So Sonic Gear is here to point out the fakes and the bootleggers so you only get the real deal when you're looking for Sonic the hedgehog stuff to collect!
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.
How To Avoid Sonic Bootleg Merchandise Hub Page
Notice something suspicious about one of the cursors here? Why yes, that's a stolen Tails Sprite! Someone has taken Tails, right out of Sonic 2, colored him purple, added glitter and said it was a cursor! Of course, these "Pimp Your Profile" people are here to try and give you these "FREE" cursors (in return for you allowing them to put spyware all over your computer, or spam you with ads!) because they didn't do any work to make good ol' Tails here.
These are all animated, and yes, the animation is the same as in the game. It's 100% ripped off.
It looks almost identical to the real Sega item! This "Fang the Sniper" is supposed to be the one from the Sonic the Fighters Japanese set. However, it's just a clone. If you were to buy this and take a good look, you'll notice it has no Sega tags, or any markings. It's also new.
This is also the saddest kind of bootleg item to see. Everyone knows a Fang plush is scarce, but SO MANY people still want him. Sega should do a real re-release on these in-demand plushes. Make them a little different from the "Old Set" and simply make enough for everyone. That's the only thing that can stop this sort of a bootleg plush from being snapped up by fans.
ASK any Ebay or auction seller to see the tag in a photo before you bid. Even if the card-tag is snipped off, there will still be a 'tush tag' or durable paper-like cloth sewn into one of the seams with Sega info on it. LOOK AT THE DATE! It must be from the 1990s and NOT 2000 or any year after. These dolls were released for Sonic the Fighters, which was made in the 1990s. Real collectors do not clip these off, and even if they ARE cut, some bit will generally remain. They have also made a fake Cream the Rabbit.
Info provided by: Rathe
"What is Zerotoyz? Well I found them. It's an ebay store.
They have a great selection of rare and expensive plushes for cheap. That's pretty great right? I managed to buy a Fang the sniper plush from them recently for 55$ only to find that it was instantly replaced in the store for the same price.
Wait a minute....
So yeah it turns out pretty much every plush they have is fake. Including the blue nosed overly happy Fang. **NEWS: Zerotoyz ebay store was shut down in Jun/May 2008** (good)
Here's the key "Compare their listed products to actual pictures of real merchandise and you'll notice the difference. Also look at tag dates."
Because you don't want to pay $55 (& up) dollars for something that isnt real!
If you see an auction for a Fang Knack Sniper Sonic the Fighters plush on Ebay in 2009, make sure it does NOT have any of the following qualities:
It ships from China
It has no paper hang-tag
Tush-tag says 1996 on one side then 1997 on the other
Tush-tag is dated 2000 or later
The ebay seller has more than 1 for auction or in a store
It is replaced in the ebay store if it's bought right away
If it does, it is most likely a fake. They have repeatedly improved this plush to the point where it is almost indistinguishable from a real one. The above list may now be the only way to tell.
The knock-off artists saw this right away in high Ebay auction prices for the ReSaurus figures...and where there's a demand that's not being met officially, it's time for the UNofficials to step in with shoddy products and tricky ways.
Take a look at these figures, as shown for the auction. First off, there's no accessories at all. They can claim these were 'lost' from the box though.
The lack of box is more than just a telltale sign. ReSaurus (as you can see on their Official Sonic Gear Page) used a very creative and complex box design, with paper inserts and textures. This renders it nearly IMPOSSIBLE for bootleggers to imitate. So you'll never see phony figures with real official looking boxes. The cost of the box would be worse than the figure, for these guys.
Still, these aren't the answer to your 2nd release ReSaurus figures. What kind of quality do they have? Do they break? Create small pieces for babies to eat (or your vacume cleaner?) How's the paint they used? Will it flake? All these questions go unanswered when bootlegging is involved, so know what to look for!
A "Dog Tag" style necklace is easy to fake, if you've got the right equipment. Normally, customizing things like metal tags is a nice activity. You can make all sorts of personalized tags for people. But when they start stealing pictures of Sonic and plastering it all over every tag they can get, it's over the line.
Especially the 'quality line'--just look at the bottom there, it looks like a gap where the design was applied. How safe are the materials? How long will this last without peeling or fading? No one knows because it's not official, but these show up all over ebay.
Don't get sucked in! Use these handy tips to ferret out fakes so you only buy the real deal! Check the following things out before you consider bidding:
1. Does the company sell many, many other things that are a VARIENT of the Sonic item?
This means looking to see if there are also EXAMPLE: "Garfield, Smurfs, Barbie, Mickey Mouse" etc. character dog tags on their other auctions
2. Does the person offer "Personalization" where your name could be written on the item?
Official goods are never something personalize-able. This includes things like "Spaces for Etching" and "Iron On Name Decals". Custom printing is also in this catagory.
3. Does the seller offer "Upgrades" to the item?
Official goods are made in official Sega approved areas! They are not turned out upon request, and so they all come out the exact same way. The above tag was "Upgradeable" by adding extra enamel, 'bling bling' edges, jewels or fancy chains.
These figures are either super mutant, or flat out terrible bootleg merchandise. So many problems all at once! There are 2 Shadow bodies in the photo...but only 1 shadow head! They've got a Sonic head shoved onto the other one. And oh no, it's Amy Rouge Rose the Bat Hog! They've got a Rouge head on Amy's body!
Not only that, but the Sonic they did manage to get the right parts onto has no pupils, messy eye paint and a super long distorted neck. Shadow's white marking is also way too large on both of his bodies. These terrible figures appeared to frighten Ebay browsers in Switzerland and China.
This is a prime example of fakes not having ANY quality control. Yikes!
Even food is not safe from fakers in the Phillipines! This is a package of candy cigarettes. First of all, smoking is so dumb and uncool, why would you want to encourage anyone to do it (especially kids) by making candy? Will they also release gummi tumors to simulate cancer?
What are these really? Fruity stick candy with paper wrappers to look like real cigarettes. There used to be such things in the USA, and cigars shaped bubble gum (before everyone realized that cigars are for stuffy old coots & fake movie villains and it's not cool)
Obviously here, much like the headphones (on page 1), someone stole a stock art of Sonic and just pasted it onto the package hoping to trick people into thinking that this has something to do with Sonic. "Ok how can we make this look more appealing...hmmm add some clip art fruit and...nothing says 'delicioius' like a random image of Sonic the Hedgehog!" Photo discovered by Sonikku.
The line between 'bootleg stuff' and 'fan items'. Why? Because it seems that this was produced by some kind of strange un-authorized costume company, and not a real fan. They're clearly hoping to get fans to buy it...but they didn't pay much attention to detail. That's another thing that can alert you to bogus items.
First, any REAL fan would know that Shadow (and everyone else) has 5 fingers. They would also mind his shoe detail, which doesn't really change. It's not an issue of someone who didn't have the skill to do something, it's really just ability to pay attention. This was also made with the express purpose of selling it on Ebay, and likely, turning out bunches more of them. Unfortunately this is another case where "If the official guys don't provide, someone un-official will step in to collect".
Photo discovered by SonicHOG
You have probably seen a snap. It looks like the end of a Q-Tip cotton swab, but it is made of a light 'tissue paper' and is vaguely 'teardrop shaped'. The end contains some mildly explosive powder. If you throw it a certain distance, apply certain pressure to it, or grind it, the black grains inside will explode, making a snapping or popping sound and a spark. They are fairly common because they are not especially dangerous (though of course they're quite flammable)
Fireworks companies are nototrious for stolen or 'modified' art/themes, and also for their own outlandish art. There are even internet galleries dedicated to it. Here "Snappers" have taken 3D-Blast Sonic, added a rocket to his hand and plastered him on their box with the dubious phrase "Feel the Pops".
It is unlikely that Sega or Sonic would endorse strange flammable goods....Photo discovered by:
This last pin is a trace off of a Japanese stock art. It used to be on USA Pins/Keychains. However, it turned out to be a fake. Telltale signs are: His nose is mis-colored, and they neglected the shine-spots on his shoes, even though they're outlined. If you look closely you can also see he has the wrong number of fingers. It's rather unfortunate, because this was almost a cool pin.
