Hirono has a fake problem. The more popular the little outsider gets, the more counterfeit figures flood the marketplaces, and some of them look convincing in a blurry listing photo. This is big business: customs agencies seized nearly 8 million counterfeit POP MART toys in 2025 alone, according to Yicai Global.
A few careful checks before you pay go a long way. No single check is a guarantee on its own, so the trick is stacking several together.
Start With the Box
If you are buying a sealed blind box, start with the packaging. Genuine POP MART boxes have sharp, clean printing, so compare the logo, character art and small text against photos of the real thing. Blurry edges or off colors are a reason to ask the seller questions, not proof of a fake on their own.
POP MART also runs an official authenticity check. Products that carry a Box Label Code have a scratch-off coating hiding a verification code: scratch it, enter the code on POP MART’s official verification page, and it tells you whether the product is genuine. It even flags codes that have been scanned many times before, which is a bad sign on a supposedly new item. Not every product or market carries the same label, though, so a missing code is a question for the seller, not an automatic verdict.
The Price Test
A very low price is not proof of a fake, but it deserves an explanation. Ask yourself why a seller would part with a secret figure – a rare pull, roughly 1 in 72 boxes in the ranges that publish odds – for the price of a regular blind box. Ask why a sold-out series would show up brand new at half the going rate, especially in bulk. Sometimes there is an innocent answer. Sometimes there isn’t.
Before you commit, take ten seconds to compare the listing against sold prices on a couple of other sites. If yours is far below the rest, find out why first.
Compare With the Official Photos
This is the check anyone can do. Pull up the official product photos – every figure in our Hirono series guides has them – and put the listing side by side on your screen.
Look at the paint around the eyes, mouth and clothing details. On the genuine figures those lines are crisp and the colors match the official shots. If the listing’s photos show paint bleeding over lines, washed-out or oddly glossy colors, or rough seams where the parts join, ask for more photos or move on. Differences like these are grounds for questions, not a verdict.
The photos in this article are official POP MART shots, by the way – your genuine reference, not examples of fakes.
Know Your Seller
The listing tells you plenty before you ever message anyone.
Stock photos only? Ask for real pictures of the actual item, including the box from every side. Honest sellers send them without drama. Silence or excuses is your answer.
Check the account history. A seller with a long record of happy collectible buyers is a different risk from a brand new account listing fifty secret figures at once. Read a few recent reviews, and ask about returns before you pay – a seller who accepts returns has little to hide.
And pay through the platform, never by direct transfer. Buyer protection is the only thing standing between you and a dispute you cannot win.
Where to Be Extra Careful
Some listings simply make checking harder. Loose figures with no box, so-called factory rejects or factory extras, and bulk lots of sealed boxes priced far below retail all remove the packaging checks you would otherwise rely on.
That doesn’t make every one of these a fake – plenty of collectors sell genuine pieces without boxes. It means the remaining checks matter more: real photos, comparison with the official shots, seller history, and platform payment.
The Quick Checklist Before You Pay
- If there is a Box Label Code, it verifies on POP MART’s own page
- Price explained and in line with what the figure sells for elsewhere
- Listing photos match the official reference shots
- Real photos of the actual item, not just stock images
- Seller with real history, clear returns, and payment through the platform
Fakes are not going anywhere, and no checklist catches everything. But counterfeiters rely on buyers who skip the checks. Compare, verify and ask questions before you pay – and keep POP MART’s verification page bookmarked.
Want to see what the real thing looks like? Browse the official photos in our series guides and figure pages – every page shows the genuine article, straight from POP MART.
