How to Avoid Fake Sonic Merchandise Page 37
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 & Coloring Books: 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
DONT DOWNLOAD "Sonic Mods" for Minecraft or anything else - They'll use stolen assets, may not even contain Sonic content, and can break the main game.
Dot Fake Tees Avoid AI Detectors Normally, Tshirts are not added to the Bootleg Avoidance pages because they are too easy to fake/literally any image can be stamped onto a shirt by a faker, so there are infinite fake tees to be made and so the page just generally warns against them.

HOWEVER.
Here comes a new scheme scam! Notice these 2 tees have a really conveniently placed dot or swirl? The left has it on the logo of Sonic Mania, while the right has it over the face of the stolen fan art

Sonic, and maintains that odd 'flame thing' that is around the dot/swirl. Why are they doing this?

Interestingly enough, it is to fool AI image detectors that Amazon is using to try and sniff out fakes. Of course, they're trained to look for corporate logos and fashion logos like "Gucci Bags" and such, so you can bet these swirly dots are all over that stuff too. That these tee-fakers believe the AI is taught on/loaded with Sonic's face images to look for is an interesting one, and they're using the dots to try and 'beat it'.
The listing text, of course, re-assures the poor sap looking to buy (this trash) that the dot/swirl is NOT on the final product...and what's great? Even if the dot IS there, the person has no recourse! Another way to scam a buyer out of money! "Well YOU bought the tee that clearly had a white whirl there, you LOVE white whirls! No returns allowed! MY listing never said anything to the contrary...." (As they edit the text on their Amazon listing)

There are too many products on Amazon for people to police every day, so having an AI comb over things for obvious ripoffs is a good idea. Of course, the officials vs the fakers is an ongoing battle, and this is their next step along the line.