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Sold in carnivals in the 90s, mirages are extremely rare, unlicensed plush from the early days of Pokémon. They were made in small quantities, with unique designs and off-model features and colors. Mirages often originated in Europe, South America, and Asia (Especially Taiwan).
Sold in carnivals in the 90s, mirages are extremely rare, unlicensed plush from the early days of Pokémon. They were made in small quantities, with unique designs and off-model features and colors. Mirages often originated in Europe, South America, and Asia (Especially Taiwan).
Taiwan Mirages
Taiwan Mirages
This group of Mirages all appear to be based on the Tomy Fuzzy line of plush. I've only seen them come in three sizes thus far, but there could very well be more out there since mirages do not follow any particular standard. Mew mirages are incredibly hard to find, so it was a lot of time (and expense!) hunting these guys down on Taiwanese secondhand sites. They're the cutest Mew mirages I've seen and I'm thrilled to have what may be the whole group!
Small Taiwan Mirage Mew Plush
Small Taiwan Mirage Mew Plush
Company: Unknown
Company: Unknown
Size: TBD
Size: TBD
Date: Unknown
Date: Unknown
I found this little guy on a Taiwan online marketplace. I purchased it right as tariffs were implemented, and Taiwan temporarily paused shipments to the US. Luckily, my shopping agent was great and held onto the plush until it was safe to ship!
This plush is a bit bigger than the fuzzy Tomy, and has hard plastic eyes instead of felt eyes like the legitimate plush. It doesn't have a hang tag-- just a fabric tag on the side that says "Made In China."
Medium Taiwan Mirage Mew Plush
Medium Taiwan Mirage Mew Plush
Company: Unknown
Company: Unknown
Size: TBD
Size: TBD
Date: Unknown
Date: Unknown
I was lucky enough to find several of this variety from a couple different marketplaces in Taiwan. They each had different sizes listed, so I thought they would be distinct varieties. However, they ended up all being identical, which makes me think there are probably three total sizes of this pattern.
One of these was ordered for a friend's mirage collection, and the second I traded to another Mew collector. The last one I've kept for my collection. 🩷
XL Taiwan Mirage Mew Plush
XL Taiwan Mirage Mew Plush
Company: Unknown
Company: Unknown
Size: TBD
Size: TBD
Date: Unknown
Date: Unknown
This one is HUGE-- bigger than life-size! Other than that, it's very similar to the other two sizes.
Mexican Mew Beanbag Mirage
Mexican Mew Beanbag Mirage
Company: Unknown
Company: Unknown
Size: TBD
Size: TBD
Date: Unknown
Date: Unknown
This mirage is from a series of plush sold in Mexico in the 90s. Unlike many plush, they originally came with a tag similar to Play-by-Play, but they were made by an unrelated company. There's a beanbag version like this, as well as a coin purse that I haven't tracked down yet. I love how bright pink this guy is!
Other Known Mirages & Rarities
Other Known Mirages & Rarities
Unidentified Mew
Unidentified Mew
Image from ShiningCharizard
Hasbro Dupe, Taiwan
Hasbro Dupe, Taiwan
From ShiningCharizard
BIG Mew
BIG Mew
Owned by Noor
Cartoon Citiz Mew
Cartoon Citiz Mew
Image From Noor
Coin Purse, Mexico
Coin Purse, Mexico
Seen on Ebay Canada
Unidentified Mew
Unidentified Mew
Unknown Source
Unidentified
Purple Mew
Unidentified
Purple Mew
Unknown Source
Rare Mew Prototype
Rare Mew Prototype
Owned by JLL
Olyfactory Bootlegs
Olyfactory Bootlegs
Olyfactory is a bit of an odd company. They didn't have a legal license to create Pokemon plush, so all Olyfactory plush are technically bootlegs. However, they made their own patterns rather than just copying the design of already-made plush, so there a lot of unique and sought-after plush created by Olyfactory! Pokemon finally cracked down on them and they are now out of business, so I expect the brand will increase in rarity over the years.
Other Known Boots
Other Known Boots
While Olyfactory was unique in designing their own patterns for unlicensed Pokémon plush, most bootlegs are just poor-quality rip-offs of official plush. I've gathered some of the more common bootlegs you might find while plush-hunting below. Examine photos carefully when shopping, and be wary of listings that seem too good to be true!
While Olyfactory was unique in designing their own patterns for unlicensed Pokémon plush, most bootlegs are just poor-quality rip-offs of official plush. I've gathered some of the more common bootlegs you might find while plush-hunting below. Examine photos carefully when shopping, and be wary of listings that seem too good to be true!
Bootleg Mew Poke Doll
Bootleg Mew Poke Doll
There are boots of this plush EVERYWHERE, and it makes me so sad because they're so ugly! Most listings I see for the Mew Poke Doll are fake. Be very careful when shopping for this plush to make sure yours is authentic.
Bootleg Mew Poke Doll. No stitches on front of face
Authentic Mew Poke Doll. Line of stitches in lower center of face.
Stitching:
Stitching:
The bootleg is often missing the vertical line of stitches on the lower front of the face. You can see these stitches in the middle of the face on the real doll, vertical from Mew's "chin."
Eyes:
Eyes:
A very easy "tell" for the bootleg is the shape of the eyes. The boot often has eyes with a "curvy" bottom, almost like it's pinched. If you see this, it's definitely fake. The real Poke Doll will have nice, open eyes with a flattish bottom. The blue and the white part of the eye should be the same height where they touch.
Fake "squished" eye
Fake. Nightmare fuel!
Real. Open with matching white and blue
Tag:
Tag:
Bootleg Poke Dolls either don't have a hang tag, or they'll have a fake version of the original red banner Poke Doll tag. Counterfeits got so bad that The Pokemon Company eventually changed the hang tag design to help differentiate from the bootlegs.
The biggest indicator of a fake is the lack of black shadow to the right of "Poke Doll"
The stripes behind the word Poke Doll may be faded or non-existent on the bootleg.
The Pikachu may be darker/more orange, and/or have a darker body shadow compared to the real tag. NOTE: On some real tags, Pikachu only has a chin shadow and no body shadow.
The red banner tag was used until around 2006-2007 in Japan, and 2010 in the USA. So plush with this tag outside this era are boots.
The tush tag and hang tag dates should match.
Fake tag with lack of "Poke Doll" Drop Shadow
Fake tag with missing/faded stripes in the background.
Real tag has shadow to right of "Poke Doll", stripes in background, and bright yellow Pikachu with soft shadow.
American 2010 tag
American 2014 Tag
Bootleg Fuwa Fuwa Daki Mew
Bootleg Fuwa Fuwa Daki Mew
This is honestly a very good-quality boot, and comes in giant sizes you'd never find in the official plush.
Differences:
Differences:
Bootleg has shorter, more uniform fur. Less fluffy or "shaggy"
Bootleg often has a zipper on the back. These plush are sometimes shipped without stuffing, and the zipper allows you to stuff them at home.
Bootleg does not have the official tag
Bootleg comes in mutiple sizes
Bootleg Fuwa Fuwa Daki Mew
Authentic Fuwa Fuwa Daki Plush
Bootleg Pokemon Fit/Sitting Cuties Mew
Bootleg Pokemon Fit/Sitting Cuties Mew
TBD
Honorable Mention: Shiny Mew
Honorable Mention: Shiny Mew
As of 2026, there are NO legitimate shiny Mew plush. If you see one, it's either a boot, a fan-made custom plush, or someone got creative with blue dye!
Fake
Faaaaake
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