How to Avoid Fake Sonic Merchandise Page 34
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. Bootleg Avoidance HUB Page
16 in 1 Fake Cartridge Ye Olden Fakery Shoppe-
The 'tried and UNtrue' staple of old fakes is the "many in 1" bogus game cartridge. In this case, it's "MD 16 in 1". These things may have many games but the games are often truncated, don't work well, or sometimes don't even exist. Cartridges are built by real companies to have a certain amount of data in them that works reliably. Jimmying this around leads to problems, but bootleggers don't care because they think everyone is a sucker. Of course, they plaster Sonic on here...but if you read the list of things, you'll see not even 1 Sonic title in there. Actually, ALL of them look fake except for one, "Spy vs Spy" which was a real comic in MAD magazine.
Many sound like generic names for other things...which could be the cartridge trying to disguise it stole copyrighted content but then...why put stolen Sonic on there? Don't trust these things. Discovered by WinDOS ExPea
Hyper & Dark Sonic Fake Plushes Sometimes fakers will dabble in things where the character they know exists, but has no merchandise...And that's the case with these 2 fairly large dolls.
You have here Fake Hyper Sonic & Fake Dark Sonic. Indeed, neither one has official merchandise in 2020 but...
They haven't done super well with either one. The construction appears quality but the details are messed up. Hyper Sonic lacks the....actual hyper feature....the upturn extreme spikes. Then, the eyes are blue, and the eye shine shape is a slit which it never should be/looks bad. The DarkSonic has miserably positioned ears & calls back to the olden-days when nobody knew what Sonic's spikes were, as it's some goofy looking 2D fin tacked to the top of the head. His shoes are also shrivelled with loose buckles.
What's interesting is the fabric looks quality on them, and then look at the clearly defined fingers for Dark Sonic & the decently sized feet for both. Someone was making an effort, but they didn't make enough of one so these are easy to spot fakes also--despite the interesting premise. Discovered by WinDOS ExPea
Boomovie Fake Coloring Book
Double the garbage for double the trouble!
This is a bogus coloring book. And as usual, the faker-makers like to mix up different things that don't go together. In this case, it's got movie art but then labels the book as "Sonic Boom". Nothing Sonic ever mixes around various continuities so it's a red flag right away. The thing will be no doubt filled with poorly stolen art (yes they DO rob fans, they steal children's drawings and use them to make money--all bootleggers care about is ripping people off, they don't care how they do it or who they discourage) Always stay away from these low-effort cheap garbage fake coloring books. Discovered by WinDOS ExPea
Bad Baseball Tails Defunct Doll It's time to be bad at...baseball?
And apparently bad at plush-making too. Here's a sports oddity fake Tails plush that is dressed up for baseball for...reasons. It may have been trying to imitate the themed Japanese dolls that came out in the 1990s, but it does not succeede. Where are his ears? They're so withered & un-quality that they're just flaps and they fell backward. The eyes being those rubbish "generic toon" tack-ons are the biggest give away that this thing is bogus & it easily makes it look worst. The cheek edge fur is also too large, and they missed the chest edges. The red part of the shoe is also quite long, though the feet are decently large. He has a poorly and small 'baseball cap' on one side of the head. (Does it remind you of those cheezy/cheap ToyNetwork dress up dolls?) Oddly, the baseball glove is actually slightly decently done? Bootlegs are a strange thing indeed...Photo & owned by NathanCollects Twitter
Ray Bootleg PVC Set Figures 7 Here's another figure set proving that not everything that's fake is by nececity poorly done...look at this gang of 7!
These are little PVC figures on white bases so they can have interesting poses and...they're actually interesting! First of interest is that we've got Ray the Flying Squirrel there, complete with his arm flight flaps, so he's got his own unique sculpt. The eyes are kind of funny, quite close together. There's getting ready to roll Sonic, and step/punch Knuckles. But Knuckles' head has something odd going on with how they didn't mesh the spike to the side where the eye is? Triangle shape there? His pose is nice though. Next is Mighty, who is...stepping? He's got his red hair/shell detail texture correct and the right kind of ears. He's actually pretty good looking. Next is running Sonic but he suffers from poor spray of paint, and big nose. Tails is shown flying and possibly looks slightly concerned? Last is Metal Sonic shown maybe running or punching.
Everybody here is classic, so that part makes sense. It wouldn't be a surprise AT ALL if the Tails & Mighty (runner up Knuckles and Ray) were actual prototypes of real figures that a licensed company will/would have made but then fell into the wrong hands. The accurate colors, textures and actual creative poses don't seem bogus. The poorly Sonics with their bad paint and flaws kind of do. This set is rather mysterious. Photo discovered by
Movie Scary Horrible Fake If ever there was a merchandise to give the 'tails doll' trouble, it would be this cursed rotten thing here. If Movie Sonic isn't as appealing as actual-Sonic, well then it makes sense that fake movie merch would be even more horrible than normal fake merch. And...here comes a terrible plush to prove the point. No one would even go to sleep in a room that had th is monstrosity in it.
What is even going on? Why is it pale? Tiny hands? They got the ugly fake looking stupid shoes correct but hooo-boy the face and the evel eyes. Then there's like the 'devil horn' ears and malformed spikes. How are the long limbs withered yet lumpy at the same time? It suffers from 'big-body' but also has a neck. The mouth/nose combo is somehow zombie-like or a mutant teddybear or something. It's just a blend of all the bad features and the super wrong eyes are the capper that ties everything together in a nasty knot. No one will be fooled with this fake......but they might be eaten by it. Discovered by Bulbasquirtle
Fake Trucker Hats Sonic Knuckles Copies Here's a type of fake you don't catch very often: The Copy-Fake
These are 2 'trucker style' caps hats where they are an exact dulpicate of a real hat. You've got the turn-back Sonic on blue/red cap with small face button on the side, & the jumping-fists Knuckles on a red/black cap with small Knuckles icon on the side. So, what's the difference between these and the actual official version? The quality.
The stitching that holds the items (patches) to the caps will likely be poor quality and fuzzy or ragged. The cap may not be put together as well (its construction) and the fabric used will also likely be less quality as well. What's interesting is that they didn't slip up anywhere. At a glance, you wouldn't be able to know they're not real, which is what makes them extra-problematic because it could easily trick gift-givers or well-meaning parents into getting a low-quality item for a fan. Buying the real deal helps Sega, Sonic, AND you with real quality--so watch out for stuff like this. Discovered by Hedgy
Dakin Goony Brows Fake Dolls
More fake plush for 2020, this time 2 of the same stupid thing, but set in front of a somewhat official looking tee to try and add authenticity. However, all credibility is lost as soon as someone sees those bad brows! There's some bizzarre flap thing going on there like a mutant eyelid or something. The eyes are also the wrong shape/very odd. The hands have no detail, it suffers from 'big-body', and lack of each borders. The spikes seem to be maybe that cheap felt cop-out kind of thing.
These are likely to be copies of the Dakin modern Sonic but it comes across as like a sad attempt at classic but given green eyes to try to modernize it. The shoes may or may not have the stripe, depending on how lazy they are. Photo discovered by Pichu97/Charlie
Multi Pack Strange Jakks Fake Box Gotta fake fast!
Even though modern figures were just really released by Jakks Pacific in 2020, some goobers have alraedy faked up this blah box set of phony figures. They're obviously supposed to be imitating the bendy & roller line, but the rollers are all tiny strange and green. In the box are
Metal Sonic without eye detail, Tails, Shadow, Sonic, Super Sonic & Knuckles. The 'rollers' are probably just tiny plastic disks with stickers on them instead of the pop out gimmick thing the officials have. Sonic's face is looking kind of mutant, Silver appears on the box although he's not a figure & what's with that Super Sonic head? It looks like they stole Fleetway's something at some point. They've also oddly opted to change the dot for the 'i' in Sonic to a star. This is an odd collection to see. Photo discovered by Bulbasquirtle
Thai Fake Mascot Grandlink Thai Lobby Fake Thai Fake Grandlink Fiberglass Statue
A whole section that's up to no good in Vietnam. But what's going on here, and how are fans helping to stop the stealing? Specifically a fan called Badnik Mechanic
A Thai (and also in Vietnam I guess) company called "Grandlink" the logistics / shipper decided they weren't interesting enough on their own, and so decided to basically steal Sonic for themselves and start associating him with their brand as much as possible. They've got creeply looking fake mascot above, (posing with an appropriately bored looking child) but what's really odd is that they're actually going as far as to use him in their ads!
It's not just "oh have a mascot for a day", they've actually made their logo a blue "Sonic Spin", put his name on their glass company wall AND added a fiberglass statue to their lobby! The statue was clearly a classic Sonic but repainted to have the eyes green for modern. Apparently, they use the statue in lots of stuff, as seen with whoever this gang is here posing with it in the photos at the left so that people will think Sega/Sonic is associated with the company.
But what are fans doing?
This Grandlink thing did Facebook page/ advertising and other promotions, someone told the Youtuber Badnik Mechanic about it who made a good video, and then Sonic fans saw it and started complaining and telling Sega and they ended up having to pull it it all down. It is all, of course, totally copyright-infringing to steal mascots and falsely associate yourself with successful companies--no matter which country it is in. These photos were grabbed by fans before it could be torn down.
You should certainly watch the Badnik Mechanic Grandlink Video to learn more, see funny fake products and hear the whole story.
Why a praying man?
There were actually quite a few photos of probably employees praying to this little device with food in front of it in the lobby. Is the company very religious? What does it do? (They all very carefully also have the statue in the background) Photos harvested by Badnik Mechanic
Pajama Costume Fake Slouching Silver A fake pajamas!
This isn't the first fake pj set, but it's the first one where it is in the 'costume style'. This bogus onesie is slouching its way to looking like Silver but it misses the mark. They did mind the glove and boot top cuffs as well as putting a bit of an effort toward the chest triangle. However, the face suffers from rather meh design. It looks like the 2 big spikes are flappy/wilted (but they'd have to be or you couldn't sleep in it) but the front/bangs area spikes are going a bit out of control and it looks like a mutant hand. His expression is somewhat cross (rightly so) and the ears are of course, wilted. The face sits on top of the hood, looking upward rather than out. Notice how they position the person, it has to be looking fully down to see the face at all. The body area is also super baggy making anyone wearing it look like a sack. A sack-Silver.
Watch out for: Listing words! This was called "Gray Time Hedgehog Cartoon Pajama", notice how they don't want to say the name because they know they are ruining the copyright & cheating things by making bootlegs. Stay away from this dorky item....it's no use!
Interior Jigsaw Puzzle Pieces Stolen Fanart Puzzle
A fake jigsaw puzzle by probably a completely fake company.
Now here's something that's sad to see...2 ways!
First off, the puzzle uses STOLEN fan art. They're directly ripping off the art of real Sonic fans, taking other people's hard work and then keeping all the money. Super not cool. Then, because the art was actually good, it did what it was supposed to do: which is to trick a well-meaning gift-giver into buying it and giving it to a Sonic fan...who spotted the fake right away. It's double sad because you don't want stolen art making you feel bad for having it but then it was a gift so...the whole situation is just no good & it's all the fakers' fault.
The art is a fun concept, different types & styles of Sonic presented in a 'going forward' montage tye of scene. But then look at the inset (box edges) they forget the art in the rectangle entirely on one side, and then the company name is DCBA HGFE which is simply ABCDEFGH but re-arranged in some squares to try to create 'a company'. That sad crab creature there on the mesh bag is likely the real company/culprit in this case. The box was flimsy cardboard, but the puzzle came in the purple mesh/screen fabric bag. The jigsaw cuts are all tidily done, and it didn't have any wierd chemcial smells like many fake things do. The puzzle does indeed make the picture you see, and it is pretty big. Photo & owned by RaeLogan