Blue Ribbon Dog knock offs? Or Marx made in Hong Kong?

I know I've had a lot of Blue Ribbon dog questions, but I decided to make this a different topic because I have a specific comparison. I suspect these are knock offs but was curious if anyone knew anything else? They came packaged as you see below, each in an individual plastic bag stapled shut with a slip of paper that says Made in Hong Kong, and nothing else. They are painted (kind of) like the Blue Ribbon dogs, but have a slightly different texture. They are otherwise pretty indistinguishable.

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Marx on the left, Hong Kong on the right
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Marx on the left, Hong Kong on the right
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Marx on the left, Hong Kong on the right
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Hong Kong on the left, Marx on the right
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Seller photo
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They look like the same tool. A lot of damage has been done by some [nationalistic] collectors calling 'Marx' everything Marx issued, including the 'Marx Hong Kong' but Marx were a huge concern with separate divisions all over the world, and some of them bought from contract manufacturers, ie; not Marx-owned factories.

I would imagine this is the case here, perhaps with Marx using 'their' painters. But the lack of difference in the moldings would suggest they came from the same place.

I quite like the HK version of the dalmatian, over the Marx one, and that purplish-black/brown has been linked to Blue Box/Redbox (Tai Sang) farm items (poultry), who did supply the Sunshine line to Marx, which might be a clue?

These are lovely dogs, wish I knew more about them though to help! All I can do is guess that they're probably copies, but I actually really like them and some of them seem to be painted better than the originals! And they must look nice displayed altogether, lots of lovely little dogs with subtle differences in how they are painted!

Thank you guys! @smallscaleworld, that's very interesting and does make sense.

@Bonnie, it is fun having all the variations together!

Sorry to be replying to an older topic, but I have been inattentive I am afraid.
All of the Marx Blue Ribbon Dogs were made in Hong Kong. They are that "ceramic like" hard plastic which was primarily or possibly only made in the Hong Kong factory. The US factory made what we call soft plastic or the rubbery vinyl earlier. These could be original production packaged for bulk sale, or copies from the same molds made after Marx collapsed. If I had these really pristine examples in my own collection I would call them Marx as I really so no significant difference at this distance in time.

Tiermann wrote:

Sorry to be replying to an older topic, but I have been inattentive I am afraid.

Thank you so much for answering! I'm sorry it took me so long to realize you had! That information is really great, and I appreciate your insight.