I have sucky news: we all have to start paying much closer attention when shopping for tokidoki bags online now. The realistic fakes are finally here. 
There is good news though, which is that if you examine the new batch of realistic fakes closely, you can still tell them apart from real bags. This post will show you how to do just that (I will also be adding this info into the Guide to tokidoki Fakes).
First, I am going to start out by calling out a realistic fake Spiaggia Trenino that is up on eBay right now. Fortunately for us, the buyer who bought this bag the first time it was listed and already returned it (with explanation to the seller of why it was fake, I might add) was kind enough to send in a ton of photos so that we can all learn from her experience. Thanks, Jo! Please note that I also double-checked all of Jo’s information against the real Foresta Trenino in my personal collection to verify its accuracy.
For starters, here are photos that Jo took of the fake Spiaggia Trenino when she received it:
Kind of scary how realistic it looks at first glance, right? Someone even went to the trouble to put a real ball chain and real tokidoki tags on it. Now, onto why it is fake.
Exhibit A: The fake Spiaggia Trenino does not have “riri M6″ stamped under the zipper head. The photos below show a side-by-side comparison of the underside of Jo’s real Pirata Trenino zipper heads (left) vs. the fake Spiaggia Trenino zipper heads (right).
Exhibit B: The fake Spiaggia Trenino is missing the Made in China tag in the large front zipper pocket, and has a solid black carabiner stretch cord instead of a black & white carabiner stretch cord. The photos below show a side-by-side comparison of the underside of Jo’s real Pirata Trenino’s “Made in China” tag and black & white carabiner stretch cord inside the large front zipper pocket (left) vs. the fake Spiaggia Trenino’s missing tag and solid black carabiner stretch cord (right).
Exhibit C: The fake Spiaggia Trenino has incorrect carabiner hardware in all 3 places on the bag – attached to the stretch cord, and attached to the long strap on both sides. The photos below show a side-by-side comparison of the underside of Jo’s real Pirata Trenino carabiner (left) vs. the fake Spiaggia Trenino zipper carabiner (right). Ignore the color differences (Pirata has gold hardware, Spiaggia has silver) and notice that the fake carabiner only has LeSportsac etched into one side (instead of both sides, like the real bag).
Exhibit D: And finally, the most compelling reason – the print is just not right on the fake Spiaggia Trenino. So that you can all see this better, I created swatches of the same section of the Spiaggia print from a real Spiaggia bag versus the fake Spiaggia Trenino.
Here is the real Spiaggia swatch:
And here is the fake Spiaggia swatch:
Keep looking at the real swatch vs. the fake swatch – you will notice that the colors in the fake swatch are off, AND that the way the characters in the fake swatch are drawn is not quite right (for instance, look back & forth at Bastardino – see the difference?), AND that the spatial relations between the characters in the fake swatch are not the same as in the real swatch (for instance, look how much higher the plane in the upper left is compared to the momo sun in the fake swatch, and how much lower shark boy is compared to where the inner tube girl’s feet are).
*huff* *puff*
yeah, thats what i figured about the print being sold out for over year thing and thanks about the ebay thing! thanx a lot!
Hey I really like all this Tokidoki stuff and my Mom bought me a shirt in new york. It’s the Women’s Rocco one and the buckle is green but in the shop pic the buckle is gray.
Are there fake tokidoki shirts? Or is it just the bags I should be worried about? And should I take a pic?
Kate – Where did your Mom buy the shirt? A reputable store (= real) or Chinatown (= fake)?
I recently bought a tokidoki bag, and I thought it was real. But after eading this blog, i discovered that it didn’t say the riri thing on the zipper head. Since I already cut the tag off, do you think that they’ll let me return it if I tell them it’s a fake? Cause when I bought it they said it was 100% authentic.
i meant reading**
Jenny – Before you return it, are you sure that you are looking under the zipper HEAD (the part the teeth go into) and not the zipper PULL? Are there any other signs that the bag is fake?
Wow, it looks real to me.That’s the problem I suppose, I think I’ve just bought some fakes (in Tokyo) and am really mad!
Hai, I am about to buy a secondhand Tokidoki Ecomondo bag online, but I am having trouble distinguishing if it’s real. Could you please help me out? Thanks so much!!!
http://link.marktplaats.nl/302253889
Elizabeth – It’s real.
I have a fake one, I got it in chinatown but at least it was only 20 bucks, even though I LOOOVVEE tokidoki i love their clothing their little stuff but the bags are just overpriced even though they ARE really cool, plus I don’t really care if it’s fake or not, people don’t really recognize it. if u wonna get a fake one (u prob won’t but the real one’s like 400 i mean seriously!!) just go to the ny chinatown and it’s everywhere, if ur a kid they’ll give u it for 15 bucks
good luck!!
I just bought a tokidoki for hello kitty white wallet. It doesn’t look like very good quality the. Gold chain it comes with it is very light when my other items like this the chain is always very heavy. The gold is also a slightly differnent color its darker very cheap looking. There is also a round zipper inside it that says funky divas? The diamond with the face that is on the print always has a little twinke star thing next to it. The diamond on this wallet does not. I’m so disgusted with people selling fake stuff and saying it is “authentic” if its fake just say its fake there’s a lot of people who don’t care. I don’t like fake stuff the quality just isn’t the same. Could someone help me out.