Disclaimer: This information is prone to become inaccurate over time. Fakes are evolving and will become more and more believable. I will try to update this information as time goes on.
COLOR:
Fake lps tend to be off from the colors of the genuine lps, when looking for lps to buy, be sure to have an image of a genuine lps handy so you can compare the colors with the pictures in the listing.
MATERIAL:
Lps are made of rubber (unless it's an earlier pet.) Their heads should be squishable; not too hard but not too soft. Fake lps can have very hard heads that are impossible to squeeze OR very soft heads.
MAGNET:
Be mindful of what magnet a certain lps should have. For example, Lps #5 has been released so many times that it is possible for it to have a red magnet, a blue magnet, AND a hole, and still be genuine! However, lps 13 ONLY has a red magnet. Lps from 2009 and up have peg holes as apposed to magnets due to choking hazard.Â
BOBBLE HEAD:
Fakes tend to have stiffer heads that don't really bobble HOWEVER there are also fakes that do bobble! There are also genuine Lps that don't bobble, it depends on the generation and number. Keep this in mind. Also, genuine lps can get stiff heads that don't really bobble or are hard to move/get stuck because of the peg rusting.
PEG:
There is a common misconception that fake lps only have white pegs, this is not always true, there are genuine lps with white pegs, and there can also be fake lps with clear pegs. Basically, it depends on what lps it is, lps #5 has only been produced with a clear peg, so if it has a white peg, there's no doubt about it being fake! As stated before, genuine lps pegs are prone to rusting and getting squeaky and stiff, fake lps cannot rust. Additionally, if the neck ring on the bottom of the pets head is flat, then it's most likely fake.
RARE, UNCOMMON, AND LIMITED LPS:
Lps molds that are less common or have not been produced a lot most likely do not have fakes of them. This is because of obscurity, the pet being too difficult to obtain (rarity) for the fake sellers. There are lps that only have one or few variations, making these the least likely to have fakes (unless it's a popular lps.) Lps with fakes are typically the most popular molds, such as, short-hair cat, great-dane, dachshund, cocker spaniel, dragon, fox, and more. This is because fake sellers want to mass produce fakes of the most popular lps on the market in order to make more money (than they would with a less popular, obscure lps or mold.) BE WARY, though, uncommon lps can still have fakes. Pay close attention to the pet and the listing. Fake pets more often than not have artificially perfect paint jobs in comparison to real pets.
GLOSSY EYES:
Real lps tend to have glossier eyes than the fakes do because fakes are printed on and appear matte, pay close attention to the eyes. This does not apply to generation 1 lps, which have matte eyes.
QUALITY:
Pay attention to the paint job on lps. Genuine lps have higher quality paint jobs, and fakes tend to be too perfect, and have sharper paint jobs, while genuine lps are much softer and natural looking. For fakes, the color of the body tends to be off from the color of the head. Because fake lps designs are printed and not painted, the "paint" doesn't chip, genuine lps paint does chip.
THE MAIN 5:
Most fakes are made from the "main 5" most popular lps molds, those being shorthair cat, collie, great dane, cocker spaniel, and dachshund. These are just the most targeted molds for fake sellers, this DOES NOT mean molds outside of the main 5 cannot be fake. If fakes of an unpopular pet do exist, they are typically very poorly produced and easy to tell that they're fake, but this isn't always the case.