I have been interested in buying some Pokemon plushes I see on Ebay and Yahoo Japan Auction sites, but am wary of fakes ( i.e. eyeing the shadow Lugia plush). Anyone have some advice on how to spot fakes or gain a certain level of confidence in the item be real? Thank you!
Documentation on plushies (to my knowledge) really hasn’t been formalized on sites like Bulbapedia. Here’s a forum-post that was the best that I could find - it lists a few consistent stores to buy things from. Don’t trust Ebay feedback here - plenty of customers either don’t know or don’t care that they bought counterfeits.
I won’t pretend to be an expert, but I’m happy with the quality of plushies that I’ve been able to acquire. There are plenty of exceptions, but I wrote out some loose guidelines that I try to consider below:
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Pick a plush you want to research before buying. If you start off trying to buy the first cool result from a “lugia plush” search, you’re going to be overwhelmed. Narrow it down to a specific design you like, which it looks like you’re already done with the Shadow Lugia! Most special plush sets (i.e., Chiku chiku sewing, old taffeta plushies, and the Canvas line) are well known for their distinct designs, fabrics, or attention to detail. Spend some time looking into each individual plush on Yahoo! Japan listings (you’ll find more there because it’s an ebay-like site just for Japan). Knockoffs tend to have some small differences (tag location, sewing pattern, eye design, size, color, tag itself). If you see enough of the original, you should get a decent eye for it.
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Buy plushies with original tags only (they’re not super-well documented and take some additional work to mass-produce). I’m an absolute snob in this regard, but I’m very confident in the authenticity of all of my plushes and have made a small profit from reselling some.
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Look at the seller’s other listings, quantity offered, and sales history. If they have a listing of of 10 different plushies w/quantity of 1, they’re probably a collector or specialist store. If they have large quantities of single items, they’re either a reseller or someone that produces the fakes. If they just sell a lot of collectibles (i.e., comics and toys), it’s probably fine.
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Don’t trust listings with photos that appear too professional (i.e., studio quality with transparent backgrounds is an eyebrow raiser for me). Exceptions include the last example above.
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Use more scrutiny when you’re dealing with $100+ items. The higher the cost, the higher the incentive for knockoffs.
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And, sadly: - you’ll have a much easier time if you ignore listings outside of Japan, Europe, Canada, and (sort of) the US. I hate making blanket statements like this, but Ebay is just flooded with knock-off listings based out of China at this time. I wish it weren’t the case, but I’ve found my experience to be much more simple by just filtering to those countries. We have seen a rise in US-based knockoff sellers though. So I’d say US bulk sellers are questionable as well…
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Buy from Japanese sellers only.
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Get a good idea of what an authentic version of the specific plush you’re eyeing looks like. Either surf google or look at the relatively expensive listings, as those tend to be authentic. If you’re buying from ebay, I would filter out China as those sellers tend to sell counterfeits at usually low prices. I think Japanese sellers are usually fine, but otherwise theobest put things pretty well.
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@dizzle24 It’s your time to shine, expert. 
Greetz,
Quuador
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I’m a moderator on another site dedicated to plush and merch collecting…
I’ll cherrypick some information that we have on a few of our guides…
#1) If the listing says the product ships from Hong Kong or China, it most likely is fake.
Only order from Hong Kong/China if you are sure the seller can be trusted.
#2) Take a closer look at the hangtag and the tushtags…
Is the hangtag flimsy, is it smudgy, not the right colours, blurry, not the right dates? Does the tushtag say Pokemon on it?
Things like that need to be taken into consideration… OR conversely it is missing tags altogether.
#3) Pay attention to details. There are a lot of convincing fakes.
Pokedolls and Canvas plush are among some of the most faked plushies around. Especially for you looking at getting a Shadow Lugia you really need to watch for small details that will set a real one out from a fake one.
#4) What kind of images are used…
Typically if there is a lot of greenery or plants in the background – fake.
Typically if there is a stock image - You need to investigate further where it is coming from. 99% of the time Japanese sellers do sell authentic goods.
#5) Is the Pokedoll signs there (I’ll link a friend’s article because she provides a lot more info than I’d like to delve into on this post)
Link.
#6) Typically anything 12’’ is fake. This is just a standard…
Here’s example of fake Shadow Lugia Pokedolls
Notice –
#2) The tag is grey, not coloured.
#3) Details - the stitching isn’t clean there are rough edges. Look at the eyes, the pink doesn’t go above the red border of the eye like the original.
This is a legit Shadow Lugia Pokedoll:
I wish you the best of luck to get an authentic Shadow Lugia Pokedoll!
I’m not sure if there are any other Shadow Lugia Plush that are legit. I believe this is the only one that featured it.
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@quuador, haha im late to the party here, as ive been so behind on checking the forum, but @pokemontrader, knocked it out of the park with the guide there! Cant really add more than that haha
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Wow thank you all for this advice! This Shadow Lugia has been a pain to decide on for a while so I will just continue searching until I feel comfortable. I have been sticking with Japanese sellers and places like Yahoo! Japan since it seems safer. @pokemontrader, could you send over the link to the plush site? I have always been wary of plush purchases because I just cannot see fakes that well, but I am really interested in the site.
Are you looking for any in particular other than Shadow Lugia? I may be able to help you and send you some pictures of ones that I got from the Pokemon Center if that helps.
Been a while, but yes. I am also looking at Mario & Luigi plushes as I did not grab them back in the day. Not 100% how to distinguish between fakes or even if I should be worried about it if I am using a Japanese Middleman site. Any help is appreciated!
Hello again! life distracted me, but back on this adventure I go. Curious if you can help me with applying what you taught me before:
The eyes seem to be okay and that tag looks legit, but its the only picture and its only $40. Seems too good to be true.
But then you have this one that is almost $200 and the eyes look like they bleed through.
I may be overthinking it, but it is really hard to tell. I appreciate any insight you can provide.
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The back of that tag is not a pokedoll tag, so the one you are looking at is a fake 
They have a bit more writing…
Sorry!
No need to apologize better I know than be wrong and buy it. What about the second one? Besides these two, I actually have not found any others that are legitimate. May just have to let this one go worst case.
I am no expert like Michael (Pokemontrader), but here are some other tips I have noticed about buying legitimate vs counterfeit products online, especially from your pictures you have provided. Note that this is for more general info, and I would probably still wait for Michael’s confirmation before buying anything.
Here are what I have noticed:
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The first picture that Michael described as fake, note that the watermark on the picture points to Taobao, which is notarious for selling non authentic stuff. It might not be fully accurate but it’s like wish.com, and honestly while there might be legitimate stuff on Taobao, 90% of it are knockoffs, so I suggest you checking the watermark first.
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The second watermark shows a seller’s page that is based off of yahoo japan, and seems to sell authentic products originated from Japan and is still active to this day: yahoo.aleado.com/showrating?id=aiusamin
So my other thought for you is if the pictures listed on the marketplace you are planning to buy from a store officially listed by aiusamin, because if it is not, most likely someone stole this store’s pictures and will send you a fake. -
For your first picture again, whenever I see a background that seems super scenic, fake and looks like from a studio, 99% of the time the store is from China and they are selling reproductions.
Good luck!
@pokemontrader, @nuttun, How can I ever know if something is actually real if someone steals pictures then sends a fake? Here is an example of a mario pikachu I was considering at one point: www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01M7XLBCG?_encoding=UTF8&th=1&psc=1
Is this fake because of the backdrop? How will I know if I get a real one/what do I do if I buy one through a Middleman and its fake?
How can I ever know if something is actually real if someone steals pictures then sends a fake?
This is mainly for pictures with watermarks, but lets say if you are looking at pictures that are aiusamin watermarked, and the store itself is NOT from aiusamin, that’s extremely suspicious. If I was a legitimate seller of rare plushies that are out of production, I’m not going to be so lazy that I would take watermarked pictures from another store for my own plushies, especially if I know that my own plushies are genuine. If the pictures are not watermarked, then it would be more challenging.
Is this fake because of the backdrop?
It’s harder to tell with the mario pikachu because it’s from amazon, and the way amazon lists its products makes it more difficult. Problem with amazon is that the photos can be used by multiple sellers, so you won’t know who actually took the pictures unless they watermarked it. It looks legit to me, but I am no expert with plush toys so Michael should be answering that question.
How will I know if I get a real one/what do I do if I buy one through a Middleman and its fake?
If you buy one from a reputable seller, normally issues with fake would not be a problem. I think it’ll be a huge headache dealing with a return with a middleman, so I think doing the initial assessment/research, making sure the seller is reputable, double checking pics, etc. should be 90% of where you should focus on. Taking risks when you’re using like a proxy/middleman service seems to be a bad idea.
I appreciate the in depth answers! Fortunately, you all are kind enough to lend your support when determining these fakes and how to best navigate it.
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No problem, glad to be of help in some way. Good luck with your hunt! 