History Main / NotSoCheapImitation

A SubTrope of FollowTheLeader. Compare DuelingWorks. Contrast TheyCopiedItSoItSucks. May involve DerivativeDifferentiation. For In-Universe examples, see EffectiveKnockoff. For when a parody gets more popular than the original, see ParodyDisplacement. It can sometimes cause cases of SeinfeldIsUnfunny.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'' was designed as an Australian replica of ''WesternAnimation/PeppaPig''. However, [[PeripheryDemographic it is very well-liked by people outside the primary target audience of preschoolers]] and many parents will admit to watching it without their kids present. It even made it onto the Rolling Stone's "100 Best Sitcoms of All Time List" in 2021, being the only show aimed at preschoolers to do so.

* Monster Energy was essentially made to capitalize on the market that Red Bull had helped create. In fact, prior to Monster, the company, then known as Hansen's, made a drink that was essentially an imitation of Red Bull. However, they made a new drink that had its own unique identity, to the point that Hansen's renamed their company after the product, and is a serious challenger to Red Bull; as of this writing, they're in second place in overall sales, behind only Red Bull, and it's not uncommon to see many areas where Monster is the more popular product.

->"WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}''[='=]s often referred to as a cheap Disney knockoff, but we know that isn't true... no, it was an expensive Disney knockoff!''

* ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage'' started off as a parody of the DarkerAndEdgier comics of the 1980s, most notably ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'', ''ComicBook/NewMutants'', and ''ComicBook/Ronin1983''. However, when the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 cartoon]] came out, the Ninja Turtles exploded into pop culture icons. For reference, it would take far longer for Daredevil to reach a level of media fame comparable to the Turtles, with [[Film/Daredevil2003 his 2003 movie not helping his popularity]] and only later becoming more critically acclaimed by wider audiences when he got [[Series/Daredevil2015 his own TV series]].

* ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage'' started off as a parody of the DarkerAndEdgier comics of the 1980s, most notably ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'', ''ComicBook/NewMutants'', and ''ComicBook/Ronin1983''. However, when the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 cartoon]] came out, the Ninja Turtles exploded into pop culture icons.

** The knockoff of the Marvel Legends Retro Spider-Man has also been decently received due to it having better leg articulation than the original.

** The knockoff versions of the ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' Sen-Ti-Nel SV-Action Miles Morales and Peter B. Parker from have been rather well-received due to their articulation functioning very well, all the accessories working with the figures, decent paint jobs for knockoff figures, not falling apart when you open them and costing less than the authentic versions. Heck, some of the knockoffs of Peter B. Parker even comes with his coat and sweatpants, which the authentic one doesn't have. They are even made out of fabric, so they don't hinder the articulation.

* The knockoff versions of the ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' Sen-Ti-Nel SV-Action Miles Morales and Peter B Parker from have been rather well-received due to their articulation functioning very well, all the accessories working with the figures, decent paint jobs for knockoff figures, not falling apart when you open them and costing less than the authentic versions.
** Similarly, the knockoff of the Marvel Legends Retro Spider-Man has also been decently received due to it having better leg articulation than the original.

* The knockoff versions of the ''WesternAnimation/'' Sen-Ti-Nel SV-Action Miles Morales and Peter B Parker from have been rather well-received due to their articulation functioning very well, all the accessories working with the figures, decent paint jobs for knockoff figures, not falling apart when you open them and costing less than the authentic versions.

* The knockoff versions of the [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse]] Sen-Ti-Nel SV-Action Miles Morales and Peter B Parker from have been rather well-received due to their articulation functioning very well, all the accessories working with the figures, decent paint jobs for knockoff figures, not falling apart when you open them and costing less than the authentic versions.

* The knockoff versions of the [[Film/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse]] Sen-Ti-Nel SV-Action Miles Morales and Peter B Parker from have been rather well-received due to them functioning very well, not falling apart when you open them and costing less than the authentic versions.

* ''VideoGame/DragonBallFighterZ'' follows the success of tag-team Fighting Games like the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series (and in particular, the third game, some of the mechanics of which are also used in DBFZ), but is also critically acclaimed, has 2+ million sales and is often deemed as a new contender against the MVC series, especially in the wake of the disappointments aimed at ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'''s problems.

* ''VideoGame/DragonBallFighterz'' follows the success of tag-team Fighting Games like the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series (and in particular, the third game, some of the mechanics of which are also used in DBFZ), but is also critically acclaimed, has 2+ million sales and is often deemed as a new contender against the MVC series, especially in the wake of the disappointments aimed at ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'''s problems.

* ''VideoGame/DragonBallFighterZ'' follows the success of tag-team Fighting Games like the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series (and in particular, the third game, some of the mechanics of which are also used in DBFZ), but is also critically acclaimed, has 2+ million sales and is often deemed as a new contender against the MVC series, especially in the wake of the disappointments aimed at ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'''s problems.

* ''VideoGame/DragonballFighterZ'' follows the success of tag-team Fighting Games like the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series (and in particular, the third game, some of the mechanics of which are also used in DBFZ), but is also critically acclaimed, has 2+ million sales and is often deemed as a new contender against the MVC series, especially in the wake of the disappointments aimed at ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'''s problems.

[[folder:Film]]
%%* ''Film/IronMan'' technically beame this towards ''Film/XMen1'' (made by 20th Century Fox) and ''Film/SpiderMan1'' (made by Sony Pictures) sparked the Comic Book Movie Boom of the 2000s. Marvel made [[StartMyOwn their own]] [[Creator/MarvelStudios film studio]] in response, but Fox and Sony naturally refused to sell the film rights to the X-Men and Spider-Man back to them. Despite this, Marvel went forward and established the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, becoming a new success that not only far usurped the box office records set by the ''X-Men'' and ''Spider-Man'' movies, but fully cemented the Comic Book Movie as a new form of blockbuster and caused many film studios to attempt forming their own cinematic universes using any properties they had.
[[/folder]]

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' was published in a period where Young Adult Romance novels were all the rage after being sparked by ''Literature/{{Twilight}}.'' However, ''The Hunger Games'' ended up being more acclaimed thanks to better writing and characters, and ended up starting its own trend of young adult romances being within a Dystopian setting.

* ''VideoGame/StepManiaX'', a game similar to ''In The Groove'' by several members of its former team (most notably Kyle Ward), also gets this treatment when compared to ''DDR'' for its wide variety of songs and play styles available, the fact that it doesn't need an internet connection to run or update player data, and the high build quality of its dance pads. In fact, the dance pads are so popular amongst upper-class rhythm game players, even those that want to use them for other dance games (in fact, there are conversion kits to adapt them to the ''VideoGame/PumpItUp'' layout, rectangular corner panels and all) that any time a new batch of those pads go on sale, [[DemandOverload they sell out within a few minutes]]. ''Un''like ''ITG'', the dev team went out of their way to negotiate with Konami to ensure ''SMX'' would not meet the same fate.

** Tablet computers has been sold by Microsoft for nearly a decade when the iPad launched in 2010, which sold much better because of its simpler user interface and operation.

** The [=iPhone=] borrowed much of its functionality from other smartphones already on the market, probably most heavily from [=BlackBerry=], so much so that Apple [=CEO=] Steve Jobs spent a good portion of the [=iPhone=]'s announcement keynote comparing it to a [=BlackBerry=] and explaining how the [=iPhone=] had a more intuitive user interface. [=BlackBerry=] Messenger, which allowed [=BlackBerry=] devices to send texts to each other over data instead of [=SMS=] also preceded Apple's implementation [=iMessage=] by six years.

* This is almost standard operating procedure for Creator/{{Apple}}, which rarely brings product categories to market, and usually lets other electronics makers try their hand at a product before devising a better engineered and higher quality (not to mention higher-priced) version of their own.

* This is almost standard operating procedure for Creator/Apple, which rarely brings product categories to market, and usually lets other electronics makers try their hand at a product before devising a better engineered and higher quality (not to mention higher-priced) version of their own.
** The iPod was not the first [=MP3=] player, nor even the first high-capacity hard drive-based version. The [[https://gizmodo.com/apple-ipod-shuffle-creative-casio-intel-mp3-players-bes-1849370269/slides/6 Creative Nomad Jukebox]] hit the market a year earlier, but the iPod overcame many of its shortcomings such as limited battery life, a clunky interface, and better industrial design.

** The iPod was not the first [=MP3=] player, nor even the first high-capacity hard drive-based version. The [https://gizmodo.com/apple-ipod-shuffle-creative-casio-intel-mp3-players-bes-1849370269/slides/6 Creative Nomad Jukebox] hit the market a year earlier, but the iPod overcame many of its shortcomings such as limited battery life, a clunky interface, and better industrial design.