What are knockoffs?

I have a little question - what are knockoffs in your opinion? Because i got some very "inspired" figures but....... more after my next zoo news.

A knockoff is a pejorative definition for a low quality copy of a known product. Often, it is an illegal thing.
A good example of a knockoff are those CollectA copies you can find in Chinese shops.
Maybe the Hong Kong versions of Britains models are also considered knockoffs.

What is not a knockoff?

These Arabian foals, Schleich released its model in 2009 and Mojö Fun in 2011.
We can't talk here of a huge difference in quality, Mojo's is not a cheaper version, just a heavily inspired version with a similar quality.

Schleich foal from Tim's collection


Mojö Fun foal from Alejandro's collection

Roger wrote:

A knockoff is a pejorative definition for a low quality copy of a known product. Often, it is an illegal thing.
A good example of a knockoff are those CollectA copies you can find in Chinese shops.
Maybe the Hong Kong versions of Britains models are also considered knockoffs.

What is not a knockoff?

These Arabian foals, Schleich released its model in 2009 and Mojö Fun in 2011.
We can't talk here of a huge difference in quality, Mojo's is not a cheaper version, just a heavily inspired version with a similar quality.

Schleich foal from Tim's collection


Mojö Fun foal from Alejandro's collection

Thank you. I can say i know it. What i get are figures very very inspired by Kaiyodo - but solid and a other size and some with differences.

For me, it's anything using the exact same sculpt (allowing for a visible difference like loss of detail/sharpness and seams in bad places, cos they're cast from an existing figure), rather than the 'inspired-by' copycat sculpts.
If they're being sold as the real brand then they're knockoffs and fakes, but if they're sold just as toy animal figures without mentioning the real brand, that's a knockoff.

Where the artist has copied someone else's work, that's cheating and a bit unethical, but not what I'd consider a knockoff, as it does have physical creative input by a third party, rather than just using what someone else produced first.
(As an aside, this similarity of sculpt might even happen when two people work independently from the same references, particularly when it's a rare or extinct species/breed with not much material to use. I've very likely painted some of my rare-colour models from the same reference pictures as custom artists have already used, creating what could look like a copy of someone else's idea, but without being aware of the others - so I can definitely see the same happening with sculptors.)

There's a bit of a grey area where the existing sculpt is modified a bit then recast as original work. I think copyright law (at least in my country) states that if the final thing is more than 10% different then it's legal to reproduce and sell, and the owner of the original sculpt and/or genuine mould can't sue the person who took and altered their piece. Personally, I'd lump these in with the idea of 'cheating' and don't like it, but wouldn't categorise those as a knockoff either.

widukind wrote:

Thank you. I can say i know it. What i get are figures very very inspired by Kaiyodo - but solid and a other size and some with differences.

I hope I understand what you mean, I saw e.g. pigeons, thrush, fighting rooster, asian tit etc. I hope new and good enough ones for collectors not focused to Japanese market/puzzles or with specific needs regarding the figure size.






I believe every collector with Kaiyodo range knowledge is familiar with these figures in their original variant :)

Andreas, it is hard to give an opinion when we don't see the figures you're mentiioning.
George's post is very complete and interesting. It is good not to forget those figures from the same manufacturer that are sold for different brands and with different specifications which change their quality according to each brand. Those are not knockoffss for sure.
Here is a "decent" knockoff in my collection. We have the Mojö Fun genuine model and another unmarked one which was branded Animal Paradise.

I know Roger, but i got a few answers. I mean the figures that jarda shared.

Hello Roger,
I found in the internet a sample of copying.
The company CHAP MEI and the company HASBRO want to show a german shepherd as a police dog or a military dog. An they show it nearly in the same way.
See here:

OK Andreas.
Benno, as I replied in another topic, Chap Mei found inspiration in several GI Joe figures which were released by Hasbro.
Chap Mei is even considered a kind of complementar brand for the large community of collectors of GI Joe models. A kind of cheaper brother.

On the forums I think people throw the term 'knockoff' around too casually.

Sometimes, two companies will use the same manufacturer, which depending on licensing agreements, could mean sharing a sculpt (Safari and Schleich have done this, as have Club Earth and Play Visions).

To me, a knockoff is when a company copies another without proper permission. And honestly, we don't really know when that happens. I usually consider something a knockoff if it is a non-branded, non-labeled, usually 'Made in China' type figure of visually lesser quality than the original.

Think of it this way. If you buy store-brand mouthwash, it could have been made by a company that makes Listerine. However, it was sold to the store to market under their name. It's not 'knockoff' mouthwash :)

Today i got Schleich copies - sold by Wild Republic.

Inside of this bucket

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=ztFSOe6m&id=50108E5A4C0946663B98CEED433CA74BDD794ECC&thid=OIP.ztFSOe6muoeRznZczOWF8wHaHa&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fi5.walmartimages.com%2fasr%2f5233518f-2af8-4fc3-9ac9-52dbf51df0c4_1.4dc63fa182f55ad46e4048d001d206d0.jpeg%3fodnWidth%3d612%26odnHeight%3d612%26odnBg%3dffffff&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.ced15239eea6ba8791ce765ccce585f3%3frik%3dzE553UunPEPtzg%26pid%3dImgRaw%26r%3d0&exph=612&expw=612&q=wild+republic+egypt+bucket&simid=608056009767065673&FORM=IRPRST&ck=80FBBB0A16529403E313A4C7AAC7E10F&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0

That's quite weird, Andreas! It is known Nayab copied Schleich figures with little modifications and I'm almost sure Wild Republic is a traditional customer of Nayab.

Buckets like this are commonly sold in discount stores here in the UK and usually contain copies of models by various companies

Taos wrote:

Buckets like this are commonly sold in discount stores here in the UK and usually contain copies of models by various companies

I know these sets too. But from Wild Republic it is more interesting