Sailor Moon has been a popular franchise in the United States since airing on Cartoon Network back in the 90s. It was about a group of super-powered girls who had to stop the villains from taking over Earth. The show was beloved by many, but the problem was, it did not have very much official merchandise in the United States around the time that it first aired. Naturally, this led to fans buying a fair share of bootlegs of the magical girl characters.
These days, it is thankfully much easier to avoid bootleg products. Although many of these Sailor Moon bootlegs look uncanny, many fans seem to be surprisingly fond of the products.
10 Sail Or Moon Shirt
This odd find was posted by Twitter user Brekkiemart. Although the quality of the image seems to be passable, the supposed quote at the top of the shirt has replaced "In the name of the moon, I'll punish you" with something much more threatening.
If this wasn't bad enough, the shirt refers to the heroine as Sail Or Moon, and continues to flub its English by creating new words such as "moom" and "yao". While some people may find it amusing that the creator threw in random names and phrases, there seems to be more words than shirt.
9 Bank
This bootleg bank was found by Twitter user SMObss at a flea market. The piggy bank is one of the few bootleg products that has a somewhat close resemblance to the character it was modeled after. However, the paint is glossier in some areas more than in others, and some of it is either not fully painted or was smeared in the wrong areas.
Although a perfectly functional bank, it is impossible not to notice how lopsided the bangs and buns are. The eyes are also confusing, as the bank seems to sport two sets of eyelashes and an eyebrow that is thicker than the other.
8 Bedding
Anyone who is looking for Sailor Moon merchandise may find themselves turning to Shelly in desperate times. Tumblr user sailormoonbootlegs posted a picture of this bootleg bed sheet. Although Shelly's skirt, boots, and gloves take inspiration from Sailor Moon's, the overall design does not resemble the protagonist at all.
The cats also seem to be reminiscent of the ones from the anime, but the design and colors of these felines are not the same. This makes it easy to recognize this as a bootleg.
7 Phone Case
Reddit user u/mckawaii found this phone case in Taiwan, and regrets missing the opportunity to purchase it. Others who commented in the thread agreed that this was a mistake, as this product enters the territory of being so strange that it's good.
It is highly doubtful that anyone would think that this was official merchandise: after all, the Sailor Scouts have never been eggs. However, it is easy to tell that a lot of effort went into making this group of pretty magical girl eggs.
6 Sailor Sweetie
Sailor Sweetie comes with a tiny doll, a pet, and a playground accessory. Unfortunately, it does not come with a legitimate Sailor Moon product. Although they are a little cute, the eyes are way too close together. The pets that are included have no relation to the show, and neither do the playground accessories.
Most of these come with playground rides, but Chibiusa was a bit unlucky here, getting a mere park bench instead. Although the product encourages consumers to collect them all, it would be better to spend that money on a legitimate product.
5 Alarm Clock
For many people, the clock is the first thing they see in the morning. Being greeted by this rather creepy bootleg may not be a preferable way to start the day and the thought of sleeping in the same room as it may also bring mild discomfort.
This clock, found by Twitter user SailorMoonSub, appears to be held by two little girls with empty, soulless eyes, decked out in way more yellow than necessary. There seem to be odd indents in their foreheads, and it is impossible to tell who the arm in the middle belongs to. This is definitely one of the most unsettling bootlegs out there.
4 Planet Girl
Twitter user crybabyhero_ found another bootleg with more yellow than necessary. Oddly enough, the image on the cardboard packaging seems to use the right colors for Sailor Mercury, although the outfit is different from the real character's.
However, the toy has no similarities to the characters on the packaging. The toy tries to get itself as close as legally possible to Sailor Mercury's design, yet uses shades of blue, yellow, brown, and purple that are harmful to the eyes.
3 Beauty Warrior
This product, posted by Twitter user Bananalungs, is so terrible and detached from the Sailor Moon series. Although the mask has a red headband, it is obviously meant to be Sailor Mercury. However, the eye holes are lopsided, and the mask would more than likely look creepy no matter who puts it on.
Somehow, the product gets worse: it comes with a toy gun and a toy sword. Not only do they not fit the magical girl aesthetic, but Sailor Mercury is not known for using either of these weapons. One can only hope that this bootleg hasn't fooled anyone.
2 Sailor Bike
Although Sailor Mercury is not known for riding a bike, there is a line of bootleg products that sell figures of the Sailor Scouts on brightly colored Sailor Bikes. Sailor Mercury looks terribly faded, and the bubblegum pink of her bike does not match her or her uniform.
DeviantArt user avaneshop shared this photo of a poorly painted Sailor Mercury, but it seems as though more effort went into making the bike. The faded quality of Sailor Mercury's face makes it seem as though she was treated more like an afterthought.
1 Beauty Fighters
Beauty Fighters is a lot of things, but beautiful is not one of them. The first thing that catches the viewer's eye would be the package art. Although the colors and the eyes are wrong, the art seems to be passable, sparking the hope that the toys that come with it would be of similar caliber. They are not.
Twitter user Bootleg_Stuff found this monstrosity, which are sloppily painted, have little detail, and have faces that can barely be recognized as faces. Sailor Jupiter received the worst treatment, missing her hair and having a face that is uncannily similar to the Annoying Orange.