How to avoid Bootleg Merchandise Page 16

How to Avoid Fake Sonic Merchandise Page 16

Sonic Gear Main Merchandise Page * Bootlegs 1 * Bootlegs 2 * Bootlegs 3 * Bootlegs 4 * Bootlegs 5 * Bootlegs 6
* Bootlegs 8 * Bootlegs 9 * Bootlegs 10 * Bootlegs 11 * Bootlegs 12 * Bootlegs 13 * Bootlegs 14 * Bootlegs 15 *
Bootlegs 17 * Bootlegs 18 * Bootlegs 19 * Bootlegs 20 * Bootlegs 21 * Bootlegs 22 * Bootlegs 26 * HUB *

Fakery and junk abounds when bootleggers think they can get away with knocking off Sonic the Hedgehog!
Fight back by educating yourself on what NEVER to buy with these pages of photos and tips!

Remember, you vote with your money...any buying of fake junk only supports and encourages them to make more. Wouldn't you rather have awesome official items? Wouldn't you rather enjoy cool good quality stuff you know you can depend on? If you want the real deal, bootlegs are never the way to go.
Remember what a 'bootleg' item is:
It is an unofficial or unlicensed product being sold to the fans- by NON FANS. These can be home-made or made in a factory. They are not approved by the company who holds the license and are NOT made to any standard. The quality is usually low, leading to items which may break or wear out. Fake items may also be unsafe. Remember, bootleg makers are only after your money. They don't care at all about Sonic the hedgehog and are only out for a quick buck. Don't waste your money! Buy official SEGA Sonic things only, look for copyrights, and demand the real deal.
Iron On Transfers Submission: CLOSED (every single art on the internet can be one of these, know that it exists & if it's a transfer of any type it IS A FAKE.

Now that the fakers have learned that those flat, rubber keychains (the real thing, at least) do well, they're trying to fake up some of their own for profit. But, if you look closely, you can spot the bogus details. First, 'classic Tails' would be quite nice...if he wasn't mysteriously wearing a yellow bracelet, or had his arm growing out of his back. Then, Knuckles has PINK eyes, yellow cuffs, un-detailed shoes, and they forgot to cut out the white-space above his tail. Shadow's going gray! And then he has a red outline somehow? Watch out for the gray nose...they just can't get the art right. Sonic is supposed to be from Secret rings...but what's up with his blobby, wiggly arm, and why is his hand connected to his leg with a blue branch?

Of course these aren't going to fool the fans...but you could imagine they CAN trick well meaning parents/grandparents who are out for a bargain. You can also imagine being dissapointed to get one of these as gift...too sad. Discovered by SonicFan09

RooRoo Bear Sonic Knockoff Character art set

This is an interesting type of fake. It's a "Knock-off" rather than something that directly tries to copy Sonic/convince you that it IS Sonic...this is something made to be "similar to" in hopes that Sonic fans will like it too. This is a Korean art set, but it was found in china. And who are the characters

here? Why, it's RooRoo Bear (who just happens to be blue, wear a mono-eye style glass, white gloves & red shoes) Then, his sidekick the "Yellow/orange animal who has 2 white tipped 'tails' in his hair, red shoes, and cute bangs". Oh and watch out there's Metal Son--I mean...Metal Bad Bear...who also has head spikes, red shoes, claws & a mono eye. "We're not infringing because he has horns! Those aren't ears...they're horns. Yes."
Does it actually infringe? Who knows, but even without wacky commentary, it's easy to see what they're doing (flying in a red space plane too hmm) especially when you put all the elements together. (RooRoo wouldn't be suspicious if he was alone) This is still something interesting to have a look at, though. It was found among Hello Kitty stuff in China. Photo by:

2 different sellers, the same suspicous pattern! Do bootleggers rip eachother off? Who is actually affording these bad looking, yet terribly expensive fakes so that they keep making them? And, importantly, who do they think they're going to convince

when they list the "Red Long-Tail Suit" as "Knuckles"? No one...blah. The Sonic's tail looks super long, and he has 1 floppy spike on his back. The other is merely a pallet swap of the same pattern...only they used just red fabric and put it on a taller/fatter guy. Both of these are rather strange. Red discovered by SonicFan09, blue discovered by Surferbrg

These are wierd, fake Famicom cartridges. The odd colors are normal for it, but "3d Blast" has terribly distorted art, & it couldn't run the game anyway. No one could think it was real...& who knows what's on there. "Somari" contains Mario & not Sonic. Discovered by Toxic The Skunk

They claim this thing is 'a pillow' but it is not. It's a stolen graphic that someone shaped like a pillow. It's meant to trick people into thinking they have this, and its not just 'made on demand'. Which usually means the item is much

shabbier than what's pictured...because they can't be bothered to show you the real thing! Photo discovered by: FuriousKnuckles2

Stolen stickers? Yes. Various CG Shadows are ripped off from Sega, then watermarked with the bootleggers' name. They've scattered some very donut looking 'rings' around, and put the Sonic logo for some reason....shouldn't it say Shadow? Photo discovered by: FuriousKnuckles2

Trash up the tree with this fake ornament? No way! This is a phony Christmas ornament ball. Spawned by small faker companies with access to printers that print on curved surfaces (or lame decals to stick on boring balls!) they want to squeeze more money out of fans & friends while making the holidays shabby & lame with unofficial things. Photo discovered by: FuriousKnuckles2

Here comes a mixed up calendar of any & every image these printers of fakery could filch from Sega. You've got SA1 stuff in with Secret Rings Sonic 06 & more. It may be "January to December" but its

This bogus mouse pad is a little more clever than most. It doesn't trash out mixed up art, or use ripped off backgrounds. It even adds a slogan "The Ultimate LifeForm" however, there's no Sega, SonicTeam, or copyright info anywhere. Watch out for tricky fakes. Photo discovered by: FuriousKnuckles2

a bad buy all year long! Photo discovered by: FuriousKnuckles2

The lack of official Sonic jewelry has caused a faker to step in with this enamel/metal stuff...but poor Sonic is missing a few fingers, his arm is blending into his belly dot and 1 ear is totally white! Always look closely at the details to help spot fakes BEFORE you buy. Photo discovered by: FuriousKnuckles2

Oh no, it's another incarnation of "Chronic the BongHog"! This ugly, lame mutation/rip-off of Sonic still has the pot-leaf spikes & stupid lazy look, but now that he's apparently 'hogging a bong' he looks somewhat worried/distraught/sad as well as sleepy and dumb.

No one can decide if these shirts are supposed to make pot smoking look dumb...but the fact that this isnt even a real shirt makes it even dumber!

Here are more fake 'room signs', but this time they are claiming that these are posters. A nice trick fakers do is say that it's a poster to make you think it's big, then what you get is a tiny, shabby print out of stolen Sega art...with a bad font plastered on top because MOST personalized goods are NO good fakes. Discovered by: FuriousKnuckles2

This is supposedly a "Sonic Adventure Tails Plush" but it's pretty rotten looking. Giant un-proportional shoes, wierd face, small ears & stubby appendages make this strange. Look at the tag though, they seem to be trying to copy the real tag for this fake doll. Discovered by ToxicTheSkunk

Big feet with a big disaster! The buckles here are deliberately right on TOP of the shoe! It looks super odd with his giant feet, fat legs & globby wierd hands. The fake face doesn't fare much better, as he has a huge nose & withered ears. This is a mutated fake doll for sure! A good thing too, as it makes this fake easy to avoid. This is from HongKong Discovered by ToxicTheSkunk

Bogus bed accessory! This is a fake bed pillow with Amy Rose theme. The art seems like Sonic X, but it's ripped off...and then stuck onto this phony pillow. Discovered by Furious Knuckles2

Look suspiciously like a boring bag with stolen screen shot pasted over it in Photoshop? That's because it IS. This isn't even what the final graphic will look like because these fakers

Remember the horrible 'big figure fakes' from Bootlegs 15? They've STARTED putting the dumb things in a bogus box to try and trick people! Look out for these super shabby $30 dollar ugly, non-articulated counterfiets on ebay...with ir without the box. Robbing logos and slapping stock art all over doesn't make the horrible figure inside any more convincing, though. Discovered by ToxicTheSkunk

didn't even bother to create 1 bag. It's just a mock-up to convince buyers that this is what they'll get. In reality, it'll be a shabby, cheap-o iron-on stolen graphic on a blah bag. Always inspect items to be sure they're real. Discovered by Furious Knuckles2

These fakers took an invitation...to rip off art. This is a fake party invite card, but it adds a new element: a photo of the bday person. But look! They've written 'sample' on Sonic (they stole it first! it must belong to them!) but then also on the kid. Why would anyone want to steal a photo of some random kid? Why would you want some stranger on your invite if you were going to rip this guy off? It makes no sense...but then, buying rip-offs doesn't either. Discovered by Furious Knuckles2

This is a fake wall decal. Likely, it's modeled after the official one, which you can find out about on party supplies of SonicGear. This uses stolen CG art, obviously, and it looks pretty good here. But, keep in mind that with fakes, you never know the quality of the material, & since they didn't bother to get a license, the quality is probably bad. It could fade, peel off right away, pull the paint off the wall if you try to move it, or come out the wrong size. With fake stuff, you never know what you'll really get. Discovered by Furious Knuckles2

This tiny thing is a fake cake.

That "Shadow" distorted art nonsense is another 'edible' ink decoration, but remember that with fakes you have no idea where it's coming from. NOT something you want to eat. Discovered by AlexDyson01

Put a fake case on your real iphone? No way! Fake phone cases are easy to do, because the bootleggers just need something that will print on the generic cases, and some stolen art. In this case, it's Super Sonic from Sonic Black Knight. Notice how there are NO copyrights, Sega logos or anything else? That's an easy give-away that something's not the real deal. Don't do a disservice to expensive devices with lame phony covers. Discovered by Furious Knuckles2

This Amy keychain is suspicious. It looks ok...there's nothing hugely wrong with her...but it's not quite right either. The eyelashes are enormous, and there are no white 'shine dots' in the eye like with all other keychains. It is likely to be fake, but doesn't really stand out about being bogus. What's up with this thing? Discovered by Furious Knuckles2

This is an etched glass mug / beer mug, but it is a phony. Some faker has gotten their hands on a glass etching kit & some silvertone glass paint to go in the etched areas. Etching is usually done via chemicals that act on normal, generic glass. The result is usually a whiteish 'frosted area' in whatever place was exposed. With this...who knows what kind of paint was used. Will it rub off? Is it harmful? It's a fake, so you never know!
This item is a lesson on RESEARCH.
Does the mug look authentic? Be sure to hit "See Sellers Other Items" and take a look around. If they have a zillion other improbable properties etched onto everything, then it's almost guarenteed to be bogus. In this case, you can be sure they DONT own the license for practically every major sports team in the USA, as well as Sega characters & several TV shows...but that doesn't stop them etching up these fakes, so beware! Discovered by Berzerker.

More instances of not paying attention?
You bet. Here comes gun wielding Sonic, when everyone knows it's Shadow who favors firearms. Plus, it's not like either of these are drawn convincingly...look how the left one is holding the gun, and the giant wacky bullet in the other hand...plus his shoe is mutating because they tried to trace parts of it.
Beware the one on the right! What in the world is going on with his hands? They're SKELETON hands! With werehog fur? And guns? It makes the blue-eye mistake over-look-able. But still, no one would want these stupid stickers on anything...but at least they're easy to spot as fakes. Photos discovered by: Photo discovered by: SonicFan09

This seems to be a bootleg...of a parody! How's that for something unusual! This is a re-cast/repaint of the "Hedgehog Plumber Hero" PVC parody toy that you can see here on Gear at Parody Items. Instead of casting him in blue PVC, this one uses purple, and doesn't seem to have painted it quite as well. This is the first bootleg of a parody item discovered, how strange. Photo discovered by: SonicFan09