FINGERLINGS: REAL VS. FAKE
DON'T BE FOOLED
Goodness, these cute little Fingerlings. The cause of so much joy and grief, yet it's still an entire month before Christmas arrives. If you recall, I posted an article featuring my ToysRUs Gigi the Unicorn Fingerlings on November 20th (see it here), and since then she made an appearance on Pix11 News on the 22nd How? My social media posts of the unicorn. I got the call for the story just as I was heading out to the Macy's Balloon Inflation. Story? Fake Fingerlings (relax, my Gigi Unicorn is real). With demands high, supply short and tempers flaring; parents are going crazy trying to find a Fingerlings for their kids in time for Christmas. I even had a parent try to snatch mine off my finger! She nearly broke my finger!
Go Gigi 🦄 |
I'm having a blast testing toys this holiday (marketing). Which brings us to fake Fingerlings. Sure you may have seen the reports, warnings and I know it may be impossible to find a Fingerlings in stores at this point (but don't give up). A friend of mine ordered a monkey Fingerlings from Amazon, which turned out to be a fake - so she gave it to me for this article. Now my Finn the Monkey Fingerlings (black with blue hair) is a Walmart exclusive, which came with a bonus base. If you see one online (eBay) and it doesn't have one, don't assume it's a fake. Also, you may purchase it as a gift for Christmas, which only means they won't be opened UNTIL December 25th. So what to look for? (read on to see my pics...)
Front of packaging |
Packaging - **Disregard the "Bonus Stand!" sticker, unless it was purchased at Walmart, an exclusive from Walmart, which is REAL.** Fingerlings are manufactured by WowWee, so look for the logo on the front AND back of the package. You can see it on the REAL one, right, lower, right-hand corner in the pink heart, under the word "sounds" (looks like a monkey with two eyes). It says "Baby Monkey" in the lower middle, to the left of the heart, by my thumb. The FAKE only says Baby Monkey, NO LOGO. This fake only worked about 12 hours, with the sounds on a recorded loop. Then it stopped working. Except for the eyes. This thing binks non-stop as if it's possessed! My advice? REAL fingerlings have a swirly logo/tattoo on their right buttock (colors vary by Monkey - Gigi the Unicorn has a horseshoe on her left cheek, which you can see from the side of the clear packaging even before opening it. Fake packaging varies, and different languages does not necessarily mean it's a fake. The true test is once you open it.
A REAL Zoe the Monkey Fingerlings. Not the best pic, but you CAN see the purple swirly logo on its backside through packaging. **Logo color matches the hair.** |