Pokémon Center Poké Doll: Snorlax plush

 March 19, 2020  Toys

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CHARACTER DETAILS

Imagine being a gigantic pokemon, but all you ever want to do is to eat and sleep. That’s probably what Snorlax would do.

Snorlax has been known to many pokemon games that blocks inconvenient locations. In most cases, a poke flute is required to wake him up, so that you can progress throughout the game. Despite this pokemon’s reputation of being lazy, it could absolutely wreck a whole team of pokemon when it’s trained well. Otherwise, it’d only be good as a living trampoline for kids to play on.

Needless to say, Pokémon Center has their hands full with Pokémon merchandise, and that includes adorable Japanese plushies. While Snorlax is indeed a huge pokemon, this manufacturer releases cute size Pokémon plush dolls for everyone to enjoy. Well, they’re also affordable that way.

However, affordable designs from Pokémon Center are still victims of piracy. Bootlegs think that they’re making themselves more affordable, but the quality will always be compromised, not to mention a considerable jail time for the illegal work.

ORIGIN OF FAKE

Bought on: AliExpress
Origin: China
Vendor: Desen Toy Store
Distribution Area: Worldwide

Plush toys are everywhere on AliExpress and so are bootlegs. This is really a bad combination since bootlegs are known for being cheap and low-quality, and plush dolls are just fragile. So if you cut on good materials, what do you get? A plush doll that you can rip apart with your bare hands.

Desen Toy Store is a bad example of a trusted toy store. You’ll see that the store has a handful of deformed plush dolls posted, and from there, you’ll just think about how to get away from these bootlegs.

By taking a close look at this fake Snorlax plush, perhaps it’ll help you be more cautious on getting plush toys online.

DESCRIPTION OF FAKE

Plush dolls are meant to be protected by being inside a proper packaging. These items are just far too fragile to be out in the open, or even if they’re sealed inside a thin plastic. However, the fake Snorlax plush has a bold way of saying, “Plush dolls don’t need to be wrapped,” as we see without any trace of being packaged besides the courier packaging it was delivered in.

The fake Snorlax plush has a tag attached on it. You’d like to look at that first since there aren’t really traces of packaging which you can use to authenticate it.

From the copyright and brand tags, the bootleg camouflages itself as an authentic item. Of course at first glance, you will have to give it the benefit of the doubt, but there’s something off about the plush itself.

We found that the barcode used on this plush is the same as the authentic, however, several google search results of the barcode state otherwise. There are plenty of inconsistent image results as well which holds this plush suspicious. It’s easy to tell that having these tags on the plush isn’t enough to authenticate the item.

With a quick look at its face, you’ll notice that the right eye is raised a little bit higher than the left eye. There’s little difference between that, but if you look at the mouth, threads are hanging out near the left sharp tooth.

Overall, the head looks deformed. You can see this by glancing over the left ear going through the right. There’s also an imbalance on the left and right cheeks. And overhead, you’ll see that the threads pulling the plush doll together are visible enough. This poses a threat to the plush’s durability.

Indeed, the fake plush seems like it was based on an old design. Perhaps, a design from 10 years ago, which is kind of possible as bootlegs tend to resort to this strategy to further conceal the trickery.

Bootlegs though have many several significant flaws. Mainly because some of these items are factory rejects which are sold off illegally, and how they’re slipping off the manufacturer’s security protocol is still a mystery. What we can do is thoroughly observe the product, and if there are defects, be ready to return the item and demand for a refund.

As for the fake plush’s body, a single thread is hanging on the right portion of it. It’s kinda thin, but enough to be considered as a major flaw. Surprisingly, there’s little that can be seen from the plush’s back side, we’ll at least give that to the bootleg.

Plush dolls sometimes have irregularities on them, even for authentic plushies. But if you find many inconsistencies on it, might as well raise the red flag.

The fake Snorlax plush, apparently, has deformed feet. You can see that both feet isn’t the same size, and if that doesn’t bother you, look where the paws are placed for both. The asymmetry is just uncanny. You’ll realize that the bootleg is a total wreckage once you get a glimpse of a real Pokémon Center Poké Doll: Snorlax plush.

The real Snorlax plush isn’t really all that. In all honesty, there are far better plush dolls. Although, you can tell that the real plush looks defined especially in form. It’s not a stuffed toy that’s overly stuffed unlike the bootleg. Also, the plush looks like it can also be hanged on mirrors or glass windows.

For a cutesy plush, how much would be the difference of the price between the authentic plush and the fake. Let’s find out and see.

PRICE

The fake Snorlax plush doll costs about $2.55 USD. Admittedly, it’s a cheap price, but the item itself isn’t going to be worth it at all not to mention the hassle you have to go through with AliExpress‘ long shipping time.

The real Snorlax plush doll from Pokémon Center is definitely top-notch for its price tag. For around $12.99, you’ll get yourself an authentic plush while you indulge in the world of perfect quality plush dolls. Reportedly, the US version of the plush could cost way more, but you’ll get to know why.

WHERE TO GET A REAL POKEMON CENTER SNORLAX PLUSH

The real Poké Doll: Snorlax plush was last produced in the year of 2009, so it’s easy to expect that the plush doll stocks have already ran out — or so you’d think!

In its new brand, the Pokémon Doll: Snorlax plush is a newer release of the similar design. Also made by Pokémon Center, the plush doll costs $12.99 USD, and when you order items for a total of $50 USD and above, you’ll get your cart delivered for free on check-out. It’s one of the advantages of shopping from the manufacturer’s website.

If you’re really eager on getting the same design, you can also take your chances on shopping on Amazon.

The same Snorlax plush doll could go around $27 USD on this Amazon item listing. The description says that it’s made by Pokémon Center and reviews backs up the item’s authenticity. However, there are cases in Amazon where bootlegs get mixed with authentic items, so you have to be careful with that. If you ever do get a bootleg, get your lines ready to return the item and demand for a refund.

OUR VERDICT

Deformed plush dolls make them easier to be distinguished. With appearances alone, you can tell which one might be fake or real. And as for the fake Snorlax plush, its bulky form couldn’t hide its true nature as a bootleg. More than that, hanging strings and a sloppy design are obvious enough for low-quality items.

It’s definitely cheap, but you absolutely have to give it a thumbs down for providing you an unpleasant feeling. We’ll have to give it a 70% terrible rating.