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.

Phony Merchandise is not to be confused with fan made items.

Fan made items are made one at a time, usually for the benefit of the maker. Fan made items usually fall into places where the company did not make certain things people wanted. If a certain character was neglected, for example, someone might make items relating to that person. Fan made items usually also SAY that they are. If you make a tribute to something, you should not be afraid to call it out. Bootlegers do the opposite, they crank out hundreds of things under the table hoping to make a buck.

This guide will help you avoid phony Sonic Merchandise. Many of these bogus items are found on Ebay, where it is sometimes hard to tell what's what. Ebay is flooded from time to time with these annoying non-fans.

T-Shirts

If the tag does not appear in the photo, write the seller and ask to see a photo of it *Before You Bid*. Tell them you won't bid until you see it. This can be the paper tag, if the shirt is new, or a close-up of the cloth tag found at the back of the collar/waistband/etc. The tag should say something in relation to "Sega" "Copyright" "Sonic Project" Sonic X" or something official. DO NOT buy if they won't let you see this and you are at all suspicious! All Real Sega/Sonic goods will say so on the tag. T-Shirts are attractive to bootleggers because they are so cheap and easy to make. It's also easy to fool people into buying them.

**If enough people demand to see the official tag or don't buy, they won't make any money and will stop.

How they do it & what you will get if you fall for it:

People are buying the cheapest shirts they can get, then ironing on various Sonic designs. These can be made right on your home PC! If you really want a design for yourself, just print one out after buying the special paper. But beware....

• The shirt cloth may be of poor quality
  
• The design will look shiny all over like a lame decal
  
• The design will fade easily and wash off
  
• It is easy to scratch the design
  
• The item can wear out very quicky and look ugly
  
  

How to tell if the item in question is a fake:

• They won't take a photo of the tag, or it doesnt say anything Sonic related
  
• It claims "Any size you want"
  
• Things that are "personalized" with your name or other info
  
  

I was even taken in by one of these offers. I got the "Eat My Dust" Hot Topic Sonic shirt off of ebay after someone claimed it wasn't the right size. (Bootleggers love to make up bogus stories to get you to believe they are for real) I had it bought and shipped for less than it would of cost in the Hot Topic store. But...the design on the front was just an iron-on copy of the original! I didn't ask for a photo of the tag, and now I'm stuck with a sub-standard shirt I can't wear or wash! Why? The design is so flimsy and it's just ironed on...

Things which are usually bootlegs:

-Analog wall clocks. (the kind with hands) Someone buys a clock for 50 cents, then prints out a Sonic design for the backing, snaps the hands in, and sells it to you at a huge markup!

-"Bogus Bills" or "Gag Money" A dollar/euro/hundred dollar with Sonic on it. It's only worth the paper it's printed on, but they will mark it up

-Mugs these things are cheap and easy to put decals on (Again, ASK to see Sega copyrights somewhere on the item)

- "Tag Style" keychains. This is a small usually white plastic rectangle with the beaded keyring chain through it. It will have a picture of Sonic or some other character on the tag. Again, this is another home-made decal which lacks durability.

Look at this terrible shirt so you can see what nasty things make up some bogus items:
Wrong color Sonic with red gloves, blue accents and messed up shoes.
Skateboard wall-eye rabbit in hideous color!
A 'flicky bird' that's badly drawn
Sonic is standing on a pile of spoiled mayo!
The bad copy of the "Sonic" font
The plain tag and thin quality of the cloth

All these combine to form an ugly fake shirt no one would wear! It makes no sense and is super tacky. Bootleggers must be stopped!

Notice though, that this is a decent quality design, and that the rings are real beads sewn to the shirt. They also paid attention to his money and bracelet. However...when asked to see the tag, the seller couldn't produce anything official, and their sale dried up. You don't need this site telling you this is a bootleg, but it serves as a good reminder that not all bootlegs are shabby quality.

The shirt itself is fine, and as you can see, Sonic appears as a tiny icon in various places. The round spot in the green square is him spinning, and you can find the standing stock-art in black and white at the bottom in the purple. He's likely elsewhere on it. Various inspirational words like Vision, Engineering and Prototype appear in the design.

This is what is so bogus about bootleg junk, they're using Sonic's popularity to try and trick people into buying ordinary stuff! Photo credit to: mAtt

Also to note: there IS an official version of this towel, with all the correct details, good art and proper coloring. Always inspect items before you buy.