REVIEW: For-Sure-Fake Harley Quinn Funko Pop From Temu
By The Treasure-Sharer
The Harley Quinn Funko Pop that we ordered two of from Temu has already been discontinued, so we don't have any photos of it from its product page to show, but I decided to review it anyway, to tell you about our experience with buying Funkos from Temu, so that you can have an idea of what to expect. Above is a photo of one of the Harley Quinn Funko figurines that we received.
Below are some photos of the two Temu Harley Quinn Funkos still in their boxes that we received:
If you don't know what Funko Pops are, the Funko Wikipedia page says that they are a line of collectible vinyl figures manufactured by the American company Funko Inc. The collectible figurines from the company's Funko Pop! line typically depict licensed characters from franchises such as DC, Disney, Marvel, Dragon Ball, Star Wars, and other pop culture entities. Wikipedia says that the "Funko Pop! vinyl line are figures modeled in a style similar to the Japanese chibi style, with large squarish heads, disproportionately small bodies, and large, circular black eyes." Wikipedia's Chibi (style) page describes the Chibi style as "super deformation (SD)... an art style originating in Japan, and common in anime and manga[,] where characters are drawn in an exaggerated way [--] typically small and chubby[,] with stubby limbs, oversized eyes, oversized heads, tiny noses, tiny bodies, and minimal detail."
My man and I decided to try buying some Funko Pop vinyl figures from Temu for the first time, after I spotted the Harley Quinn Funko Pop for what seemed like a decent price. It wasn't a fantastic deal, but it was alright -- around the price that my man has paid for some of the Funko Pops that he has bought from physical stores -- but it had a coupon for around two to three dollars off when I saw it, so it felt a bit cheaper than I might get elsewhere, and I also stacked a 20%-off coupon on top of it, for some additional savings.
As I said, I couldn't take images from the product page because it has disappeared, so I took a screenshot of the tiny icon of the product from my order page, so that you could at least see that. It's blurry because I had to blow it up a lot.
I resonate with Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad (a DC Comics movie) a lot, so I wanted a Funko of her character. My man collects Funkos, and also likes Harley Quinn, so we decided to buy two of the same Funkos of Harley Quinn. There's a cartoon Harley Quinn that my man already has a Funko of, but we prefer the live action Harley Quinn played by Margot Robbie. If you aren't familiar with DC Suicide Squad Harley Quinn, she is one of the Suicide Squad villains who have been incarcerated, and have been recruited by the U.S. government to perform dangerous missions, in exchange for shortened prison sentences.
The Suicide Squad Margot Robbie Harley Quinn character is very distinct, with, among other recognizable characteristics, her hair tied in pigtails with tips dyed in red and blue, wearing a t-shirt that says "Daddy's Lil Monster," and wielding a baseball bat saying "GOOD NIGHT" on it, as her weapon of choice. This is my favorite of the Margot Robbie Harley Quinn looks in the film, apart from how she looked as Dr. Harleen Quinzel, a psychiatrist at a psych ward, before she turned herself into Harley Quinn, after allowing herself to fall back into a vat of chemicals to prove her love for the character Joker. See the image of the version of Harley Quinn that we got Funkos of, to the side.
The reason I really wanted the Funko was because the Suicide Squad Margot Robbie character was the version of Harley Quinn that I first encountered, while watching the Suicide Squad movie with my man.
We really resonate with the deep love, loyalty, and relationship of Harley and Joker in that particular movie, and the look of the Margot Robbie Harley Quinn Funko that we got was the one most closely tied to her look in the movie, featuring her pink-tipped and blue-tipped pigtails, her baseball bat, her "Daddy's Lil Monster" t-shirt, and more.
While the movie is, on the surface, about the Suicide Squad's creation, and its mission to save the world from the apocalypse, it's at its heart the love story of Joker and Harley, showing, through numerous flashbacks, how Dr. Harleen Quinzel fell in love with Joker, and chose to transform herself for him, and wrap herself and her life around him to become Harley Quinn (a play on the word "harlequin"), so that he finally opened himself up to her love, and they together became the king and queen of Gotham City. While the flashbacks showed Harley showing her unfaltering love for Joker, the movie in real time shows Joker demonstrating his love for Harley as well, with Joker coming again and again to help Harley escape her imprisonment and prison sentence, and finally breaking her out of prison at the end of the movie. See the image above for a photo of Harley and Joker together, taken from the Suicide Squad IMBD page.
The significance of Joker and Harley's relationship can be seen in the only section of the movie quoted in the Suicide Squad IMBD page:
"The Joker: Would you die for me?
Harley Quinn: Yes.
The Joker: That's too easy. Would you live for me?"
My man and I resonate strongly with Joker and Harley's bond in the 2016 Suicide Squad movie (not to be confused with the confusingly-titled The Suicide Squad movie that was released in 2021), and frankly haven't watched the offshoots and sequels because we think that it's stupid that they broke up Joker and Harley, and had Harley go off on her own in all the later movies, and that's why we resonate with the 2016 Suicide Squad Margot Robbie Harley Quinn the most, and why I wanted this Suicide Squad Margot Robbie doll in particular.
It's as though the first movie is set up to show everyone the special relationship and devotion that Harley and Joker have, while the related movies after it are to show women that loyalty and love can't be counted on, by ending Harley and Joker's built-up and hyped-up relationship so abruptly. It's like they want to make viewers believe that the kind of love that Harley and Joker show for each other in the first movie can't last, and make female viewers think that they are better off being independent women, like the Harley portrayed in later films -- setting viewers up to give them a symbol of true devotion, only to show them it failing, and championing the "I don't need a man" ideals and mottos that have been pushed onto women today.
We like the version of Harley from the first movie, but not any of the other versions from the other movies. We also don't really care about how their relationship is depicted in the comic book or other movies, because their relationship in the first Suicide Squad movie is the one that we saw together and resonate with, and the one that we think of when we think of Joker and Harley.
This was the first time that my man and I tried ordering Funkos online, since my man has gotten all of his Funko Pops as gifts, or bought from physical stores.
We were concerned that the Temu Funko Pops could possibly have their packaging damaged during transport, since Funkos are collectible figurines, and their packaging affects their value. But they seemed like a decent deal, and we really liked the Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad character, so we decided to give them a shot. We weren't sure if we would be getting real Funko Pops, since Temu is full of fakes from China, but we figured that we could always return them, if they ended up being fake or funky, or having funny packaging. We went ahead and ordered one, and then another, because Temu does not sell items indefinitely, and we knew that the Harley Quinn Funkos could sell out and not come back, if we didn't jump on them right away.
For me, I cared more about the Funko figurine itself than the box that it came in, since I wanted it more for its sentimental value, but my man was concerned about the box, since it affects the Funko's collectability and value. The Harley Quinn Funko Pops that we were buying were supposed to be new, so they technically should have arrived in mint condition.
I didn't really have high hopes about them arriving with perfect packaging, because the seller also had a different Funko for sale that had a one-star review complaining about the damaged packaging, but we decided to try our luck anyway, and hope for the best. The Harley Quinn Funko Pop that we ordered didn't have any reviews at all for us to base what it might be like on, and many of the items that we receive from Temu have pretty beat-up packaging, so the odds of us receiving them in good condition weren't very good.
I was super-excited to have even stumbled onto the Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad Funko on Temu, as it was advertised without her name, and I wouldn't have been able to find it if Temu hadn't made it randomly pop up as I was scrolling and browsing through its offerings one day. My man and I both think that perhaps the fact that the seller didn't even list it under the proper name might have been an indicator that it was fake.
The titles used to describe products on Temu are not always intuitive, so if you find something that you like for a really good price, then it's good to do a quick search on Temu to see if it's available from another seller for a better price, and, if not, jump and get it, if you don't want to miss out on it. We had a feeling that this Harley Quinn Funko Pop would be one of those hot-selling items, and we were right. It didn't become available again after it sold out.
The Funkos took forever to arrive, and came much later than the estimated delivery time, likely due to us ordering it during the holiday rush period. Temu honored its policy of giving $5 for late deliveries, and we got $5 each for the two late orders that they came with. The two orders were combined into one large package, since we had made the two orders one day apart, and Temu tries to combine orders when it can, probably to save on delivery costs. I was super-excited to open the package to find the Funkos in particular, when the package finally arrived.
The Harley Quinn Funko Pops were coincidentally the first two things that I pulled out of the package, and both ended up really disappointing me, in that the packaging for both was ridiculously damaged. Temu basically stuffed the Funko boxes in with everything else that we had ordered, with no protection at all for them, such that the boxes were so crushed that one was even ripped down the side.
I had already told my man that if the Funko Pops arrived, and one was damaged and one was good, that I would take the damaged one, but these boxes were both super-damaged, so I took the more-damaged one for myself.
See below for photos of various angles of one of the damaged boxes, with the Funko still inside, that I'm giving to my man.
See below for the other box, without a Funko in it, that I kept, that was so damaged that it was ripped.
I actually don't care that much about Funkos, since I don't think that they look very nice, but I wanted this particular Funko for its iconic look and sentimenal value, as I mentioned. I'm glad that the actual figurine wasn't damaged, because I wouldn't have been okay with receiving a damaged item.
We decided to keep both Funkos despite the damage, since we didn't know if we would ever find the same Funkos on sale on Temu again, but are hoping that we can at least request a bit back to reflect the damaged packaging. Normally, I don't complain about damaged packaging as long as the product itself is fine, but since part of the value of a Funko is its packaging, in this case, it feels like the packaging's good condition matters.
Below are photos of the Funko that we received, with views from the front, sides, back, overhead, top, and bottom:
Below are photos of the Funko that we received laid flat, with views from the front, back, and sides.
In terms of the Harley Funko itself, it looked fine initially, except that the words on Harley's shirt and jacket were not very clear. The letters bled together, such that, if you didn't know what they were supposed to say, you probably wouldn't know what they said. The lettering of the "Daddy's Lil Monster" on the front of Harley's shirt was too blurred together to really read, and the "Property of Joker" writing on the back of her jacket was also hard to read. It felt really weird that that was the case, because the writing on Harley's legs was very clear, saying "Harley and Puddin" on one leg, and "PUDDIN" on the other. I think that they should have used thinner fonts for the wording on the shirt and jacket so that they could also be legible in the same way.
The DC Suicide Squad Harley Quinn Funko was really the only Funko that I cared about owning, and I already have it now, and my man likes to have perfect packaging for his Funkos, so I'm not sure if we'll be ordering more Funkos from Temu in the future.
I initially told my man that we probably shouldn't order Funkos from Temu anymore, if they are all as poorly packaged as this Harley Quinn Funko was, but we just received a Funko that we had ordered prior to receiving the Harley Funkos, and it was actually packaged well, in a brown fitted box that protected it and preserved the shape of the Funko's packaging, so I'm not sure if we'll order more now, after seeing the condition of the new Funko that we received.
My man and I initially thought that the Harley Quinn Temu Funkos were authentic -- like the number 97 version of the Harley Suicide Squad Funko. However, upon closer inspection, my man thought that the body looked smaller than average for a Funko, and we both thought that it was really suspicious that the writing on the shirt and jacket weren't clear, when my man pointed out that it was clear on the box.
I found out that you can go to the official Funko page and download an app that you can use to scan barcodes to look up the Funko that you bought to see if it is authentic, and my man downloaded the app and scanned the bottoms of our Harley Quinn Funko boxes to check, and they actually brought us to the page for the Harley Quinn Funko that we bought, but I looked into it, and discovered that it's not a good gauge of a Funko's authenticity. My man had actually told me as soon as he scanned it that maybe the barcodes could be copied, and thus still bring you to the corresponding Funko page even with fake Funkos, and my research confirmed that he was correct. People on several Reddit forum threads, including one that I will link to here confirmed that barcodes can be copied, and are not a good way to assess a Funko's authenticity. One contributor said, "... it's easy to photo scan a [barcode] on to a box [--] they copy everything. On top of that[,] I've had real Funko products completely not link to the right product the first time."
My man also noticed that the base for the Harley Quinn Funkos looked very different from the bases of the Funkos in his Funko Pop collection, being much smaller than the bases of his other Funkos. I found that the small base made it less reliable, and made my Harley Funko prone to falling over, even with gentle nudging.
I was able to confirm that the Harley Quinn Funkos that we received were definitely fake, after reading the article How to Tell if a Funko Pop is Fake: Authenticity Guide, and comparing the Funkos that we received to the things that the article had said to look out for. The following are the qualities that were listed:
- Suspiciously Low Price Points
- Incorrect or Missing Funko Logo
- Missing Serial Numbers
- Poor Paint Jobs and Color Accuracy
- Large Quantities of "Rare" Items
A lot of these qualities were present in the Temu Harley Quinn Funkos that we received.
I initially didn't spot the serial number on the Funko's foot, because I thought that it would be on the figure base. When I looked closely, I saw that, while I did see that there was a serial number on the Funko's foot, the letters and numbers of the serial number ran together, such that I couldn't even tell what some of the letters and numbers were, which I don't think would be the case with an authentic Funko.
The bottom of the box was covered by a sticker from Temu featuring order details, but when I peeled the sticker off, I saw that the Funko didn't have a serial number on the box bottom.
The serial numbers on the bottom of the foot of the Funko and the bottom of the box are supposed to correspond to one another, but I had nothing to compare the serial number on the Funko's foot with.
I decided to look online for an image of the real version of the Funko that we had ordered, to see if I could spot more differences, and was able to spot a lot more, that made me absolutely certain that the Harley Funkos that we received were fake.
The images below are screenshots of the Harley Quinn Suicide Squad Funko that I got from the official Funko website.
Below are the physical differences that we identified between the Funko that we received, and the Funko that was featured on the official Funko site:
1. The colors of the Harley Quinn Funkos that we received were definitely different, as the tip of one of the pigtails on the Temu Funko was pink, while the one on the Funko page was red.
2. The Temu Funko had full circles of pink and blue around its eyes, while the authentic Funko only had color around the sides of each eye, like eyeshadow.
3. The eyebrows of the Temu Funko were not the same as the authentic Funko, with the ends disappearing into Harley's hair, while the eyebrows of the official Funko could be seen in full.
4. The baseball bat of the Temu Funko didn't have writing on it, and had very little detail, while the authentic Funko's baseball bat said "GOOD NIGHT" on it, and also included other details that the Temu Funko did not include.
5. The boots, jacket, shirt, and belt of the Temu Funko didn't have as much detail as the boots, jacket, shirt, and belt of the authentic Funko.
6. The rips in the shirt of the Temu Funko were not colored in, so that the shirt just looked like a white shirt with no rips, that had weird hollows in it, while the authentic Funko had the rips colored in so that the shirt could be recognized as having flesh peeking through it.
7. The designs on the legs of the Temu Funko differed from that of the authentic Funko, with the diamond pattern on one leg above the writing, rather than below it, and the lettering on the other leg higher up on the leg.
8. The writing on the front of the shirt of the Temu Funko is blurry, while the writing on the authentic Funko's shirt is clear.
9. The Temu Funko wasn't wearing a ring, while the authentic Funko was wearing a ring.
--
I also checked the box of a Funko that I had been gifted in the past, and saw that it had the "registered" symbol beside the word "Pop!," and didn't put a website under the Funko logo near the bottom of the box (unlike the Temu Funko that we'd ordered had, pictured below), but instead had something that said "POP!® is trademark of Funko, LLC."
The authentic Funko also had the Funko logo on the top of the box.
I looked up what the "®" and "™" symbols mean, and discovered through reading What Do ™ , ® , and © Mean? Decoding Trademark Symbols that "The ® on a product means that it's a registered trademark, meaning the brand name or logo is protected by (officially registered in) the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, while plain old ™ trademarks have no legal backing."
This explains why the Harley Quinn Temu Funkos that we ordered only had ™ symbols beside words on their boxes, while the authentic Funko that I compared them to had the ® symbol beside the "Pop!"
The Temu Funko did generally sport Harley's iconic look from the Suicide Squad movie, so I guess that I would say that if you like Funkos, but more for the figurines themselves, rather than for their value as real Funkos, collectible figurines, or mint-condition Funkos, then the Funkos on Temu are fine, if you can snag them for a good sale price. If you care about getting authentic Funkos, and preserving them in perfect condition, then you should probably pass on them.
Because of the nature of the way that Temu packages its orders, I think that it is very likely that Funkos ordered from Temu will probably arrive with damaged packaging, unless the seller takes care to carefully package the Funko specially to prevent it from getting damaged, like the seller of the other Funko that we ordered did. We can't say for sure, since we've only ordered the Harley Funkos and one other Funko from Temu.
Review
(Note: I was unable to capture the full item description before the product was taken down, but copied and pasted the part of the description of the item that I was able to pull from my order that I bought it in [the description of the item in the list of items that I ordered the item with]. The above is the first part of the product description, but the remainder of the description was cut off, and wasn't available for me to post here. The link also no longer works, because the product has become unavailable for purchase, as I mentioned at the start of the article. I have posted the link above so that you can see how the item was advertised, and also in case the item becomes available again.)
Pros:
-depicts an iconic version of Harley Quinn
-decent price, when on sale
-sturdily-constructed figurine, in good condition
-looks like a Funko Pop on the surface
-looks like Harley Quinn
Cons:
-fake Funko
-very damaged packaging
-unclear lettering hard to read on some parts of Funko
-average price when not on sale not worth the unprotected packaging of the Funko received
-cannot be put on display with packaging, due to severely-damaged packaging
-cannot be gifted to someone, due to severely-damaged packaging
-missing key features, like "GOOD NIGHT" and other details on the baseball bat, details on the shirt, jacket, belt, and boots, and more
-unsturdy small figurine base
-unsturdy smaller-than-average-Funko body
-colored circles around the eyes, rather than eyeshadow, looks kind of funny
Gem or Junk?
For us:
Gem/Junk Cusp (2 stars and a half out of 5)
I usually don’t pay much attention to the packaging of the things that I order from Temu, since I usually just care if the product that I ordered itself is damaged or defective. In the case of Funko Pops, however, I make an exception, since the packaging is actually part of the product, and makes up a big portion of the product’s value. As my man knows, damaged packaging lowers the worth and resale value of a Funko Pop by a lot, so it’s important to ensure that the packaging is undamaged, if you want the full value of what you are buying.
I got our two Harley Quinn Suicide Squad Funkos for a few dollars off, and bought both with coupons, so I saved a bit of money buying them through Temu, which made me more okay with how damaged they ended up being, since I cared more about the Harley Quinn Funko itself than the packaging. We will, however, keep their damaged packaging in mind in the future, if we ever decide to order more Funkos from Temu, since we were very off-put by how damaged the packaging of both of the Funkos that we received was. I was especially appalled by how one of the packages was even ripped -- it was that crushed. I think that you’d be better off buying your Harley Quinn Funkos elsewhere, if you collect them, but I guess that the Temu ones are okay, if you’re someone like me, who puts the figurines themselves on display.
In terms of the Temu Funko Pops themselves, I wasn’t very impressed. I didn’t like that I couldn’t read the lettering on the shirt and jacket, when they are so iconic to the character, and mean a lot. It would have made more sense to me to have had them make the writing on the clothes as clear as possible, than have made the writing on the legs clear.
I think that for the price that the Temu Funko Pops sell for, they could at least spend more time on making the detailing better and more legible.
I have other, cheaper figurines that I have also bought from Temu, where the lettering and detailing are much clearer and better than on these somewhat-overpriced Temu Funko Pops (basing this on the fact that they were fakes).
After comparing these Temu Funko Pops with the Harley Quinn Funko Pop from the official Funko site, I can see that the authentic version is superior in a lot of ways, making me wish that the one that we received had been the real thing.
I think that the weirdest thing about the Harley Quinn Funko from Temu is that the eyes oddly have full circles of color around them, while the authentic Harley Quinn Funko Pop has the color placed like eyeshadow, which makes more sense.
I think that if you don't do a side-by-side comparison of the Temu Harley Funko Pops and the authentic Harley Quinn Funko Pops, then you'll probably be okay with the fake Temu Funko Pops. However, if you know the character that you are buying really well, and care about the details, then you'll definitely spot things amiss, or feel that things are missing.
Gems For Who?
1. People who like Funko Pops.
2. Harley Quinn fans.
3. People who like the version of Harley Quinn from the Suicide Squad movie.
4. People who like live action Harley Quinn.
5. People who collect Harley Quinn things.
6. People who like DC Comics characters.
7. People who like and/or resonate with Harley and Joker's relationship.
8. People who don't mind getting fake Funkos.
Conclusion
I honestly don't understand all the hype around Funkos, as most don't look all that great, and many are overpriced.
As with collectibles, it has its fans and following. I myself prefer more realistic figurines, however.
If you spot a character that resonates with you for a good price, and care more about the figurine than about it being a real Funko or its packaging, then it might be worth ordering a Funko from Temu. If you care about getting a Funko that's for sure authentic, in mint condition, and with perfect packaging, then I'd probably skip ordering this particular Funko, if it becomes available again on Temu.
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See you in my next post. :)
