How to Avoid Fake Sonic Merchandise Page 5

Sonic Gear Main Merchandise Page * Bootlegs 1 * Bootlegs 2 * Bootlegs 3 * Bootlegs 4 * Bootlegs 6 * Bootlegs 7 Bootlegs 8 * Bootlegs 10 * How To Avoid Sonic Bootleg Merchandise Hub Page

Avoiding buying phony Sonic items may become harder as technology increases. Here's yet another page of phony things that you should avoid. With Fake Fang producers getting ever-better at making clones of this plush (why??) it's important to be able to read up on how you can spot what's not real. Remember, you vote with your money...any buying of fake junk only supports and encourages them to make more. Make sure you help DIScourage bootleggers by avoiding their products. 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. Don't waste your money! Buy official SEGA things only!

Here are 2 items to help you tell the real from the fake. You can learn to spot 'the signs of fakeness' with them: 1. Items are VERY boring There's no background, there's just Sonic stamped onto something 2. Items have no SEGA copyright anywhere. There should always be a little 'c' or a logo or something. 3. The sellers have multiples of the same thing, and also different characters stamped onto other identical products. They're clearly mass-producing them. 4. The items are on the 'watch list' which includes easy-to-forge things like mouse pads, keychains, mugs, clocks and iron-on tees. Photos found by hypersuperchao

Do not buy from "Platinum Products" on ebay!

This is an Italian Charm. An Italian Charm Bracelet is a silver or metal bracelet which you can customize. The charms are flat little tiles (usually only a few mm long) that can be snapped into the special links. The charms are made by companies and usually include decorative stones, shapes or letters so you can spell. However, some bad companies like to steal official art and place it into their charm machines. This is one of those charms. They took a Sonic X art they found and decided to try and get away with selling it as official merchandise. Notice again, there's no copyright or Sega stamp anywhere on this.

Look at the watermark on the image too. This is (ironically) so that OTHER theieves can't steal their 'great idea' you see here. They KNOW that they're ripping off Sega and that other theives would like to too, so here comes the watermark of JoeKC27. But now...you know who not to buy from on Ebay! Photo discovered by hypersuperchao.

Ah, quality control, with fakes there is none! Can you believe someone made this on purpose? This shirt is supposed to be 'for girls' because it is pink but really it's 'for the bin' because it's so awful! No one would wear this horrible pink iron-on monstrosity. They stole some "Team Rose" art and then randomly put on a Sonic. But because the shirt was pink to start with...it's thrown off all the colors because their iron-ons are so cheap. (not surprising) It's pretty much a sure bet no one will bid for this lame thing on ebay. Photo discovered by Berzerker.

This shirt is also supposed to be 'for girls' with the pastel color (lower right) and girls style cut of the fit. However, no girl should be tricked into owning this lame tee! The first thing to notice is there's NO TAG at all, not even a stamp in the top. Always look for brands or copyrights for Sonic or Sega. They've tried to get 'clever' here by adding some stolen Sonic art to some dumb circle thing and stamping it on...but it still doesn't look very good. It's most likely an iron-on that will fall right off when you try to wash it. Remember: Always ask to see the tags if you're not sure! Discovered by Berzerker

Check out these crummy clocks! This whole row demonstrates all the ills of bootleg clocks. From giant numbers stamped unprofessionally on characters' faces (left to right) to crowded art

to stupid, unnecisary personalization, to...distorted art! All of these Sonic clocks scream 'fake' and 'cheap'. Fortunately, you know not to buy them because of these obvious errors and ugly looks. Most of these aren't even the real item you'll get, they're just a mock up, so it's likely the real thing looks even WORSE. If these clock makers would scam a fan, they'll scam you too. Discovered by KirbyKid

Note: SonicGear is not currently taking on any more photos of Fake Sonic Clocks. There are infinite clocks to be faked because there is infinite Sonic art to shove on them. Unless the clock itself (NOT just the art) is very different from what is here it is not required because of the large amounts of fake clocks already on the site and that hopefully everyone has learned their lesson on what to look for *not to buy* these lame products.

Here's a less common fake: the belt buckle. It's a little harder to knock off because the front (blue area) is a type of resin (in most cases) that either has a decal applied to it, or can be stamped/printed by a machine. Usually found on ebay or at large flea-markets these bogus buckles are produced by a company with a machine. The give aways are: NO copyright, NO Sega, and often they have many other characters or 'personalization' avialable too. BEWARE: these are easicly chipped, scratched, and the silver-tone can be very flimsy. Bogus merchandise has no quality control. Discovered by KirbyKid

Here are 2 fake skins for a Wii and a PSP. They both feature a jumble from Sonic Heroes...which is the first give-away. This is CLEARLY SA DX art, but that game did not debut on either system, and is actually 'out of date' for both of them...so why use it? Also, notice the shabby placement of the holes in the skin--right all over Sonic's face. Professional designers would not make such a mess.

On the 'open' psp, you can't really tell if anything is going on, on the left side, another indication of bad art. The only thing these phonies knew how to do was to photoshop-on the stickers so they wouldn't have to actually do it themselves! Skins can be faked if a company has a special printer which will print on the plastic stickers. Always inspect (or ask!) for copyrights and be on the look out for unprofessional art. (who needs an ugly skin?) Another detail can sometimes be if they have many other characters available as skins too. Discovered by KirbyKid

Is this a bootleg? Is it free use? This odd item is on the line. It's a license-plate frame for your car that says "I'd rather be playing Sonic the Hedgehog". It isn't infringing to write Sonic's name, and they didn't steal any art. They're not trying to fool anyone, they just wrote a sentance onto their own plastic and tried to sell it. It's a strange case, so here it will stay. Discovered by KirbyKid

These two images are big red flags for fakes. They show the art that they stole big-sized in the auction so you know what they're going to iron-on to the cheapest flimsiest tee they can find. All they need to do is steal the art by clicking it off some hapless Sonic fan's website (or Sega) and then make a cheezy iron on. They do not even look official at all. The text says 'white tee only available' . Anything that has a 'sample' is almost sure to be a fake. Discovered by KirbyKid

This is actually a rather sophisticated looking item. It is a tiled wall-hanging. Several professional artworks have been done in this way. The wall hanging is made by setting together 8 smaller tiled pannels to complete the larger image. This lowers the cost and adds a sort of interesting grid to the design. (a mid-size pro printer will turn out the pannels, without the cost of one that prints massive sheets) In this case they've chosen (to take!) Shadow & his gun with the red background from the official game art. It still isn't the real deal, but it is like an unofficial poster-gone-sophisticated. This is one of those things where the fakers were quite innovative and people may wish that it was official. Discovered by KirbyKid

The answers are: "Steal a Sonic image" and "Steal a Visa image" but the question WHY BOTHER? can't be answered! This is exactly what it looks like. Someone is trying to sell you a fake credit card made out of plastic. It doesn't do anything at all, it just wastes space. No one would believe its the real thing with the fake hologram and dumb letters written through *his eye!* Several other stolen Sonic arts were displayed on these dumb cards...which are all 4 dollars each! Talk about a rip off. Discovered by BlueBlur

Here is a likely 3D or lenticular DS skin. The fake-maker has created an animated .gif to try and illustrate how it works. The gif itself is rather clever, and so is the ability to actually make a lenticular item out of a bunch of art you grabbed out of everywhere. You can see here a classic fake mistake which is taking and mixing art from every period of Sonic because they are NOT A FAN and just want your money. You can see Secret Rings logo, Heroes circles and Sonic 360 stuff. But, at least they bothered to steal a tiny "Sega" logo for the bottom. But if its' mixed up art, it's got to go. Discovered by BlueBlur

This fake Xbox 360 Sonic Skin displays only 1 of the two main "bootleg alerts"--MIXING games. (The other being bad art positioning) They've chosen Riders stuff for one side & the front, but then slapped 'secret rings' on the other side. They do this because they ARENT paying attention to Sonic, they're merely stealing any art they can find & putting it on. It follows no theme & does not look as good. Discovered by: gamercolin

How dissapointed would you be to get this ugly ripoff fake shirt for your birthday? Bootleggers are SO awful that they would spoil some kids' birthday with a fake shirt. You know already that no Sonic Fan would buy this, but they are trying to fool copy-right checkers and grownups into getting it by coloring Sonic red and gray (sort of badly) No, recoloring stolen art does NOT count as making it all new/your own. It's just bad. The big give-away here too is the 'personalization' official goods are NEVER personalize-able, properly colored or not. Discovered by berzerker

Is this "Smash Pack" the real deal? It seems sort of shifty, because it uses late SA era art...on a 12 pack compilation that only has 1 Sonic game on it. It's got the maker logo on the top corner but the rest of it is really plain, making it somewhat suspicious. It compiles Genesis games so you can play them on your Dreamcast, as well as one of ODCM 'Sega Swirl' which was a give-away puzzler. If it's proved fake, here it will stay. Discovered by berzerker

Always, always be wary of mouse pads on ebay! They are in one of the 'easy to fake' catagories, especially plain rectangle ones like this. Much like t-shirts, mouse pads can be ironed-onto or even printed on with special equipment. This of course makes companies eager to try and rake in money by grabbing Sega's art and throwing it on any cheap-o pad they can find. Here, they've mixed in a 3D background of red smoke with 2D Sonic X style Shadow, and then tossed in a phony logo for good measure. Notice there's no 'Sega' or copyright anywhere. The background is also too dark, making him dissappear somewhat, which is not good design. Mouse pads are suspicious, use caution! Discovered by Werehog_93

These wiimote skins are an interesting example of fakery. The art isn't mix n match, and it isn't horribly placed (Like, there is no button in someone's eye etc) so then what's the give away? There is no real focus and the art is clearly cut up. They tried to get just Sonic but why would you want JUST Tails' butt in there too? Big's ear is also obscurely poking in from the top like some abstract shape. The composition is just bad because they couldn't make their own art. It's harder to recognize, but it still gives this away as being bogus. Discovered by KirbyKid

Is this Knuckles a fake? At first glance, it looks like he might not be. Sold on Ebay and from Japan (but shipping within USA) you can see the quality is already better than ToyNetworks' legitimate plushes...but then you start to see the odd things. First....he has FINGERS! And 3 of them, at that. ALL Sega characters have all 5 fingers when they should. It's too big of an error to give him fingers instead of fists, especially with him supposedly coming out of Japan. Then, there's the small feet....which could be ok...but then there's the oddly embroidered eyes too. He's probably meant to knock off the 'embroider eye' plushes, but he msises because the pupil is at the top of the colored part and not in the middle. His tail kink also makes it bend down only at a right angle. They are clearly trying...but this Knuckles is just funnybusiness. Don't bid! He's usually auctioned by GamezForLess.

This is a Sonic X rug from Greece. It hasn't been PROVED to be a fake, but it is certainly suspicious. First of all, that isn't a picture of a rug. It's Sonic X art with a photoshop texture applied to it. Next, where is the copyright information or the tag? Then, the ebay seller ALSO has many other different cartoon theme rugs. That makes them suspicious because if they can print whatever they want onto a rug, then they can make bootlegs all day. It's a large one too, at 37 by 52 inches so you know it's going to be costly. What's up with this rug? It's quite a curious item. Discovered by JS Hedgehog.

Here's another fishy item... What makes it really baffling is this is the SECOND fake Sonic fishing game to be discovered! (As if 1 weren't enough) The other fishing game is on Bootlegs 3. Again, this is a case of someone who couldn't sell their cheap, ordinary and boring item, so they threw Sonic onto it in hopes of 'lureing' people in. This one uses an older classic graphic, throws on a shabby fake arm to hold the pole, and for some reason has put him in a crescent moon that is inside a bubble in the sky. The rest of the game has plastic fish, the pole and the crab lure...and nothing at all to do with Sonic. Photo discovered by Berzerker.

Some things are so bad they're scary! This terrible fake mask is definetely one of them. It's clearly meant to be a mascot-style mask but with the missing features, wrong features and terrible job on it, it barely looks like Sonic and is more some terrible freakish thing. Where are the EARS? Where is the NOSE? Why is the bottom of the face so huge and monkey-like with the middle-mouth? The eyes are kind of wrongly positioned as well as having the spikes growing out of eachother. No one will fall for this fake mask as they are trying to sell it! Yikes! Photo discovered by Kirbycrew Productions.