Fake Tamas cost WAAAAAY to much

So Ive been looking for new Tamas on the internet and I found that a LOOOT of people buy tamagotchis that are FAKE and I also noticed that the fakes cost wayyyy to much. I thought I would point out the main features of fake Tamas for confused collectors so they dont buy fakes, and here they are:

The amount of buttons- most that have over three are not real, although some reals have over three

The name- usually if they are just called plainly virtual pet or something like that they will be knock-offs

The brand on the back- some brands will put Bandai on the back, but still make sure

Hope this helped some of you Tama fans! If you need any help with this, talk to KidRetro64, she knows her stuff. Thank you for reading,

Lucky Cat

A lot of people who end up buying ake tamas genuinely don't care about their features, they just want a virtual pet that poops and maybe dies honestly, that's how it is unfortunately.

Also these rules aren't definite:

-There is a Tamagotchi that has over 3 buttons, the Yasashii

-"Remotely close" doesn't say much, there are fake tamas that call themselves misspeled variations of Tamagotchi because that's not a copyright infridgement if it's misspelled. Also, original Japanese Tamagotchis are called "Tamagotch" and often have it spelled as so on their shells, some people think they are fake because of that but they're not.

-Also a lot of fakes have a Bandai logo both on the packaging as well as on the back. Brand logos aren't a deal breaker.

I think the actual easiest way to tell if a tama is fake or not is to look at pictures of real tamagotchis and compare them to what you're seeing. If it looks too "cheap", it's fake. Also helps if the seller has the toy turned on. There is no fake tamagotchi that has programming 100% identical to that of a real one. Most fakes have absurdly large pixels.

Jhud said:

-Also a lot of fakes have a Bandai logo both on the packaging as well as on the back. Brand logos aren't a deal breaker.

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This is really important to point out.

When I got back into this hobby, I saw some very old advice floating around that suggested that the logos made a difference - I knew that this wasn't true (I already have knowledge about spotting and avoiding counterfeits from one of my other hobbies), but it's all too easy for people to take that on-board as being relevant knowledge. But it's really never been the case.

As they say "People tell lies on the internet" - and counterfeiters tell lies on fakes, too. The days of "NINTONDO" being written as a dead giveaway on fake game cartridges are far behind us!

Jhud said:

Most fakes have absurdly large pixels.

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And some of the current fakes have absurdly small pixels too (the generic penguin-shaped 168-in-1 pet that I have actually has a really nice display), and just have the graphics compensate for it by being overly-blocky, as if the visuals were designed for a far lower resolution.

Yeah, Nintendo is a good example. You can't tell at a first glance if you're buying a fake Pokemon cartridge at all because it will have all the logos in place. You can only tell after you receive the cartridge and check for the logos on the motherboard, because the company that makes the fakes doesn't bother engraving the motherboard.

Jhud said:

Yeah, Nintendo is a good example. You can't tell at a first glance if you're buying a fake Pokemon cartridge at all because it will have all the logos in place. You can only tell after you receive the cartridge and check for the logos on the motherboard, because the company that makes the fakes doesn't bother engraving the motherboard.

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Exactly. Though, there actually was a brief time in the early 2000s where fake Game Boy Advance cartridges often had "NIntondo" written on the back.

It didn't last long, though - that's why any advice about manufacturer logos is very outdated.

I actually got this info from my sis, KidRetro64 who said to post this. Thats why it says if you need any advice talk to KidRetro64, she knows her stuff. She told me to say that. I changed the info on it so its more helpful and took your replies into account. Thanks guys!