What are "unofficial" plush?
I have come to notice many people confused with knock off/bootied plush and "unofficial" plush. Here is a simple explanation of the two:
Knock off/bootied plush
A knock off/bootied plush is a plush made by manufactures in Hong Kong or China that COPY a original Pokemon plush design and sell it themselves. This is very common with Pokedolls and UFO plush. Similar to how Coach bags are knocked off. More bootied Pokedoll information on my side panel. Here are two quick examples comparing a fake and real Mew Pokedoll.
"Unofficial" PLush
An "unofficial" plush is a plush that possess MOST of the bootied plush qualities such as stock photos, from Hong Kong or China, etc. but is NOT a copy of an original official Pokemon plush design. It is merely a design not based off any specific plush, and is not officially licensed by Nintendo or the Pokemon Center. There are actually some really cool plush made and can actually pretty high quality. Here are some examples:
As you can see here, this Cubone has a stock photo and comes straight from China. Same with the Feraligatr listing below. Notice the similarities of all the images of all the unofficial plush.
As you can see, there are tons of them, and I only included a few examples. These are sold on eBay by the dozen. They are very high quality plush and have some super cute designs: but I do not endorse the purchase of unofficial plush, for they are still a copyright infringement of Pokemon. Please be aware of that when you purchase these plush.
Whats the difference between an unofficial and a custom?
There's been a lot of confusion about the difference between unofficial plush and custom plush. Here is a quick breakdown:
Unofficial plush: Basically what I described up there; they're plush with original designs, but are NOT LICESENCED NOR ENDORSED by Nintendo or The Pokemon Company. They are mass produced in China made by the same companies that make knock off plush.
Custom plush: Custom plush are very different. They are original designs, but are created by single ARTISTS and are typically ONE OF A KIND. People can commission these artists to make a plush of their specifications. Or make a plush silmilar to an official plush, but made a different size or different colors- like my custom DX Natu, or a custom shiny Mew Pokedoll. Typically artists sell their work on art websites such as Etsy. They typically cost a pretty penny for the amount of work that goes into them. Examples:
Unofficial plush: Basically what I described up there; they're plush with original designs, but are NOT LICESENCED NOR ENDORSED by Nintendo or The Pokemon Company. They are mass produced in China made by the same companies that make knock off plush.
Custom plush: Custom plush are very different. They are original designs, but are created by single ARTISTS and are typically ONE OF A KIND. People can commission these artists to make a plush of their specifications. Or make a plush silmilar to an official plush, but made a different size or different colors- like my custom DX Natu, or a custom shiny Mew Pokedoll. Typically artists sell their work on art websites such as Etsy. They typically cost a pretty penny for the amount of work that goes into them. Examples:
Below is a screenshot off Etsy.com under the search "pokemon plush." They're some gorgeous customs listed, all created one of a kind. You wouldn't be able to find these off ebay like you can unofficial. Also notice the pretty price you pay for these works of art.