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loginWe, authors of MLPMerch have done some research regarding the chinese MLP Plushies. And want to share it with you!
Article here:
http://www.mlpmerch.com/2014/05/are-12-inch-mlp-plushies-fake.html#moreThe last weeks we got a lot of new Chinese 12 inch plushies, recognizable by the green "12 inch" logo they all have on the product image. They're all of amazing quality, but because they are only available on Ebay, Taobao and Alibaba, a lot of people are thinking they are fake.
Well... are they? The answer is kind of a mix between and yes and a no. We found out the origin of these pluhies, and want to share our research with you!
Read our complete research after the cut!
The Tags
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login My Little Pony Japanese Plush Tag
Thanks to an anonymous visitor of our blog we have a detailed photo of the tags that come with (some) of the plushies, seen above. The tag is fully Japanese, but thanks to an editor some info has been translated. However it's still not clear (to us) what the name of the production company is. Backtracking the EAN code did not result in any success either. The exact code is also used for another plush, and the generalised code is used for a broad range of plushies, all with the typical green 12 inch logo. Neither do shorter parts of the EAN code lead anywhere to a company name, besides the fact that it's a Japanese code. Besides the, for now, unfindable company information, the tag does not mention Hasbro anywhere. This might mean that the plushies are not licensed to begin with, but it's possible that the other side of the tag contains more info.
For now the tag is a dead end. Perhaps another place could lead to more info?
The Reailers / Resellers While the tag isn't too keen on sharing information with us, perhaps the sellers of the plushies are able to give more information? Sadly all listings (so far) do not list any information about the origin of the plushies, neither on eBay nor Taobao nor Alibaba.
Besides the marketplace listings, there are also a few retail shops that sell the plushies. We've sought email contact with one of them, but without any results. They know as much as we did at that point.
We went back to eBay and found out that some products have an SKU. We wondered if multiple sellers shared the same SKU? They did, even when the sellers came from different locations. So, who comes up with the SKU codes? That question led to google, and google led us to...
The WholesalerThe search led to a site full of plushies and anime products: FrontWinner.com. But FrontWinner is not the wholesaler of the plushies... As seen in their FAQ and after contact with customer support they produce the plushies themselves! FrontWinner allows users to send in a product (image), and when enough people support the item, FrontWinner will mass-produce it. And when we take a look at the production dates of the plushies, they are in line with the dates they are found on Taobao and eBay. There is a direct link with the production line of FrontWinner, and the release of these plushies on marketplaces on the web.
As you can see on the wish page, there are quite a lot of pony plushies people want to see next. We'll have to see whether FrontWinner recreates them, or if they are ignored (some plushies still have the original DeviantArt copyright on the image).
Cheese Sandwich, Fluttershy, Flutterbat and Octavia Plushies on the FrontWinner Wishlist
Are they next?
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loginReal or Fake?Many visitors of our blog have commented that the plushies are real, since they are available in Japan (claw machines). The discovery of FrontWinner leads to the conclusion that they are fake, but the problem is that we can't know it for certain.
If you've bought one of the 12 inch plushies with tags, they could possibly be made by the original Japanese factory, and therefor real (though maybe unlicensed). And if your plush was bought on a marketplace using the same SKU as FrontWinner, there is a big chance they are fake.
Nevertheless, the quality of these plushies remains stunning. Even the ones produced by FrontWinner are of far better quality and show-accurateness than some of the licensed plushies available in the USA and Europe if you ask me.
This article is based on our own research, and is subject to change when new insights in the origin of the plushies are found. If you happen to know the origin, a translation of the tag or any other information, feel free to contact us!
We would like to thank all people that have informed us about the plushies!