Over $1M in fake toys, including LOL Surprise! balls, seized in NY, officials say
Ahead of the holiday season, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized over 150,000 counterfeit toys including UNO card games and LOL Surprise! balls that had a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of approximately $1.3 million, if authentic, a news release said.
“A total of 141,112 UNO card games, 9,600 LOL Surprise! Under Wraps balls, and 1,980 LOL Surprise! Under Wraps capsule toys were seized,” the release said.
According to the release, officers inspected the shipment in November after it came in from China and then submitted digital images of the toys to Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising Center for Excellence and Expertise which determined the shipment to be fake.
The seizure was completed on December 9 and Homeland Security Investigations agents in Newark, New Jersey continued the investigation.
“Customs and Border Protection has demonstrated its commitment to protecting the American consumer against the proliferation of substandard and potentially unsafe counterfeit consumer goods,” said Troy Miller, Director of CBP’s New York Field Office in the release.
LOL Surprise! toys have been a scorching commodity for children around the holidays since 2017, when they became that absolute “must have” and hottest toy of the Christmas season, Business Insider said.
If authentic, the toys go for anywhere between $9.44 to $29.99 depending on the store and size.
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 6:48 PM.