Safari Ltd. knock-offs on eBay?

I came across these boxed sets while searching eBay, they look exactly like Safari Ltd. and have the similar tags but I didn't think Safari let other companies use their products/molds?   I know Schleich was a distributor years ago but these aren't Schleich scenery packs: 


Sea life: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  The dolphin calf, harp seal adult and chinstrap penguin look like Safari

Dinosaurs: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The allosaurus and velociraptor look like Safari, I can't confirm the others

Dinosaurs 2: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Everything in this one looks like Safari


Here's another one with what looks like the AAA tiger adult and cub, I don't know where the hippos came from: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Great ! You surely know how to spot them   

I remember me that a big german discounter sales animal figurines also very inspired by the Safari Ltd Toob animal figurines   

That's very interesting, This chinstrap penguin looks to have a long history, the mold used by Safari is the Colorata one!

Roger wrote:

That's very interesting, This chinstrap penguin looks to have a long history, the mold used by Safari is the Colorata one!

Very famous little penguin   

I wasn't aware that the Colorata chinstrap penguin mold is the same as Safari Ltd. because I'm not familiar with any of the Japanese brands. I was just shocked to see the figures in boxed set not sold by Safari Ltd. or distributed by Schleich and posted this to see if someone knew something, but rather than ask, I'll do my own research.

orcagirl26 wrote:

I wasn't aware that the Colorata chinstrap penguin mold is the same as Safari Ltd. because I'm not familiar with any of the Japanese brands. I was just shocked to see the figures in boxed set not sold by Safari Ltd. or distributed by Schleich and posted this to see if someone knew something, but rather than ask, I'll do my own research.  

... and I am very glad you decided to share these sets with us. I didn't know about them and it would be great if someone got them to show the differences.

I really didn't mean to sound rude, just took everyone's reply the wrong way   

orcagirl26 wrote:

I really didn't mean to sound rude, just took everyone's reply the wrong way   

I am sure nobody thought you were rude, I've read the thread again and I am not even sure of what you are specifically talking. :)
You presented some Safari knock offs, I would do the same if I had found them and I added the information that the Safari chinstrap penguin mold was used previously by Colorata but I also don't know if it is an original from the Japanese company or if they bought the mold from any other. I think all these links between brands are very interesting and any link added, more we know about this wonderful world of toy animal figures.

I was looking for information as to why there were Safari Ltd. figures in a boxed set that weren't distributed by Safari Ltd. or even Schleich. They don't look to be knock-offs but actual Safari Ltd. figures. I didn't think anyone but Schleich was even allowed to distribute Safari Ltd. figures   

orcagirl26 wrote:

I was looking for information as to why there were Safari Ltd. figures in a boxed set that weren't distributed by Safari Ltd. or even Schleich. They don't look to be knock-offs but actual Safari Ltd. figures. I didn't think anyone but Schleich was even allowed to distribute Safari Ltd. figures   

It is possible these are unofficial sets put together by a specific distributor or seller. I've designed specific sets before, albeit without the branded box, and Safari is generally fine with retailers doing that. They're actually okay with and encourage people to get creative with their products if it boosts sales.

But that does not seem to be what is happening here.  It is much more likely that these are bootlegged figures - either from actual molds stolen from the manufacturing facility in China or, more likely,  from molds created from a figure, which would account for the slight discrepancies from the recognized official releases.

Bootlegging is a huge problem for these companies - CollectA,  Schleich, & Safari have all had their products ripped off from them, and this looks like it is happening again. PlayVisions actually ceased all production of their mini animal figures because of this very problem. Bootlegs take a huge toll on these companies' sales. As collectors, we should be alerting the companies to these, and absolutely, under no circumstances should we knowingly purchase them - not even to see the differences between them - unless we get confirmation of their legitimacy from the companies themselves.

These figures probably are rip-offs. I bought the horses-pack a long time ago and showed the following photo on the MPV-Forum. Safari reacted immediately and contacted the admins who asked me to inform them, if any othe of these packs appeared. The ebay.de - vendor who offered them obviously took them out. He also had the horses including the Lipizzaner stallion, the black shire and two Breyer Stablemate knockoffs.
These are the Lipizzans - knock-off in front, the real thing in the back. The real one is marked: Lipizzaner Stallion, 2004 Safari Ltd. Miami FL, Made in China. The 'Fake' ist just marked: Lipizzaner Stallion, Made in China. Both are identic, only the set of the tail is a little different.  
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Very interesting, Simmone! No doubts it's a faq!
Thanks for sharing picture.

sphyrna18 wrote:

orcagirl26 wrote:

I was looking for information as to why there were Safari Ltd. figures in a boxed set that weren't distributed by Safari Ltd. or even Schleich. They don't look to be knock-offs but actual Safari Ltd. figures. I didn't think anyone but Schleich was even allowed to distribute Safari Ltd. figures   

It is possible these are unofficial sets put together by a specific distributor or seller. I've designed specific sets before, albeit without the branded box, and Safari is generally fine with retailers doing that. They're actually okay with and encourage people to get creative with their products if it boosts sales.

But that does not seem to be what is happening here.  It is much more likely that these are bootlegged figures - either from actual molds stolen from the manufacturing facility in China or, more likely,  from molds created from a figure, which would account for the slight discrepancies from the recognized official releases.

Bootlegging is a huge problem for these companies - CollectA,  Schleich, & Safari have all had their products ripped off from them, and this looks like it is happening again. PlayVisions actually ceased all production of their mini animal figures because of this very problem. Bootlegs take a huge toll on these companies' sales. As collectors, we should be alerting the companies to these, and absolutely, under no circumstances should we knowingly purchase them - not even to see the differences between them - unless we get confirmation of their legitimacy from the companies themselves.

Hmm...interesting. I thought about showing these items to Safari Ltd. but I wasn't 100% sure on the situation, hence why I asked here to see if anyone had information.