• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

How to Spot A Bootleg

Status
Not open for further replies.
I've seen official plushes at Wal-Mart where one eye is literally two to three inches higher than the other one is. That plush is fine.
 
I have quite a few bootleg plushies that I've brought over the years (without knowing they were fakes of course). I didn't even think that bootleg Pokemon Plushies even existed until about 3 months ago. None of mine seem to be falling apart except for my huge bootleg Latios plush (which I do love), one of his arms is starting to come of so I'm going to have to fix him up some how. Since I found about the amount of bootlegs on ebay, I've been a lot more careful (only buying plushies from Japan or the USA).But there is a very big problem..... The prices. Lets just say my family isn't super rich, so its super duper hard to buy the legit plushies since they are far to expensive ($50 for a tiny 5 inch Plushie is ridiculous in my opinion). I try to buy legit plushies, but if I can't, I will buy bootlegs, and I'm not afraid to admit that.
Now onto the Bootlegs themselves. Most of my booties are fine, except for some bad stitching. I've noticed that they aren't as soft as the legit plushies either, but I certainly don't care, they are still cuddly. I've got a bootleg Blaziken plushie that is orange instead of red, so some of the colours are a bit off, but once again I don't really care. I'll admit, I think some of my bootlegs are kinda cool, like my Shiny Vaporeon and wonky-eyed Jolteon (Yes I like it a lot :D). I've also heard that bootlegs contain toxic stuff, but I haven't had a problem like that thus far, maybe only the really bad booties are toxic?
So yeah thats my few on Bootleg plushies. The only things I have against bootlegs are:
- they are taking money away from Nintendo
- sellers are tricking people into thinking that they are legit plushies.
- probably made by poor kids who are paid next to nothing and have to work in cramped, hot conditions.
Other than that, I'm perfectly fine with them. As I've said, I try to by legit plushies, but it's just so hard to do so when your living in a not so rich family. The Pokemon Centre seriously need to consider lowering the prices of there plushies. Heck I paid over $30 for my Spritzee plush, there is also this Chesnaught plushie that I want that is anywhere from $60-$100! Seriously overpriced! I've made sure that mum is getting me legit plushies Christmas this year, which I'm super excited about. Shiny and Normal Mega Gengar, ORAS Rayquaza plushie and Black Kyurem (Black Kyurem is super pricey, but I've been wanting it ever since the plushie was released, so that's the one I'm most excited about!) are the ones I'm getting, but there is one particular bootleg which I kinda want as well, Shiny Vulpix.
Yeah so thats it really :D
 
I know this question is a bit off topic, but it's revolving the tags of any plush toy. I my 4 Kirby plush toys from the internet from early 2009-start of 2010. The first one no longer has it's tag, one has a tag that has Japanese on both sides, while the other two has Japanese on one side and English on the other and looks like the English side was copy/pasted to make it look like and feel like an official tag. Three of them I got as gifts, so I don't know who the sellers are. Is it possible that two of them are bootlegs? Sorry for being off topic a bit, but it might happen to Pokemon plushes, might as well bring this up.
 
Bootleg plushes are showing up in stores..

I am a part of a few Pokemon merchandise groups on face book and someone posted pictures of a store that was selling bootleg Pokemon plushes. One was hilariously fake. It was an Espeon with Umbreon's rings. I was telling them that they should report this store to Nintendo since it was a physical location and not an eBay store. I was informed that even if it was reported that Nintendo wouldn't do anything. That is ridiculous. TPCi wasted time and effort taking down a fan site and terrorizing the maker by sending in the government but they can't shut down a store in America that is selling fake goods?
 
Last edited:
Re: Bootleg plushes are showing up in stores..

Merging this with the Bootleg thread c:
 
Pokemon plushes are hand sewn from what I understand - not all of them are perfect. Eyes being off centered etc don't always scream bootleg. If they're obviously misshapen or obviously very wrong than yeah, but a few imperfections here and there are really common. I have a New Years' Tepig plush (the sleeping one) with a crooked nose that I know is 100% legit.
 
I've never bought from them personally, but I recognize the name, it's run by someone that is in the pkmncollectors community on LJ.
 
I know this thread was necro'd by a spammer, but I actually have something relevant to add. My wife wrote this post about a bootleg Litten plush I accidentally bought on Amazon.

In case you don't want to click, here's what happened (also including some details that didn't wind up in that post):
  1. I bought a Litten plush from a third-party seller whose reputation looked okay.
  2. Package didn't arrive by the promised date. Tracking didn't even update. I sent many messages that were never replied to. In the time since I placed my order, the seller's reviews turned overwhelmingly negative. Everyone was complaining about not getting their orders.
  3. (At this point you may have seen me complaining on Discord about this. It was supposed to be a Christmas present for my wife! :mad:)
  4. I filed a claim with Amazon for a refund. How that works is, if you want the money back on your credit card you have to wait for Amazon to get in touch with the seller, but if you want it back on a gift card they'll give it to you provisionally, but may take it back if it turns out you were wrong. I opted for the gift card, got my money back instantly, and bought again from a different seller.
  5. The first plushie finally arrived. Oops.
  6. My wife goes, "Don't you think this looks fake?"
  7. The second plushie arrived. It was real. The first one was fake. (Click the link above for photo comparisons.)
  8. Amazon follows up with me, asking if I ever got the package. I told them I had, it had turned out to be counterfeit, and said I would return it only if the seller responded to me and paid for return shipping. Amazon was okay with this and let me keep my money.
  9. Seller never responded. I still have the fake.
tl;dr: If you can't buy from the actual Pokemon Center store for whatever reason, buy on Amazon. They'll side with you if you get swindled.
 
Last edited:
Pokemon plushes are hand sewn from what I understand - not all of them are perfect. Eyes being off centered etc don't always scream bootleg. If they're obviously misshapen or obviously very wrong than yeah, but a few imperfections here and there are really common. I have a New Years' Tepig plush (the sleeping one) with a crooked nose that I know is 100% legit.
i have a legitimate rowlet plush and the beak is a bit off-center, but even plushies that almost scream bootleg can be real. compare the totodile plush from the english pokemon center website and the japanese, you'll see my point
 
Hi guys,

I'm wondering, I recently came across a few Pikachu, Squirtle and Charmander plushies (probably between 10"-15" I guess) in a card and gift store while on holiday in Australia the other day. They seemed official and didn't look deformed like the usual bootlegs I've come across before. However, none of them had any tags attached to them but came with suction cup hangers. I don't have any photos of them unfortunately but would it be possible these are genuine or fakes? As I said they looked pretty good...:
 
Hi guys,

I'm wondering, I recently came across a few Pikachu, Squirtle and Charmander plushies (probably between 10"-15" I guess) in a card and gift store while on holiday in Australia the other day. They seemed official and didn't look deformed like the usual bootlegs I've come across before. However, none of them had any tags attached to them but came with suction cup hangers. I don't have any photos of them unfortunately but would it be possible these are genuine or fakes? As I said they looked pretty good...:

How do the colors look? It's possible they're official plushes that were modified to have suction cup hangers, but to my (admittedly fairly limited knowledge) there haven't been any official Pokemon plushes that have suction cup hangers attached to them from the factory.
 
How do the colors look? It's possible they're official plushes that were modified to have suction cup hangers, but to my (admittedly fairly limited knowledge) there haven't been any official Pokemon plushes that have suction cup hangers attached to them from the factory.
Hi. Thanks for the reply. :)

They looked fine to me I guess. But if you say no official merchandise plushes have them then I guess they're not then. They were $16 each from memory (not that means anything of course!). Not sure if I can get any pic of them however.
 
I personally don't care whether the plush is bootleg or not, so long as it's nicely made
 
I didn't actually think to see if they had any social media accounts until now.

And it looks they have a Facebook - Keepsake Cards & Gifts

They don't appear to have pictures of them on their Facebook, but they do have pictures of other plush toys found in-store on there.
 
I personally don't care whether the plush is bootleg or not, so long as it's nicely made
Just knowing if it's 100% official is a bonus for me though. When they're made nicely it's pretty hard to tell either way from bootleg or the real thing. That's why I was hesitant to grab them at first sight. :D
 
Hi again guys,

I got an answer to my question above and to their knowledge they are official. I'm still not sure though as someone said official licensed stuff doesn't come with the suction cup hangers.

Anyway, has anyone heard of the brand DK Reserve Toys? Looking on Amazon, the brand seems to appear a lot when searching for different Pokemon toys. Is it an Amazon brand or something?? I assume it not an official licensing brand either? Can't seem to find anything on them while searching.
 
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom