The truth behind the 12 inch Chinese Plushies

[TornadoTwist]

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We, 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#more

The 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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 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 Wholesaler
The 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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Real 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!

[moonsugar]

I just read the article on your blog and came over here to comment on it! Best article on MLP merch I've read in ages.

Do you personally own any of the knockoff plushies yourself? I own two out of the three major fake Princess Lunas, and I'm considering just collecting all of them for the heck of it.

[Niksilp]

I was really curious to see what else was on FrontWinner...but no matter what link I click on, I'm just taken to http://www.frontwinner.com/all

Still, I'm glad you went to the trouble of researching these plush. No matter their origin, they are surprisingly great quality and I can't wait to see who else pops up.

[Malicieuse]

So are they basicly stolen from custom plushie makers?

[hathorcat]

Unfortunately they are certainly fake. It cant be said that they are both "real" and "unlicensed" unfortunately. In this case one completely contradicts the other. If they are real they are licensed and made by a licensee. If they are unlicensed then they are fake products. And there is nothing licensed or legit about them. No licensed company is going to simply "copy" an original artists work without the permission of the original creator. Certainly not a company which goes on to sell products so widely.

FrontWinner is just one of the companies well known for selling unlicensed products of cartoon/anime [basically anything currently trending] lines - normally items which are not readily available any other way. The other main companies are people like YouQ, B2B, Yitang and Yiwu [and I am forgetting a lot of others at the moment ]. FrontWinner are just a front company - which act as a middle man to the actual factory who will not have their own website/customer contacts but simply use agents/managers [i.e. FrontWinner] to sell their skills to potential customers/clients.

I think the plush are cute and I have no problem with people buying them of course To each their own! But I think its worth remembering what you are purchasing. Mainly an illegal product which has been created by stealing the artwork/pattern of an original artist and trading on a line which other legitimate companies have to pay a license to in order to produce the same items.

Packaging is normally unmarked by branding and not manufacturing marks are deliberate in order to make it harder to trace from their manufacturing source. At the end of the day if a company is paying for a license, you can be sure they are going to slap their name and/or website all over at least the tags.

[Ossie]

Unfortunately they are certainly fake. It cant be said that they are both "real" and "unlicensed" unfortunately. In this case one completely contradicts the other. If they are real they are licensed and made by a licensee. If they are unlicensed then they are fake products. And there is nothing licensed or legit about them. No licensed company is going to simply "copy" an original artists work without the permission of the original creator. Certainly not a company which goes on to sell products so widely.

Thanks for the additional info!
I agree that a plush can't be real and unlicensed, but I ran out of words on describing the plushies
If they are not licensed at all, that makes them basicly all fake, but with these plushies there is a second degree of fake.
I'm still not sure what the actual origin of the patterns is. Some sources claim to have seen an official catalogue or japanese origin, other sources claim that they were produced by individual artists.

[hathorcat]

Can I ask what you mean by a second degree of fake product? Do you perhaps mean whether these are counterfeit or bootlegs? Essentially all fake MLP are counterfeit as they are clearly trying to reproduce a product and resell themselves as MLP.

The patterns are copied from pictures of designs which are submitted to them or that they find online - plushies created by artists. They may not have broken down the plush seam by seam but the factories are recreating the design. Its a grey area because of course, no doubt the plush they are copying are also unlicensed.

They probably will have a catalogue of items which they can present to potential buyers - most of these agents have fabulous and shiny pdf catalogues they can tempt you with However it will contain a mixture of what they have produced as well as what they can produce. When you are mass market counterfeiting to this degree and in such locations you work the same as most legitimate businesses - they have to be well done to produce to such a scale.

[Skeen]

The patterns are copied from pictures of designs which are submitted to them or that they find online - plushies created by artists. They may not have broken down the plush seam by seam but the factories are recreating the design. Its a grey area because of course, no doubt the plush they are copying are also unlicensed.

The 4DE plushies look this way too, like they've copied valleyviolet's famous pattern.  The fact that the plush is in 2 pieces joined together at the back legs is a trait only her pattern (that I have seen so far) uses. 

[Ossie]

What I ment was that there is an original product (individual artist's design), then it was 'stolen' the first time (what people might claim as real) by the japanese company and then it was 'stolen' again by companies like FrontWinner. It's like an endless chain of copies =p

And it's certainly interresting to see how the MLP counterfeit market works and is expanding almost daily!

[hathorcat]

The patterns are copied from pictures of designs which are submitted to them or that they find online - plushies created by artists. They may not have broken down the plush seam by seam but the factories are recreating the design. Its a grey area because of course, no doubt the plush they are copying are also unlicensed.

The 4DE plushies look this way too, like they've copied valleyviolet's famous pattern.  The fact that the plush is in 2 pieces joined together at the back legs is a trait only her pattern (that I have seen so far) uses. 

For me even though 4DE are licensed I still think that's unacceptable. Its one thing for single artists to gain inspiration from one another for their one off plushes. But there is something a little underhand about a commercial company copying things in order to make money. But maybe its just me :/ And I guess with the style of G4 there is not loads and loads of different style options so its possible some of it is accidental.

Post Merge: May 15, 2014, 02:29:44 PM

What I ment was that there is an original product (individual artist's design), then it was 'stolen' the first time (what people might claim as real) by the japanese company and then it was 'stolen' again by companies like FrontWinner. It's like an endless chain of copies =p

And it's certainly interresting to see how the MLP counterfeit market works and is expanding almost daily!

Are FrontWinner not simply the company supplying the Japanese reseller?

[Skeen]

Well, valleyviolet seems to be cool with people using her pattern to make money.  Here is the text from her etsy listing:

You can make as many ponies as you want using these patterns and use them for any purpose, personal or commercial. If you sell your ponies, please mention that my patterns were used.

I guess if 4DE IS using her pattern their only fail is not disclosing that she designed it. 

[hathorcat]

Oh its a sold pattern Oh that makes a difference then. I misunderstood, sorry I thought they were actual plush she made not patterns she was selling. Well the danger when you do that is reuse of course I guess. The same would apply to these fakie makers if they bought patterns officially then they arent doing anything wrong [at least on that side of it ]

[Skeen]

Oh, gosh, sorry, I meant to say the pattern is for sale!    I have it but I don't use it on my plushies.  It makes DIVINE plushies but it can be tricky to get the hang of.  4DE has definitely got the hang of it! 

As for the 12 inch plushies themselves, I have not been able to trace their pattern back to a specific creator.  I have the dark blue S1 Luna plush and her quality is decent.  It's possible they designed their own, and it's possible they legit bought a pattern, I just don't know where they bought it!  YET.   

[AJLareneg]

I wish I could see what else is on the wish page. If I try to follow the link I just get redirected to the main page.

I always try to avoid buying bootleg plush when possible, but I am curious to see what designs they have in the works.

[Ossie]

@hathorcat: It could be that FrontWinner makes them for the japanese company, but I'm not 100% sure on that


@AJLareneg: works fine for me on Firefox and Chrome, but do mind that the charizard is on every page