Fake Bakugan

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A image of two fake Bakugan (in the left and right), and one real (in the center). They are all different size, and they are all Pyrus, but the smallest, however, is blue.

Fake Bakugan, Bootleg Bakugan, or Counterfeit Bakugan are illegal imitation of Bakugan made by people or companies other than Spin Master. They are not official and cannot be used in Bakugan Tournaments. Some counterfeits are sold under similar package to official Bakugan, while others are sold under different names.

McDonald's Bakugan McDonald's Happy Meal toys and cards and Bakugan keychains are not considered fake Bakugan, but cannot be used in tournaments.

Traits of Counterfeit Bakugan

Physical Toy

Counterfeit Bakugan, because of their goal of undercutting consumers, are mostly made of lower quality. Counterfeit Bakugan are usually made of lower grade plastic, where key traits include brittle material, thin walls, having a shiny finish, poor paintjob, and inconsistent size, while official Bakugan are made of durable plastic and have a matte finish. Some counterfeits may be made of different plastic color than the official six attributes, or lacks attribute symbol/having incorrect attribute symbol printed. Official Bakugan have triangle safety screws (not X's with the exception of a few first release), serial numbers, and have 'S/S/B' or 'ST/SML' and 'China' molded inside the toy. Counterfeits usually, but not always, lack these key identifications. The gate card included may be printed in bad quality, and may be in Chinese or bad English.

Packaging

Most counterfeits, however, can be identified from its packaging. While some counterfeits imitates official Spin Master packaging, most counterfeits are packaged under different names. Examples of fake names include: Bao-Wan, Baodan, Burst-Egg, Burst Ball, and Bomb Ball.

Chinese Counterfeit Series

Besides counterfeits designed to merely imitate official Bakugan, there exists several lines of Chinese counterfeit Bakugan that are sold under entirely different names and spawn their own TV series. Because Bakugan were not imported into Mainland China and the lack of action from Spin Master, these counterfeit series became nationally popular in Mainland China.

Bao Wan Boy

Bao Wan Boy (爆丸小子, Chinese: Bao Wan Xiao Zi?) is the first of the counterfeit Bakugan series that became nationally popular in Mainland China. Bao Wan is Chinese for Exploding Ball and it is written in the same character and read as "Bakugan" in Japanese. The counterfeit Bakugan line was based on twelve Battle Brawlers Bakugan, but with minor mold alterations and attribute changes. The line retained five of the official attributes and added one original attribute, changed the attribute symbols, and changed the color associated with Darkus. Like other counterfeits, Bao Wan Boy counterfeits are made with inferior plastic and poor paint job. Unlike official Bakugan, Bao Wan Boy Bakugan sold each type of Bakugan in one attribute only. Counterfeit Bao Wan Boy Bakugan also exist.

The counterfeit toy line spawned a 32-episode slice-of-life live-action television series that focuses on teenagers and children playing with Deka-sized Bakugan.

Sacred Stone

Sacred Stone (圣石奇兵, Chinese: Sheng Shi Qi Bing?) is the sequel to Bao Wan Boy. Same as its predecessor, the line is counterfeits of Battle Brawler Bakugan, but have Special Attack features and are in B2 size. Most Sacred Stone are similar to spinning/cyclone/vortex Special Attack Bakugan.

This line has a 52 episode TV animation series.

Eonster Hunter

Eonster Hunter (爆兽猎人, Chinese: Bao Shou Lie Ren?) is a separate counterfeit toy line made by the same people behind Bao Wan Boy, but is otherwise unrelated. Eonster counterfeits based their design on all five series of official Bakugan, but unlike official Bakugan, they are redesigned to fit an egg shape. The Eonsters do not have any attributes. It shares the same quality as other counterfeits.

This line have a 52 episode CGI animation series.

Beast Invaders

'Beast Invaders' (魔弹王, Chinese: Mó dàn wáng, lit. Bullet King) is a collaboration between Sanbao and Zoland Animation released in 2013 and is still being circulated and produced in its native country to this day. Unlike the spherical ball forms of Bakugan, the beasts transform from a "Pod" (or Bullet) through the use of a spring system similar to a stapler. Upon being launched with a finger tap, the pod would jump into the air, in the hopes of landing on their elemental space (of which all six represent the elements similar to Bakugan). Afterwords, a d6 is used to determine the synchronicity between the player and their Beast Pod. The show follows similar beats to the original BBB, but uses a rule system similar to Arc 1 of Bakugan New Vestroia, however, in the event of a tie, Life Points can calculate to the negatives, with the player closest to zero being the winner.

Zoland Animations created a 52-episode animated/CGI hybrid series to coincide with the initial release. The show follows the same plot beats as the original BBB with some small differences and even a tournament arc.

Legal Action from Spin Master

In February 2018, Spin Master sues Lingdong Creative, maker of the counterfeit Baowan Boys, Sacred Stones, and Eonster Hunter Bakugan, for patent infringement.