Wooden Block Clones Don't Stack Up Against Jenga

Beware of Jenga clones, copies, and knock-offs.

You bring your bargain toy home, only to discover afterwards that what you bought is not an actual "Jenga" brand game, but instead, a clever hand-carved knock-off. Furious with the deception, you return to the mall the next day to get a refund, only to discover that the booth and its merchant have disappeared.

You have become another victim of fraud in the illegal underground market of wooden product knock-offs.

It's apparent that cheap Jenga tower clones and copies are flooding the Pacific markets of Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland. Loose regulations and restrictions on enforcing the copyrights of original wood-game products is allowing illegal manufacturers to produce unlicensed versions of the popular stacking game.

If it doesn't say Jenga on the box or the blocks, it isn't Jenga.

"If it doesn't say 'Jenga' somewhere on the package, that in itself should be a strong indication that you are looking at a fake," said Amir Imaj, who represents the legal trademarks of Jenga, as well as other wooden block products, such as Tinker Toys, Pick Up Stix, and Lincoln Logs.

"Some of these cedar and pine-based games are so close to the original, that unless you are a professional, or perhaps a carpenter, it will be nearly impossible to distinguish the difference between original and fake."

Easy access to softwoods and other professional woodworking equipment makes it easy for fraudulent Jenga bootleggers to establish illegal chop-shops, creating imitation Jenga products and dumping them on unsuspecting consumer markets. Even the Internet has become a virtual marketplace for these bogus blocks. In fact, thousands of Jenga-clone EBay auctions are shut down every day. It's a growing problem that is aggravating the public like a wooden splinter under its fingernail.

"All it takes is someone with access to a scanner, a PC computer, and a table saw to effectively reproduce realistic Jenga-like games good enough to fool most consumers," said Imaj. "And many people are just encouraging these criminals. They'll buy a Jenga-like game from the trunk of a guy in front of the liquor store for a third the price of an original Jenga game, effectively stealing the brand name useless. People think that they're saving money, but really, they're paying for it with higher unemployment rates, increased taxes, and other enforcement costs associated with the loss of revenues and jobs by the Jenga corporation."

Experts suggest that Jenga lobbyists should follow the example of Denmark, who made it a criminal offense to produce knock-off toys, after bogus plastic Lego blocks appeared on the market in the mid 1970's. Ironically, forty-two copycat criminals were sentenced to life terms in prisons built entirely out of Lego.

Certainly, something needs to be done down before the Jenga market collapses like some sort of unstable wooden building that has had its foundation pulled out from beneath it.

"If we don't act on these wood-game crafting crooks soon," said Imaj, "Jenga's brand value will be as worthless as Prada, Gucci, or Nike."

This story about Jenga and wooden blocks is brought to you by The Toque,
the world leader in Jenga parody, Jenga satire, and other wooden block humour.