I occasionally wander into the Chinatown of my city - seems like most North American cities have a Chinatown, or something similar; dunno about Europe or Asia itself - and I find the stores absolutely littered with knockoffs. I guess that's no surprise to anyone who wants a premium-looking clothing item at rock-bottom prices, but it seems to me that a lot of parents overlook the potential for knockoff toys. They sometimes come in weird colours, and are occasionally of poor quality, but I've seen some absolutely amazing bootlegs at really low prices. Wouldn't trust these toys to, say, an infant, because who knows what's used to make 'em, but for a seven, eight, nine-year old? Might not be a bad idea. Anybody bought bootleg before, or even considered it?
I am perhaps a little bit naive, as I never really thought about bootleg toys before. Knock off toys? Like, would you mostly get them online? A lot of parents just go out shopping with their children and purchase toys for them a they are going along. Or if their children request certain toys, many parents will just get online and purchase the toys from known retailers such as Amazon. I have never purchased bootleg toys knowingly before.
I haven't heard of them either. If they are cheaper and it won't cost you more than you'll save, driving around town to find a store that sells knock-off toys, then why not buy them? The kids wouldn't notice that they are fakes and even if they did, they won't care. Since kids don't play with toys for too long, the cheapest will be the best.
Like I said, you'll usually find these toys in Chinatown-esque areas, as well as flea markets in the like. When I say 'bootleg' I mean that a company has made copies of another toy - I'll use Transformers as an example, as they get bootlegged all the time - and re-released it with different packaging, often a different colour aesthetic, and, more often than not, a whole lot of poor English on the label. Log In It's a big market, but I suppose you have to go looking for it.
