from the flashback Luffy got during the Post-War Arc.

To be released late January 2011 as a single set of 2 figures at 3,990¥ (3,800 and VAT of 5%).
 * Kid Luffy, Brothers' Bond version
 * Kid Ace, Brothers' Bond version

Excellent Model - Strong Edition
With the annoucement of the 10th OP film Strong World, Megahouse began to issue figures related to it under the name POP Strong Edition. It's spanning into 9 parts, comprising 10 distinct characters for a total of 13 figures. There are also 2 additional figures of Chopper, black and white recolored versions under the brand Mangart Beams T.

Strong Edition 1
Released on mid December 2009.
 * Luffy
 * 5,985¥ (5,700 and VAT of 5%)
 * 21 cm
 * Chopper
 * 2,100¥ (2,000 and VAT of 5%)
 * 10 cm

Beams also released at the same time a black and white limited edition of Chopper, called Mangart Beams T.

Strong Edition 2
Released late February 2010.
 * Zoro
 * 5,985¥ (5,700 and VAT of 5%)
 * Nami
 * 5,565¥ (5,300 and VAT of 5%)

Strong Edition 3
Released on late May 2010.
 * Nico Robin
 * 6,300¥ (6,000 and VAT of 5%)
 * Usopp
 * 7,140¥ (6,800 and VAT of 5%)

Strong Edition 4
Released on late July 2010.
 * Sanji
 * 5,985¥ (5,700 and VAT of 5%)
 * 23 cm
 * Brook
 * 7,140¥ (6,800 and VAT of 5%)
 * 30 cm

Strong Edition 5
Released late August 2010 at 8,925¥ (8,500 and VAT of 5%), 20cm tall
 * Franky

Strong Edition 6
Released mid-September 2010 at 2,100¥ (2,000 and VAT of 5%), 10cm tall
 * Chopper Ver.2

Beams has yet again released a Mangart Beams T of Chopper Ver.2 as a B&W limited edition on August 16th 2010.

Strong Edition 7
Released late September 2010 at 6,300¥ (6,000 and VAT of 5%)
 * Roronoa Zoro Ver.2

Strong Edition 8
Released mid-October 2010 at 5,565¥ (5,300 and VAT of 5%)
 * Nami Ending Ver.

Strong Edition 9
To be released late May 2011 at 7,140¥ (6,800 and VAT of 5%)
 * Shanks

Excellent Model - Limited series
In addition to the black and white recolored versions of "Strong Edition" Chopper, with the Mangart Beams T editions, Megahouse also regularly produced other limited editions of POP figures. Those models are often sponsored by some companies to promote some events or some other brands. This special series is composed of 12 figures, representing 6 distinct well-known One Piece characters.

Limited P.O.P "Strong Edition" Lawson Limited Edition Color
Lawson made a partnership with Megahouse to release metallic color versions of some figures from the Strong Edition series. The first wave was focused on Zoro and Nami, released on March 6th 2010. The second wave was about Luffy, released on July 10th 2010.

P.O.P NEO-DX Lawson Limited Ace Metallic Ver.
In January 2011, Lawson released a metallic version of NEO-DX Ace, also dubbed Marineford Ace, with only 100 issues ever made. Despite being very limited, it was marked with the regular Excellent Model logo instead of the Excellent Model LIMITED one.

This version could only be won through a 1-month campaign, which started on August 10th and finished on September 6th 2010, to go along the announcement of the DVD and Blu-ray releases of the movie Strong World, the Lawson ARG One Piece Stamp Rally (ARG stands for Alternative Reality Game, i.e. using augmented reality).

To participate in this campaign, you had to install the Lawson ARG One Piece application on your iPhone 3GS/4 (as it didn't work on other types of iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, and very badly on iPhone 3G), follow a Log Pose that would appear on screen until reaching a real Lawson shop, buy some eligible products like rice balls/onigiri, and try to gather 5 different "stamps" that would appear by inputting 16-digit numbers, given with your printed receipts. When succeeded, you could choose which prize you would participate for, lottery results being announced late October 2010.

The prizes were:
 * 30,000 sets of 4 "Strong World" postcards,
 * 5,000 sets of 2 "Strong World" clear files,
 * 100 figures of Ace metallic version.

Limited Mild P.O.P NEO-EX
During the special event One Piece Memorial Log in Lagunasia held between March 20th and June 27th 2010, the goodies shops at Lagunasia, a theme park inside the marine resort complex Laguna Gamagori, near Nagoya, sold the Lagunasia limited edition of Chopperman, with blue clothes instead of red ones.

More information available in Japanese at @Press.

Limited Mild P.O.P Mugiwara Theater
During the special event One Piece Memorial Log in Huis Ten Bosch held between July 15th and October 17th 2010, the goodies shops at Huis Ten Bosch, a theme park in Sasebo (near Nagasaki), sold the Memorial Log Ver. of Mugiwara Theater Luffy, rendered with a sky blue shirt and a brown shorts. It wasn't available at the beginning of the event but was actually released early August 2010 at a price of 2,000¥.

The annual summer event United Stated of Odaiba 2010, held between July 17th and August 31th 2010 at Odaiba in Tokyo, ran its own version of the One Piece Memorial Log, where were sold the Marineford Ver. of Mugiwara Theater Luffy with a yellow shirt at the same price of 2,000¥.

A 3rd version of Mugiwara Theater Luffy, Sabaody Ver. with a dark blue shirt, could be found during the One Piece Premier Show 2010, a live action stage that ran between July 17th and August 31th at the Universal Studios Japan theme park in Osaka. It was also sold at 2,000¥.

Those 3 versions could also be pre-ordered between August 10th and September 30th 2010 at the Toei Animation e-shop site for a release early December 2010.

Limited P.O.P "Limited Edition"
This series is the first of the Limited POP label to be composed of actual new models instead of recolored versions of already released figures.

It's been launched following the association of 2 media producing companies (Toei Animation and Shueisha with Mekke!) with 2 figure editing companies (Megahouse with its MegaTrea Shop and Bandai with its Premium Bandai) to adapt into figures some female characters as they were illustrated during the Memorial Log events and the Wonder Festival Summer 2010, sporting bikinis on a set of goodies (beach towels, posters, puzzles and so on).

The first character to be adapted is Nami, with a Ver. RED at 5,985¥ and a Ver. BLUE at 6,615¥, 18cm tall. They both can be pre-ordered from July 30th to November 30th 2010 (preorders passed before September 3rd are secured, then it's until sold out) for a release in early December 2010. Here's a direct link to the related pages: The bikini of the blue version follows the same pattern as the bikini Nami wears on the color spread issued with manga chapter #553, in volume 57.
 * Nami Ver. RED at Toei
 * Nami Ver. RED at Mekke!
 * Nami Ver. BLUE at MegaTrea Shop
 * Nami Ver. BLUE at Premium Bandai

The second character of this series is Hancock, with a Ver. WHITE at 5,985¥ and a Ver. PURPLE at 6,615¥, 22.5cm tall. Both versions can be pre-ordered from October 1st 2010 and onwards for a release late March 2011. Here's a direct link to the related pages: The bikini of Ver. PURPLE matches the color of the original illustration.
 * Hancock Ver. WHITE at Toei
 * Hancock Ver. WHITE at Mekke!
 * Hancock Ver. PURPLE at MegaTrea Shop
 * Hancock Ver. PURPLE at Premium Bandai

Limited P.O.P "Limited Edition" 7-11net Limited Edition
In October 2010, 7-Eleven launched the pre-order of their own version of Portgas D. Ace, called Ver.1.5, with a release on April 30th 2011 at 5,985¥ VAT included. This figure is based on the regular Neo Ace but with some differences that should appeal fans:
 * The head, the necklace and the bracelet have all been remodeled,
 * Paint application has changed following a renewed color scheme.

http://www.711net.jp/product/p/9524188

Coming POP

 * Ace POP Strong World, announced release date June 2011.
 * Vista POP, announced release date for June 2011.

Re-released figures
Megahouse figures aren't marked as limited releases but they are usually produced with a fixed amount of units. So, Megahouse didn't do any re-release of the original series.

In spite of this, Megahouse still has regularly re-issued figures from the Neo line. The reasons for re-issuing is quite easy to understand:
 * Among figures dedicated to One Piece, the ones from the POP line are the most acclaimed as, for a long time, all other figure lines were worse in quality. This situation changed in 2008 when Banpresto has begun to release OP high quality figures for its Ichiban Kuji lottery.
 * Because original series figures were one shot releases and the demand curve didn't slow down that much, tag prices in specialized shops and auction sites quickly skyrocketed. This has proved that, despite not being in the classical successful figure categories (namely, mecha/robots and shoujo/pretty girls), the POP line can sustain consumer needs and call for regular re-issues.

Mild CB figures didn't meet a comparable success, so they may not be re-issued at all.

Known re-issue dates follows:
 * Ace Neo 2 and Zoro Neo 3 were re-released on mid November 2008.
 * Chopper Neo EX and Robin Neo 5 were re-released on mid February 2009.
 * Luffy Neo 1 and Franky Neo 2 were re-released on late June 2009.
 * Sanji Neo 4 and Sogeking Neo 5 were re-released on late July 2009.
 * Bon Kurei Neo 3 and Shanks Neo 4 were re-released on late September 2009.
 * Ace Neo 2 and Brook Neo 6 were re-released on late October 2009.
 * Mihawk Neo DX 1 was re-released on late December 2009.
 * The 3 Mild Mugiwara Theater 1 figures got a re-release mid-February 2010.
 * Rob Lucci Neo 6 and Aokiji Neo DX got another re-release on late March 2010.
 * Bartholomew Kuma Neo DX 2 was re-released on mid-June 2010.
 * Luffy and Chopper from Strong Edition 1 were re-released on late June 2010.
 * Shanks Neo 4 and Mihawk Neo DX 1 were re-released on late October 2010.
 * Nami and Zoro Strong Edition 2 Lawson limited version were re-released on November 3rd 2010, with mandatory pre-orders that started July 1st 2010 and quickly ended within a month.
 * Boa Hancock Neo DX 4 will be re-released late January 2011.
 * Nami Strong Edition 2 (i.e. the 1st regular version) will have a 2nd release late April 2011.
 * Sogeking Neo 5 Will have a 3rd release in late May 2011

The Toei official sticker
A lot of bootlegs are produced mainly by Chinese/HK counterfeiters. One reliable way to recognize official products is by spotting the little Toei sticker put on the figure box. However, collectors that got their figures from untrusted sources must still be vigilant as sticker faking activity is known to be true since late 2009 / early 2010. Fake stickers are easily recognizable because of their poor print quality.

Sometimes, stickers show a number on their top right corner. Nobody actually knows their meaning, apart from Bandai insiders...

Those stickers come into several flavors:
 * A golden or silver sticker with Japanese lettering shows that the figure was originally designed for the Japanese domestic market.
 * A silver sticker with English lettering indicates that the figure has been exported by Bandai for international markets (be it for remaining Asia, Europe or America).

The general consensus among fans is that stickers put on products designed for the Japanese domestic market should all have a golden background. That's why, although several kinds of stickers are put on official products, collectors prefer to search for figures with golden ones.

However, Toei stickers for the Japanese domestic market seem to appear following these rules: For instance, although nearly all POP figures do have the golden version of the Toei sticker, exceptions occured with all Neo DX and some Strong Edition figures released on the Japanese market, having the silver version as being the only figures above 5,500¥.
 * For products below 5,499¥, stickers should have a golden background with black lettering.
 * For products in the range of 5,500-6,499¥, stickers should have a silver background with black lettering.
 * For products above 6,500¥, stickers should have a silver background with red lettering.

Despite these general rules, some people seems to still get a golden sticker with black lettering, as for Neo DX Kuma, a figure of 8,820¥. But those cases are rather scarce.

The same kind of rules should be applied for stickers on products for international markets. In this case, they all retain a silver background but with several letters coloring, as black, blue, red or even green.

Moreover, genuine stickers have their backsides filled with the Toei logo as watermark. But to check this, it requires to peel stickers off boxes.

Aside from the Toei sticker, other differences between official products and bootlegs may include differences in the box, lack in overall detail and taint/hue/depth in the paint on the figure itself. The bootlegs may be priced at the same price of the original figures or priced as a cheap counterfeit version for fans. Occasionally, they are sought by collectors despite being fake. The most notable way to tell a fake straight off is usually in the face as bootlegs are often less defined/detailed. One Piece P.O.P. also carry the Korean One Piece logo, the One Piece logo over a black flag, as they are intended for a wide target audience, a common sight on non-Japanese produced products. On the bootlegs, this logo may appear but often is poorly reproduced, along with the other logos on the box.

Finally, it should be noted that products exported from Japan by different companies than Bandai may not have the Toei sticker at all. It's generally replaced by other stickers:
 * Figures exported to the USA by AAA Anime Distribution should have both FUNimation and AAA stickers.
 * Figures exported to Europe by Abyss Corp should only have an Abyss Corp sticker, sometimes no sticker at all.

Known bootleg versions

 * Chopper - The bootleg comes in a light blue packaging and the base stand is yellow in colour. Original Chopper comes in light brown packaging and the base stand is transparent.
 * Zoro - The bootleg doesn't have a base stand. It also has a very poor paint job and the figure is actually has a glossy look and is thinner than the real version.
 * Luffy - The bootleg has a different cut to the jacket, where the abs are covered.
 * Nami and Shanks - The figures themselves were very poor quality. The plastic had visible lines and holes where it was cast incorrectly. Also, the printing on the figures (painting) was off in places. The Nami figure was cast so poorly that she can't even fit on her stand right because her legs are so bent. One leg is longer than the other. Just over-all really poor quality on top of being fakes.
 * Ace - It seems like a very cheap Ace is floating around on e-bay, most likely a bootleg as well.
 * There are also bootlegs for Franky and Ussop/Sogeking figures; they come in the brown weak cardboard without any plastic protection neither accesories, and a really bad painted Shanks as well.
 * And an imitation of Toei Stickers has been added to some bootlegs, it is a really poor quality one, since it is only a metal-coloured one without any image or text display, but from far, gives it a little bit of more credibility to the package.

The boxes were made of really weak cardboard, barely even poster board quality. The official item sticker was also missing from the box. The images on the boxes were blurry and skewed and obviously had been scanned in and reprinted on their own boxes.

Trivia

 * From promotional photographs it seems the Excellent Model "MILD" figures of Nami and Nojiko were designed to go alongside the Bellemere model from the original series run.
 * From promotional photographs it seems the Excellent Model "MILD" figure of Luffy was designed to go alongside the Shanks model from the "Neo" series run.
 * From promotional photographs it seems the Excellent Model "MILD" figure of Carue was designed to go alongside Vivi.
 * Figures don't have any mention about being from the original or the Neo lineup. But it's quite easy to put them apart as both lineups have different packagings. Moreover, the disclaimer "Megahouse 200x" on the bottom left of boxes achieves to assure figure's version: if the year gives 2004 or 2005, the figure is from the original line, otherwise it's from the Neo one.
 * The poses for each figure are often re-used for other merchandise, for example the One Piece Locations Trading Figures Nami has an almost identical pose to her first figure pose, although it is mirrored.
 * Although Chopperman is part of Megahouse "Excellent MILD" brandline, it's still referred as NEO-EX in Megahouse item catalogue and not as CB-EX.
 * It seems like Megahouse used the same official pictures for the original release and re-release of Ace, Vivi, Smoker and Tashigi in their NEO form.
 * On late June 2010, Megahouse added a new item to its plush series, STUFFED Collection. This time, it featured Billy from the 10th movie Strong World at 3,990¥. For the occasion, it has been retitled "STUFFED Collection feat. P.O.P" as the plush toy was produced at the same scale as POP figure one. Plushes have a "skeletton" made of a bendable wireframe, so they're fully poseable.