All of your information is spot on. People do not want fake garbage. They want the real thing. Just like the scammers want the real money. They wouldn’t take counterfeit money now would they? Of course not. So why do we want counterfeit products? We don’t. The Pop figure should have a serial number printed on it – the same serial number that is on the bottom of the box. As mentioned above regarding the box art and design, licensing agreements, logos and fonts should all be there but are likely to be missing or altered on fake Funkos. Also did you know – the Serial Number’s last 5 digits is the date of the pop’s production in reverse. The Pop shouldn’t fall out whilst inside. If your Pop is loose in the box, then it’s either been tampered with before it was sent to you or something is amiss with the item.

Similar to the moulding above, the old Pops paint jobs were not particularly great. New Pops are amazingly painted, however you can get some quality control issues even with Funko (sadly), where paint is on parts it shouldn’t be – but this is very minimal. Similar to the box, the licensing agreements should be on the foot of the Pop Vinyl Figure or the bottom of the head. If it isn’t, it’s a fake. Other safe places to buy from are many Funko Pop Facebook groups – the community on these group chats are wonderful and people are keen to offer advice and help out on all Pop matters.Indications of fake Pop Vinyls are clear when you can see that areas have not been painted the right colour, or correctly. For example, hairlines on the rear of the figure have been poorly painted (patches missing) or not painted at all in some cases. Also, the bottom of the feet that have not been painted are signs of forgery. I collect all sorts of Moz items, but have always been wary of Funkos simply because the paint quality is often terrible. It's like every now and then the sweat shop making them is having a very bad day. I'd buy one if it could actually be 'mint' in box and not covered in defects. It’s hard to tell alone by the moulding on an old Pop if it is fake or not, but you can look at the other ways on this list to cross reference it.

I don't collect Funkos for the prior reasons, but if they manage to release an authorised one, I'd buy it to put in storage along with many other tenuous Morrissey-related items I've bought over the years. I'd pay it no other mind otherwise. That's my exact logic for things like fake coloured vinyl et al... If it's cheap, I will buy it. I won't, however, go nuts in a bidding war for these types of items. The problem is, these fakes are becoming difficult to spot. The molding and printing techniques used by the fake factories are much more sophisticated than they have ever been.

Thank you

The old Pop’s moulding was really basic – uniform stance with arms to the side and arced legs. The newer ones are more dynamic and detailed, mainly due to the continuing improvements of the plastic moulding that is used.