We knew that a topic like this was going to show up someday because with the recent increase of repro stuff it´s no surprise that new collectors have concerns about purchasing certain figures/items and this is exactly the problem and concern I´ve been trying to express in several of the recent topics about those repro´s.
For me this topic shows that the community has failed in protecting the original line because we can´t ignore or refuse to see the concerns that new collectors have here. It´s easy to come up with the common lines here; they´re clearly different, impossible to match the orb, etc. All of which is true but that doesn´t mean that each and every new collector is, unlike Spiritcrusher, aware of this place out here for back up and up to date about which LB have been released in the original line. Some might think that the monotone colored LB are original items, or Greek versions of the LB, etc. So we can all take this lightly as some have done before but to me it feels like we´re slowly loosing a Battle here since this topic clearly shows that we´re solving the problems we can only blame ourselves for because we could´ve, and should have, prevented this in the first place imho.
Enough about this because my concern is clear...
@Spiritcrusher, everything can be reproduced as the recent period in which Clear Figures, Shields, etc. have been reproduced by people who´re trying to make profit out of the success/rareness of the original items by selling the reproductions for only a fraction of the price of the original piece, which is still more than enough for them to make a descent profit, and some of them don´t really seem to care about the harm these reproductions can do to the line resulting some are pretty hard to distinguish from the originals. A lot of fellow collectors who were not willing/able to pay the high prices for the original items out here didn´t care about this because for them it was a great outcome in order to get the piece they wanted for cheap. But as your concern shows this ¨positive¨ side of the reproductions also has a downside causing (new) collectors to become doubtful about whether or not the piece they´re buying is original. And sadly enough this is become more and more a valid concern because even though most of us out here are able to tell and verify the different when they´ve the figure in hand there´ll be only a fraction of them left when they´ve to judge the same figure based upon the pics alone, which is in most cases all we have before we buy the figure. So we can all say that the material feels different and that the paint is from a different quality etc. but that´s not the information that´ll help you out because that´s not something you can judge with enough certainty based on simple pics......
I don´t want to scare you here but those are details and concerns you´ve to become aware of as well in order not to risk getting burned buying a reproduction figure for the price of an original one.
But luckily as Grencats and Draz above already stated there´s still not to much to worry about when it comes to the original Laser Beasts because there´s to much details on these that´d make the reproduction of these pieces very tough. The orb (marble) in the chest is one of those details although these could be removed and reused from old beat up figures so that´s not a 100% guarantee either but the things that saves us here is the fact that like the original Battle Beasts there´s the combination of a base color figure with paint apps over it which are so detailed and precise that reproducing these would not be very interesting simply because of the time and costs that´d be involved and that´s not something the people who create these reproductions seem to like very much because all they want is to make a quick profit with the more easy to duplicate pieces like Clear figures, Shields and in some cases the Laser guns.
Although some of the members out here are pro-repro there´s also a group, including me, who´re anti-repro for the reasons mentioned above so this means that with almost every reproduction that does show up on the web there´s a new discussion meaning that there´s not a lot of reproductions within the BB line that pass by unnoticed.
For now, as long as you stay with the original LB and have a proper insight of which LB are actual original releases, there should be not a lot to worry about. This also goes for the laserguns in general because although there are reproductions out there the chances of them showing up have reduced quite a bit over the last years. When it comes to the shields and sleds though there´s still a bunch of reproductions out there and available but luckily we´ve managed to get those marked so on the Shields you´ll clearly find the stamp REPRO 2014 or 2015 on the back and on the Sleds you´ll find another marking, I believe it was a C, on the bottom of it to show its a reproduction. The exact markings you´ll find out here when you do a little searching. So those markings help us and hopefully fellow and new collectors like you not to get burned by overpaying for a non original item. I´m always trying to get each and every reproduction item marked or stamped with something that clearly shows the difference because that´s a simple little detail that would work well for all parties involved. Sadly enough not all of the reproduction people are willing to do this so this clearly shows they´re not out here to help people to get look a like items for less money but just to make profit and meanwhile they´re polluting and harming the original line resulting in concerns and doubts like you express.
Thanks for sharing your concern because I hope this´ll make some of my fellow collectors more aware of this problem that cannot longer be ignored.
Good luck with the hunt for Beasts and whenever you have doubts please feel free to ask here or via PM.
Enjoy the Beasts!