With over twenty five years of games, anime, and other series spin-offs, Pokemon has established its legacy and then some. Alongside all these years of creations have also come a ton of merchandise.
These days, if a mega Pokemon fan wants to buy a specific item that has a Pokemon on it, chances are they can find it, either in an official capacity or custom made by a devoted artisan. However, that doesn't stop weird merchandise from reaching the shelves of stores.
One Reddit user found a particularly odd piece of Pokemon collectible memorabilia on a shelf. Tomstar_official shared an image with the Pokemon subreddit of the find, revealing what appears to be a Pokemon GO toy set containing a Pokeball and a Pokemon to go with it. However, it doesn't take much effort to notice that something is amiss on the packaging, starting with it encouraging viewers to 'Cottect them all.'
cottect them all. from pokemon
The misspelled slogan is written twice on the front of the box, and in general, Pokemon products use 'Gotta catch 'em all' to entice potential buyers. However, that's not all that's wrong. While the Pokemon logos look to be accurate, Ash Ketchum is included on the box's art - despite not being in Pokemon GO outside of an April Fools joke - appearing with a recolored red vest instead of his usual blue one. A closer look at the interior of the box also appears to reveal a Masterball and what looks like a Charmander, but its coloring appears to be incorrect. In other words, this product is a knock-off.
Pokemon knock-offs of all kinds are nothing new, and often big business. Huge phony Pokemon card operations have been discovered as the price of the TCG soared. However, there have been knock-offs of toys, decor, and even the games themselves over the years. With the extreme popularity of Pokemon, it's not a surprise that bootleg companies would look to get in on the profit by quickly producing knock-off products that unwitting customers might purchase.
Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are usually swift about pursuing legal action against anyone using Nintendo's intellectual property without permission. However, the sheer number of fakes being produced over the years is a lot to keep up with. While the original poster didn't share any information about where they found this product, it looks like it's on the shelf of a random shop, not a major retailer. In any case, the store owner may be unaware of it being a fake.
Spotting legitimate Pokemon merchandise is usually best accomplished by carefully studying the product. Making sure that the packaging uses official art, logos, and in the case of the games, an official Nintendo seal, can be helpful. However, nothing stops bootleg operations from utilizing these elements, so even that isn't necessarily a guarantee. In the end, all Pokemon buyers can do is be smart about their purchases, buy from official vendors or sites whenever possible, and hope for the best.